|
Post by G on Mar 1, 2008 12:28:27 GMT -5
I thought I would start a new thread that focused on everyone who desires to tell what experience you may have had with something comics related today or yesterday that happened to you that you may feel inclined to share for discussion. Look at it like a public diary of your comic experiences. I know many days go by in my life and nothing happens comic related for me except maybe working on this board or viewing messages. But, then I suddenly visit a store or go to a convention, or get some comics in the mail or seen something at a convenience store that may be notable. Those are the ideas I want here. An ongoing discussion of what's going on with you and comics as it happens. I think Im actually going to make this a sticky so it will be a reminder and not fade into the background and forgotten about. Please....share those stories!!!
|
|
|
Post by G on Mar 1, 2008 12:50:30 GMT -5
Let me begin... As you know my life gets really hectic at the end and beginning of the month and this month is no exception. I feel I let my board down when these moments come because I stop posting and doing things with comics. Well, the weekend is here and I decided to take a few moments for me. Ive been wanting to do preorder mail comics for awhile. Ive got 3 links at the top of my board made just for that purpose. Now, I had in mind which one I wanted to use and if for no other reason, was because it allowed me to use Paypal. So, I set out to find the books I wanted to order this morning. The deadline for February orders was March 4th, so time is running out. I go to DCBS and start picking out books for the 1st time ever. Im actually having a good time doing so. Im doing things I generally dont do. 1) Im buying new books, which is rare for me, but I want to get involved with new comics again and the discounts are pretty nice, so Im adding up a decent pile of new books at a very nice price. 2) Im taking chances on stuff I may have never even seen before just because there was something I liked about it. Or Im trying to buy titles that Ive been reading that others really like and say is hot. All in all, I spend about 90 minutes making my picks. Finally I am ready to check out. I know Im set because I registered a few weeks back on the one I wanted to use. I go to sign in and it doesnt recognize my account name and password. I try again and no go. What the hell is wrong?!!!? Im getting pissed. Something makes me go and check out the shipping methods. NO FREAKIN PAYPAL ACCEPTED!!!! DAMMIT!!!! I just cant justify putting comics on credit card. I cant. And money order is a hassle. Im out of options on this board. Ive just wasted all this time on the wrong board. I knew one of them had it and I chose the review the wrong one. So I decided to go to the one that did have Paypal as a payment. Mailordercomics. Let me say that once you get used to one company and how they do things, going to another is a pain. I have to say I really liked how DCBS did things. They had pictures of the covers on most comics already viewable. With MOC they want to do everything in text mode. Some categories have the ability to view with thumbnails (these are truly thumbs whereas DCBS gave me a nice size shot of the cover)....Other categories dont offer a picture view of the cover at all? WTF!!!!! The board loads much slower than DCBS and the discounts are much weaker. I try messing with it for nearly an hour but finally get too pissed and give up. I really want to try this mail order thing because I live too far from a decent shop. Nothing will replace a comic store as far as back issues are concerned for me. But new books, I may as well preorder if I can. But dammit, mailorder comics sucks! I may have to wait another month to redo this and Im not sure I want to. This one bad experience may ruin me from ever making it happen. So, I look at whet's service bobscomics. I didnt look very far. The discounts were not as good and the shipping said free over $40. Well, what if I dont order $40? I kind of liked DCBS's flat rate of $5.95. I had picked out about $26 worth of books this morning (for 16 comics which aint bad) + $5.95 shipping (reasonable)...$32 and Im happy and havent really overspent to piss the wife off or anything and I get what I need done and I would have been happy. All in all, my experience was DCBS was awesome until I discovered no paypal. mailorder comics has paypal but a slow and tedious board with weaker discounts. bobscomics I may have to give another chance later on, but not today. I was too pissed off to really look very far on their board, but noticed discounts not as good as DCBS and have to order at least $40 to get the free shipping. Not as happy about that. whet does indicate that they bag and board all their books, so....Im leaving the door open for them. But, my time is running out and my patience is gone. This is an experience left for another day. All in all, Im not too happy.
|
|
|
Post by Brother J on Mar 1, 2008 13:35:01 GMT -5
Personally, I feel you should get over the no Paypal thing and just go with DCBS. Is it that you are worried about running up debt on a credit card for comics? That's what I get from what you said. Does your current bank offer what is called a "bank card/checkcard"? They are useable like a credit card, but instead of giving you a credit card balance, it deducts from your checking account, like Paypal would. I think since most of those cards are through Visa, you also get all the protection you would get with a charge card. I trust a major credit card company's protection much more than I would trust Paypal. Just my two cents.
|
|
|
Post by G on Mar 1, 2008 13:58:07 GMT -5
Well good and valid points...
Yes, I dont want to run up credit card debt for comics. Im not really in trouble with credit cards, I have a little bit I owe, but nothing major. It was my wife I had to get to kick the credit card habit. When I 1st got with her, she had massive credit card debt. I took her cards and we paid off her massive load. So now we have like 1 card with a manageable balance on it. I cannot not practice what I preach running the bill up for comics. I just dont believe in it. Besides, this is something I want to do every month.
Your idea about using a bank debit card is a great one and one I wouldnt hesitate to use, however, I dont currently have that set up. And my credit union I use as my bank is a ways from me. We have a credit union service center nearby and I do all my money transaction their. They allow all the credit unions to be used there. So, Im in. But they dont do any account updates, or changes there. Strictly cash/deposit stuff only. I may check my CU website and see if I can do it there. Otherwise, I will eventually have to make it out to my CU and get that accomplished. Which is actually a great idea, I just never had a need for one. But it would have been perfect for this. This is something that once I start doing it, I plan to continue each and every month. The bonus of paypal is it is my money and it doesnt add to my debt and I dont get the fees when I buy. And, I already have cash available in there. So, just for today....I wanted to use it.
I guess I will have to do more footwork before I do the pre-order comics things. Shame, I wanted to get it done.
Anybody else use these and what is your experience?
Hands down when looking at all 3 today DCBS seemed to be the winner on working with their board and discounts. If I get a debit card...they would be my 1st choice.
|
|
|
Post by cfs on Mar 1, 2008 14:13:25 GMT -5
Go get a credit card and request a very low "not to exceed" limit. Insist that they give you a low limit. They might think they are doing you a favor by increasing it, but tell them you don't want it increased.
If your regular card is a Visa, get a Master Card so you won't confuse the two.
cfs
|
|
|
Post by Brother J on Mar 1, 2008 17:25:58 GMT -5
Go get a credit card and request a very low "not to exceed" limit. Insist that they give you a low limit. They might think they are doing you a favor by increasing it, but tell them you don't want it increased. If your regular card is a Visa, get a Master Card so you won't confuse the two. cfs You still get charged interest with a credit card, though, which is what I think gowaltrip is trying to avoid. On second thought, though, a credit card is fine if you pay the balance off each month. Whatever is easiest.
|
|
|
Post by G on Mar 1, 2008 18:10:28 GMT -5
Well, the deed is done! ;D Me and my wife went to a tile store today to order glass tile for our kitchen to make a back-splash. On the way there, I discussed my experience online with her. She knows for a couple of months I have been contemplating mail order to pre-order new comics. I explained that I couldnt pay with Paypal on the board I wanted to and the other board that did allow it didnt have the great discounts and was harder to use. I then explained brother j's idea about getting my bank account to give me a debit card. My wife quickly reminded me that a debit card usually works with a checking account. Something I dont have. I have a savings account. Yes brother j, I dont want credit card interest for comics and I dont want the hassle of a bill coming in for comics. I want the gratification of knowing I purchased and paid for the comics all in the same day. Not buying to pay down the road, even if it is weeks down the road...sometimes that is when unexpected things happen. I like buying, paying...the guilt is over and I have the item on its way worry free. My wife on the other hand, does have a debit card and said I could use it. I gave her the cash for my order today and placed the order with DCBS!!! Now waiting for that 1st order to arrive will be hard to do. You pre-order 2 months in advance so the wait will be a killer. But, I plan on placing an order every month from here on out as long as it goes well. So.....once the 1st shipment arrives I can expect a new one every month! Im pretty excited about that. And the books I chose were books I really wanted. And, I took some off the beaten path to expand my horizons. So, Im pretty stoked and cant wait for my 1st order to arrive! Well, there you have the 1st entry into "What happened to you today with comics".... Please, if you got a story to tell about your daily dealing with comics...feel free to share. Even those of you working in comic stores. A comic experience....is a comic experience! Share it!
|
|
|
Post by Brother J on Mar 1, 2008 21:29:26 GMT -5
Yep, you usually need a checking account to use a bank card. Glad you got it squared away! Anyway, my latest comics-related experience other than receiving an eBay buy through the mail would have been Thursday. I decided to hit some of the shops in the area I haven't been to since I moved back to the area. First one was in a mall, one of the biggest malls on the East Coast. The shop is called Comics 'n More. I wanted to check them out because jedimarley had mentioned they were going out of business and were selling their backstock for 50% off. Once I got there, everything was full priced. I found out they WERE going to go out of business and did have the 50% off sale, but something changed with their situation and now they are staying. They had a good amount of back issues, but I'm not much on looking through boxes when there are no deals to be had. Instead I bought the newest issue of Legion of Superheroes and Fantastic Comics #24, part of the Image continuation of old Golden Age books. The format for these books are pretty cool, even if it was expensive. I also bought some silver age bags and boards at a reasonable price. The shop closest to my house was selling 100 bags for $10!!! I guess because they are the only shop in their little area, they think it's ok to rip people off. Anyway, I jumped on the freeway and went a little bit until I came to Showcase Comics, a free standing store. I used to have my pull service there, but it's a little too far from where I live now. Anyway, last time I was here I discovered they had some underground comix, so I went through their backstock again to see if I missed anything. I must have done a good job the first time, because there wasn't much to buy at a reasonable price. I did buy Cannon #1, 3, and 4 from Wally Wood, the large issues. cfs knows what I'm talking about. I also picked up a couple issues of I, Lusiphur, both signed by the now deceased Drew Hayes. They had a very small amount of cheap books. I rescued a few less common VALIANT issues like a Bloodshot #34 and an Eternal Warrior #35 from these boxes. In their half price trades box, I came across something I knew was a pretty rare item. It was a Superman: Man of Steel trade paperback, in the same format as the Diamond Unity trades. It was pretty beat up, but still a good deal at $5. When I got to the register, the guy tried to overcharge me twice. He either thought I was an idiot or blind. I caught him, so he had to void the price and charge me what they were marked. I also picked up a new magazine box. Not an exciting trip, but still fun. I think there's still quite a few decent stores within driving distance, but we're talking close to 50 miles for some of the shops in Philadelphia. I probably won't hit them for a while.
|
|
|
Post by G on Mar 1, 2008 21:43:12 GMT -5
Thanks for the post J....Sometimes going to comic stores is not always a day of conquests. Ive been there too. I love looking through comic boxes but like you, if I discover the prices are jacked up from the get go and Im not seeing a bargain anywhere, Im likely to turn to my wife and say "lets go" without buying anything which is always a bummer. Your store kind of going out of business is a lot like a store that did go out of business around here like 3 years ago called Comics N Things. Way back in the day he had a decent store, but I think the dude lost his way or something and the last few times I was in there before he went out of business, it blew. But then, when he went out of business, that was the greatest because it took him like 2-3 months to do it. And he started out with his comics like 3 for $1 and then 4 for $1 and then 5 for $1!!!! Needless to say the best stuff was there at the 3 for $1 days, but I kept going back buying like $40 - $50 worth of stuff because I was getting so much so cheap. I got some good books too for the price. Filled out some collections and generally made my whole collection better. It was a real bummer when all of that was over. 1 less store to attempt to find something. Now a days I generally only visit 2 local stores with a 3rd I try to get to when I am near it, but its a ways away from me. Used to be 10 - 12 places you could go. Now there is 5 or 6, but typically like I am saying...only about 3 walking into. Sucks. I miss having more stores and what I really miss is local conventions. I mean right here local. Its been about 10 years since Ive personally seen that. Maybe 8....but a real long time, I know that.
|
|
|
Post by cfs on Mar 1, 2008 22:27:15 GMT -5
Go get a credit card and request a very low "not to exceed" limit. Insist that they give you a low limit. They might think they are doing you a favor by increasing it, but tell them you don't want it increased. If your regular card is a Visa, get a Master Card so you won't confuse the two. cfs You still get charged interest with a credit card, though, which is what I think gowaltrip is trying to avoid. On second thought, though, a credit card is fine if you pay the balance off each month. Whatever is easiest. Exactly... just don't run it up. All the better reason to have a low limit. cfs
|
|