ThothAmon Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) On 1/27/2024 at 11:13 AM, Patriot6 said: You're not wrong. But let me bounce this off of you and brain storm. I live in a city metro of roughly 900k people. There is not one golden age Archie the title in ANY of the LCS. There has not been for some time. My city is the largest city in the region. To the West the next biggest city is a 12 hour drive. To the East, roughly 24hrs. To the North, there isn't one and to the South is Minneapolis which is roughly 8 hours away. I've looked in Minneapolis when I'm there, zip. I go to my local comic con yearly, zip in the form of GA Archie the title. As I've mentioned above, eBay is not terrible. I buy from there frequently. I am handcuffed by eBay international shipping on most US listings, which is almost equal to the shipping from the auction houses. We can garage sale and flea market in my city from late May/June until early September. Estate sales do pop up in the winter. I have bought whatever I have been able to find over the years. I have checked our version of Craigslist, fb market place frequently and still do. I have left my name and number at each LCS, antique mall you name it. I haven't given up by any means, but I am unable to locate what I am looking for. This leaves me with rather limited options. I can travel to other cons. The distances are somewhat prohibitive, although I may do this. I can leverage the internet more. I have bought a lot on the boards and eBay. I can try the auction house. I'm SOL on shipping no matter where I buy from, and exchange rate for that matter, so that's a wash no matter the internet venue. An open discussion. What have I missed? Do what countless other Canucks have done since time immemorial. Move South! I was a little shy of five myself when I did. Edited January 27 by ThothAmon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patriot6 Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 On 1/27/2024 at 10:45 AM, ThothAmon said: Do what countless other Canucks have done since time immemorial. Move South! I was a little shy of five myself when I did. A condo in Shreveport to use as a mailbox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThothAmon Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 On 1/27/2024 at 11:57 AM, Patriot6 said: A condo in Shreveport to use as a mailbox Or how about just a mailbox in the states you visit occasionally? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patriot6 Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 On 1/27/2024 at 11:03 AM, ThothAmon said: Or how about just a mailbox in the states you visit occasionally? I do have that. $6 us dollars a parcel to hold and not heated or air conditioned. I stopped using it when I went down and a package was damaged which was outside the return window. I have been thinking of trying it again though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattTheDuck Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 So what are the "rules" about cross-bordering stuff like comic books? I.E., let's say someone who lives on the Washington State border with Canada would accept shipments on behalf of a Boardie who lives in Vancouver, BC. Could they then legally drive those books across the border and either deliver them to the Boardie or meet the Boardie somewhere to hand them off? Would they have to be "declared" to customs or anything like that (assuming everyone's following whatever laws/rules are in place) and would there then be a fee? Krismusic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan_W Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 On 1/27/2024 at 12:03 PM, ThothAmon said: Or how about just a mailbox in the states you visit occasionally? I did that for a while. I discovered the border security folks charged me 10% duty on a box of comics I bought while I was only charged 5% when I had them shipping directly to me. Not sure why this is, but when I added in the extra duty to the cost of gas for the drive (about an hour each way), etc, and factored in how this would take out a chunk of an evening I stopped doing it. Patriot6 and Krismusic 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krismusic Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 On 1/27/2024 at 12:19 PM, MattTheDuck said: So what are the "rules" about cross-bordering stuff like comic books? I.E., let's say someone who lives on the Washington State border with Canada would accept shipments on behalf of a Boardie who lives in Vancouver, BC. Could they then legally drive those books across the border and either deliver them to the Boardie or meet the Boardie somewhere to hand them off? Would they have to be "declared" to customs or anything like that (assuming everyone's following whatever laws/rules are in place) and would there then be a fee? as a fellow Canadian; i have always wondered this as well, if i am driving across the boarder do i have to declare and what are the duties they charge us then. Always curious about how to get higher value books across without having to pay a crazy amount in extra fees, duties, taxes etc.. which one is more cost effective sending to a trusted family member in the states and picking it up from then and crossing the boarder or just have the seller send it directly and guesstimate the duty costs as its never consistent as many other people point out. I sometimes think they spin a wheel to determine the rate to charge or when to charge it lol. Patriot6 and Stefan_W 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumantorch Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 On 1/27/2024 at 9:13 AM, Patriot6 said: You're not wrong. But let me bounce this off of you and brain storm. I live in a city metro of roughly 900k people. There is not one golden age Archie the title in ANY of the LCS. There has not been for some time. My city is the largest city in the region. To the West the next biggest city is a 12 hour drive. To the East, roughly 24hrs. To the North, there isn't one and to the South is Minneapolis which is roughly 8 hours away. I've looked in Minneapolis when I'm there, zip. I go to my local comic con yearly, zip in the form of GA Archie the title. As I've mentioned above, eBay is not terrible. I buy from there frequently. I am handcuffed by eBay international shipping on most US listings, which is almost equal to the shipping from the auction houses. We can garage sale and flea market in my city from late May/June until early September. Estate sales do pop up in the winter. I have bought whatever I have been able to find over the years. I have checked our version of Craigslist, fb market place frequently and still do. I have left my name and number at each LCS, antique mall you name it. I haven't given up by any means, but I am unable to locate what I am looking for. This leaves me with rather limited options. I can travel to other cons. The distances are somewhat prohibitive, although I may do this. I can leverage the internet more. I have bought a lot on the boards and eBay. I can try the auction house. I'm SOL on shipping no matter where I buy from, and exchange rate for that matter, so that's a wash no matter the internet venue. An open discussion. What have I missed? You haven't missed anything. When you collect something that's hard to find you're probably not gonna find it locally so auction houses, ebay, or the bigger dealers in the US are your only option. And you're gonna pay expensive shipping and customs and exchange, it really does take the fun out of it. For years I've been having Heritage Auctions hold my wins and then ship once I have a box full. Last shipment was a couple oddball GA lots and a slab, weighing about 15 lbs, and Heritage charged me $185 usd (insane) or $250 cnd plus fully declared for duty. I haven't looked at a Heritage auction since. Your best bet is to have your books shipped to a friend in the US who will examine each shipment as it comes in and then ship to you once he has a pile. But shipping is expensive and you'll never get around the exchange rate. Krismusic, Patriot6 and ThothAmon 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThothAmon Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 I would definitely accept all of your Archie purchases and forward to you … thehumantorch, Point Five and Patriot6 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan_W Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 On 1/27/2024 at 12:56 PM, Krismusic said: as a fellow Canadian; i have always wondered this as well, if i am driving across the boarder do i have to declare and what are the duties they charge us then. Always curious about how to get higher value books across without having to pay a crazy amount in extra fees, duties, taxes etc.. which one is more cost effective sending to a trusted family member in the states and picking it up from then and crossing the boarder or just have the seller send it directly and guesstimate the duty costs as its never consistent as many other people point out. I sometimes think they spin a wheel to determine the rate to charge or when to charge it lol. The additional factor that comes into play when you have higher value books is the length of time of visit to the USA. I have not looked at whether things have changed, but a local guy I knew used to buy up bigger purchases on Heritage and then spend a weekend in the USA after picking them up. This changed the amount he could bring back duty free. Since I have not used this approach myself I can't speak to the details or ins and outs of doing it this way. Krismusic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patriot6 Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 On 1/27/2024 at 12:59 PM, thehumantorch said: Your best bet is to have your books shipped to a friend in the US who will examine each shipment as it comes in and then ship to you once he has a pile. But shipping is expensive and you'll never get around the exchange rate. I've done this in the past. I've even had a few very kind boardies do this for me, but I feel guilty about it. It becomes a lot to ask. It is pretty dreamy though. I'm fine paying reasonable unreasonable shipping if that makes sense, it's the unreasonable unreasonable shipping that I hate. Like I was saying above, the $175 book that had $76 shipping through ebay international shipping. More than double the actual cost. The exchange rate too. It basically is what it is. The odd time over the years you win that one too. But I hear you it takes a bite out of the fun stuff. At least we can come here for a good cry and hand holding Krismusic and thehumantorch 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patriot6 Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 On 1/27/2024 at 12:59 PM, thehumantorch said: Heritage charged me $185 usd (insane) or $250 cnd plus fully declared Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patriot6 Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 On 1/27/2024 at 1:10 PM, ThothAmon said: I would definitely accept all of your Archie purchases and forward to you … That is very kind. I wouldn't want to impose on you. Although, they would have plenty of Archie play dates for the duration of their stay! I had a package sent to a boardie one time and it arrived damaged and then he was forced to package and ship it back and I felt so bad. I think one time a book arrived that was incomplete, but supposed to be complete and thankfully it was caught on reception, but then again he was forced to package and send it back and I felt horrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumantorch Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 On 1/27/2024 at 5:07 PM, Patriot6 said: I've done this in the past. I've even had a few very kind boardies do this for me, but I feel guilty about it. It becomes a lot to ask. It is pretty dreamy though. I'm fine paying reasonable unreasonable shipping if that makes sense, it's the unreasonable unreasonable shipping that I hate. Like I was saying above, the $175 book that had $76 shipping through ebay international shipping. More than double the actual cost. The exchange rate too. It basically is what it is. The odd time over the years you win that one too. But I hear you it takes a bite out of the fun stuff. At least we can come here for a good cry and hand holding As bad as it is I enjoy collecting comics and will continue to collect and purchase what I want. Because I’m not focused on any one era or title or genre there always seems to be something I want at a local show. And I still continue to buy from the US Krismusic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patriot6 Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 On 1/27/2024 at 7:47 PM, thehumantorch said: As bad as it is I enjoy collecting comics and will continue to collect and purchase what I want. Because I’m not focused on any one era or title or genre there always seems to be something I want at a local show. And I still continue to buy from the US I'm the same. I really enjoy it. I also love when my nieces and nephews come over a drool over my displays and I get to talk about it and show them some cool Archie stuff. I did sort of paint myself into a corner by having a narrow collecting path, but the heart wants what it wants. Does much GA show up at the Edmonton/Calgary cons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krismusic Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 On 1/27/2024 at 7:53 PM, Patriot6 said: I'm the same. I really enjoy it. I also love when my nieces and nephews come over a drool over my displays and I get to talk about it and show them some cool Archie stuff. I did sort of paint myself into a corner by having a narrow collecting path, but the heart wants what it wants. Does much GA show up at the Edmonton/Calgary cons? Toronto fan expo use to have a good amount of dealers even US that had lots of GA but not so much any more. It’s evolved more to a local artists/pop culture and auto graph show. Still fun and I still always go for the 4 days and get the premium/ultimate pass… Patriot6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krismusic Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 On 1/27/2024 at 7:47 PM, thehumantorch said: As bad as it is I enjoy collecting comics and will continue to collect and purchase what I want. Because I’m not focused on any one era or title or genre there always seems to be something I want at a local show. And I still continue to buy from the US Same i love so much stuff from so many different era’s and genres but can only afford to get a few things . thehumantorch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizards2 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 On 1/27/2024 at 10:53 AM, Stefan_W said: The additional factor that comes into play when you have higher value books is the length of time of visit to the USA. I have not looked at whether things have changed, but a local guy I knew used to buy up bigger purchases on Heritage and then spend a weekend in the USA after picking them up. This changed the amount he could bring back duty free. Since I have not used this approach myself I can't speak to the details or ins and outs of doing it this way. The old family story about going to Canada was we left a small bag of fireworks sitting on the bench. The customs guy was so busy with that, "I seize these in the name of the Crown!!", that he missed the crates of stuff that were stashed away. Of course, we were US citizens, so maybe they go lighter on us than Canadiens when contraband is found. Patriot6 and Stefan_W 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patriot6 Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 On 1/28/2024 at 10:20 AM, lizards2 said: I seize these in the name of the Crown!! You just reminded me to file my 2023 taxes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whomerjay Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 I’ve bought and sold on Clink. A lot. been mostly buying last 2 years. Most buys are auction wins. I pay what the winning bid is. I pay with check to avoid the 3% “buyer’s premium” which is essentially a CC surcharge. i frequently have Spencer hold books until I accumulate 8-10 books. They end up charging me an amount for shipping where I’m sure they’re not making money on shipping. Just email Spencer to hold books and also note it in your mailing with check. I’ve had nothing but great service for as long as I can remember. So IMO it can’t be much simpler and cheaper. As for clunky website, yeah it could be better and I don’t get the vitriol; it’s not that bad I think some folks (esp techies) are simply annoyed at Clink’s indifference to what they perceive as an easy upgrade. No idea how Canada complicates shipping. ADAMANTIUM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
