That is a lot of crap and you know it. Just like anybody else, there are good people and bad people. People like Shannon, George and Bill Sager are some of the best people you could meet, let alone dealers. Plus, they're in a business competing with one another for sales from the likes of us.
So, to over generalize and say that all of them are not our friends is just ridiculous. As a fellow attorney, I think you would know better than to paint everybody with the same brush.
Brad, again you get me wrong. Saying that the dealers are not our friends doesn't mean that they are our ennemies. As a lawyer you should know how to read a text in his context.
John started the thread and he described a specific situation in which a dealer shows more interests in his profits than in the advantages of the collectors and this is normal as it is the human nature:
Là où il y a un homme, il y a de l'hommerie (Thomas d'Aquin).
What I do not understand is why you replied with an angry post. Where is the problem? Did I say that your favorite dealer is a gangster? Did I say that all the dealers are dishonest?
Why insulting me by qualifying my post as
a lot of crap and stating that what I wrote is ridiculous, instead of asking me to explain what I mean?
You will permit, I hope, that I do it.
a) a dealer who is selling Strictly Limited Editions directly to eBay throught his wife is not my friend.
b) the same dealer who is selling on eBay, again throught his wife, brochures that King and Country
gave him is not my friend.
c) dealers who take out items from their shelves (or websites) at the same time that K&C is doing it are not my friends.
d) a dealer who goes back on a deal because K&C has just retired an item before the shipping of the package is not my friend (that happened to me in 2004. That dealer raised the price of the EA07 set while there was an agreement on a trade).
e) dealers who raise their prices on items paid at the old price (and then make a profit of 80 to 90% on the back of the collectors) are not my friends.
f) a dealer who bids against collectors on eBay on valuable items to resell them to other collectors is not my friend (which brings the following question: How many times a dealer needs to sell an item before being satisfied with the profits he is making on the said item?).
I am sure that the people involved in those six examples are very charming and are surely
some of the best people I could meet but, as you say, they are in business and in that
context they are not our friends.
For me, friendship is free and is not based on the expectation of something which is, in this case, money.
Of course, you can develop a real friendship with someone throught the hobby (like Louis with Andy C. Neilson) and I never putted that in question and I think that it is a real great thing if it happens.
You think that I made a mistake because I
over generalize , I think you made a mistake in taking it too personnal.
I was well aware that my post would provoke strong reactions as it is often the case when somebody is telling something right.
Toute vérité n'est pas bonne à dire.
Pierre.
