Has any Doper ordered comic books online? How were they shipped? The normal storage is a comic with the cardboard back, which helps I’m sure but it seems as if that would still be wanting in terms of protection. Perhaps this is a GQ, but given it’s nature I’ll drop it here in CS.
I’ve ordered comics from both Mile High Comics and NewKadia.com, and in both cases, they’ve come shipped in a cardboard mailer similar to the ones you get from Amazon (it folds around the comics, providing great protection). Inside this mailer, I’m pretty sure the comics were also backed with cardboard of about the same thickness as the mailer (not the skinny “backing board,” which was there too, inside the polybag.)
Buying from Ebay gets a variety of packing methods, ranging from the fantastic (each comic in a 5-comic lot was carefully sandwiched between 2 pieces of cardboard) to lacking (the comics were unbagged, wrapped in newsprint, and stuck in a normal manila mailing envelope.
The comics I order from Midtowncomics’ website (midtowncomics.com) come individually bagged & boarded (trades are bagged but not boarded)), packaged into groups of five or so, wrapped in paper, nestled in a bed of packing peanuts, covered with those air-filled plastic bags and boxed. So far, they have arrived undamaged.
I’ve also ordered comics from Westfield.com; although I don’t remember how they pack them, but never received damaged goods.
Good day!
I get my comics from www.scifigenre.com I’m on the road too much to rely on a LCS, and the two nearest my home specialize much more in CCGs. I get a boxed shipment every other week. Comics arrive bagged with backing board. There is usually some padding on bottom and top: more to prevent a knife opening from harming the books versus protection (and to fill the box to prevent shifting).
The shop my husband manages ships them bagged and boarded, sandwiched between sturdy magazine-size cardboard dividers, then placed inside a mailing envelope. If you’re ordering a large number of books, I believe they bag and board them, secure them together, then pack them in a box with some padding around them.
Since my LCS has dispensed with its frequent buyer card program and is now going to a pull list for discounts (and I can’t come up w/10 every month, what is wrong with me? oh yeah, space issues), I will now use their on-line feature, which they say is good. I haven’t used it yet, but they convinved me, and they’re at a discount, too.
I used to order straight from Marvel to get Ultimate X-Men and Spiderman, but at best, it looked like they purposely took the book, wadded it into a huge ball, stuffed it into an envelope that was too small for it, and then somehow cellephane wrapped it all together (once opened, the cellephane was useless). The backing was about as sturdy as a page of college ruled, recycled writing paper. I think Scott’s tissue (the ultra cheap bathroom toilet paper) was thicker than that.
I subscribe to all my Marvel comics. They generally arrive in pretty good shape, except for when my mailman creases them (usually across the “do not crease” logo. Occasionally the corners may be dented, but I’m getting them almost half the news-stand price, so I don’t care.
It’s not like Ultimate Spider-Man or Ultimate X-Men is ever going to be worth aything anyway.