davidh777

Got my shipment from instocktrades on Thursday. Black Canary Archives (which I'd forgotten to order from cheapgraphicnovels so used this to reach the $50 free-shipping threshold) was wrapped in its own plastic, and the six Showcases were wrapped together in sets of three. Bomb-proof airpacks filled out the box, and everything looked to be in good shape. (For $6 each, I got some unfamiliar stuff like Unknown Soldier, Hawkman, Enemy Ace--Kubert was on my mind--Teen Titans, Blackhawk, and Adam Strange. I might enjoy Batman and Justice League more, but it'd be a research project to figure out which volumes I would want.)

Funk

Instocktrades currently has 45% off on Marvel books.
and B&N's DC B2G1F is still going both online and in-store. obviously online is a better deal.

Liquid Death

Thanks for the heads-up on the B&N sale - I'm considering some options now

Also, TFAW is having a sale - I picked up the Artist's Edition of Daredevil: Born Again for $70 (they have free shipping codes online).

Spiderbite

Amazon currently has the large hardcover edition of The Mad Fold-In Collection 1964-2010 for $14.24 plus $3.99 shipping. This thing retails for $125 and is similar in look to the Don Martin collection they did. Looks like they are clearing it out.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081...ls_o00_s00_i00

Lastdaysofrain

appears to be dead

Trevor

Darn, would have liked that one. Thanks for posting Brian.

Spiderbite

I was able to score one. I thought about ordering an extra one or two but wanted to leave it open for others to get one. Looks like the window closed on it quickly. Thank you camelcamelcamel!

Jacoby Ellsbury

I've been using ebay, but is there a good online store to help fill in missing issues. I just started collecting amazing spider-man a few months ago and have about 100-200 to go. I'm looking for somewhere as cheap as ebay. A lot of the comic conventions in FL seem to be expensive just to get in, $10-25 admission. Shops are few and far between in my area. So, what's the cheapest online store for back issues?

kodave

Try MyComicShop.Com

PhantomStranger

You are only one year away from free agency, the Red Sox must be nickel and diming you to death if you can't afford a comic book convention.

Josh-da-man

Looks like the big TFAW sale was a bust this year. Seemed like most of the items with steep discounts were all damaged "nick and dent" books.

Adam Tyner

I've been using Midtown Comics for that over the past year or so.

kodave

Their "nick and dent" books really aren't that bad. Most of the time you can't even tell. Ever ordered from Amazon or Barnes and Noble? Their new books are guaranteed to come nicked and dented if they're not packaged correctly, which they often aren't.

The TFAW sale was picked clean as soon as the BF discount went live. The major problem was that it took customers 2+ hours to check out because their site couldn't handle the BF traffic for a second year in a row.

PhantomStranger

I learned a couple of years ago the Things From Another Universe Black Friday sale is too much of a hassle, unless your time is worth nothing. Their servers can barely handle it and going through their site feels like a chore at times.

Josh-da-man

I ordered one N&D book from TFAW once, and it was in piss-poor condition -- corners dented, cover creased and scuffed. Which was sort of okay because it was an art book and I only wanted it take certain pages out, so it wasn't a loss but I won't be buying any more of their nick and dents.

And, yeah, that's been my experience with Amazon as well. They do some of the worst packaging I've ever seen and I generally avoid them if I have to. They send books and DVD sets to me rattling around loose in flimsy boxes, and I end up returning so many things due to damage that they're probably going to end up banning me.

PhantomStranger

I simply stopped ordering trade paperbacks from Amazon. Hardcovers are generally packed much better, but they treat the floppy trades like trash.

Josh-da-man

Amazon treats pretty much everything like trash when they're packing your order.

Look through their forums, especially the "Frustration Free" forum. There are hundreds of posts of people complaining about receiving damaged items from Amazon's shit packing process.

It's fucking ridiculous.

If you want to buy trade paperbacks and hardcover graphic novels, let me suggest www.instocktrades.com.

Every order I receive from there arrives well-packaged in sturdy boxes, and everything is in pristine condition. You have to spend $50 to get free shipping, but their discounts are comparable to Amazon's (and better in a lot of cases) and you'll be guaranteed to get your books undamaged.

Trevor

^ I'm knocking on wood here, but I've received hundreds of trades from Amazon with no issues. They always come secured with plastic tight against a large piece of cardboard; no movement possible in the box, and always in pristine shape.

Josh-da-man

They stopped shrink-wrapping my items to cardboard years ago. It's rare that I get anything with that kind of protection. I suspect that what kind of packaging you get depends on which warehouse they use. Some people don't have any problems with Amazon, and others have nothing but.

For the past five or six years, they'll just toss my stuff into a flimsy box, maybe throw in couple of little air pillows, loosely tape the box shut, and send it on its way.

This picture of a $1700+ camera lens (that someone posted in the Amazon forum) shows exactly how most of the stuff I order from Amazon comes shipped:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8307/7...865b28aa_h.jpg

Books, DVD and blu-ray sets, hard drives and other computer equipment, all arrive at my doorstep packaged like this without protection. Those little air pillows they sometimes use won't protect shit when the box is dropped or crushed. And all of the empty space just lets whatever is in the box get knocked around while its in transit.

(Nicked from this thread: http://www.amazon.com/forum/frustrat...x3CZ4ITVKH2LTA)

Adam Tyner

If a TPB ships with another order, I have the same experience.

Whenever they decide to ship me just one TPB by itself, it comes in a padded envelope with no wrapping, no cardboard...no nothin'. These also have a tendency to be shipped USPS rather than UPS, despite the whole Prime thing (although they do ship 2-day). Amazon doesn't allow packaging feedback when shipping that way either.

Mikael79

It's always amazing to me that people's experience with Amazon changes so much, from region to region. I still get my smaller items shrink-wrapped and I can only think of a small amount of items that have ever been damaged.

PhantomStranger

I have actually received supposedly brand-new trades from Amazon that have obviously been read by the stocker before packing my order. There were thumb prints and and one even had a grease mark. Someone on his lunch break thought reading my merchandise must have been okay.

kodave

I'd find that highly unlikely. First, Amazon warehouse employees are basically searched going in and out of the warehouse area, so it would be extremely hard to steal the merchandise and take it to an area where the employee could read it - much more read it undetected by his fellow employees who might notice he swiped it or was bringing it in and out of the warehouse. Amazon takes employee theft very seriously.

Second, the work atmosphere inside Amazon Warehouses is insane. They're basically running all day trying to find items off shelves to keep their numbers up so they don't get sacked, or they're standing packing box after box nonstop. I find it extremely hard to believe a warehouse employee would have the time to risk their job to sneak the books out of the warehouse into the break room area, then return them to the shelf for someone else to pack up for you.

You can read about the working conditions inside an Amazon warehouse HERE.

TPBs usually are never sealed in plastic. Chances are if there was grease or thumbprints on the outside of your book, it was just from being handled going from the crate to the storage area or from the storage area to the packing area. If there were thumbprints inside the book, I'd put better odds on a CUSTOMER having bought the book, read it or thumbed through it, then returned it probably claiming something was wrong so they wouldn't pay return shipping. Then Amazon may have resold it to you, probably not taking a close look for something like thumbprints of all things if the book looked liked it was in normal condition otherwise.

And if you bought your books from a third party seller fulfilled by Amazon - those third party sellers lie about the condition of their books all the time and often pass off used books as new.

Preterite

I don't have Prime, so my TPB's are always shipped with other stuff to make the free shipping threshold. As a result, they are almost always shrinkwrapped and boarded. The only time I get something rattling about loose is if I order one book or DVD with something large like a DVD player; then they just chuck everything into the box.

majorjoe23

The code DHNYE2013 will get you $2 off any Dark Horse book or collection at digital.darkhorse.com through tomorrow.