My Comic Shop has Batman #89 back up for sale!

I received a notifier today for my MCS want list that Batman #89 was back in stock. Well, I didn’t get one nor did I rush to get one but I figured if I could snag a copy for the pc why not.

Well, they have cover B for sale for a slap in the face price of $32.50. I doubt they bought these back from customers at inflated prices. These were most likely held back so they could make an extra buck…because y’know they hardly make any money at all. Just my opinion on that.

I could see selling for double or maybe even triple cover at this point but higher than many Ebay prices? That kinda gets my blood boiling. I like MCS but this BS makes it hard. To me this is flat out price gauging and a slap in the face to regulars who may not have been able to get one. Just a bit of a vent. I won’t lose sleep over not getting this book, I just thought such a price hike from a big online store such as MCS was a bit of a low blow. What are your opinions? Am I out of line? A big baby or right on the money to be angry?

Probably the same tactic a lot of shops do, yank, hold and slowly release them so it’s not as obvious. Perhaps if we can get everyone who buys comics on a consumer watch, we the people just don’t budge or buy any above cover. If no one is buying, then prices will start to drop. :slight_smile:

Don’t worry, I’m there with you for the most part, as I’ve been very vocal on my stance on this issue when hot books get held back by retailers to only jack up to secondary. But as I voice my opinion, I just simply don’t shop at such shops and I sleep like a baby every night regardless. Don’t let it bother you too much though, certainly more important things in life to worry about. But yeah, no shame in calling out these tactics by retailers.

I got 2 copies being shipped to me from MCS I paid cover for. So initially they were available for cover (Tuesday) and sold out. They actually went back up last night for $30, both A and B. I knew about this then, but like you didn’t receive the email notification until they had already sold out of cover A (what’s the point of being notified if it’s going to take 24 hrs?).

I have no problem with this…they actually are selling them at these prices…so all the power to them. I’m shocked they were initially offered at cover, to be honest. They didn’t do that with Captain Marvel 8 several months ago, I believe.

Batman #89 at Mycomicshop if anyone is interested.

Good responses…I guess I usually purchase form them early on so I don’t run into this kind of price hike. I was just surprised and still think it is too much but thankfully it is a book I don’t really need or want for that matter. If the prices settle down the road for half that maybe I will consider it, just in case the character gets big down the road but to be honest I’m sure by the time that happens there will be a bunch of other hot new books to chase!

Are folks just so starved for spec that a Punchline cameo drives some into a frenzy … ?? I think it speaks more to the lack of much spec so far this year … maybe they just need to spend some of their tax return money …

I collect Batman myself, for my PC … I had a guy come in and ask if I had A & B of #89 … I said, well, no, it’s been a couple of days now since Wednesday and my rack copies were gone … I mentioned that I did have A & B put away in my own PC … he pulled out $50 clams cash and threw it on the counter … “Would you sell them for that … ??” …

I dug out the books, handed them to him and took his money … and gave him a $25.00 back issue gift certificate as well …

Does this go against my long stated Sales Philosophy … ?? I don’t think so …

You decide … :vulcan_salute:

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Only if you have a stack of them under the cabinet and use that story for every customer that walks in asking… :wink:

The buyer named the price…not you. You didn’t have to accept it. That’s quite a bit different than you naming a price.

I really need to find out where your shop is and visit.

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He don’t want you coming in and wiping out his inventory, you damn speculator!!! :wink:

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I am gonna find him then it is road trip time

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@agentpoyo you’re saying that when a shop tells me all the copies came in damaged but three weeks later they have a bunch for well above cover-price I should be suspicious?

For real though, I quit going to a shop recently due to that kind of nonsense.

Yes, be very suspicious… but next time ask to see the damaged copies as you might still be interested. Tell them you like to read them and don’t care if they’re damaged. :wink:

I said that to the store I quite going to. They had apparently already shipped them back to Diamond already. Ahem.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but do shops actually ship back the damaged copies?

My LCS just gives me the damaged copy to read and replaces it with an undamaged one the following week. I was under the impression he just reported what was damaged and diamond sent replacements free of charge (if they still had them in stock).

Why would a shop send back damaged copies of a hot book???!!!

So I couldn’t find king of nowhere 1C today…But they were available at MyComicShop this afternoon…so I put a couple copies in my cart plus Hell Arising #2 (another book I can’t find) to come back to later and decide if I want to pull the trigger.

5 hours later I return to see MCS is sold out…but I still have the three items in my cart. Figuring they would pull it from my cart when I go to check out (like they Have done with Batman 90 and HA3 when they sold out quick), curiosity set in and I proceeded forward with the transaction…

Got all the way to submitting the order and it went through with 2 copies of KoN 1C!

It’ll be interesting to see if they honor the sale…

Again, I quit going to this shop recently due to actions such as this along with other things they did that irritated me a great deal.

Sounds irritating. I’d stop shopping there as well when they feed customers flat out lies… makes you wonder what else they lie about. Honesty goes a long way, if you’re not honest with your customers then that’s no place I want to shop at for anything.

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Well, technically, Diamond does have a ship back policy … however, in Real Life, a shop generally gets a printout with reported damages and a note that says “Destroy” …

I give pull and holds the damaged copy, Diamond automatically enters a re-order when reported, if the books in stock, you get it with next shipment, otherwise, you’re SOL …

Damages are one of those things that, over the years, a shop comes to expect … the Pick and Pack folks at Diamond are not the best … add UPS into that as well …

Diamond touted to Retailers that they were going to a better designed shipping box a while back … the old boxes were actually more sturdy, IMO …

The line a Retailer has to walk is a fairly fine line … how much does a book have to be damaged to report it … ?? My bar is probably lower than many, since the bulk of my Customers are readers … If I wanted to get really anal, I’d be reporting books week in and week out because there is always some you can nit-pick on … :vulcan_salute: