Dealer Pet Peeves or "Tricks"

[tschock]

Originally Posted by mintacular

2. Well "book price" is $200 so I will sell you this vg card for $50.

This one is the most pervasive. However to try and be fair, I think it is more of an accepted expression, even though still inaccurate, where "book price" really means "book price in NM condition". So if that VG '50s Whitey Ford says $200 'in the book', the "book price" is closer to $50 (give or take).

Many variations on this, such as "it's a $200 card but you can have it for $50". No, it's a $50 card because of the slight crease and rough corners but I can have it at the $50 book price. Or "the card books for $200", etc etc.

At times, it really annoys me because it is not precise, but most of the times this affects me like water on a duck, especially with dealers I work with on a regular basis because we both know what we mean. But when I run into dealers that annoy me and they use this expression, I enjoy 'politely' pointing out that the book value of your '50s Ford is NOT $200 but rather $50. And if I have some off condition cards with me, I offer to sell them at a "much better than 50% off rate" from the "book price".

On another note....

One that used to happen more frequently years ago than now. The dealer would use one book (say, a recent Beckett) as a reference when 'selling' a card but another (say, and older SCD guide) when offering to buy cards.