Source
r/comicbooks•
VRFour

LCS tried to pull the old switch a roo on me!

I want to try to make this brief but this was such a bizarre experience, I had to post this and get some feedback.

I was checking out a store I'd never been in before and was specifically looking for a first printing of a back issue of Saga. The first clerk wasn't completely sure if the issues they had on the shelf were first printings but after a bit of investigation, it turned out they were. I told him I'd take it, put it on the counter, and checked out the rest of the store.

I chatted with one of the guys a bit about what I was reading and ended up buying one other book. Told them I'd be back next week for Saga 11 and headed out.

When I got back home, I was surprised to see that my back issue of Saga had "Second Printing" on the front cover! Definitely not the one I took up to the counter as neither of the issues they had on the shelf were second prints. Did this shop seriously pull the ole switch a roo on me?

I went back and the clerk was awkward as hell but quickly anted up the first printing and said "Oh, we can just exchange them, there ya go, now you have a first printing. I guess there was a second print on the shelf after all."

Maybe it was an honest mistake and there just happened to be a second printing of the exact same back issue of Saga on the counter that got mixed up with the one I put on the counter but I'm really surprised they tried to swindle me on a $2.99 book. Has anyone ever heard of a shop doing something like this before?

Suffice it to say, I won't be picking up Saga #11 from them.

TL;DR - Went to shop to buy first printing back issue of comic. Clerk switched it with a second printing. Clerk played dumb when I went back but quickly gave me a replacement first printing.

Posted Mar 15, 2013, 4:07 AM UTC

1515
mulkbanner•

Yeah, sounds like they tried screwing you over. Not a surprise.

11
jgramm1989Kate Bishop•

Really strange man. Had a interesting visit to a LCS in Toledo trying to find some DD and this place was a mess; Toys, comics, and other items were all over the shop with no rhyme or reason. Its like they didn't have a room for inventroy. Anyways I go and ask the one guy working there what I am looking and he asks me if Daredevil is a DC book.

3
ryanyhc•

friend of mine had the ol switch a roo pulled on him at the shop. asked his shop owner to hunt down the back issues of nowhere men for him. got to the shop a few weeks later and on the counter was a whole stack of nowhere man...

needless to say he now has the full run of hugh jackmans nowhere man...

1
GreatWhiteRuffaloAgent of E.M.P.I.R.E.•

That sounds like more of an honest mistake than a switch. Unless your friend went into detail about the book, it's pretty easy to mistake Nowhere Men for Nowhere Man.

5
ryanyhc•

haha, it was 100% an honest mistake obviously. just telling a little story dude! when did this sub get so serious??

1†
OrpheDaredevil•

I absolutely laughed my ass off when I listened to that story on the podcast man. I can imagine the awkwardness of realising 'Oh shit. It's Nowhere MAN... What the hell I'm obliged to buy this now!'. Haha. Awful!

I sort of had that experience. My pull list was missing All New X-Men #5 or something one week, so I asked the dude at the counter, oh, is X-Men not on my pull list? I thought I had it put down but must have forgotten. He said he'll put it down for me.

I come in a couple of weeks later and I realise he got 'X-Men' down on my list. As in Peck's X-Men #40. I instantly knew the mistake I had made. But I just bought it anyway. And #41 the next month. Thankfully it was the end of a run!

3
ryanyhc•

hahaha, dude the best part is i've known brent (the dude that this happened to) my whole life, and i knew as he was telling that story that he would never admit to the clerk that there had been a mistake. its one of those things that both of us would just never correct. i wish it was an ongoing thing cause my dude would continue buying it until it was cancelled.

2
GreatWhiteRuffaloAgent of E.M.P.I.R.E.•

I told him I'd take it, put it on the counter, and checked out the rest of the store.

This is the part that confuses me the most. Why wouldn't you just hold onto the comic while you were checking out the store?

It doesn't seem like that big of a deal. Mistakes happen and they fixed it for you.

And, depending on what back issue (you didn't disclose the issue #) it was, it could very easily be more than a $2.99 book. Saga first prints can sell very well.

Seems like a pretty silly reason not to revisit a shop, unless you have a bunch of shops in your area.

-1†
VRFourOPDeadpool•

Setting a comic down on the counter while I browse is weird? I was on my way to the gym and live in Chicago so I had a lot of stuff with me; I didn't want to carry the comic around and risk bending it up.

It was issue 8 but I don't see how that matters. I know you're just playing devil's advocate but it seems like it was more intentional than a mistake and I don't really want to patronize a shop that would try to burn a customer - however miniscule it might be.

15
citizen_reddit•

I tend to carry my stuff around with me as I'm browsing - must be the hunter gatherer in me.

9
mc_hfcs•

Weirdly, I'll set down any other stuff I'm carrying at the front counter before I set down the books I'm considering. Usually it's reflex - an adolescence filled with being asked to put any bags I had at the front counter so I wouldn't be tempted to fill it with comics and make a run for it (I guess).

I'm not trying to weigh in on the issue; I just felt like talking about myself for a moment.

1
TRextacy•

Do you mind saying which store, I'm curious as to where might do this?

2
kyleoverkillBucky•

def does matter what issue it is. you got it for cover price. a lot of the first prints of saga back issues are way beyond cover price at the moment.

2
ScoobyMWolverine (X-Force)•

What place in Chicago was it? I'm up there every once in awhile.

1
DJToastyBunsImmortal Iron Fist•

I do that every time I go to the shop near me. I guess it's weird, but I don't like carrying around the 5 or so books I came for while I read through the books that look interesting.

3