Chessler... is it April fool's Day already?

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Toker Villain

Big Wall climber

Toquerville, Utah

Jan 1, 2012 - 10:46pm PT

Yo bookie,
Ron here, remember? Your longtime customer.

Was it five K or just four? Well, never mind.
The point is; Layton is a sweet guy all too easily manipulated and you were supposed to go through his manager, me.

Nothing wrong with you making a profit off it (even though I do the opposite), but how many items did you have him sign?
Had you gone through me he would have gotten his usual $50/sig.
At 5K that is a hundred items.

A little bird tells me there were many more.
And with more out there it dilutes the value.

Like I said, nothing wrong with making a profit. You have overhead and capitalism made us great.

But I gotta tell you man, this business of exploiting (yes, thats the word) an eager to please puppy dog at bargain rates, and then holding him up in defense as some kind of charitable burden you have assumed is truly beneath you.
You are gonna do just fine.

Ihateplastic

Trad climber

It ain't El Cap, Oregon

Topic Author's Reply - Jan 1, 2012 - 10:51pm PT

Nerve>>>touched!

This just in...

Who are you? What is up with that rant about my ropes? Mike Chessler

Sent by: bookie

My name is SImon. My OP does not qualify as a rant (to speak or declaim extravagantly or violently; talk in a wild or vehement way), nor would Dennis Miller qualify my comments as a rant. I simply asked a question.

Toker Villain

Big Wall climber

Toquerville, Utah

Jan 1, 2012 - 10:54pm PT

Uh oh, sounds like bookie hasn't been lurking long,...

bearbnz

Trad climber

East Side, California

Jan 2, 2012 - 12:00am PT

Chessler is not the most honest or morally founded businessman. I had placed an online order with him, and after the order was processed, he emailed me and informed me that the price had increased. Below is my reply to him, and his jackass response. Fortunately there is competition now.

> You're kidding, right? The price was advertised, the transaction conducted, and now you're changing your mind? You may keep the book, and any others I might have purchased. Chesslerbk@aol.com
>

Cry elsewhere, I dont have the time. Buy the book elsewhere....... oh, I forgot, nbobody else has it.

Michael Chessler

Chessler Books
PO Box 4359
Evergreen Colorado 80437 USA
800 654-8502 303 670-0093 FAX 303 670-9727

America's Leading Mountaineering Bookseller Since 1984

Rare and Out of Print Books Website

New Books, Bargain Books and Videos Website:

bvb

Social climber

flagstaff arizona

Jan 2, 2012 - 12:55am PT

Spider Savage

Mountain climber

The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles

Jan 2, 2012 - 01:06am PT

I have an idea, tell us what your cost was and let the market decide if $250 is a fair collector's markup! Come on, show us the invoice!!!

A statement like this shows an an utter lack of knowledge of business and economics of trade.

I suggest you start your own business and get really rich like the rest of us merchants.

Bookie, those who rant against you on this forum are squarely outside of your target market. Those who are your customers are likely to ignore them.

Conrad

climber

Jan 2, 2012 - 01:09am PT

As business practices are being bandied about, an account of the hammer project might be nice.

bookie

climber

Jan 2, 2012 - 02:02am PT

Chessler here,

What a load of negativity! I just signed a 1 year contract with Chris MacNamara to advertise on this website, but I am going to cancel it unless he can explain to me how the people writing on the forum and bad mouthing me are not my potential customers.

Did I ever raise a price? Yes, every week. Did I lower a price? Every day. Ask the damn gas station why their prices went up. It doesn't cost more to drill it now than it did ten years ago.

Ask Patagonia why they just raised the price of Beckey's new "Black Book" book from $39.95 to $59.95 to $79.95 in the last 4 months! Yes. What will my customers say when I ask them to pay more?

So go buy it from Amazon for $49, or get a Signed one from me for $79.95. Your choice.

Are the ropes authentic? Yes, read my website (copied below). I sold 200 pairs of Swiss nailed boots and 1000 old wood ice axes and nobody ever asked me if they were authentic. What's wrong with ropes? Do you want photos of the damn things in use? For $250 you don't get a COA.

This is on my website:

"These ropes survived because they were made for the Swiss Army during WWII, who evidently never threw anything away. Indeed, we have seen and sold examples of many items they bought for use in case of invasion by the Germans during WWII, such as Ice Axes, Crampons, climbing boots, goggles, avalanche cord, snowshoes, pitons, etc. And like everything Swiss, it was all made to the highest standards of materials and workmanship. Their WWII Schmidt Rubin bolt action Rifles and Bayonets are also on the market for gun collectors."

As for Ron, did I give Kor $4000 or $5000? Whatever I did, I gave him more than anybody else did, that's for sure.

For 15 years I begged Kor, and promised him $1000 to sign some books. He finally said okay. I didn't know if he had the strength to sign books. I was afraid it would turn out like Warren Harding, who signed 10 books and then the pen rolled out of his hand. But I bought books for 15 years, waiting and hoping that someday he would say yes. Finally, he did.

I showed up in Kingman, and the guy was fantastic. He signed a lot, and we broke for lunch. I said, "Layton, I think this is worth more than $1000. How about $4000." I never did that with anybody before. Actually I think I am the only bookseller in the world who pays authors, but that's another story.

After we were done, he said, "I think it's worth $6000." I said that much is not up to me, let me see how the books sell. If they really sell well, I'll send more. That's how we left it.

They didn't sell all that well, the cheapest items sold, pitons at $50, not his book at $500 and up. So I didn't send more money, although I offered to bring more pitons and have him sign them he was in Colorado, for more money, which he declined.

Then I saw that Stewart Green was getting copies of Crusher Bartlett's book Desert Towers signed by 12 climbers including Kor and selling them for $150, and all the money would go to Kor. I told Green I'd buy them all for $250. Green had 5 left, and he sold them to me for $1250. I presume Fred Knapp at Sharp End donated the books for free, I don't know.

So that's how I got up from $4000 to $5250. All to Kor. Answered?

And thank you for the reasonable folks out there who know the truth.

I think a lot of people are resentful of the commercialization of climbing. That it is somewhat sinful when somebody like me makes money from selling something related to climbing.

I got some news from you. Climbing started as a commercial activity. It was never otherwise! From the first ascent of Mont Blanc, on August 8, 1786, those climbers were PAID to climb the mountain! Nobody climbed without guides, who were all paid. Then people started selling boots, axes, ropes, clothing. All in the 1850s. Then came guidebooks, professional guides, guidebooks, journals and magazines. When Yvon and RR dropped hardware and started selling rags, why did they do that? They like money, that's why.

I don't pay rich and greedy people whose books are ghostwritten like David Breashears and Ed Viesturs, and I don't pay authors to sign new books that are just published, as that's normal in the book world. But if you lost your house in the financial meltdown, yes, I'll fly you from Palm Springs to Colorado and pay you a few thousand in cash to sign some books and pitons. Ask the man. But you can't sign a rope, they are too skinny.

Michael Chessler

bvb

Social climber

flagstaff arizona

Jan 2, 2012 - 02:15am PT

I've got a first-edition signed copy of "One Man's Mountains" if anyone is interested.

Tricouni

Mountain climber

Vancouver

Jan 2, 2012 - 02:25am PT

I have no comment on all the other comments that have been made in this thread about Chessler. But I agree with him about the price of the ropes. A canny bookseller mentor of mine (now dead, alas) said "I price it at what I think I can get for it. If it's not worth it to you, don't buy it. If nobody buys it in a reasonable length of time, then I know I've priced it too high."

As Oscar Wilde said, "a cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." I have things in my collection for which I paid little but which are of great value to me (if few others). If the price is too high for the ropes, don't buy them, but don't make a big deal about it: find some good, authentic ropes of your own, and price them as you see fit.

For what it's worth, I've only bought stuff from Chessler twice: the first time was not a happy experience, and I still tell people about this experience. The second time, a few years ago, was hassle-free. I'll probably try him again for Beckey's book, because I hate Amazon and the chains, and because I will value the signed item.

bearbnz

Trad climber

East Side, California

Jan 2, 2012 - 02:30am PT

What a load of negativity! I just signed a 1 year contract with Chris MacNamara to advertise on this website, but I am going to cancel it unless he can explain to me how the people writing on the forum and bad mouthing me are not my potential customers.

If they're smart, they won't be your customers. You earned every bit of that "load of negativity".

Ihateplastic

Trad climber

It ain't El Cap, Oregon

Topic Author's Reply - Jan 2, 2012 - 02:35am PT

A statement like this shows an an utter lack of knowledge of business and economics of trade. I suggest you start your own business and get really rich like the rest of us merchants.

I am almost out of here...

WBraun

climber

Jan 2, 2012 - 02:40am PT

It's called real verus phony.

Hey Chessler, I got absolutely nothing against you.

People buying dumpster garbage for $250 is nuts.

That rope ain't anymore real then any other rope in the world.

A rope is a rope unless you're a dope.

Have at it and make your money if that's what turns you on ......

bookie

climber

Jan 2, 2012 - 03:30am PT

Werner, why are you calling me a liar? You just make yourself sound stupid. How do you know where I got this rope? From whom? What it looks like? Why do I have 5 identical copies, put away, coiled and tied with string, as only a climbing rope would be, and by the Swiss? All the same length? With the red threads used in old climbing rope? From a person who sells old climbing gear to me? Who buys from Swiss Army warehouses who have been selling off their old gear for a decade?

I know the Germans alwats resent that the Swiss are better than they are at almost everything, except making war, and are especially good at making money, because that's what turns them on.