Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tom B on November 11, 2022 at 2:05pm

Me too. Very disappointing.

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Permalink Reply by 5816nick on November 11, 2022 at 2:09pm

So may useless companies keep doing this week after week - overselling stock they don't have,  Taylor Swift, RHCP and all the others recently - they shouldn't be allowed to run a bath let alone an online shop if they can't control their stock, it isn't rocket science ! 

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Permalink Reply by Quadropheniac on November 11, 2022 at 2:22pm

5816nick - you need to work on your anger management.    Indie bookstores and record shops usually deal in small quantities and don't have the money for a big team to manage their website. So frequently the inventory isn't real-time and is updated 1-2x a day.  Or sometimes weekly. . Or they remove something from the website when it sells out.   When it was posted they had roughly 40 left and as far as I can tell you ordered the following day. 

But these indie places can be a great resource for items if you are patient.  But you have to understand they are mom & pop shops.  They don't have the resources of big competitors like B&N, Waterstones, BAM, etc.  All of whom also cancel orders routinely. 

But let's be honest, what are you out?  You aren't being charged for it.  You didn't pass it up at another place that was cheaper.  You are in exactly the same position you were before you ordered.  You suffered no injury.

If being disappointed is something that causes you so much stress that you take it personally,-maybe there are other hobbies worth considering.  

In the meantime, I'll enjoy my sigs from the small/independent businesses below:

Bono Book from Oblong Books

Peter Gabriel Book from Rizzoli Books

Brian Johnson Book  from Alabama Bookseller

Darren Aronofsky book from Books of Wonder

RHCP Dream Canteen from Monster Music & Movies

Michael Mann Book from The Mysterious Bookshop

Norman Reedus Book from Dark Delights

Aubrey Plaza Book from The Strand

And those are a handful of small indie stores I ordered from.   I ordered many more. I like supporting small businesses.  Because if we don't-soon you won't have any options but Amazon and a couple of giant chain stores. If you didn't get in early that's on you.  I missed the Yardbirds and didn't lash out about it. My B&N Cormac McCarthy sets were canceled.   BAM canceled my Renegades last year. It's all part of the hobby. It's not part of a plot to screw you personally. And you shouldn't take it that way.  It's just timing, persistence, experience, and luck of the draw a lot of the time as to whether you get what you are looking for. 

And calling them arseholes for seeing if you'd still like an unsigned copy -despite the fact that they were out of signed ones?  That's called trying to provide customer service by offering what you can.   That's just my 2 cents.  Putting away my soapbox now. 

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Permalink Reply by 5816nick on November 11, 2022 at 2:29pm

Condescending or what ? Anger Management - Mikenmar2  LOL ! 

Offering me a non signed copy they don't have in stock either is pathetic  ! 

Not charged for it? ??? Yes i was - I paid for it 3 days ago and i've not received a refund yet either !! ! 

Yes I'll enjoy all my Sigs too - I don't need to list them all on here !

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Permalink Reply by Quadropheniac on November 11, 2022 at 2:37pm

I assume they notified you you'd be refunded.  So let's not pretend they are screwing you.   They are a reputable seller. And their offering to order the book for you when they don't have it in stock is called good customer service. 

But I get it-you like to throw public tantrums and drag businesses run by people you've never met because apparently any time you don't get your way people are trying to screw you personally.  

And you missed the point of my list. It is by no means everything I've bought.  It was merely an illustration of how small independent sellers are frequently a great option when big sellers either don't get an item or sell out in 30 seconds. 

In closing, might I suggest therapy.

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Permalink Reply by 5816nick on November 11, 2022 at 2:41pm

Good customer service would be supplying what you ordered in the first place !!!!

Therapy - What a Dick !

You know what you can do with that comment don't you  ! 

And no mention of a refund either ! 

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Permalink Reply by Quadropheniac on November 11, 2022 at 3:04pm

LOL-Nobody gets angrier than a narcissist being called out for something they definitely did.

I'll be sure to post a photo of my book when it arrives in a couple of weeks so you can see what you missed. 

A big thanks to Book Soup for the awesome buy!

 

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Permalink Reply by 5816nick on November 11, 2022 at 3:06pm

LOL I couldn't care less ! There are loads more of her book i can see right now on ebay or google!

I have far too many great Signatures from the biggest stars  to worry about missing this one ! 

Permalink Reply by Jason H on November 11, 2022 at 3:55pm

Lol you guys.. sorry for cutting in but im enjoying the banter but come on now. If Nick needs therapy, we all need therapy for collecting ink as a hobby.. spending hours of every day hunting the next big item down just because it has pen marks.. im addicted for sure.. I could probably use therapy and id enjoy it as well.. im always willing to learn. Ive spent a few thousand dollars on these items just in the last few months alone and would love to get to the bottom of exactly why I cant stop. Please don't use the word therapy to hurt people. I dont believe nick started his opinion by going after you. 

I can see it both ways. Yes support mom and pop shops.. but its almost 2023,  not 1999. These shops know the drill by now. They know how many they can sell. Its not hard at all to have an inventory system set up on a website. Once the inventory reaches 0, you should not be able to check out. Also, ive had to fight a few times to get refunds from these shops. One specific was Andersons books in Naperville IL for their Michael J Fox mixup. They said I was refunded but in fact was not. They wouldn't have actually refunded unless I complained that it never reached the bank. It felt like they were hoping an email saying they will refund was enough for most people not to actually check.. and im sure that tactic actually worked and they ended up with some free money.

You are right though. No one owes us these items. We should be happy they exist in the 1st place. You both make great points. We are in this together. No need to get pissed at eachother.

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Permalink Reply by Quadropheniac on November 11, 2022 at 4:28pm

Sadly, I posted that Michael J Fox @ Anderson's one and Bob Dylan. But you post enough finds and some are bound to not work out.  They can't all be winners.  If either had worked out they'd have been awesome. 

But I guess that's the point I was trying to make. If something implodes, you get your refund, dust yourself off and move on in search of the next white whale.  Your can't take it personally ot get super worked up over it.  It's not healthy. Sometimes things just don't work out. If you get your money back, all it cost was time.   

Most of us do this for one or more reasons: we're fans/collectors, we like the thrill of the hunt, or we're increasing or flipping.  Now the last part you shouldn't be emotional over.  But if you're like most of us in the fan/collector category-this should be fun.  If you dwell on things that don't work out you'll find yourself unhappy more than not.  And this should be fun if you're doing it as a hobby.  If you aren't having fun, why do it?  

That said, as someone who posts deals on here regularly, I don't like seeing indie bookstores that get overrun because I posted on here get badmouthed because of cancellations. It does make me not want to share them on here if people are going to sh*t on the stores if they get more orders than they can fill.  Especially when Amazon, BAM, B&N, Indigo, or Waterstones have entire departments and big budgets for their sites and end up with the same issue.   So going forward I think the answer is to hold back from posting these deals from smaller places. 

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Permalink Reply by Matt M. on November 11, 2022 at 4:37pm

Mikenmar2, so your order is still good on this? I still haven’t gotten a cancel email so I guess some were ok? 

*I requested signed copy or cancel order if signed unavailable, in comments 

Permalink Reply by crazyrabbits23 on November 11, 2022 at 9:20pm

Yep. You have to remove emotion from the buying process, because it can and will consume you if you're not careful. I've missed plenty of signed (and non-signed) items that make stuff like the Bono book look like minnows in comparison.

Signed items from deceased authors, chances at political items that I was too slow to pull the trigger on, collectibles I had in my hand, put back down and immediately regretted letting go of... but the point is, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, and if you don't get it, so be it. You move on.

If I've learned anything over the last couple of years, it's how to be more analytical with what I buy and if it's a prudent investment, either as a reader, collector or (in very rare cases) an investor.

Take for example the other night -- I was in a situation where I could buy multiple copies of a work that I knew would 4x their value the moment they went out the door. In a situation like that, I had to do some quick mental calculations, looking at how much capital I wanted to play with ($50), who was buying the books (teenage girls, giving them as gifts to their families - which means those books would likely stay in private collections), the current scarcity of the title and what the utility value of those books would be out the door (trade bait, in my case).

Pick and choose your battles carefully, and you'll rarely be disappointed. I'm not in the business or field of buying books from multiple venues that I know have the possibility of being canceled or subject to absurd demand -- I go after the pieces I want, at prices I'm comfortable with, and I never want to have to stress myself to death over whether or not I outrun 50 other people to get it.

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