Positively impressed by Newkadia prompt service

[botolo]

Hello,

 

I am testing Newkadia (http://www.newkadia.com) and, so far, I am very impressed by their timely service and by a couple of other things:

 

- they have an incredible fast shipping service. You order today, they ship today. You order late in the afternoon, they ship early morning the following day (I just received the email, it's 7.42am PST, notifying me that my order has been shipped...I placed the order yesterday night). I think this is the fastest service I have tried so far. Mycomicshop.com usually ships in 1 to 3 days, Mile High Comics can take ages sometimes and Midtown is fast but not so fast;

 

 

- they offer a priority shipping plan for three months at $15. I just got it with my first order and now I can order anything and ship it for free priority until January! Pretty cool!

 

- if you send them an email, they tell you that they will answer within four hours! This is crazy efficient!

 

- They give you details on the grading of each and every comic book. Just click on the condition and you'll get a clear table showing you the defects of that particular copy. Also, most of their highly priced items have current photos of the specific copy on sale.

 

So far, I love it!

[mschmidt]

I've bought from them a couple of times and the books were heavily overgraded.

 

A bit strange to offer such a glowing recommendation when you haven't even received your books yet.

[botolo]

I've bought from them a couple of times and the books were heavily overgraded.

 

A bit strange to offer such a glowing recommendation when you haven't even received your books yet.

 

My post is focused on my impression "so far" and I have focused on features that you can see and enjoy while ordering your comic books. As per the grading, I have read some old post about this and I am curious to receive my comics and check how they are. I'll scan them and post them here as soon as I receive them, so that we can check together.

 

I have to tell you: if the grading is not overly wrong, I would still enjoy paying a small premium price to get such a prompt service.

[EC ed]

I've bought from them a couple of times and the books were heavily overgraded.

I agree. Before I found the boards, I bought a lot of books from Newkadia. I would conservatively estimate that at least 75% of the books I received were overgraded (relative to Overstreet and/or CGC standards), sometimes by a couple full grade points. This is mainly due to their grading system...make sure you read it and understand it.

 

Aside from these grading issues, I was always impressed with their customer service. To their credit, they (at least used to) offer a very good return policy...no questions asked within a week or two. It's just annoying to have to keep returning overgraded books...to the point that I don't buy from them anymore. Make sure that you promptly inspect books you receive from them and make sure you're happy with the grade they assigned, otherwise return the books. Don't forget to count pages and look for clipped coupons, as I've had quite a few of those types of issues with their books.

[MadGenius]

I've bought from them a couple of times and the books were heavily overgraded.

 

A bit strange to offer such a glowing recommendation when you haven't even received your books yet.

 

My post is focused on my impression "so far" and I have focused on features that you can see and enjoy while ordering your comic books. As per the grading, I have read some old post about this and I am curious to receive my comics and check how they are. I'll scan them and post them here as soon as I receive them, so that we can check together.

 

I have to tell you: if the grading is not overly wrong, I would still enjoy paying a small premium price to get such a prompt service.

Wait until they inevitably arrive with shipping damage. Good times.

[DR.X]

I've bought from them a couple of times and the books were heavily overgraded.

 

They look heavily overgraded by just looking at the pics. I don't need to see them in hand.

[botolo]

Wait until they inevitably arrive with shipping damage. Good times.

 

I look forward to receiving them. I have ordered just some basic comics for a couple of binding projects that I would like to do. It is amusing to see how these comics, that should be priced super low, have crazy prices on some websites.

 

An example: Alpha Flight #1. I paid $3 on Newkadia for a Near Mint - copy. Same copy is $2.40 for a VF on Mycomicshop (good) and $7.50 on Mile High Comics for NM (whaaaaaaat? ).

[EC ed]

An example: Alpha Flight #1. I paid $3 on Newkadia for a Near Mint - copy. Same copy is $2.40 for a VF on Mycomicshop (good) and $7.50 on Mile High Comics for NM (whaaaaaaat? ).

 

I'd bet you $2.40 that Mycomicshop's VF is in better condition than Newkadia's NM-

[botolo]

I'd bet you $2.40 that Mycomicshop's VF is in better condition than Newkadia's NM-

 

It would be fun and interesting to buy the same issue in the same condition from different retailers. I may do that with my next order. I will need to order Alpha Flight #5-10 and I could order a copy of the same issue from Newkadia, Mycomicshop, Mile High and Midtown.

[budsbundy]

Great thread Botolo

I'm interested in seeing pics of the books when you get them.

[cloud cloddie]

I'd bet you $2.40 that Mycomicshop's VF is in better condition than Newkadia's NM-

 

It would be fun and interesting to buy the same issue in the same condition from different retailers. I may do that with my next order. I will need to order Alpha Flight #5-10 and I could order a copy of the same issue from Newkadia, Mycomicshop, Mile High and Midtown.

 

Or you could go to one of the 20 million comic shops in SoCal and pay a quarter each for alpha flight issues

[botolo]

Or you could go to one of the 20 million comic shops in SoCal and pay a quarter each for alpha flight issues

 

I have to say that unfortunately comics here do not have a lot of back issues. Hi De Ho is the one with more comics but they are all disorganized and it's almost impossible to find them. Also, they usually have high prices.

[D Parker]

I used to buy from Newkadia regularly, but that tailed off as I went from buying Copper Age books (also for binding!) to Silver and Bronze. I stopped buying anything below 'Fine', as you just never knew what you would get despite their grading system. This was before they had any scans -- based on those it looks like their grading has gotten a little worse.

 

It doesn't help that their prices for half-grades are so far out of proportion. A 'Fine' is priced at Overstreet, but a 'Fine+' or a 'Fine-' is expensive relative to the grade. The best approach is to stick to the name grades and use one of their discount codes -- you can get some good deals that way.

 

I think their discount-over-time feature is neat and helps turn over inventory. The whole site has so much promise. If they would tighten their grading I would definitely order from them again.

[GACollectibles]

I'd bet you $2.40 that Mycomicshop's VF is in better condition than Newkadia's NM-

 

It would be fun and interesting to buy the same issue in the same condition from different retailers. I may do that with my next order. I will need to order Alpha Flight #5-10 and I could order a copy of the same issue from Newkadia, Mycomicshop, Mile High and Midtown.

 

[ygogolak]

An example: Alpha Flight #1. I paid $3 on Newkadia for a Near Mint - copy. Same copy is $2.40 for a VF on Mycomicshop (good) and $7.50 on Mile High Comics for NM (whaaaaaaat? ).

 

I'd bet you $2.40 that Mycomicshop's VF is in better condition than Newkadia's NM-

 

Are you talking MCS backstock books or the ones in auctions? Newkadia grades high but I have received some suspect books from MCS as well from their backstock.

I just received a book from Newkadia had a big tear at the top of the book. Somehow it wasn't listed in their grading notes sticker.

[botolo]

Hello!

 

I am back with some photos of the comics I ordered from Newkadia. The packing and shipping has been great. I ordered these comics on Monday night. The comics were shipped on Tuesday early morning and I received them on Thursday using priority flat fee ($15 and I now have free priority for the next three months!).

 

Here are some photos on the package.

 

This is how I received the package.

 

 

This is their package, contained inside the USPS envelope. Very sturdy package.

 

 

This is the opened package.

 

 

They gifted me with a nice mousepad which has a coupon printed on it! Feel free to use the coupon.

 

What follows are the photos of the comics. Each comic book was bagged and boarded and it had a sticker on the back with the grade of the comics. I am curious to see what you guys think about their grading. I am going to post back of the bag, with sticker and grade, and cover of the comic book out of the bag.

 

D.P. 7 #1

 

 

D.P. 7 #2

 

 

D.P. 7 #3

 

 

D.P. 7 #4

 

 

D.P. 7 #5

 

 

Alpha Flight #1

 

 

Alpha Flight #2

 

 

Alpha Flight #3

 

 

Alpha Flight #4

 

 

Alpha Flight #5

[sl4ppy]

Your pictures aren't big enough.

[botolo]

eheh sorry you are right, but I wanted to give you guys the best shot possible to check the grading.

[youmechooz]

At least you only paid $1 per issue..

[budsbundy]

Are you happy with the grades?