If it’s not nailed down, it winds up on Ebay

Posted By: Kathleen DavidPosted On:

Unbelievable. The free edition of “Fallen Angel” designed to get fans to sample it and, ideally, pick up the trade?

A retailer has put one up on Ebay. And it’s already got two bids bringing it up to $3.75. This for a book that says “FREE” on the cover. Check it out.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=35764&item=2269079664&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

PAD

74 comments on “If it’s not nailed down, it winds up on Ebay”

  1. Since these kinds of threads can so easily turn from “this one retailer is a jáçkášš!” to “all retailers are jáçkáššëš, and the direct market should be destroyed!”, I figured I’d jump in and tell what my store did with our copies.

    We only got three, as our Hellblazer numbers are pretty low, but as we pulled books for subscribers, we looked for subscribers whom we knew might be open to a new book, especially one along the lines of Fallen Angel, and put it in their file to give them for free. One of them has already expressed interest in the trade, and I don’t know what the reaction was from the other two, but I’d guess it will be similar.

    This on top of giving Fallen Angel #15 a prominent place up front with a sign created to market it as well as my own pick of the week on the book on the shelf. This after myself and the other manager have been pushing and hand-selling the book as hard as we can ever since the early days.

    Just to mention that some of us retailers take our job seriously and bust our ášš to push the books we believe in, not just the books we think we can sell easily.

  2. My LCS also seems to have Done The Right Thing(tm). They had a stack of maybe 5 or 6 copies of the Free #1 out at eye level in the Vertigo section. They also only put #15 in my pull list, so presumably they all went on the shelf (although I like the idea of handing them straight to subscribers based on their tastes).

  3. My store (Comicastle) here in Mexico City is selling the copies as if they were new issues (at the cover price of the regular comic).

  4. Wow, I call that 97% lame. I appreciate that the book giveaway is tied to ordering for a non-free book so one could view it as a retailer perk but… I can’t imagine myself handing over a few bucks for something with FREE written on it.

  5. “Since these kinds of threads can so easily turn from “this one retailer is a jáçkášš!” to “all retailers are jáçkáššëš, and the direct market should be destroyed!”, I figured I’d jump in and tell what my store did with our copies.”

    Yeah, but I don’t think that’s happening here. Granted, there’s one additional incident of a retailer trying to soak a customer to get one of the freebies, but by and large, I think it’s clear that most retailers are being responsible and even rather clever about it. (I love the loan-out notion.)

    PAD

  6. My local comics retailor (ComicSmash in Studio City CA) offered me a free copy of “Fallen Angel” #1 when I bought #15. As I already had a copy, I turned it down and told him to give it to the next person in line (which he did) Congrats to him for not putting his stock on Ebay and I hope this generates a new reader.
    -=-=-=Russ

  7. Back on Sept. 12 Ken posted:
    “Joe, what isn’t a scam about it?

    The seller is paying CGC to give them a rating, not to make a fair rating.

    CGC’s ratings have been shown to vary per customer and be flawed.

    The seller then charges a ridiculously high price.

    Then if the buyer wants to read the comic, he has to open it up and by doing this he negates the CGC rating.

    It is a poor system. It is a scam.”

    The original idea of using the CGC system came from the world of coins and subsequent to that from the world of cards. Both of those types of items have one common characteristic: only 2 sides. Therefore, the idea of encapsulating the item to preserve the rating made sense because the state of the item was not changed. You could still see both sides of the coin or card and appreciate the quality of the item.
    Now, theoretically the process of grading a book as such is supposed to be totally unbiased. I would assume from your comments that you had a bad experience with CGC or know someone who had a bad experience.
    If you look at things from a practical standpoint, CGC has a very good application: consider the case of two collectors haggling over a rare book. One is the seller, the other the buyer, and they just can’t agree no how on what the condition should be and hence what the price should be. They agree to submit to “arbitration”, i.e. an impartial third party grader. So that’s a logical and appropriate use.
    What we have in the market today is an aberration of what I’m sure was the original intent. This is because CGC turns readable books into collectible “objects”. True, they are preserved, but you really can’t touch them, smell them, feel them in the way that…..well, it’s an intangible thing to a lover of the medium. Worse, you now have a resource for speculation, because you wind up with one person trying to outdo the other by having the most perfect copy of comic “x” or whatever. And so the bidding wars erupt, the prices go up, and the point of the whole thing is……well, what? What’s the point?
    Now understand, I’m not dissing CGC. I’m just commenting and trying to reflect some reality here. In fact, many of the books in the “Winnipeg Collection” (a portion of my personal collection), wound up being CGC’d and wound up getting some of the highest known grades for various and sundry individual issues and that’s kinda gratifying to me personally.
    Later on Sept. 12 Jeff wrote:
    “Well, in my opinion, CGC isn’t so much a scam, but a HUGE waste of time and money. You send in a book, pay them money, they put an grade on the condition of the book, then seal the book up. Seal the book up??? It’s a friggin’ book! A book you can’t read is worthless, no matter what “grade” is on the packaging.”
    This echos what I was pointing out.
    Anyone else have any CGC commentary? Maybe we oughta have a separate thread. What say Peter?

  8. Jeff:

    >Well, in my opinion, CGC isn’t so much a scam, but a HUGE waste of time and money. You send in a book, pay them money, they put an grade on the condition of the book, then seal the book up. Seal the book up??? It’s a friggin’ book! A book you can’t read is worthless, no matter what “grade” is on the packaging.

    While I was initially one of those who cringed at CGC, it makes sense for older, more valuable books as they tend to degrade at an increased rate and this retards the process. I had a Giant Size X-Men #1 CGC’d while at a Chicago Con a few years back.

    It is also appealing for sellers in the sense that it somehow legitimizes a a particular grade range, giving potential buyers a bit more piece of mind in shelling out cash for a book that they can’t inspect on site. Drawbacks to this, is the inconsistancy between same-graded books (I’ve seen CGC books with the same grade vary in actuall condition.) and the ridiculously over-the-top price differential between CGC-graded and ungraded books.

  9. I would agree that some collectible books (GS X-Men, early silver and golden age) would probably be legitimate candidates for the CGC grading. However, at the Wizard booth at D*C, they were pushing fairly recent books with high CGC ratings. Books that might cost a little extra in the back issue market, but recent (and high print run) books. It’s just something else for the speculator market to get into and get ripped off from.

    Just my sealed in plastic with an arbitrary sticker value of $.75, instead of the normal $.02 of opinion…

  10. My store (Comicastle) here in Mexico City is selling the copies as if they were new issues (at the cover price of the regular comic).

    Doesn’t surprise me, when they were selling the #0 issues of Avengers and Captain Marvel at $10 a pop. While there are some worthwile persons working there (specially in the one near to my house), the chain itself really is out to make nay short-term profit they can (not surprising if you know the history of the owner).

    Alvaro “BigCheese” Ib

  11. Hello! Yes, I am the *evil* retailer refered to in the ‘If It’s Not Nailed Down, It Winds Up On eBay’ Post! OK, everybody together now…*BOO! HISS!*!! I must first say in my defense (and God knows I need one!) that I routinely get and post Variant Editions of comics on eBay, retailer incentives, etc., and I just did the same with this book.
    I have Always Supported ‘Fallen Angel’ by ordering the book since the beginning (retailer support!), always with extra copies left over for back issues and new readers (retailer support!), recommending it to customers I think might like it(retailer support!) and ordering the TPB (retailer support!)! I did indeed give one copy away, but everyone else in my store either gets it already or was not interested! True, I was told ‘Nay, that’s alright! I spend to much every week already!’! So, to eBay you go, I said!
    Well, to show my continued support for ‘Fallen Angel’, I won’t end this auction, but I will donate the proceeds of it to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund!
    Yes, believe it or not, as a retailer and lifelong comic book fan, I love comics and have always supported them! Thanks for listening!
    PR4DOMCOM
    Paul Rogers
    Dominion Comics

  12. Paul *AKA Evil Retailer*:
    Hello! Yes, I am the *evil* retailer refered to in the ‘If It’s Not Nailed Down, It Winds Up On eBay’ Post! OK, everybody together now…*BOO! HISS!*!! I must first say in my defense (and God knows I need one!) that I routinely get and post Variant Editions of comics on eBay, retailer incentives, etc., and I just did the same with this book.
    I have Always Supported ‘Fallen Angel’ by ordering the book since the beginning (retailer support!), always with extra copies left over for back issues and new readers (retailer support!), recommending it to customers I think might like it(retailer support!) and ordering the TPB (retailer support!)! I did indeed give one copy away, but everyone else in my store either gets it already or was not interested! True, I was told ‘Nay, that’s alright! I spend to much every week already!’! So, to eBay you go, I said!
    Well, to show my continued support for ‘Fallen Angel’, I won’t end this auction, but I will donate the proceeds of it to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund!
    Yes, believe it or not, as a retailer and lifelong comic book fan, I love comics and have always supported them! Thanks for listening!
    PR4DOMCOM
    Paul Rogers
    Dominion Comics

    ….. well, it may be my flip-flopping, but I have just grown instant respect for this guy. 🙂

    Good response Paul!

    Fred

  13. Hey Peter,

    I have been a fan of yours for years (since your Jean DeWolf storyline), but have hesitated in picking up Fallen Angel. However, there has been a lot of press about it, and a lot of critical praise, so I was able to find the first 15 issues at a local store. WOW! Let me be the first to say (1) I was missing out for 14 months on a fantastic storyline; (2) this is the best stuff I have seen from you (and that is high praise indeed); and (3) I am hooked. Thankfully, the freebie #1 is now out, and I plan on spreading the word. I hang my head in shame for being late on this book, but you now have a devoted reader. Thank you.

  14. echoing Fred’s thumbs up for Paul’s response.

    now i feel kinda bad. like we should all chip in and buy Paul a pony or something 🙂

    seriously Paul…i personally appreciate the fact that you took the time to respond publicly at all, not to mention the fact that i can’t think of a better, more appropriate response that could have been delivered.

  15. I was going to announce that Paul “ER” (Evil Retailer) Rogers had e-mailed me and what he’d said, but I see he posted it here.

    I agree with the other posters: Well done, ER. Major points for both style and class.

    PAD

  16. I came here to mention that the auction had closed and that the book had sold for 10.50. I see that Mr. Rogers has made his presences known and shown almost as much class as his PBS (almost) namesake.

  17. Just an amusing story regarding the free Fallen Angel issue.

    When I went to my comic shop last week, the free issue was in my box along with my weekly pull titles. When I went to check out, I handed it to the cashier and said, “I already have this issue. You can give it to someone else.” She looked confused for a second, then said, “Um…okay?”

    The following week (yesterday) I again go to the shop for my weekly pull. They hand me this week’s comics, and then give me (again) a copy of the free issue, saying, “This was left in your box from last week.” Again I hand it back, saying, “I already have this issue. You should give it to someone who doesn’t.” Again they responded with confusion.

    If I go in next week and they try to give it to me again, I won’t be at all surprised. But, hey, at least they really want someone to have that comic.

  19. You can hardly say that Peter did nothing to save Supergirl. He crafted a story line (the return of Kara) to get people interested in the book..was interested in continuing with that character as well. TPTB wanted to axe the book to make way for the failed Cir-el or whatever she was called…it’s that simple.

    As for Time Warp Comics in Boulder, CO. They had a good size stack of FA freebies (Hellblazer and other Vertigo books are big sellers there)..They had the freebies right in the middle (F section) of the New Comics For The Week section last week, then moved them up to the promo area/POP display right in front of the register for this week (where they but the various promo comics, like the Batman 12cent adventure that was right next to it).

  20. Hiya! Well, as you folks may have known, my *infamous* eBay auction for ‘Fallen Angel #1 Variant’ has ended with a final auction bid of $10.50. True to my word, the proceeds of this auction have already been donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (Hey Peter, since you are onboard with the CBLDF I hope you can verify this for your fans!)! Thanks for the feedback and if you ever want to help out a good cause, check out the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, because Free Speech is a terrible thing to waste!
    PR4DOMCOM
    Paul Rogers
    Dominion Comics
    Lynchburg, VA

  21. …Which begs the question: how much will PAD’s Pini tattoo go for on eBay after some mortician removes it prior to the embalming 56 years from now? 🙁

  22. I wasn’t sure where to put this, but I thought I’d put this here:

    I went to the comic store today to catch up on some comics I’ve been missing (haven’t been to the shop in many, many week) and I decided to pick up Fallen Angel #15.

    I hadn’t read Fallen Angel in awhile. I have many books I’m collecting and sometimes I can’t buy them all..but..I have to tell you, Mr. David, after reading #15, I think I’m going to have to get the next issue. I think #15 was a very interesting issue. I really liked it and I want to see what happens to Lee! So I’m going to try my best to get the next issue. I may even get the Fallen Angel trade sooner or later if I can.

    Just thought I’d say that. 🙂

    Oh and I lookd briefly for the free issue and didn’t see it. Maybe I missed it…

    DF2506
    ” Already has the first issue, but wouldn’t mind having the new free issue of it! “

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