Nice sale. There are a ton on eBay now, and most are in the mid to low teens for prices.
I had the hot books ordered online (hopefully they ship) & Iām glad as none of these hot, new books were available here (3 shops).
But, I found these for cheap/cover so I still did fine.
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A small shop has 3 MK7bās and 4 SA15ās. I grabbed 2 of each. Also had 2 Venom4cās. Took 1.
The other shop I got there 1/2 after opening. I had a SA15 on pull and grabbed the shelf copy. They didnāt order any shelf copies of MK 7bās. They had only 1 Venom 4c left but it was in great shape so I grabbed it.
I also grabbed Catwoman 39aā¦Future spec IMO, I think itās the best Of the 3. And the Robins 3a as I liked the cover.
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I have a high quality shop near me. Was only able to go by after work. Around 4 pm. They had basically nothing. Havenāt seen new releases that wiped out since I got back in to comics. Only thing I was able to find was a Venom 4 Yardin homage cover. I did find a Star Wars 20 buried in a stack of last weeks books. That was a nice surprise. Grabbed a Black Knight Vol 2 4 out of the dollar bin. Pretty sad trip. Thankfully I have most of what I want preordered at TFAW. Who knows when Iāll see it though.
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I had SA 15 on pull but I left Venom on the shelf. I donāt see the spec.
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Went to 6 different shops today. 2 shops I went to at open, 1 at 10am and the other at 11am. Zero copies on shelf of SA 15, MK 7b, Hulk 3ā¦interesting. Iām starting to see this more and more from all the shops in my area.
Next 3 shops also were in the same boat but one shop had a giant stack of venom 4 Yardin cover. So I went to the last shop totally expecting to be shut out today. To my utter shock and disbelief, I found the last copy of SA 15, Hulk 3, and they had 3 copies left of MK 7b. I picked up a copy as they have a rule only one copy of new title on Wednesdays. Fair rule as that was the only reason I was able to get a copy.
The MK 7b is even more gorgeous in person than the preview images. Pictures donāt do this cover justice. I originally intended to pick this up for a quick flip but the cover is stunning and I do have a pristine 9.8 copy. Iām thinking Iām going to get this graded and keep in my collection. I have also reserved a copy is SA 15, and MK 7b at my usual lcs that I didnāt go to today. They are usually 99% reliable so Iām hoping to get another copy each of these.
This will be my very last visit to the first 5 comic shops in my area. Itās a shame really as I really want to support my Lcs. Opened up an account for an online shop this weekend and have already pre-ordered over 100 books already. Hereās hoping I donāt have to deal with the shenanigans anymore.
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Kind of surprised people are paying over cover for Hulk 3, cover A. I guess Iāll have to go back to check the spoilers and see if I get it.
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I just flipped through Hulk 3, havenāt read it yet. Thereās a cameo of the new āKnull Hulkā in there.
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I picked up the last Hulk 3 Cvr A too (at cover), but lucked out on anything else. Just liked the Cvr A, w/Wolverine. Hopefully, my online orders come through. I also have shifted more and more to online purchases. I do have an issue with missing out on books at the LCS, but my main issue with the LCS is more the seller attitude and the inconsistency in purchase rules. I feel that the LCS is more favorable to big spenders, and this attitude and rules are reflected in how they deal with the smaller buyer (like me).
Mostly frequent LCS for digging through bargain boxes, and sales, and occasionally the higher priced ratio.
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Speaking of lcs with bad attitudes, I went into one LCS this weekend with the purpose of setting up a pull list. No joke, the miserable store owner was so rude I decided not to open one up lol. This was the reason why I finally set up an online account this weekend.
I hear what youāre saying about seller attitudes towards their customers. There is one shop in my area where the shop owner will pull out a hot book from existing customers pull box to sell to another customer whoās a big spender. Lol.
Imagine if you had Strange Academy on your pull list and youāve been buying every single issue as they come out. Suddenly youāre missing issue 15. The shop owner told you that theyāve been āshortedā lol. What really happened was one of his big time spender came in and didnāt see SA 15 on the shelf and asked for it. The shop owner pulled it out of an existing customers pull box to sell the copy to his more preferred customer. Lmao
The employee at the store tells me this happens ALL THE TIME. I am stunned this shop hasnāt gone out of business yet. This is why I refuse to get a pull list at this particular shop.
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IMO, for many LCS, it is a sellers market now with the huge no. of new folks coming in because of movies, TV shows, speccing, etc. So it is easy for them to cop an attitude. But why, when they can keep customers and themselves happy ?? Still it is what it is ! I just have the same attitude towards these LCS now - just transactional.
It is a shame to see some of the LCS that I have been frequenting for more than 10+ years, change this way. I do spec, but I also buy a lot of other stuff that would be sitting on their shelves, back issue bins, $ boxes for months, but its obvious that these LCS make enough to profit with their own speccing/or ratios, or NOT !
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I asked my shops ahead of time for Strange Academy 15 and the Moon Knight variant. They pulled them and thatās good as by the afternoon they were off the shelves. Some Hulk 3 at some shops.
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My LCS has been in biz for 40+ years, small shop. They honor whatever titles if itās on their customersā lists, even the hot books. The Flippers are easy to spot and get charged eBay prices. lol
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I still donāt understand the pulling hot booksā¦short term gain long term loss. We buy more of some books for our āspec collectionā, but if we didnāt do that, we definitely donāt pull from customers orders. Just donāt see how that is beneficial, and takes a book away from someone who was better at seeing something ahead of time.
What shops should do is pay attention to what their customers order and maybe try to piggy back on the ones that are consistently picking hot titles 
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If I ran a shop, all new releases would be cover price for minimum 1 week, until next weeks books arrive. After that, if any left that have gone up in value, Iād feel inclined to raise the price to a share market price (not eBay but probably undercut eBayās average sales).
All ratios would be cover price as well. I would not buy extra copies just to get ratios. If I qualify on pre-orders and what I want to put on the shelves, then I still lose nothing by selling at cover price.
My whole intention of running a shop is to create a happy customer base so such customers return and make me their goto shop. If a title gets hot pre-release, Iād probably just limit copies so everyone has a chance. If a flipper walks into my shop to just buy stuff and go sell themselves, so be itā¦ why do or would I care what happens with the product after Iāve sold it? I donāt care, I still made a sale on a book I originally was set to sell at cover price regardless if it heated up or not.
I would be the best shop owner everā¦ cause Iām 
like that!
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If I ran a brick and mortar shop, then I would never make enough profit for rent. I would file for Chapter 11 within a year. I know an owner paying for inventory on their momās credit card.
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This is why most brick shops that are successful go beyond just comics. Gotta give customers other reasons to come to your shop besides once a week on Wednesdays!
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Donāt you frequent a shop that does just what youāre saying? How would you rate their succes/longevity and customer satisfaction?
Do they impose any limits in new books, to prevent clearing off the shelves? Could I walk in n Wednesday when opened and buy out their 20 shelf copies of SA15?
Not defending one way or another. Just curious.
Iād also be up for a greeting, some semblance of a smile, and a pleasant attitude, rather than smug, snide comments and a frown - you know, the usual customer service stuff.
And everything poyo states in his last two posts, and faeleās post ā¦ with the exception being I dont mind high variant pricing and increased pricing after the first week. Heck, they can also list any backstock at whatever price they want or adjust per the spec market (as long as its before the customer gets to it !).
Biggest turn-off for me is when I bring a book up to the shelf and they āre-price itā. And they donāt even take the time to examine it out of the bag 100% of the time itās happened.
So not only did I waste my time looking through their stock, but they wastes my time at the counter and insult my intelligence as if suddenly Iāll pay market price regardless of condition.
Yeah, first and last time in those shops.
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