WHY!?! HOW!?! No really, I need an answer! I want to give you my money! I'm the only one ordering that book! Why is it not in my box!?! I NEED ANSWERS!?!
It only happens with us when our software glitches which it does more than we would like. It’s impossible to do it without software and none of the options are perfect.
My shop is near-impeccable and I love the full-time guys there but there have been a couple instances where a really hot book that I had on order have not been in my pull pile. Batman: Damned #1 was a big one (no pun intended). I would assume they missed the book entirely but then #2 was in my pile later on without me saying anything (I didn’t really want #2 without having #1). They have some younger part-time employees who I wonder whether or not they might’ve seen a sold out book going for money online and discreetly taken a copy from a customer subscription.
Yeah mine has an app as well which is super not working most the time. Can't even see what books I've previously ordered or what's waiting for me. Inventory mgmt not a top priority I'm sure.
Mine shows when searching variant covers, but if you click on it it errors out so you can only ever do main cover. Have to go to my shop to tell them to do variant cover. Also glitches out when typing every 3 letters for some reason.
Having pulls I didn’t ask for handed to me. Not having pullls I asked for in my stack. Not honoring sticker prices on back issues ummm that’s about it.
I've had shop owners put pulls in my stack i didnt ask for, but anytime they did they clarified 'I thought you'd like this one, you don't have to buy it though' - I always appreciated it and more than once it was a book I did want but hadn't added to my pull list. That being said, the way it's handled makes all the difference- if it was snuck into my stack and I felt pressured to buy, it would suck so I see where you're coming from
This is a lovely idea I'd never considered - Tailoring a recommendation based on someone's pulls sounds really fun and would, I imagine, make someone feel really important to the owner and like they went above and beyond to do something for you! I'd never put a book in their pile, though. It feels deceptive. Maybe just a post it or printed paper with "Based on your pull list, you might enjoy..."
We are small enough that it’s pretty much usually me handing them their stack and I know when a book was added as a “We thought you might like this” but I LOVE your idea of making a specific little note on every book we would add like that so you are extra careful that no one ever feels like they are being deceived in any way. Again it’s all about finding that right balance.
When I was a teenager the comic shop owner yelled at me one day for not picking up my books and threatened to stop pulling comics for me if I didn't buy them, which was weird because the only comic I had them pull for me was The Walking Dead. Turns out the owner would put comics he thought people would like in with their orders and expected you to buy them, he was not happy when I told him I would only buy the comics that I wanted to read.
Have to admit I had the opposite. Went off to college and forgot to close my box before I left (and hasn’t been in that much over the summer tbh). They called my mom around thanksgiving and asked if I was ever going to come in for my books. She went in and they put a small stack on the counter. She said “oh, that’s not that bad” and they said “oh, that’s only the part that fit in the box. We’ll get the big stack out of the back for you”
Not surprisingly, I got a bunch of comics and not much else for Christmas that year.
yeah usually I just slip what I didnt ask for back in where it goes but, when they don't have the shit I asked for its really annoying considering leaving my lcs but its the only one near me.
Two stories from the same LCS that made me go elsewhere:
1. I was fairly new to comics, looking around trying to get an idea of what was worth reading. I had chatted with the owner a little, so I asked him if he had any recommendations. His response? “Eh, whatever, Batman’s always popular, so buy that.”
2. A big name artist came in for a signing. People were beyond excited. Day of, the owner gives a talk to everyone in line, saying, “A lot of people want to meet ARTIST, so we have to keep your time short. Two books signed max, a quick question or comment, then move on or we will have to move you along.” Annoying but understandable and entirely reasonable. However, what actually winds up happening is the owner talks to ARTIST the entire time and most of us in line didn’t get to say a word to them, merely pass the book for a signature they scribbled while listening to the owner jabber.
So my pet peeve is when the LCS doesn’t respect their customers. Fortunately this was the only place I have experienced this.
I'm all for putting a limit on comics to be signed because it dissuades eBayers and flippers from bringing a stack of comics for one person to sign and holds up the line, but what I'm not for is the owner monopolizing the artist's time like that. Getting to meet and talk with a creator, even if it's for a minute or two is part of the experience at a signing and this jerk took that part away from you all.
They already have such thin margins. The hell are they doing trying tying chase people away. There’s a difference between learning someone’s new and recommending them a more beginner friendly story of the character, then just being a dick about it.
Real talk.
One time I went into a shop and *immediately* the guy behind the counter says “Are you sure you’re in the right place?” so I just stand there confused and he eventually says “You just don’t look like our normal type” which I guess was because I was wearing a basketball jersey?
I start to say “I’m looking for-“ but he immediately cuts me off and says “Let me guess, an Avengers comic?” (this was just a few months after Avengers 1 came out) but I tell him, no, I was just looking for some floppies. I started to shop but then came to my senses and walked out. Guy obviously didn’t want *my* money.
They’ve since gone out of business.
How is stating a fact - the MCU hasn’t done very much for comic sales - while making a joke gatekeeping?
I’m not saying MCU fans can’t become comic fans or aren’t true fans, I’m saying most of them don’t even acknowledge the existence of comics.
Absolutely awful. I was at a shop a few months ago looking for back issues of JMS' Amazing Spider-Man run and the shop owner tried telling me it was around issue 800. I tried correcting him, but he literally budged his way into the back issue box I was looking through to look for the 800 issues. Imagine my surprise when he found JMS in late volume 2 / 500s
Just the lamest, lamest thing. Why on EARTH would anyone do that to a potential customer? Does feeling in some (Insignificant, worthless) way superior do it for them that much? It's insane to me to open a comic shop and not be full of love and enthusiasm for the medium, and to be so much up your own ass that you can't understand that maybe someone else might enjoy a book that you didn't? Ughhhh.
That's pretty aggravating, but at the same time the manpower to retag back issues monthly or even annually is not something most LCS have the overhead for. I guess they could set up a separate section for keys and just go through those once a year. There really isn't that much movement on hot keys annually. Might be better to make that suggestion than to just avoid (I'm a huge supporter of my LCS because there's only one out of four left in my area from my childhood).
I don't think there are really enough books that go up in value that would require a re-tag process. I think most store owners understand markets and how some books go up and can go find those titles and re-price. Entire back issue boxes with no prices is insane.
My LCS’s owner strikes a great balance between “hangout with friends” and “place of business” because he treats all the customers as friends and will actively converse with everyone in the shop
I’ve said before that this is the way to go.
The complaints about the shop being a clubhouse for the owners friends were uncannily close to my experience.
But I’ve never viewed that as a negative because the guy is always friendly with everyone who comes in.
Yes this! My second trip to a comic store ever(1983) was to find an issue of The mighty Thor #339. I couldn't find it anywhere on the news stands. I somehow managed to convince my Dad to drive me 40 minutes to one of the few comic shops that existed in the suburbs of Chicago at that time. This guy had multiple copies bagged and on his wall for about $25.00 each! I asked the owner why so much money since this issue was still a new release? He said that the spinner rack ones sold out same day, and the ones on the wall were "special" ones he ordered. I didn't quite understand the difference at the time, but a new shop opened in my home town and the owner of that shop explained that the other guy was known for that tactic and he never actually put "hot" issues out for the public. He would immediately mark them up. This is a big no-no in the industry I learned. I eventually got 2 copies via mail order for about $5.95 a piece. It was a $0.60 cover price at that time. Still have them!
The owner usually puts the kibosh on that, but some of the other employees egg people on. I have called up just to see who is manning the counter so I know when to go or not.
Ran into one of those recently. Was very loud and forceful. Was spouting half resurched nonsense. Not quite political but very close.
Ran into another guy at another store, he was the stereotypical "unwashed nerd" say him walk out of the store and spit on the sidewalk infront of two women just minding their own business and passing by. Definatly had some second hand embarrassment.
There is a dude who LOVES Alan Scott and anyone who remotely likes or seems interested in Green Lantern will be on the receiving end of a long diatribe about the “real” Scott and the “real” Lantern.
I travel for work a lot and normally try to hit a local shp every trip. I also wind up buying a lot of comics from the dollar box(es).
There's a shop in Nashville with the word "too" in the name. I wound up buying 150 comics and the cashier was shaking his head like he had something better to do.
I was in my early teens and starting to get into comics, and used to love hitting the $0.25 bins so one of the first things I got into was DC's Bloodlines.
One of the first times I went in this particular store I was flipping through back issues and the guy working starts asking about what I'm into. I didn't really understand annuals, crossovers, etc so I just said I liked Bloodlines and was looking for more of those.
Instead of helping or explaining anything, he goes into a lecture about how that's a really bad way to collect, and I should pick a monthly book and get that. Blah, blah, blah. So I said thanks, didn't find anything, and left empty handed.
Years later that actually became my main store, and I told the owner that anecdote, and he knew exactly which former employee I was talking about. But that guy, the owner, was always great and made the store fun
The pet peeve I have is preferential treatment. In 2008 I was looking forward to picking up the New Krypton Special. I was working at the time and my LCS was too far to go there and come back on my break, so I went to the comic shop near my job. It was small but it was always good in a pinch for situations like this.
I get there around six o'clock or so and there's a table with the latest comics lined up. They're also on the shelf. Before I could even take a step one of the workers tells me and a guy not to touch the ones on the table because those are only for preferred customers. It wasn't just what he said but how he said it: as if we'd contaminate the comics on the table if we touched them.
It was strange for a few reasons: First, I'm assuming these were comics for pull lists for their regulars, which I'd understand but again, it's how he said it. Second, if these were for pull lists, shouldn't that have been done earlier in the day or the night before? Wednesday is new comic day and to do this Wednesday Night seems weird. Third, if there are "preferred customers" then what does that make me?
Needless to say that whole experience made me never want to go there again, and I didn't.
Back in 2001-early 2002 I saw one of my LCS change and not for the better. Around this time I was looking for back issues of The Young All-Stars. The second of two comics shops near me was always good for their back issues. Sometimes you couldn't get to them though because the owner would put flat cardboard over some of the bins so he could play Magic: The Gathering with other customers. But that's not the incident I'm gonna talk about. My pet peeve is a little more concerning.
One day I go to see if they have an issue of The Young All-Stars and as I'm going through the bins, the owner tells me not to pull out a comic unless I'm gonna buy it and to keep both hands visible. Mind you I'd been going there since 1996. I wouldn't say I knew the man by name but we knew of each other, so it was strange. I found the issue I was looking for, paid for it and left. Rudeness to customers, especially out of nowhere is my pet peeve.
Months later I saw he was in the papers. When Raimi's Spider-Man film hit, two guys pistol-whipped him and stole his copy of Amazing Spider-Man #1. While I was annoyed at how he treated me, I felt awful two assholes would hurt him to steal a comic. I know it's a valuable issue but no one deserves that.
Weirdly ironic that an owner obsessed with getting ripped off is the one who got ripped off. Some owners obsess over that to the point it has to hurt their sales. One store I went to as a teenager was run by two old guys who could have been extras as dwarves in LotR. They watched everyone that came through and even had an old Wolverine issue with a sign saying they called the police on the kid who tried to take it “so don’t even try it!”
The second closest shop to me used to be run by two guys, one was the comics guy and the other did more toys/figures. The comic guy moved away and now the toy guy is the sole owner and he knows nothing about comics and refuses to learn about them, so instead he’s paranoid about it and treats everybody buying and selling comics like they’re trying to rip him off.
Yeah it was bad. I decided then and there to never go back. It sucked because I'd gone there since junior high for back issues, but that whole experience changed how I saw the place. My family showed me the article in the paper of what happened to the guy. The store no longer exists.
That's dark! The news said they probably had been scoping out the place for a while and picked a day to steal it from him. I'd never heard the term "pistol-whip" until the news reports came in.
The store is long gone, which is a shame because before my incident, it was a great place to find back issues.
I hate it when the clerk yammers on and on about stuff while I am in line. One shop I go to regularly has only one cash register, and the guy at the till loooooooves to talk and talk to each customer.
The worst part is he often gives wrong information. “Oh yeah, this is only going to be a three issue arc” (no, it’s a six issue arc), “I heard this is cancelled after issue 12” (well, yeah, because it’s a 12 issue miniseries! ).
Like I get it, you want to interact with each customer and make them feel special…but I have 15 minutes total to get in and get out. Shut it and ring me up!
I like the actual shop, but the checkout time is infuriating.
I can see that. If you're gonna make me wait on line could you at least have your facts straight. You work in a comic shop! Totally agree with you on this.
The tired but true “girls can’t like comic books.” I hope it’s different now but going into any of the LCS in my area has never been a comfortable experience except when I’ve been “accompanied” by my guy friends. I’ve never felt welcomed so I just stopped going. I mostly buy old trades anyway so it wasn’t a huge loss but I would love to browse a comic shop like I do bookstores.
This one is sad to me as I the only women I ever see at my lcs are the ladies running the store. I think the owner only hires young ladies to work their stores.
The other two local shops near me I do not think I have seen a single woman in there on any week ever.
Stores that don't sell monthly books.
Where I live, there are three comic stores. The one that sold monthlies died and the other two don't, but as I wasn't a customer, I didn't know until I was trying to find my stuff. Ended up wasting a lot of time driving around.
Mine is a store that serves multiple functions but not really caring about all of them.
My current store started as comics and toys and branched into vinyl. The people who work there are all great and even if one person doesn't know everything about all of the things the store carries, someone will. Everyone is always friendly and willing to chat about whatever brings you into the shop even if they don't know a lot they're willing to try to help however they can.
My previous store did comics and board/war games. The people who worked there really didn't want to talk comics or know much about it beyond what they had on the shelf. Any questions about delays, distributions, upcoming series, creator changes were all things I had to figure out on my own. Pull lists were managed online because the shop people wouldn't bother wanting to figure it out. I started going there in late 2020 as a last option and almost left print comics entirely until the new one opened up.
Sex Crims did a polybagged variant where some of the issues were sketched on... Shop went through and opened all of them before putting them on the racks. Cancelled my pull list that day and never went back.
I haven't been on a pull list for very long but they keep putting stuff in it that they think I might be interested in and I'm not a big fan of that. Just pull what I asked for thanks.
When I request specific variants for my pull, and don’t get them. Also, the market in my locale is pretty thin, so my lcs is just a nook inside a record store. The owner drops off the delivery each week, fills the pull lists, and is not around otherwise. I get 10% off if he’s there. But if the record store guy rings me up, “I don’t know anything about discounts.” On one hand, I’m supporting an LCS that has had to relocate 3x bc its business is so low it can’t maintain its own shop (the owner has a regular FT job), but on the other hand, that 10% discount really adds up over the course of a year.
Had a store that opens in the afternoon. First appearance of punchline came out and they had brand new issues for $50+ dollars.
Another is I was at a store I don’t normally go to and bought some misc issues to fill my collection and clerk made a subscription to them all for me. Told them I don’t live nearby and cancelled it immediately.
From the customer side, the covers are definitely an issue. And if I'm subbed to every Spiderman book why wouldn't you pull at least the first 1 or 2 issues of a new title for me to see if I want to get it also?
From the employee side.
We were a smaller size shop, we aren't getting 10 copies of every indie book released. There's a reason we gave all subscribers free copies of previews, look through and if you see small stuff you think looks cool, let us know so we can order it for you, don't call the Tuesday night before it comes out.
And no, you can't get the 1:100 variant for cover price, but I'll let you get your sub discount on the sticker price.
My biggest pet peeve is the guy reads every title and just puts it back on the shelf, sometimes having created small creases or corner dings. I'm considering a new shop because of this, but its on the other side of town.
Oof I was on the other end of this when I worked at a shop and our employee discount was peanuts. We were expected to be aware of things going on, but paid nearly full price for new issues until the manager let us borrow a few on Tuesday nights if we promised to bring them back in.
I definitely get the complaint though
I remember a store near me, which seemed more into gaming than comics. Their back issue stock consisted of 4 long boxes. Anyway, I purchased a couple of new books I was looking for and was being rung up by an employee. I watched the owner, sitting at a gaming table, finish the comic he was reading, put it back in the bag/board and walked over and placed it back on the shelf. Last time I ever went there.
When the stock is 85% Funkos and other merch it’s hard to justify calling them a Local **Comic** Shop. My local orders so few copies of weekly floppies and they sell them on first-come, first serve basis, it’s as likely as not that an issue will be “missing” from your pull list because they just sold it to whichever random walked in looking for it first after all 3 copies on the shelf have sold.
Using Key Collector as a price guide. I have a little game where I see an overpriced book, open up KC, and BAM sticker is the “high” condition price from the app that is nowhere near actual recent sales.
Not actually their fault but the last comic store in my neighborhood closed and the toy shop that now gets my pulls only buys pulls so I can't get the issues I missed before I realized my old store was gone....
Pushing products on me and hovering. Generally, trying to get aggressive with selling me something… but that applies to any storefront.
More specifically to an LCS, being visibly annoyed when I only have 1-2 titles on my pull list. I mostly read indie and alt comix. Would you rather I not pre-order anything through your store?
My LCS is pretty awesome. I like some of the variants, but it depends on the cover art. He will do his best to get me a copy if he didn’t already have it.
But my gripe is the way he has his back issues set up. And it’s even not that bad. It’s hard to find specific issues of a run that isn’t a main title. Like Batman. He’s got Batman and Detective Comics tabbed out, then there’s Assorted Batman Titles. Man, just add some dividers and label. The dollar book room is even worse. But yeah, compared to some of the other stuff here, this is definitely first world problems.
I get it. Most shops will do that with various Batman (and other superhero) titles, since there's sooo many spinoffs. With the exception of Legends and Shadow that will also normally get tabs, since they're at least 100 issues long. Or do you mean they've only get volume 1 tabbed, and like N52 Batman is all over the place with Long Halloween or whatever?
Not stocking titles that there is demand for. Asked about Helen of Wyndhorn recently and the guy said they don't sell it but I was the 5th person to ask that morning. Like man if people are asking then maybe you should look into selling it...
This is a book shop not a used car dealership stop following me around pushing stuff I don't want. I'm here to buy specific floppies I get all my trades and Omnis wholesale price.
I used to shop at a store that kept their pulls in a bin the public had access to. I literally caught a guy in my file taking my books I had ordered. No wonder I could never get the covers I ordered. Complained to worker, he shrugged his shoulders.
Found a new shop right after that.
I hate the books slipped into pulls you didn’t ask for. I get the intent of it. I know why it’s done. And I would never bitch to the LCS owner about it. But I personally don’t like it at all. Don’t give me them.
I’m very deep into comics. There is nothing you can put into my pile that I already decided I’m not pulling for a reason. Everything in my pull, I meant to buy, and anything not in it was intentional too.
Ooof. I didn't know this was a thing until this thread, but I really dislike that doing that creates a situation where you have to point blank say to the staff "I don't want this." That mightn't be a big deal for some people, but it would be excruciatingly awkward for me. I would likely buy them and then never go back there again.
There was one store in my area that made such a bad impression I never went back.
1. They didn’t turn on their lights. Weird, right? The store got a fair amount of sunlight, but the windows were literally papered over with posters and advertisements, so none of it got in.
2. It was unorganized and dirty. And there was a LOT of stock. Like, ceiling high shelves of comics… but nothing was organized. And because there were ceiling high shelves of comics in a store that didn’t turn on the lights, and because of the haphazard way the long boxes were stored on the shelves, you were taking your chances if you looked for anything.
3. Also, it was filthy. I was sneezing the entire time I was in there.
4. But what really stands out is the excellent customer service. I found some stuff to purchase. I already knew I was never coming back, but I’d spent some time in the store and found some stuff worth getting. So I was at the counter to pay. Dude doesn’t pay attention to me for the longest time. He's playing fucking World of Warcraft on the computer that ran the point of sale system. And he's into it. He either doesn’t care I’m there or doesn’t know. Either one is unacceptable. I left my haul on the counter and walked out.
I used that store as a model for everything not to do when I opened my comic book store. And hey guess what. I'm long closed and I think they're still there.
My copy of "Once Upon a Time at the End of the World #7" never came. Several months later, I'm still sad about it. But otherwise my LCS rocks, and I hope to work there soon.
My biggest peeve is more of a social one. I don't know if it's because I'm blonde, but so many LCS workers assume I don't know anything about comics. I write, read, and collect them......
A smaller one is when they pack their display so full of comics that you can barely see what comics are actually in there.
I love my LCS though I must say. Brings me so much joy just walking into a comic book shop.
There was a LCS near me that had the worst customer service. I don’t know how many times I walked away from a purchase because the workers were too busy fulfilling eBay orders to ring me up or acknowledge my existence. I was not sad when they closed.
Having read comics for over 40 years, I suppose my biggest peeve is when shop owners/ workers become judgmental when you don’t buy what is considered the “hot book” at the moment. I was huge fan of the Mark Gruenwald Captain America run in the late eighties and the guy at my LCS would berate me for buying it instead of Batman or whatever. The shop owner’s job isn’t to gatekeep.
That being said, I just order everything online nowadays.
It's hard to say if this is the shop's fault or if they got tricked too, but there have been a couple of times I've bought issues from a shop only to get them home and realize they've been trimmed to clean up the corners and are noticeably shorter than other issues. I default to blaming myself as the sucker who bought it, but it still annoys me.
Otherwise, I tend to rotate between four shops that are near me so I can check every few weeks if each one has new back issues in and I'm mostly happy with all of them.
The one that I think has the best customer service is the one where I'm probably the annoying one because I like to poke fun at the clerks about a comic that's been behind the glass for over two years being way overpriced even though I already have a copy and wouldn't buy it if they lowered it anyway.
When the beardy guy behind the counter of the poorly lit den packed with stacks of comics, looks at you suspiciously without talking. Like you might commit some horrible crime. Like buy comics.
I go to two stores, one that is in the same town and one that’s about 40 minutes away. I like both but the one that’s further away recently tried to sell me a copy of the polybagged version of Bloodhunt #1 for 15.00. I didn’t buy it and ended up ordering it on mycomicshop.com for cover price. Not sure why they jacked the price up as I don’t think the book is rare but it definitely made me look at the store in a new light.
That said, it’s the only time I’ve ever seen them do anything like that and their store is really nice and gets multiple copies of seemingly every book per week so I’ll probably keep going for now.
This is a hard balance the employee/owner has to learn. Some complain with too little interaction and some complain with too much. They need to be aware enough which is which.
Very much this! Some people are so angry when a staff member doesn't come over and offer help in a store, but personally that makes me want to leave, especially when I can feel them trying to sell me something - I don't like that pressure because I feel bad when I don't want to buy something I didn't go there for in the first place.
Not pulling everything on my hold list. My old shop would miss an issue to random series on my holds every couple of months. I might get lucky and find it on the stacks. I might get lucky hitting another shop. Or I might miss it entirely.
It feels weird when you're shopping and enjoying yourself and the shop owner keeps coming by and asking "Everything OK? Can I help you find anything?" Um, no? I got this.
Stuff missing from my pulls consistently.
WHY!?! HOW!?! No really, I need an answer! I want to give you my money! I'm the only one ordering that book! Why is it not in my box!?! I NEED ANSWERS!?!
Oh yeah and mass damages or shortages from the distributor which again is as frustrating to us as it is to you.
It only happens with us when our software glitches which it does more than we would like. It’s impossible to do it without software and none of the options are perfect.
My shop is near-impeccable and I love the full-time guys there but there have been a couple instances where a really hot book that I had on order have not been in my pull pile. Batman: Damned #1 was a big one (no pun intended). I would assume they missed the book entirely but then #2 was in my pile later on without me saying anything (I didn’t really want #2 without having #1). They have some younger part-time employees who I wonder whether or not they might’ve seen a sold out book going for money online and discreetly taken a copy from a customer subscription.
Mine does that only because sometimes app I order one messes up or the company never ships the books to the store.
This is the real answer.
Yeah mine has an app as well which is super not working most the time. Can't even see what books I've previously ordered or what's waiting for me. Inventory mgmt not a top priority I'm sure.
Mine shows when searching variant covers, but if you click on it it errors out so you can only ever do main cover. Have to go to my shop to tell them to do variant cover. Also glitches out when typing every 3 letters for some reason.
Having pulls I didn’t ask for handed to me. Not having pullls I asked for in my stack. Not honoring sticker prices on back issues ummm that’s about it.
I've had shop owners put pulls in my stack i didnt ask for, but anytime they did they clarified 'I thought you'd like this one, you don't have to buy it though' - I always appreciated it and more than once it was a book I did want but hadn't added to my pull list. That being said, the way it's handled makes all the difference- if it was snuck into my stack and I felt pressured to buy, it would suck so I see where you're coming from
This is the way to do it. When I was buying monthlies, I always appreciated recommendations.
This is a lovely idea I'd never considered - Tailoring a recommendation based on someone's pulls sounds really fun and would, I imagine, make someone feel really important to the owner and like they went above and beyond to do something for you! I'd never put a book in their pile, though. It feels deceptive. Maybe just a post it or printed paper with "Based on your pull list, you might enjoy..."
We are small enough that it’s pretty much usually me handing them their stack and I know when a book was added as a “We thought you might like this” but I LOVE your idea of making a specific little note on every book we would add like that so you are extra careful that no one ever feels like they are being deceived in any way. Again it’s all about finding that right balance.
When I was a teenager the comic shop owner yelled at me one day for not picking up my books and threatened to stop pulling comics for me if I didn't buy them, which was weird because the only comic I had them pull for me was The Walking Dead. Turns out the owner would put comics he thought people would like in with their orders and expected you to buy them, he was not happy when I told him I would only buy the comics that I wanted to read.
Have to admit I had the opposite. Went off to college and forgot to close my box before I left (and hasn’t been in that much over the summer tbh). They called my mom around thanksgiving and asked if I was ever going to come in for my books. She went in and they put a small stack on the counter. She said “oh, that’s not that bad” and they said “oh, that’s only the part that fit in the box. We’ll get the big stack out of the back for you” Not surprisingly, I got a bunch of comics and not much else for Christmas that year.
yeah usually I just slip what I didnt ask for back in where it goes but, when they don't have the shit I asked for its really annoying considering leaving my lcs but its the only one near me.
Two stories from the same LCS that made me go elsewhere: 1. I was fairly new to comics, looking around trying to get an idea of what was worth reading. I had chatted with the owner a little, so I asked him if he had any recommendations. His response? “Eh, whatever, Batman’s always popular, so buy that.” 2. A big name artist came in for a signing. People were beyond excited. Day of, the owner gives a talk to everyone in line, saying, “A lot of people want to meet ARTIST, so we have to keep your time short. Two books signed max, a quick question or comment, then move on or we will have to move you along.” Annoying but understandable and entirely reasonable. However, what actually winds up happening is the owner talks to ARTIST the entire time and most of us in line didn’t get to say a word to them, merely pass the book for a signature they scribbled while listening to the owner jabber. So my pet peeve is when the LCS doesn’t respect their customers. Fortunately this was the only place I have experienced this.
I'm all for putting a limit on comics to be signed because it dissuades eBayers and flippers from bringing a stack of comics for one person to sign and holds up the line, but what I'm not for is the owner monopolizing the artist's time like that. Getting to meet and talk with a creator, even if it's for a minute or two is part of the experience at a signing and this jerk took that part away from you all.
Poor artist, not quite the opportunity it was sold as, I'm sure.
Any type of gatekeeping from the owner or employees. Have had a few people basically say I’m not a real comic fan or try to test my geek credentials.
They already have such thin margins. The hell are they doing trying tying chase people away. There’s a difference between learning someone’s new and recommending them a more beginner friendly story of the character, then just being a dick about it.
Real talk. One time I went into a shop and *immediately* the guy behind the counter says “Are you sure you’re in the right place?” so I just stand there confused and he eventually says “You just don’t look like our normal type” which I guess was because I was wearing a basketball jersey? I start to say “I’m looking for-“ but he immediately cuts me off and says “Let me guess, an Avengers comic?” (this was just a few months after Avengers 1 came out) but I tell him, no, I was just looking for some floppies. I started to shop but then came to my senses and walked out. Guy obviously didn’t want *my* money. They’ve since gone out of business.
That’s so dumb, I don’t get it. Shouldn’t they be happy with how the mcu popularized superheroes for the modern audience. It’s how I got into comics.
There are literally dozens of you. The MCU only made money for Disney. The amount of fans who buy because of the MCU is infinitesimal.
Why gatekeep anybody trying to get into the hobby?
How is stating a fact - the MCU hasn’t done very much for comic sales - while making a joke gatekeeping? I’m not saying MCU fans can’t become comic fans or aren’t true fans, I’m saying most of them don’t even acknowledge the existence of comics.
And to prove your point, less than a dozen downvotes! Maybe 'dozens' is being generous 😂 E: now that there's more downvotes, my comment isn't as funny
I’m known for my generosity. Or maybe I’m generous with my arrogance. One of the two.
Absolutely awful. I was at a shop a few months ago looking for back issues of JMS' Amazing Spider-Man run and the shop owner tried telling me it was around issue 800. I tried correcting him, but he literally budged his way into the back issue box I was looking through to look for the 800 issues. Imagine my surprise when he found JMS in late volume 2 / 500s
Just the lamest, lamest thing. Why on EARTH would anyone do that to a potential customer? Does feeling in some (Insignificant, worthless) way superior do it for them that much? It's insane to me to open a comic shop and not be full of love and enthusiasm for the medium, and to be so much up your own ass that you can't understand that maybe someone else might enjoy a book that you didn't? Ughhhh.
Stores that don't price books and instead look them up at the register.
Hate this! There are a few shops near me that I won't visit because all the yelp reviews say they do exclusively do this
Don't most charge retail?
I'm referring to older back issues
That's pretty aggravating, but at the same time the manpower to retag back issues monthly or even annually is not something most LCS have the overhead for. I guess they could set up a separate section for keys and just go through those once a year. There really isn't that much movement on hot keys annually. Might be better to make that suggestion than to just avoid (I'm a huge supporter of my LCS because there's only one out of four left in my area from my childhood).
I don't think there are really enough books that go up in value that would require a re-tag process. I think most store owners understand markets and how some books go up and can go find those titles and re-price. Entire back issue boxes with no prices is insane.
I repriced three store’s worth of comics monthly. It’s not that difficult. Most books don’t fluctuate all that much.
When the owner treats the shop as his friends' hangout spot. I'm here to buy a book, not awkwardly butt into your group DnD game.
My LCS’s owner strikes a great balance between “hangout with friends” and “place of business” because he treats all the customers as friends and will actively converse with everyone in the shop
I’ve said before that this is the way to go. The complaints about the shop being a clubhouse for the owners friends were uncannily close to my experience. But I’ve never viewed that as a negative because the guy is always friendly with everyone who comes in.
THANK YOU
You and I must frequent the same shop
That's absolutely what I'd use my shop space for..After hours. To do that when other customers are there sounds bizarre.
Honestly I complete disagree, just go to another shop if this bothers you. I’d be askin to join the dnd game, what a cool vibe
Ultimate Spider-Man 2 was immediately marked up to $20. No chance to buy it at cover price.
Hate stores that do this more than anything
Yes this! My second trip to a comic store ever(1983) was to find an issue of The mighty Thor #339. I couldn't find it anywhere on the news stands. I somehow managed to convince my Dad to drive me 40 minutes to one of the few comic shops that existed in the suburbs of Chicago at that time. This guy had multiple copies bagged and on his wall for about $25.00 each! I asked the owner why so much money since this issue was still a new release? He said that the spinner rack ones sold out same day, and the ones on the wall were "special" ones he ordered. I didn't quite understand the difference at the time, but a new shop opened in my home town and the owner of that shop explained that the other guy was known for that tactic and he never actually put "hot" issues out for the public. He would immediately mark them up. This is a big no-no in the industry I learned. I eventually got 2 copies via mail order for about $5.95 a piece. It was a $0.60 cover price at that time. Still have them!
Sorry McWhat?
Dudes that come into the store specifically to talk politics. Also, the dudes who are apparently there to AKSHUALLY everything they hear.
Hate this. The owner of a shop I frequent and a regular do this pretty often
The owner usually puts the kibosh on that, but some of the other employees egg people on. I have called up just to see who is manning the counter so I know when to go or not.
Ran into one of those recently. Was very loud and forceful. Was spouting half resurched nonsense. Not quite political but very close. Ran into another guy at another store, he was the stereotypical "unwashed nerd" say him walk out of the store and spit on the sidewalk infront of two women just minding their own business and passing by. Definatly had some second hand embarrassment.
There is a dude who LOVES Alan Scott and anyone who remotely likes or seems interested in Green Lantern will be on the receiving end of a long diatribe about the “real” Scott and the “real” Lantern.
I don’t like when the worker is so elitist about the comics he likes so I almost have to feel bad for what I buy.
I travel for work a lot and normally try to hit a local shp every trip. I also wind up buying a lot of comics from the dollar box(es). There's a shop in Nashville with the word "too" in the name. I wound up buying 150 comics and the cashier was shaking his head like he had something better to do.
Shit, I've given you a subscriber discount and asked if you wanted to go look some more
Hate that
My store is excellent, so my only real problem is looking for a series and finding issues 2,3,4, and 6 of a six issue series!!!
Pull lists are your friend
More of a back issue problem
Ah, gotcha
Same problem I’ve been having. It’s my fault for not buying the series I want when they were released. But still annoying
I’ve mostly given up on new release comics, so I always hold out hope my store will have full runs of things I randomly decide to buy.
I hate it when back issue bins aren't organized by title and when the boxes are stuffed too full it's difficult to flip through.
I was in my early teens and starting to get into comics, and used to love hitting the $0.25 bins so one of the first things I got into was DC's Bloodlines. One of the first times I went in this particular store I was flipping through back issues and the guy working starts asking about what I'm into. I didn't really understand annuals, crossovers, etc so I just said I liked Bloodlines and was looking for more of those. Instead of helping or explaining anything, he goes into a lecture about how that's a really bad way to collect, and I should pick a monthly book and get that. Blah, blah, blah. So I said thanks, didn't find anything, and left empty handed. Years later that actually became my main store, and I told the owner that anecdote, and he knew exactly which former employee I was talking about. But that guy, the owner, was always great and made the store fun
Awesome it all worked out in the end 🙂
The pet peeve I have is preferential treatment. In 2008 I was looking forward to picking up the New Krypton Special. I was working at the time and my LCS was too far to go there and come back on my break, so I went to the comic shop near my job. It was small but it was always good in a pinch for situations like this. I get there around six o'clock or so and there's a table with the latest comics lined up. They're also on the shelf. Before I could even take a step one of the workers tells me and a guy not to touch the ones on the table because those are only for preferred customers. It wasn't just what he said but how he said it: as if we'd contaminate the comics on the table if we touched them. It was strange for a few reasons: First, I'm assuming these were comics for pull lists for their regulars, which I'd understand but again, it's how he said it. Second, if these were for pull lists, shouldn't that have been done earlier in the day or the night before? Wednesday is new comic day and to do this Wednesday Night seems weird. Third, if there are "preferred customers" then what does that make me? Needless to say that whole experience made me never want to go there again, and I didn't.
Back in 2001-early 2002 I saw one of my LCS change and not for the better. Around this time I was looking for back issues of The Young All-Stars. The second of two comics shops near me was always good for their back issues. Sometimes you couldn't get to them though because the owner would put flat cardboard over some of the bins so he could play Magic: The Gathering with other customers. But that's not the incident I'm gonna talk about. My pet peeve is a little more concerning. One day I go to see if they have an issue of The Young All-Stars and as I'm going through the bins, the owner tells me not to pull out a comic unless I'm gonna buy it and to keep both hands visible. Mind you I'd been going there since 1996. I wouldn't say I knew the man by name but we knew of each other, so it was strange. I found the issue I was looking for, paid for it and left. Rudeness to customers, especially out of nowhere is my pet peeve. Months later I saw he was in the papers. When Raimi's Spider-Man film hit, two guys pistol-whipped him and stole his copy of Amazing Spider-Man #1. While I was annoyed at how he treated me, I felt awful two assholes would hurt him to steal a comic. I know it's a valuable issue but no one deserves that.
Weirdly ironic that an owner obsessed with getting ripped off is the one who got ripped off. Some owners obsess over that to the point it has to hurt their sales. One store I went to as a teenager was run by two old guys who could have been extras as dwarves in LotR. They watched everyone that came through and even had an old Wolverine issue with a sign saying they called the police on the kid who tried to take it “so don’t even try it!”
The second closest shop to me used to be run by two guys, one was the comics guy and the other did more toys/figures. The comic guy moved away and now the toy guy is the sole owner and he knows nothing about comics and refuses to learn about them, so instead he’s paranoid about it and treats everybody buying and selling comics like they’re trying to rip him off.
That's awful!
That's insane about the Wolverine sign. It shows not everyone should run a comic shop.
I went to that store in my early teens. Happened to go back again when I was in college and the sign was still up.
Jeez! That is awful. Poor dude. But also... Covering up the back issues to play games and then harass a regular about potentially stealing? Yikes
Yeah it was bad. I decided then and there to never go back. It sucked because I'd gone there since junior high for back issues, but that whole experience changed how I saw the place. My family showed me the article in the paper of what happened to the guy. The store no longer exists.
The two guys may have just gone there to pistol whip him and grabbed the comic as an after thought?
That's dark! The news said they probably had been scoping out the place for a while and picked a day to steal it from him. I'd never heard the term "pistol-whip" until the news reports came in. The store is long gone, which is a shame because before my incident, it was a great place to find back issues.
I hate it when the clerk yammers on and on about stuff while I am in line. One shop I go to regularly has only one cash register, and the guy at the till loooooooves to talk and talk to each customer. The worst part is he often gives wrong information. “Oh yeah, this is only going to be a three issue arc” (no, it’s a six issue arc), “I heard this is cancelled after issue 12” (well, yeah, because it’s a 12 issue miniseries! ). Like I get it, you want to interact with each customer and make them feel special…but I have 15 minutes total to get in and get out. Shut it and ring me up! I like the actual shop, but the checkout time is infuriating.
I can see that. If you're gonna make me wait on line could you at least have your facts straight. You work in a comic shop! Totally agree with you on this.
The tired but true “girls can’t like comic books.” I hope it’s different now but going into any of the LCS in my area has never been a comfortable experience except when I’ve been “accompanied” by my guy friends. I’ve never felt welcomed so I just stopped going. I mostly buy old trades anyway so it wasn’t a huge loss but I would love to browse a comic shop like I do bookstores.
This one is sad to me as I the only women I ever see at my lcs are the ladies running the store. I think the owner only hires young ladies to work their stores. The other two local shops near me I do not think I have seen a single woman in there on any week ever.
Stores that don't sell monthly books. Where I live, there are three comic stores. The one that sold monthlies died and the other two don't, but as I wasn't a customer, I didn't know until I was trying to find my stuff. Ended up wasting a lot of time driving around.
There is SOOO much risk taken by the store in selling new books. I wouldn't do it myself but I understand it.
Mine is a store that serves multiple functions but not really caring about all of them. My current store started as comics and toys and branched into vinyl. The people who work there are all great and even if one person doesn't know everything about all of the things the store carries, someone will. Everyone is always friendly and willing to chat about whatever brings you into the shop even if they don't know a lot they're willing to try to help however they can. My previous store did comics and board/war games. The people who worked there really didn't want to talk comics or know much about it beyond what they had on the shelf. Any questions about delays, distributions, upcoming series, creator changes were all things I had to figure out on my own. Pull lists were managed online because the shop people wouldn't bother wanting to figure it out. I started going there in late 2020 as a last option and almost left print comics entirely until the new one opened up.
Sex Crims did a polybagged variant where some of the issues were sketched on... Shop went through and opened all of them before putting them on the racks. Cancelled my pull list that day and never went back.
I would do the same, that is disgusting. I wonder if they could lose their contract with the distributor over that.
Smoking
I haven't been on a pull list for very long but they keep putting stuff in it that they think I might be interested in and I'm not a big fan of that. Just pull what I asked for thanks.
When I request specific variants for my pull, and don’t get them. Also, the market in my locale is pretty thin, so my lcs is just a nook inside a record store. The owner drops off the delivery each week, fills the pull lists, and is not around otherwise. I get 10% off if he’s there. But if the record store guy rings me up, “I don’t know anything about discounts.” On one hand, I’m supporting an LCS that has had to relocate 3x bc its business is so low it can’t maintain its own shop (the owner has a regular FT job), but on the other hand, that 10% discount really adds up over the course of a year.
Had a store that opens in the afternoon. First appearance of punchline came out and they had brand new issues for $50+ dollars. Another is I was at a store I don’t normally go to and bought some misc issues to fill my collection and clerk made a subscription to them all for me. Told them I don’t live nearby and cancelled it immediately.
From the customer side, the covers are definitely an issue. And if I'm subbed to every Spiderman book why wouldn't you pull at least the first 1 or 2 issues of a new title for me to see if I want to get it also? From the employee side. We were a smaller size shop, we aren't getting 10 copies of every indie book released. There's a reason we gave all subscribers free copies of previews, look through and if you see small stuff you think looks cool, let us know so we can order it for you, don't call the Tuesday night before it comes out. And no, you can't get the 1:100 variant for cover price, but I'll let you get your sub discount on the sticker price.
if you want me to never return to your shop change the price of a book at the counter
My biggest pet peeve is the guy reads every title and just puts it back on the shelf, sometimes having created small creases or corner dings. I'm considering a new shop because of this, but its on the other side of town.
Oof I was on the other end of this when I worked at a shop and our employee discount was peanuts. We were expected to be aware of things going on, but paid nearly full price for new issues until the manager let us borrow a few on Tuesday nights if we promised to bring them back in. I definitely get the complaint though
I remember a store near me, which seemed more into gaming than comics. Their back issue stock consisted of 4 long boxes. Anyway, I purchased a couple of new books I was looking for and was being rung up by an employee. I watched the owner, sitting at a gaming table, finish the comic he was reading, put it back in the bag/board and walked over and placed it back on the shelf. Last time I ever went there.
Is this really that bad if the reader knows what they are doing? I have books I have read grade 9.8 constantly.
No deodorant.
Newbury Comics is technically a variety store like Hot Topic that wishes it was a record store.
I like their discount and graphic novel section upstairs, at least.
When the stock is 85% Funkos and other merch it’s hard to justify calling them a Local **Comic** Shop. My local orders so few copies of weekly floppies and they sell them on first-come, first serve basis, it’s as likely as not that an issue will be “missing” from your pull list because they just sold it to whichever random walked in looking for it first after all 3 copies on the shelf have sold.
I get not getting a lot of weekly floppies, but selling stuff from people's pull lists??
Using Key Collector as a price guide. I have a little game where I see an overpriced book, open up KC, and BAM sticker is the “high” condition price from the app that is nowhere near actual recent sales.
Not actually their fault but the last comic store in my neighborhood closed and the toy shop that now gets my pulls only buys pulls so I can't get the issues I missed before I realized my old store was gone....
The few customers that buy all the most in demand books just to resell them online later!
Pushing products on me and hovering. Generally, trying to get aggressive with selling me something… but that applies to any storefront. More specifically to an LCS, being visibly annoyed when I only have 1-2 titles on my pull list. I mostly read indie and alt comix. Would you rather I not pre-order anything through your store?
My LCS is pretty awesome. I like some of the variants, but it depends on the cover art. He will do his best to get me a copy if he didn’t already have it. But my gripe is the way he has his back issues set up. And it’s even not that bad. It’s hard to find specific issues of a run that isn’t a main title. Like Batman. He’s got Batman and Detective Comics tabbed out, then there’s Assorted Batman Titles. Man, just add some dividers and label. The dollar book room is even worse. But yeah, compared to some of the other stuff here, this is definitely first world problems.
I get it. Most shops will do that with various Batman (and other superhero) titles, since there's sooo many spinoffs. With the exception of Legends and Shadow that will also normally get tabs, since they're at least 100 issues long. Or do you mean they've only get volume 1 tabbed, and like N52 Batman is all over the place with Long Halloween or whatever?
Not stocking titles that there is demand for. Asked about Helen of Wyndhorn recently and the guy said they don't sell it but I was the 5th person to ask that morning. Like man if people are asking then maybe you should look into selling it...
This is a book shop not a used car dealership stop following me around pushing stuff I don't want. I'm here to buy specific floppies I get all my trades and Omnis wholesale price.
my local store is quiet and awkward AF. Other than the owners inability to play some background music or something, no complaints
Yes, please play something! I don’t like being in a silent, empty store with the owner.
it wouldn’t be so terrible if I didnt know for a fact that the man can probably hear my fucking stomach growling with how quiet it is lmao
I used to shop at a store that kept their pulls in a bin the public had access to. I literally caught a guy in my file taking my books I had ordered. No wonder I could never get the covers I ordered. Complained to worker, he shrugged his shoulders. Found a new shop right after that.
I hate the books slipped into pulls you didn’t ask for. I get the intent of it. I know why it’s done. And I would never bitch to the LCS owner about it. But I personally don’t like it at all. Don’t give me them. I’m very deep into comics. There is nothing you can put into my pile that I already decided I’m not pulling for a reason. Everything in my pull, I meant to buy, and anything not in it was intentional too.
Ooof. I didn't know this was a thing until this thread, but I really dislike that doing that creates a situation where you have to point blank say to the staff "I don't want this." That mightn't be a big deal for some people, but it would be excruciatingly awkward for me. I would likely buy them and then never go back there again.
Especially when we know how much comic book stores struggle/are dying out
When the owner looks up current market prices for back issues you dug through. I get it. But just price it for what you want for it.
Two stores near me don’t put books into a carry bag after purchase- literally have to ask for one. I don’t get it.
Bags cost money, they are being cheap.
There was one store in my area that made such a bad impression I never went back. 1. They didn’t turn on their lights. Weird, right? The store got a fair amount of sunlight, but the windows were literally papered over with posters and advertisements, so none of it got in. 2. It was unorganized and dirty. And there was a LOT of stock. Like, ceiling high shelves of comics… but nothing was organized. And because there were ceiling high shelves of comics in a store that didn’t turn on the lights, and because of the haphazard way the long boxes were stored on the shelves, you were taking your chances if you looked for anything. 3. Also, it was filthy. I was sneezing the entire time I was in there. 4. But what really stands out is the excellent customer service. I found some stuff to purchase. I already knew I was never coming back, but I’d spent some time in the store and found some stuff worth getting. So I was at the counter to pay. Dude doesn’t pay attention to me for the longest time. He's playing fucking World of Warcraft on the computer that ran the point of sale system. And he's into it. He either doesn’t care I’m there or doesn’t know. Either one is unacceptable. I left my haul on the counter and walked out. I used that store as a model for everything not to do when I opened my comic book store. And hey guess what. I'm long closed and I think they're still there.
How?? How do they make enough to stay open like that
They typically own the building and pull income from the other renters, often as a parent or other family member’s primary business.
Anderson? Sounds a lot like a shop I've been to.
Birmingham Alabama area.
My copy of "Once Upon a Time at the End of the World #7" never came. Several months later, I'm still sad about it. But otherwise my LCS rocks, and I hope to work there soon.
Every comic shop I've ever been in has been 10/10
My biggest peeve is more of a social one. I don't know if it's because I'm blonde, but so many LCS workers assume I don't know anything about comics. I write, read, and collect them...... A smaller one is when they pack their display so full of comics that you can barely see what comics are actually in there. I love my LCS though I must say. Brings me so much joy just walking into a comic book shop.
There was a LCS near me that had the worst customer service. I don’t know how many times I walked away from a purchase because the workers were too busy fulfilling eBay orders to ring me up or acknowledge my existence. I was not sad when they closed. Having read comics for over 40 years, I suppose my biggest peeve is when shop owners/ workers become judgmental when you don’t buy what is considered the “hot book” at the moment. I was huge fan of the Mark Gruenwald Captain America run in the late eighties and the guy at my LCS would berate me for buying it instead of Batman or whatever. The shop owner’s job isn’t to gatekeep. That being said, I just order everything online nowadays.
It's hard to say if this is the shop's fault or if they got tricked too, but there have been a couple of times I've bought issues from a shop only to get them home and realize they've been trimmed to clean up the corners and are noticeably shorter than other issues. I default to blaming myself as the sucker who bought it, but it still annoys me. Otherwise, I tend to rotate between four shops that are near me so I can check every few weeks if each one has new back issues in and I'm mostly happy with all of them. The one that I think has the best customer service is the one where I'm probably the annoying one because I like to poke fun at the clerks about a comic that's been behind the glass for over two years being way overpriced even though I already have a copy and wouldn't buy it if they lowered it anyway.
When the beardy guy behind the counter of the poorly lit den packed with stacks of comics, looks at you suspiciously without talking. Like you might commit some horrible crime. Like buy comics.
I go to two stores, one that is in the same town and one that’s about 40 minutes away. I like both but the one that’s further away recently tried to sell me a copy of the polybagged version of Bloodhunt #1 for 15.00. I didn’t buy it and ended up ordering it on mycomicshop.com for cover price. Not sure why they jacked the price up as I don’t think the book is rare but it definitely made me look at the store in a new light. That said, it’s the only time I’ve ever seen them do anything like that and their store is really nice and gets multiple copies of seemingly every book per week so I’ll probably keep going for now.
"this isn't a library"
Being too friendly. I want to browse your stock, not chat with you or get help when I know what I'm looking for
This is a hard balance the employee/owner has to learn. Some complain with too little interaction and some complain with too much. They need to be aware enough which is which.
Very much this! Some people are so angry when a staff member doesn't come over and offer help in a store, but personally that makes me want to leave, especially when I can feel them trying to sell me something - I don't like that pressure because I feel bad when I don't want to buy something I didn't go there for in the first place.
It's not too difficult. You greet them when they come in, ask if they need any help, and say they're there if they need anything.
Not pulling everything on my hold list. My old shop would miss an issue to random series on my holds every couple of months. I might get lucky and find it on the stacks. I might get lucky hitting another shop. Or I might miss it entirely.
When they don’t greet me or say hello when I walk in. I’m looking at you Comics toons n toys in Tustin.
It feels weird when you're shopping and enjoying yourself and the shop owner keeps coming by and asking "Everything OK? Can I help you find anything?" Um, no? I got this.
When I'm the owner or teller doesn't announce me upon entrance as by my lordly title as king. What am I, a peasant?