The Astonishing Elf Girl's Tips for Keeping Your Comic Store Clerk Happy. ~ And Other Long Titles
Many comic fans interact well with others, at least, well enough. For those that don't, I, the Astonishing Elf Girl, am here to give to tips on etiquette in the comic book store; or "The Museum of Social Awkwardness". Remember, a happy clerk is a...happy clerk.
Tip #8 ~ What do we look like, a library?
It's a classic line often attributed to comic shops and would seem more the stereotype than the truth. However, you'd be surprised how often it happens. Then again, you may be one of the people that does it.
It's totally understandable if you want to flip through a book to see if it's something you want; but reading in a comic shop is just bad form. The shop doesn't make money off of the books you don't buy; and while reading something isn't stealing, it doesn't exactly endear you to the people who work in the shop.
There are some small offenders, who will just read an issue and then move on, and then there are those who spend hours in the shop reading whatever they can find until they're stopped by an employee. The fact that someone is actually willing to do it still surprises me. Kids doing it are less surprising, many of them don't know any better, but some of the worst offenders are adults; and they SHOULD know better.
Yes, comics are expensive; yes the big companies have Event Fetish and it costs a small fortune just to keep up with what's going on. I totally understand that; if I wasn't working in the shop, I'd be able to read only a third of what I currently read each week. The fact remains, though, that reading in the shop is just bad for business.
More after the jump!
Tip #9 ~ Just Because You Don't Like the Answer Doesn't Mean It's Wrong
I've honestly lost track of how often this has happened, someone getting upset because they don't like my answer. This isn't about customer service, it's about availability, release dates, or other things completely out of our control.
I had a guy calling today asking for vintage pin-ups and men's magazines from the 40s and 50s. I told him that we didn't have anything like that, and he asked who might. I told him there was a very small chance that the other shop in town might, but not to count on it. He asked if I knew of any other place and I told him about the used bookstores, which were even less likely.
Really? Vintage pinups and men's magazines from over 50 years ago? I'm sure there's a small niche market for that kind of thing, but the guy was acting like every comic shop in the nation had vintage porn and why the hell didn't we?
Another customer recently asked me if I could get him a copy of Secret Invasion #5; to which I told him it wasn't out yet. He asked when it was released, and I told him the date. He wandered around the store for a bit more, and while I was in back, he must have asked my boss the same question, because when I got back up front, the manager was saying the same thing I had just five minutes before.
I'm sure there are some shops who have employees who don't really want to be there, have little interest in comics or helping out people. I imagine it's pretty rare though, so seriously, listen to the clerks. I know I've been hammering this point in, but really, it's our JOB to know what's going on in the world of comics. If we don't know, we usually can find out pretty quickly. You may not like our answers, but you're gonna have to live with them. No matter how many employees you ask, Secret Invasion #5 still comes out August 13th (theoretically) and very few comic shops have vintage porn.
Got a question for me? Email me here!
Elf Girl
Posted to Hot Stuff on 31 July 2008
· Comments (1)
Other stuff like this: tips
LOl you've had some pretty bizarre run ins. Vintage pr0n? at a comic shop? He could try Ebay maybe...
Yeah the most I read is when looking at trades to figure out if it's the right story arc I'm looking for. I would feel really uncomfortable just sitting there reading then walking out.