deimos3428 wrote:Normally I'm all in favor of this benefit of the doubt thing, but in this case, saying something even halfway nice about Cougar around here isn't a great idea.

It's not about being nice though, is it? It's about stating the facts as they apply to me and this certainly has no bearing on anyone else's experiences. But I hear what you're saying.

megnelwil wrote:
Well it arrived and it's certainly not VGC. But then, nobody said it was. The front and rear covers are damaged as described, maybe worse, but the contents are fine except for the odd blemish arising from general use by the look of it. For £12 it's more than usable and a fascinating read. I'm keeping it.

Just to put £12 into context, it will buy you half a train ticket from Cambridge to London, or 2 miserable, watered down pints of beer once you get there, or 10 minutes stuck in a jam in a London black cab, or 2.5 soggy sandwiches if you feel peckish. Any of those things or a 30 year old flashback to the birth of D&D isn't a hard choice really. Over here inflation is rampant, tax is through the roof, you get fined for something or another just by stepping out your door and it all makes £12 seem like loose change, which in reality it is. I really admire this web site and have found it useful but as a research tool it's far more geared to the US than the UK. Figure a 1:1 Dollar/ Sterling ratio for everything - in other words everything we buy here is twice the price you pay in the States, in real terms - except on the more expensive items maybe. Which is why I can't understand why an easier method for Brits to gain access to the US market hasn't been put in place - I have plenty of ideas by the way.

Anyway, that's four deals with the seller concerned and apart from one dud item that cost 99p (offset by a mint/sw item costing the same price) in all fairness I have to give a thumbs up. I can only go on my own experiences whilst sympathising with those who have had problems.

Or you could have waited for a deal, and had one in very nice condition for about the same price (I've seen copies go for $25 here and there in the last year or so).  Inexplicable.  The lengths to which some people will go to support a decision to deal with the Coug....like you're thanking him for letting you buy an overpriced beat to hell copy. Funny if it wasn't so sad. I'd sell a copy in that condition...if I didn't just toss it in the trash...for $10, tops.  

And if $25 is loose change to you, maybe everyone ought to stop flogging socialism as the end all/be all of society...I'd rather have my loose change add up to about $4-$5 including the stuff under the mat in the front of the car....and not have to pay $25 for two beers (even the shameful price gouging at sporting events won't leave you $25 light for two beers....six beers, maybe )

Mike B.

megnelwil wrote:
Just to put £12 into context, it will buy you 2 miserable, watered down pints of beer ...   Over here inflation is rampant, tax is through the roof, you get fined for something or another just by stepping out your door and it all makes £12 seem like loose change, which in reality it is.

Sorry, which country are you living in please?

Cos it certainly isnt the same one I do. I work in London and live in Essex, and unless I'm stupid enough to spend all my time in hotel bars, beer ISNT £6 a pint.

Inflation is 2.4%.  Rampant??

And if you get fined a lot I suggest you start living in the real world instead of whichever fantasy one you obviously inhabit and stick to real english laws.  

I do realise that it is the general american stereotype that they'll believe anything, but you do have to tinge it with a bit of realism...  

Cheers,
Malc

Hi Mike,

Great, if a mint comes along I might try and buy that too - even better if it costs £5. £5 gets you 1 issue of What Car magazine off a supermarket shelf. I bought the book to read it. I'll buy a better one if I decide to collect it. I go to no lengths whatsoever to justify any of my trades, mainly because I don't feel the slightest inclination to offer any justification nor do I think it is due. If others have a problem with this seller then I sympathise but the fact is, I don't have a problem. That's not a justification it's a statement of the facts. Some people might not like that but I can't do anything about it other than compromise my own beliefs or situation in favour of anothers. That's not going to happen - maybe for family but not for strangers. Don't peg me as a good Samaritan because in small matters such as buying a few sheets of bound paper I couldn't give a flying £V<# about the wider world. War and peace, well that's different. Anyway, it's not like I arrived here and started a ticket on 'Coug for President!' If you remember, somebody accused me and others of beings assholes for dealing with him (later toned down I accept). If you have something I really want I buy from you, if Cougar has something I fancy I buy from him. He's in the UK so I don't have to eat huge shipping charges. If I buy from the US the item must have enough value to warrant absorbing the ridiculous shipping fees. Not your fault we have a pond between us that costs money to cross. Not anyone's fault. Even with the pricey items it makes sense to stay UK side when possible. Everyone has an opinion I guess and I guess we have to drop this and then you can all have a good laugh if I get stiffed.

$25 isn't loose change to me, £12 is. The difference goes beyond the exchange rate. Take the same £12 to China and it's a different story again. It's true, beer in a London pub is about $10 a pint (98% water). A pack of fags (careful now, I'm using the UK slang) is about $15 - not that you're allowed to smoke them in a pub anymore anyway. Socialism, capitalism, fascism don't get me started - they're identical in all but the sales pitch.

Danny

Mike, be sure, I take everything you're saying on board. And thanks for sharing your opinions and experience. But you'll accept, what I choose to do with the information is my own choice.

That's a line under this now, from my side. I came here to get information about the market and maybe bump into a few like minds. Anything else I can leave.

That's right Malc, I ain't worth bothering about. And yet here you are bothering.

Seeing as you care, I don't suppose you could cut me a slice of that 2.4% inflation you're enjoying? I'm thinking of buying a house, running a car, going to the dentist, paying my council tax... you get the idea?

But hey, what a great suggestion. I can always s*d off to another country and maybe you could wave a little flag as I departed?

It's people like you Malc...

Holy hell, you don't drink coffee????

Forbidden donut *drool*

Gleemax coffee, good to the last drop..of the 'kids' off to the 'pool'

ShaneG.

simrion wrote:Is Gleemax multifunctional like Shimmer floorwax/desert topping?

Dunno 'bout dat, but here's someone's d20 version of him:

. . . http://d20.jonnydigital.com/2007/06/kill-gleemax