Disappointed with Preorders from Mycomicshop.com 2 2

[Cephusdog]

Ugh. Much of this is a cathartic rant, but if you are considering preorders with Mycomicshop.com, you may want to hear my story.

A couple of months ago, I switched from DCBS to Mycomicshop.com for my preorders. The piggybacking of orders onto my subscription appealed to me, as did Mycomicshop's use of silver-age bags and boards for their new comics, unlike the modern's I had been forced to use from DCBS since they got rid of the mylar options.

Everything was wonderful until it wasn't.

Last month my subscription orders arrived on my doorstep with a box. Or I should say some of my orders arrived that way. Part of my orders arrived in another box, and some didn't arrive at all. It seemed that the box had opened during the shipment, and since the invoice with my address on it was visible in a bagged "brick" of bagged and boarded comics, it was able to be delivered. For that shipment, I used economy shipment, which I had used many times previously, which is the UPS SUREPOST, a combination of UPS and USPS. I had used that form of shipment many times before without incident. Needless to say, all of those comics were damaged.

As you would expect, Mycomicshop customer service was helpful, reshipping replacement copies of the new and older books if they were in stock. I also upgraded shipping to the UPS-only option. Now, this is where it soured for me. Some books were sent in lesser conditions and in an obfuscatory manner. Seven of the damaged and missing new issues were not listed in the inventory in NM condition. I specifically asked for NM copies and said I didn't want to replace them with VF or less. The service representative said they had replacements, so don't worry. I didn't. It's Mycomicshop, they'll take care of me. I had another question regarding an issue of a modern comic from a few years ago that I had ordered in NM, which also was not listed in stock in that condition. However, they did have a NM- copy, and I specifically asked if that was the copy it was going to be replaced with. I was told it was NM, and she sent me a scan. The scan looked good, so I said thank you and couldn't believe my luck that one just happened to be entering the system. As you can imagine, many older books had no replacements, but only a single new one was unable to be found. I was forced to decide whether to keep several damaged books that had no replacement at the same price point, and that left me a bit bummed, but it was my decision to keep them. Anyway, many hours of time were spent sorting damaged books to be returned and communicating. It couldn't happen again, right?

When the replacements came, I immediately noticed a few things that irked me. The seven new books that were not listed in stock in NM were VF copies or less. That one book I specifically asked about being in NM? NM- sticker right on the bag. Also, regarding the package that arrived, the brown string tape had torn on the part of the top that connected to the sides — ripped cleanly from the weight of the comics inside. It could have easily failed. I shared this information with Mycomicshop. I didn't mention the seven VF or less new comics, I just wanted to move on. Still, I did tell the service representative that I would have chosen to replace the comic NM with the NM- anyway after seeing the scan and didn't appreciate her not telling me when I asked point blank. I also questioned if there was a price difference that wasn't mentioned. She didn't take it well and told me that NM or NM-, it was priced the same.

A few weeks later, I received a cardboard cutout of the shipping label from my missing package with a nice letter about how USPS cares about all packages in their care.  Right. I emailed this information to Mycomicshop just in case they needed it for insurance purposes.

Fast forward to this month's subscription shipment. Yesterday I received a box containing about 80 new and old comics; however, the top brown string tape had been torn and resealed with clear packing tape. I removed the comic bricks, and many corners were dented. After further inspecting the package, I noticed the brown string tape on the bottom of the box was ripped on both ends where it connected to the sides but was still sealed along the seam. The way I see it, the weight of the comics inside was tearing the tape, and it finally gave way on top, spilling the contents but at least this time, they put them back in the box and sealed it shut. 

I couldn't believe it. Not to absolve UPS by any means, but since no additional precautions were made with my order, my concerns about this very issue obviously had no bearing. I can't be the only one this happening to, can I?

For the past two days, I have been going through all the books, and about half are so damaged I don't want them — again, lots of time and communication. This time I'm dealing with a different service representative who made some information clear: Since NM copies aren't guaranteed with subscription orders, they will replace them with lesser copies. Also, if something like this happens, in many instances, you are S.O.L. as they have no backup copies of new comics like DCBS. At least this representative told me this upfront, as I did not like being surprised last time.

Now I have to try and track down many NM issues of comics from other sellers, which is going to be a nightmare and get really expensive if I want to replace those. I've enjoyed collecting certain titles of comics for decades and want to keep the runs going, but this whole process has sickened me. I've spent much time and energy on damage control, sorting books that will only be returned. It really stinks having to choose between accepting damaged ones or the VF or less condition copies that haven't sold. You feel like you lose either way. And it's really frustrating that all my concerns about that damn packing tape fell on deaf ears. I am very disappointed and don't think I can any longer afford to use their preorder plan. 

.

[THE_BEYONDER]

[Dave2739]

On 2/23/2023 at 7:55 PM, Cephusdog said:

Ugh. Much of this is a cathartic rant, but if you are considering preorders with Mycomicshop.com, you may want to hear my story.

A couple of months ago, I switched from DCBS to Mycomicshop.com for my preorders. The piggybacking of orders onto my subscription appealed to me, as did Mycomicshop's use of silver-age bags and boards for their new comics, unlike the modern's I had been forced to use from DCBS since they got rid of the mylar options.

Everything was wonderful until it wasn't.

Last month my subscription orders arrived on my doorstep with a box. Or I should say some of my orders arrived that way. Part of my orders arrived in another box, and some didn't arrive at all. It seemed that the box had opened during the shipment, and since the invoice with my address on it was visible in a bagged "brick" of bagged and boarded comics, it was able to be delivered. For that shipment, I used economy shipment, which I had used many times previously, which is the UPS SUREPOST, a combination of UPS and USPS. I had used that form of shipment many times before without incident. Needless to say, all of those comics were damaged.

As you would expect, Mycomicshop customer service was helpful, reshipping replacement copies of the new and older books if they were in stock. I also upgraded shipping to the UPS-only option. Now, this is where it soured for me. Some books were sent in lesser conditions and in an obfuscatory manner. Seven of the damaged and missing new issues were not listed in the inventory in NM condition. I specifically asked for NM copies and said I didn't want to replace them with VF or less. The service representative said they had replacements, so don't worry. I didn't. It's Mycomicshop, they'll take care of me. I had another question regarding an issue of a modern comic from a few years ago that I had ordered in NM, which also was not listed in stock in that condition. However, they did have a NM- copy, and I specifically asked if that was the copy it was going to be replaced with. I was told it was NM, and she sent me a scan. The scan looked good, so I said thank you and couldn't believe my luck that one just happened to be entering the system. As you can imagine, many older books had no replacements, but only a single new one was unable to be found. I was forced to decide whether to keep several damaged books that had no replacement at the same price point, and that left me a bit bummed, but it was my decision to keep them. Anyway, many hours of time were spent sorting damaged books to be returned and communicating. It couldn't happen again, right?

When the replacements came, I immediately noticed a few things that irked me. The seven new books that were not listed in stock in NM were VF copies or less. That one book I specifically asked about being in NM? NM- sticker right on the bag. Also, regarding the package that arrived, the brown string tape had torn on the part of the top that connected to the sides — ripped cleanly from the weight of the comics inside. It could have easily failed. I shared this information with Mycomicshop. I didn't mention the seven VF or less new comics, I just wanted to move on. Still, I did tell the service representative that I would have chosen to replace the comic NM with the NM- anyway after seeing the scan and didn't appreciate her not telling me when I asked point blank. I also questioned if there was a price difference that wasn't mentioned. She didn't take it well and told me that NM or NM-, it was priced the same.

A few weeks later, I received a cardboard cutout of the shipping label from my missing package with a nice letter about how USPS cares about all packages in their care.  Right. I emailed this information to Mycomicshop just in case they needed it for insurance purposes.

Fast forward to this month's subscription shipment. Yesterday I received a box containing about 80 new and old comics; however, the top brown string tape had been torn and resealed with clear packing tape. I removed the comic bricks, and many corners were dented. After further inspecting the package, I noticed the brown string tape on the bottom of the box was ripped on both ends where it connected to the sides but was still sealed along the seam. The way I see it, the weight of the comics inside was tearing the tape, and it finally gave way on top, spilling the contents but at least this time, they put them back in the box and sealed it shut. 

I couldn't believe it. Not to absolve UPS by any means, but since no additional precautions were made with my order, my concerns about this very issue obviously had no bearing. I can't be the only one this happening to, can I?

For the past two days, I have been going through all the books, and about half are so damaged I don't want them — again, lots of time and communication. This time I'm dealing with a different service representative who made some information clear: Since NM copies aren't guaranteed with subscription orders, they will replace them with lesser copies. Also, if something like this happens, in many instances, you are S.O.L. as they have no backup copies of new comics like DCBS. At least this representative told me this upfront, as I did not like being surprised last time.

Now I have to try and track down many NM issues of comics from other sellers, which is going to be a nightmare and get really expensive if I want to replace those. I've enjoyed collecting certain titles of comics for decades and want to keep the runs going, but this whole process has sickened me. I've spent much time and energy on damage control, sorting books that will only be returned. It really stinks having to choose between accepting damaged ones or the VF or less condition copies that haven't sold. You feel like you lose either way. And it's really frustrating that all my concerns about that damn packing tape fell on deaf ears. I am very disappointed and don't think I can any longer afford to use their preorder plan. 

.

TLDR dude. Cut us a break.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

On 2/23/2023 at 7:55 PM, Cephusdog said:

For the past two days, I have been going through all the books, and about half are so damaged I don't want them

Got pics? 

[Cephusdog]

On 2/23/2023 at 9:09 PM, BlowUpTheMoon said:

Got pics? 

Nothing spectacular just corner dings, like they were dropped, some on more than one corner, so i'm returning about half.

On 2/23/2023 at 8:27 PM, Dave2739 said:

TLDR dude. Cut us a break.

Gosh, it did turn out longer than intended.

[Motor City Rob]

On 2/23/2023 at 7:55 PM, Cephusdog said:

Ugh. Much of this is a cathartic rant, but if you are considering preorders with Mycomicshop.com, you may want to hear my story.

A couple of months ago, I switched from DCBS to Mycomicshop.com for my preorders. The piggybacking of orders onto my subscription appealed to me, as did Mycomicshop's use of silver-age bags and boards for their new comics, unlike the modern's I had been forced to use from DCBS since they got rid of the mylar options.

Everything was wonderful until it wasn't.

Last month my subscription orders arrived on my doorstep with a box. Or I should say some of my orders arrived that way. Part of my orders arrived in another box, and some didn't arrive at all. It seemed that the box had opened during the shipment, and since the invoice with my address on it was visible in a bagged "brick" of bagged and boarded comics, it was able to be delivered. For that shipment, I used economy shipment, which I had used many times previously, which is the UPS SUREPOST, a combination of UPS and USPS. I had used that form of shipment many times before without incident. Needless to say, all of those comics were damaged.

As you would expect, Mycomicshop customer service was helpful, reshipping replacement copies of the new and older books if they were in stock. I also upgraded shipping to the UPS-only option. Now, this is where it soured for me. Some books were sent in lesser conditions and in an obfuscatory manner. Seven of the damaged and missing new issues were not listed in the inventory in NM condition. I specifically asked for NM copies and said I didn't want to replace them with VF or less. The service representative said they had replacements, so don't worry. I didn't. It's Mycomicshop, they'll take care of me. I had another question regarding an issue of a modern comic from a few years ago that I had ordered in NM, which also was not listed in stock in that condition. However, they did have a NM- copy, and I specifically asked if that was the copy it was going to be replaced with. I was told it was NM, and she sent me a scan. The scan looked good, so I said thank you and couldn't believe my luck that one just happened to be entering the system. As you can imagine, many older books had no replacements, but only a single new one was unable to be found. I was forced to decide whether to keep several damaged books that had no replacement at the same price point, and that left me a bit bummed, but it was my decision to keep them. Anyway, many hours of time were spent sorting damaged books to be returned and communicating. It couldn't happen again, right?

When the replacements came, I immediately noticed a few things that irked me. The seven new books that were not listed in stock in NM were VF copies or less. That one book I specifically asked about being in NM? NM- sticker right on the bag. Also, regarding the package that arrived, the brown string tape had torn on the part of the top that connected to the sides — ripped cleanly from the weight of the comics inside. It could have easily failed. I shared this information with Mycomicshop. I didn't mention the seven VF or less new comics, I just wanted to move on. Still, I did tell the service representative that I would have chosen to replace the comic NM with the NM- anyway after seeing the scan and didn't appreciate her not telling me when I asked point blank. I also questioned if there was a price difference that wasn't mentioned. She didn't take it well and told me that NM or NM-, it was priced the same.

A few weeks later, I received a cardboard cutout of the shipping label from my missing package with a nice letter about how USPS cares about all packages in their care.  Right. I emailed this information to Mycomicshop just in case they needed it for insurance purposes.

Fast forward to this month's subscription shipment. Yesterday I received a box containing about 80 new and old comics; however, the top brown string tape had been torn and resealed with clear packing tape. I removed the comic bricks, and many corners were dented. After further inspecting the package, I noticed the brown string tape on the bottom of the box was ripped on both ends where it connected to the sides but was still sealed along the seam. The way I see it, the weight of the comics inside was tearing the tape, and it finally gave way on top, spilling the contents but at least this time, they put them back in the box and sealed it shut. 

I couldn't believe it. Not to absolve UPS by any means, but since no additional precautions were made with my order, my concerns about this very issue obviously had no bearing. I can't be the only one this happening to, can I?

For the past two days, I have been going through all the books, and about half are so damaged I don't want them — again, lots of time and communication. This time I'm dealing with a different service representative who made some information clear: Since NM copies aren't guaranteed with subscription orders, they will replace them with lesser copies. Also, if something like this happens, in many instances, you are S.O.L. as they have no backup copies of new comics like DCBS. At least this representative told me this upfront, as I did not like being surprised last time.

Now I have to try and track down many NM issues of comics from other sellers, which is going to be a nightmare and get really expensive if I want to replace those. I've enjoyed collecting certain titles of comics for decades and want to keep the runs going, but this whole process has sickened me. I've spent much time and energy on damage control, sorting books that will only be returned. It really stinks having to choose between accepting damaged ones or the VF or less condition copies that haven't sold. You feel like you lose either way. And it's really frustrating that all my concerns about that damn packing tape fell on deaf ears. I am very disappointed and don't think I can any longer afford to use their preorder plan. 

.

Appreciate all the detail. Clearly a frustrating situation.

[Turnando]

Maybe you could use your LCS for some of these books.  That way you know what you are getting.  Then use mycomicshop for the books you can't find.

Mycomicshop isn't making any money on your orders if there is that much back and forth... And you aren't happy... So if you start ordering 3 or 4 books at a time from them instead of 80 books I bet you and mycomicahop will be happier... And so will your LCS.

[Motor City Rob]

On 2/23/2023 at 11:38 PM, Turnando said:

Maybe you could use your LCS for some of these books.  That way you know what you are getting.  Then use mycomicshop for the books you can't find.

Mycomicshop isn't making any money on your orders if there is that much back and forth... And you aren't happy... So if you start ordering 3 or 4 books at a time from them instead of 80 books I bet you and mycomicahop will be happier... And so will your LCS.

I don't think MCS would ever tell people to stop ordering so many books from them. I think they would want to understand where their system is failing so that they can make improvements so customers can safely order as many books as they want. 

[Scrooge]

On 2/23/2023 at 7:55 PM, Cephusdog said:

A couple of months ago, I switched from DCBS to Mycomicshop.com for my preorders.

Go back to DCBS? Were you having issues with them also?

[Cephusdog]

On 2/23/2023 at 11:52 PM, Scrooge said:

Go back to DCBS? Were you having issues with them also?

Great question. No problems with DCBS at all. The main reason I made the switch was MCS' piggyback system. If you preorder from them you can get free shipping on most items. That alone was well worth it for me until they started arriving damaged or not at all. 

 

WARNING:  ANOTHER WALL OF TEXT, FORTHCOMING!

 

I realize it might be helpful to compare both preorder services. So far i found:

DCBS' shipping boxes were sturdier and in over ten years of service, I never had a lost or damaged shipment. I occasionally had mishandled items, such as a dog-eared back cover or a torn page from when they were bagged. However, when I disclosed this, i'd always get a free replacement copy with my next shipment. I must say that i truly don't know how deep that failsafe stock is at DCBS as I've never had reason to test it, but copies being sold out with no replacement is a sad reality at MCS.

So far I have found MCS' handling to be better - fewer finger bends, etc. And because you don't have to pay for bags and boards, MCS tends to be a smidge cheaper. Plus you usually get silver-age bags and boards and not the moderns that DCBS uses. I used to get mylar and gerber half-backs at DCBS, but unfortunately that ship sailed during the pandemic unless it recently changed. I wish MCS offered that option.

Piggybacking, piggybacking, piggybacking. A big plus for MCS, especially if you buy a bunch books from them like I do. I bought many more comics just because I didn't have to pay that pesky shipping charge every time something I wanted came in to stock.

Edited February 24, 2023 by Cephusdog

[Mewie]

Ugh. Sounds terrible - sorry this happened to you. You would think MCS would have these processes and quality assurance scenarios with excellent standards and service by now. That's really frustrating and disappointing to hear. 🙏

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

"Also, regarding the package that arrived, the brown string tape had torn on the part of the top that connected to the sides — ripped cleanly from the weight of the comics inside."

This, unfortunately, also occurs with every new comic book shipment I receive from MCS, especially on the bottom of the boxes which, as you mention, always tear at the ends from the weight of the comic books. Thus far I have been fortunate that the tape has not completely torn. I would very much like it if MCS started using far stronger packing tape.  I select the $9 shipping option in order to receive the comic books sooner but faster arrival, as one expects, has no effect on the strength of the tape.

 

[Cephusdog]

On 2/24/2023 at 3:47 AM, Tec-Tac-Toe said:

"Also, regarding the package that arrived, the brown string tape had torn on the part of the top that connected to the sides — ripped cleanly from the weight of the comics inside."

This, unfortunately, also occurs with every new comic book shipment I receive from MCS, especially on the bottom of the boxes which, as you mention, always tear at the ends from the weight of the comic books. Thus far I have been fortunate that the tape has not completely torn. I would very much like it if MCS started using far stronger packing tape.  I select the $9 shipping option in order to receive the comic books sooner but faster arrival, as one expects, has no effect on the strength of the tape.

 

Thank you for sharing. I knew I couldn't be the only one experiencing this. I know I must be blessed with rough UPS/USPS handlers in my area, but the packing tape seems to be the biggest problem. I, too, choose the $9 shipping option after the first incident to no avail. Ultimately, I believe both shipments would have arrived safe and sound if the tape held up.

[Scrooge]

On 2/24/2023 at 1:53 AM, Cephusdog said:

I bought many more comics just because I didn't have to pay that pesky shipping charge every time something I wanted came in to stock.

I thought MCS was going to try a new feature where you can build a stack over time and only ship once in a while even with back issues? Have they rolled it out or decided not to go ahead with it? Worth asking customer service (and let us know what they say  )

[500Club]

On 2/24/2023 at 1:22 AM, Mewie said:

Ugh. Sounds terrible - sorry this happened to you. You would think MCS would have these processes and quality assurance scenarios with excellent standards and service by now. That's really frustrating and disappointing to hear. 🙏

On these boards, Conan Saunders has repeatedly demonstrated a desire to listen and improve service.

@mycomicshop

[mycomicshop]

Hi, 

Thanks for the discussion. A few comments:

- Regarding tape tearing due to some combination of boxes being overloaded or the tape not being strong enough:

I will relay all these comments to our COO and shipping manager to review our materials and packing choices. We do get feedback directly from customers in the form of damage reports and returns, so if the issue was as frequent as it is reported to be in this thread I feel like we would have already observed a clear problem and adjusted. It's certainly not to our benefit to have packages coming open or damaged in transit. I'll DM @Cephusdog for some additional details that will be helpful in our review.

- Regarding us not always being able to provide NM replacements for items you received as preorders:

Please correct me if I'm overlooking anything anywhere, but to my knowledge we don't state anywhere that preorders are guaranteed to be NM or even use the term NM for preorders. We offer preorders in "new" condition, meaning new, uncirculated, unhandled, as we receive them from the distributor.

Unfortunately, the condition of new comics these days is notably worse than it used to be. There are more distributors now than when it was just Diamond, and some publishers have made changes to cover stock and printing processes that make defects much more likely. Some of these changes started during the covid era due to a combination of publisher budget cuts and limits on paper supply and printer capacity, but at least so far things haven't returned to normal/gotten better. Marvel in particular is bad--the cover stock used to be heavier than the interior paper stock. Now it's the same, and that makes it much more likely that brand new comics fresh from the distributor will arrive with little dents and ticks that grade-sensitive collectors will not like.

When new comics come in, we go through and grade-check those brand new comics. For preorders, we do our best to see that preorder customers get nice copies, but we can only provide what we get from the distributor. Some will get books that would be NM and some will get books that might be VF. Books that are significantly beat up we can treat as damages and try to get covered by the distributor, but publishers and distributors have a very different standard for what they consider an allowable damage return vs collectors who don't want anything less than a pristine NM book.

This worsened condition problem for brand new books from distributors is something we're currently analyzing in house. Our latest estimate is that we would consider about two thirds of new release books that we receive to be NM, and one third are VF or worse. Some publishers and distributors (Marvel via PRH) are even worse than that.

Note: the kind of defects I'm talking about here are things that will generally be present across the entire print run going to all retailers. These are printing process/poor paper stock issues, not damages unique to our account due to rough handling in transit. So it's not like when we get a bad batch, the distributor has great NM copies waiting to send us as replacements--they're all the same. If anything, we probably have fewer condition problems than some retailers because we are ordering enough volume that our new comics come in via freight rather than UPS small parcel shipments, so our stuff isn't jostled around as much.

The publishers/distributors don't give us a NM condition guarantee, and we in turn can't give our preorder customers a NM condition guarantee. We do our best to give our preorder customers nice copies but have to work with what the distributor provides. And yes in the case of a damaged shipment that needs replacements, that may mean there's no stockpile of NM copies waiting to be given out.

For new release books that we sell on actual release day rather than as preorders, those are handled a little differently from preorders. Instead of those being sold as "new", we do grade all those as NM or VF. NMs are sold at cover price and VFs are sold at a discount. This model worked when most of what we got was reliably NM. But it is breaking down and is not tenable when we are getting as many lower grade copies as we do now. We're reviewing this and will probably be making some changes at some point.

[mycomicshop]

On 2/24/2023 at 8:07 AM, Scrooge said:

I thought MCS was going to try a new feature where you can build a stack over time and only ship once in a while even with back issues? Have they rolled it out or decided not to go ahead with it? Worth asking customer service (and let us know what they say  )

I promised this and we haven't gotten it done yet, but it's still in the works.

[mycomicshop]

Similar position from DCBS:

[500Club]

On 2/24/2023 at 9:57 AM, mycomicshop said:

publishers and distributors have a very different standard for what they consider an allowable damage return vs collectors who don't want anything less than a pristine NM book.

This is a complaint of our LCS as well.

His argument that ‘these are collectibles, and this book is not in collectible condition’ often falls on deaf ears. 

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 2/24/2023 at 12:27 PM, 500Club said:

On 2/24/2023 at 11:57 AM, mycomicshop said:

publishers and distributors have a very different standard for what they consider an allowable damage return vs collectors who don't want anything less than a pristine NM book.

Expand  

This is a complaint of our LCS as well.

His argument that ‘these are collectibles, and this book is not in collectible condition’ often falls on deaf ears. 

My LCS gave up on new releases all together.   Hardly seems worth the hassle to stock them.