Online Comics Shopping Experience (Back Issues)

[BobBretall]

Speaking of which, I got an order from them today! I do like dealing with MCS for back issues. They do a great job packaging and I've never gotten an order that was incorrect or comics where the grading was seriously off.

Only time I have had an issue with grading is for cheap (around $1) older comics in VG condition that come unbagged. They seem to not be graded the same as books that they actually bag&board and put an "official" grade on.

As a result, I'm now a bit leery about getting cheap VG books. I try not to drop below about $3 on anything in lower grades.

[JC]

Mile High Comics

I ordered from them a couple of times in 2008 and I'd say that they overgrade the books. I've taken advantage of the free shipping for International customers by ordering over $125. I like that they have a vast selection of back issues which is great when filling in some gaps in my collection.


Comic Supply

I ordered a package of Mylites2 from them a couple of times and the 3rd time, I also ordered comic books. I was disappointed that they charged me for the entire order when there were some books that they could not fill-in. They just credited me back in terms of "points"-- they assumed that I'd want to order from them again! When I got the package, a few more books were missing than what they originally told me. I will not shop from them again.

[BobBretall]

Mile High Comics
I ordered from them a couple of times in 2008 and I'd say that they overgrade the books. I've taken advantage of the free shipping for International customers by ordering over $125. I like that they have a vast selection of back issues which is great when filling in some gaps in my collection.

While it is true that they have a vast selection of comics, I find MileHigh (in general) to charge prices higher than other places I can buy from and also to overgrade their books (as you noted).

Their over-grading is actually a facet of the fact that they have their own home-spun set of grading standards instead of using the Overstreet standards that pretty much everyone else on earth uses for grading. Even people who price by their own system generally have a grading system that has it's root in Overstreet.

More on the Mile High grading guide here:
http://milehighcomics.com/information/grade.html

MileHigh grading gets particularly troubling down in the F & VG grades

For instance, they allow "One tear up to 1/2"only." in a Fine book! Ridiculous!
For a VG, they allow "Several minor tears, or one major tear"

I refuse to buy from MileHigh on general principles.

[ImpulseCreations]

Have you tried these sites?

http://westfieldcomics.com/

http://www.impulsecreations.net/

They both advertise new comics & back issues.

I haven't used either but I've checked out Westfield in the past. Both seem to focus more on new issues than back issues. The discounts they have seem much lower than what other places like DCBS offer.

I had missed out on this thread previously but I came across it through a link from the CBG forum and saw that we (Impulse Creations) had been mentioned. Any time I see that someone hasn't tried us out though that's something I need to fix.

First, I'd like to mention that we do focus on back issues equally with more recent books. We may be more likely to have a specific issue from the past five years than one from 20-30 years ago simply because we can advance order what we expect to need for several years while adding back issues is dependent upon the collections we can purchase. However, we do buy collections every day and are always working to fill holes in our inventory. That inventory goes back to the early silver age with all titles being well represented. Amazing Spider-Man is especially well stocked at the moment with Superman, Batman and Green Lantern also having a large number of silver age issues

If you only need one or two books we may not have them but if you need more than that there's a good chance we'll have some of what you need.

Now, to encourage Comic Book Page visitors to give us a try, I'd also like to offer you an extra discount. Just enter the coupon code COMIC10 in the redemption box during checkout for an additional 10% off our already low prices from now through April 28th.

We also offer free shipping to US addresses on orders totaling $50 or more so you can combine both offers to save even more.

If anyone here has any questions or suggestions just let us know. We're always working to improve and many of our changes to the online store and to product selection have come from customer requests.

[BobBretall]

Nothing personal against Impulse Creations, but I just ran a spot-check of want list items from the past 15 years or so.

Pretty much every item I checked was cheaper at MyComicShop.com

I'll also add that the user experience at the Impulse site needs a lot of work to be on par with place like MyComicShop, NewKadia, and ComicCollectorLive

Just an observation based on 15-20 minutes of browsing the site.

[Trev]

Their UI definitely isn't up to MCS standards. Seems like they only ever list books they've had in stock at least once. If they've never had a title, I just get back a 'title not found' message.

I've got some paypal money from Atomic Avenue sales and I usually turn that in to back issue buys on MCS. I'm doing a straight-up comparison with Impulse this time.

So far, there's only been 1 title in stock at either site (Anything Goes!). It's at MCS, but not Impulse. Everything else has been not-in-stock at both places.

Was also looking for ASM 194 and 238. Seems like if Impulse had it, it would be cheaper than MCS -- but sadly they don't have it.

Too bad Impulse doesn't let you want list things they've never had in stock.

[BobBretall]

I have found a NEW place for back issues (mostly of recent vintage, ~last 15-20 years). http://www.comiccollectorlive.com

This seems similar to Atomic Avenue, where it's mostly people selling (though seems like a lot of on-line shops too), but it seems to have a bit nicer UI than Atomic Avenue (at least one I like better).

Like AA, it's pretty worthless for older books, which are priced generally higher than I would find at MyComicShop or eBay, but it's great for filling in books from the past 15 years.

I found that I have huge holes in my collection of Marvel/DC from the 90s (when my kids were little, my wife quit her job, and I had to cut way back on collecting). I am finding HUGE amounts of these books for 50 cents, 75 cents, and $1 each. And LOTS of CCL stores have free shipping at various thresholds from $15 to $40 or so.

They have a Want List feature that (while a bit clunky; I have not figured out how to add a run of books to the Want List at one time, I have to do it book-by-book) is still extremely handy, since I can go to a shop, check to make sure they have Free Shipping, then just make a selection to have it show me everything on my want list they have in stock. I then sort that by price and start tossing 50 cent books into my cart.

PS: I have been sticking to books graded/advertised as VF, VF/NM, & NM, and so far, all these books seem to be in "like off the rack" condition when I get them. I have gotten about 400 books so far from about 10 different "shops" on CCL.

I was waiting until I got a bunch of books in the mail from several places so I could do a decent rating on various sellers, which I will put in the next post.

[Frank Castle]

Boy, don't know about anyone else but MHC and MCS came thru with the fastest turn around ever. I purchased an order from each last Thursday, within mins of each other. Both processed and ship via the free shipping and both arrived today. 1 week turn around from purchase to my door. That has never happened. Best I've ever had was 2 weeks with the whole processing and check in taking a full week.

[Trev]

Boy, don't know about anyone else but MHC and MCS came thru with the fastest turn around ever. I purchased an order from each last Thursday, within mins of each other. Both processed and ship via the free shipping and both arrived today. 1 week turn around from purchase to my door. That has never happened. Best I've ever had was 2 weeks with the whole processing and check in taking a full week.

That might say more about their volume of business or the day you ordered than any great improvements they've made . . .

[Frank Castle]

That might say more about their volume of business or the day you ordered than any great improvements they've made . . .

I was thinking that maybe it is the economy and they are doing less orders and turn around times are much quicker now.

[Variant]

It has been great reading everyone's posts on this topic.

As a fan living outside of the States, South Africa to be exact, I'd be interested to see if there are any other international comic fans who order back issues online and/or purchase their monthly comics online. And if so, which sites they use.

The toughest thing for me and other collectors living in South Africa, besides our weeker currency, is the high shipping costs we have to pay when ordering comics and toys from the States.
Online comic shops have very few international shipping options, and most of the time it is very difficult to get a shipping quote without having to first email the site, who doesn't always respond in a timely manner. This also makes it hard to sometimes take advantages of online sales, which have a limited time frame.

So far Mile High has been the best as far as selection, reliability and international shipping is concerned when it comes to back issues. I wish I could say the same for their prices, which are really over inflated, especially when it comes to Variant covers.
In the search for an alternative, I have been looking at Atomic Comics - http://www.atomiccomicsstore.com
Has anyone in and outside of the States used them? Their prices seem very good, but as they don't mention the grade of comic, I am a bit weary. I like to purchase my comics NM wherever possible, so I'd be interested to see what others have to say regarding their experiences with them.
I am also going to look at MyComicShop.com, as the feedback on the forum and on the podcasts seems favorable.

As far as new monthly titles are concerned, I have recently placed my first order with DCBS, thanks to all the great feedback given by John and Bob on the podcasts. I found their service very helpful, friendly and prompt. Their prices are really good and the website is extremely user friendly. Their shipping prices though are a bit pricey and limited, especially if I were to order comics from them on a monthly basis. I think if they looked at catering more to international customers as well, as far as having more international shipping options, they would definitely get a lot of international orders.

[BobBretall]

In the search for an alternative, I have been looking at Atomic Comics - http://www.atomiccomicsstore.com
Has anyone in and outside of the States used them? Their prices seem very good, but as they don't mention the grade of comic, I am a bit weary. I like to purchase my comics NM wherever possible, so I'd be interested to see what others have to say regarding their experiences with them.

I have never ordered from them on-line, but have been in their stores on a number of occasions (they are a chain in Phoenix, AZ and surrounding cities) and I'll usually drop in when visiting my parent who live in that area.

I checked their web-site and most individual comics seem to be of fairly recent vintage, so I'd assume they are NM. That being said, if you're considering a purchase, it would be worth it to drop them an e-mail inquiring about the condition of their back issues (basically asking if it is fair to assume they are in "like new" off the rack condition).

PS: I feel for you folks who don't live in the US, as I am totally spoiled by free shipping when I shop at on-line retailers. The prices you folks outside the US have to pay for shipping really affects your "buying power".

[BobBretall]

OK, I've now made WAY too many purchases from Comic Collector Live, but the place is like a giant 50-cent bin that I can shop at from home.

Here are my favorite sellers so far:

* Blue Moon Comics - Free shipping @ $40 and sales like "15% off everything" - TONS of books 50 cents and LOWER.

* Lady Death Comics - Normally Free shipping @ $25, May special is free shipping at $15 and "25% off orders > $40", decent selection of books at 75 cents. Comics are always bagged & boarded.

* Ninja Pirate Gear - Free shipping @ $30 and lots of 50 cent comics. Most 50 cent books come unbagged.

* Read the Story (Play the Game) - Free shipping @ $29 and lots of 25 and 50 cent books

Many other decent sellers, these are just my top faves so far. All have free shipping and some cool comics I needed at low prices. So far I have just been buying stuff from the 1990s to present, but have even found issues of things like Trinity #19-30 for $1 each or less.

[BobBretall]

John, these 2 are for you:

* Aardvarks - Free shipping @ $20, but they are having a May sale for 30% off orders >$30 (which also has free shipping).

* ComicsMD - Free shipping @ $25

Both of these stores have lots of fairly recent comics from the last year or so for $1 each. This may be a lower price option for you filling in some of the books you skipped instead of picking them up at a 40% discount from DCBS or elsewhere. Try them out on your "want list" prior to placing any other order.

[JohnMayo]

John, these 2 are for you:

* Aardvarks - Free shipping @ $20, but they are having a May sale for 30% off orders >$30 (which also has free shipping).

* ComicsMD - Free shipping @ $25

Both of these stores have lots of fairly recent comics from the last year or so for $1 each. This may be a lower price option for you filling in some of the books you skipped instead of picking them up at a 40% discount from DCBS or elsewhere. Try them out on your "want list" prior to placing any other order.

Have you dealt with Pee Wee Comics over at Comic Collector Live?