Ahhh. Ebay. Home of tossers (I'm name calling if you are not from the UK and wonder what I mean!).
The latest bit of fun has been in completing my Dr Master Publications series. All complete but I only had volumes 4-7of Kia Asamiya's series Junk: Record of the Last Hero. Not big into Manga but I really did like this series.
So, end of November I ordered a copy of #2 from a UK dealer. Nothing. A month later I'm having to get Ebay to chase up the matter.
vol. 1 arrived today but it is not a Dr Master book Champion Red Comics. And it's in ******** Japanese!!!! "It's what you ordered" Me:"No, it is not. Why would I order a Japanese language version?!" No other copies and the seller will not budge so complaint to ebay. In the meantime I've ordered a new copy of 1 (in English) and 2 because my life is too short to wait weeks for some more bullshit.
This is why comics in the UK will never be taken seriously. If I wanted typical over-sized eyes, cutsy crap Manga no problem if its in English. More serious Manga -I can get a copy of vol.3 for £17.99 + postage costs in the UK. So, I ordered a copy for under half that....from the United States!!
Seriously -you can even buy back issues of Marvel, DC -whatever- from the 1960s to 1990s at a quarter to half the cost UK sellers are asking. Remembering, of course, as these sellers point out, that 1980s-1999 comics are "vintage". Crooked, slimy con-men. Try selling your comics to them at a decent price. No. But at a massive under pricing so that they can.....example.
Someone I know sold copies of the first volume of Alpha Flight to a comic dealer. For #1-40 he was offered £20.00 and he really needed cash so he was desperate enough to take the £20.00. Each one of those issues is now on sale for between £10-!5.00 each (1-4 went to a private collector). When the person I know queried this they seller responded, apparently smirking, "Sellers market, mate"
I know. I give up. What happened to all the comic dealers from mail order list days who never ripped you off?
We all know what everyone is answering -"Ebay"!
We eclectics always suffer!
UP DATE
It appears the seller I ordered from in November NEVER sent the book! No quibbles. Full repayment after ebay contacted them.
I suppose it depends what you're buying from America, Terry. Some U.S. dealers are asking for what amounts to two or three hundred pounds for British Marvel Annuals that you can pick up here for a tenner. Also, about seventy quid for issues of TV Action. No doubt they'll say it's because such items are hard to get in America - but not when eBay exists and U.S. collectors can buy them direct from dealers in Britain for a fraction of the price.
ReplyDeleteIt is sort of reversible. TV Action etc. carried strips based on TV series that a lot of that generation now see as classics. The US "didn't do anthologies" so Americans jump at these -and British toys. I remember Toy Hunter coming to the UK and buying "Vintage UK collectibles that are gonna bring in the money and make this trip worthwhile!" They didn't. As when he went to the first big Puerto Rico comic con our 'hero' had failed to realise the feckin obvious. American collectors WANT the Dinky and Corgi and other "vintage" UK stuff. The Brits see it all the time. Brits want to US "vintage" stuff. And the Puerto Ricans wanted vintage US stuff. Simply because it was rare to get these things or they were never marketed here -or they were dumped by the US here but not at home so they are very rare there! So a good point.
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