Don’t tape sides. Gonna add spine ticks. Taping the top and bottom is good.
I use painters tape, but I don’t see these places using it…expensive stuff.
I do everything you say not to and I never have issues… Why you manhandling your comics?
I found that just wrapping the comic(s) in a grocery bag stops them from moving around inside the Gemini mailer and I have tons of grocery bags. No extra cardboard, no taping, just a grocery bag. I have only had one damage report with Gemini mailers since I started using them about 18 months ago and it was because the post office mangled the box.
I just had to return a book on Ebay and struggled with adding the extra cardboard…mind you I’ve never shipped a comic book in my life so noob here. I looked at the inner-pocket of the Gemini and they’re basically the dimensions of the book so how do I go beyond the book dimensions to give additional buffer?
Ended up just shipping it out in the mailer that came with one of my IDW orders (not a Gemini) - Mylar, full back, bubble wrap, and painters/masking tape. Dimensions of this mailer are wider than a Gemini and the corners + sides felt a hell of a lot more crush-proof/stronger than the Gemini. Hopefully it works out.
After looking at the interior of the Gemini again, I suppose I could fit additional cardboard in there with buffer room but the dimensions will be larger than the ‘inner pocket’ that the Gemini has - should still fit though… is this how you guys do it?
Showed the seller pics of the package (Before and After sealing) and I don’t think he was very happy, especially since he gave me specific instructions around using extra cardboard.
Anyways, hoping for the best - told him I’ll take the loss if the book arrives damaged. Not gonna stress and make a mountain out of a mole hill over a $40 book. Gotta start somewhere.
I got my 1st order from TFAW after moving from monthly shipments to bi-weekly. There was 53 books, and the packing was the same as before, newspaper wrapped around a stack of 53 books and peanuts filled the box. This time around no books were damaged and all the books were fine.
So it looks like the smaller order made a difference vs 100+ books stacked in a box. I still think a piece of bubble wrap around the comics would have been helpful.
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They’re just asking for problems with that many books wrapped in thin paper. Idk if that’s SOP but it needs to be corrected. I’m dreading my first order from then which is an unnatural feeling. I’m usually excited and hopefully they improve their packaging.
I have another gripe as well. It’s not that I’m being charged for bags and boards because I’m fine and it was my choice. However shouldn’t I get to choose what type/age bags and boards since I’m being charged? My problem is those charges add up and I end up immediately removing them from the bags and boards and putting them in Mylites2 and Fullbacks. So it’s a waste but I’m not having books shipped unless they’re bagged and boarded.
I know what some will say. You might as well go there and package the books yourself. You’re asking for to much. Am I though? If there was a comic shop that offers those things I’d immediately buy from them and there’s a ton of choices of online shops.
Is it to much to ask that books are packaged properly? Because that’s not how any sane person would package that many books.
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I can’t see the books in the picture but I can see a lot of bent corners on backing boards. TFAW needs to get their $hit together. Seriously. Post after post of horrible packaging, damages and missing books. A ringing endorsement.
Funny. I do this exact same thing. I only select bag and board with the hopes that they help protect the books while in transit - the books go straight into Mylite 2s w/ full backs upon arrival.
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Honestly I just like picking on you.
But what I don’t like about the tape on the edges is if it sticks to the bag it’ll pull it upwards when trying to remove it and possible crease the spine. Elsewhere probably wouldn’t do much.
I now use an x-acto knife to extricate most comics from being taped to boards or even together.
Here’s a pic of me getting ready to open a comic from Poyo.
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Thanks for some of the feedback and suggestions people have sent. We had a meeting with the warehouse leads today to go over some things and make sure they knew about some of the more recent problems.
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On orders that exceed a certain number of comics or dollar amount they’ll start using bubble wrap around the stacks. Once they’ve done that for a while and can see what impact it has on reported damages and also on processing speed, that limit will be adjusted or removed and just done for all stacks. Not sure what the exact cut off will be yet but we should be deciding that Monday.
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For the paper, our supplier is going to send our warehouse multiple other similar items (different thickness papers, plastic, cushioned paper wrap, etc.) for us to try out and see if it holds better. If something ends up being better it will be switched to. (And if anyone knows of a suggestion we should be testing shoot me a PM.)
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For the stacks themselves, there’s going to be a set number (or approximate height) for a wrapped stack. So big orders will be multiple wrapped stacks instead of one big one, and it won’t be up to the discretion of the staff.
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Various other training reminders and process reminders will be gone over with newer people again next week to make sure people remember some of the easier things (not having all the books with spines on the same side, variants going in cardboard mailers, etc.)
As for the bags and boards, like I mentioned earlier the main problem right now is just BCW. We’ve been backordered with them for most of the last month and are using what supplies we can instead of what we want. Hopefully soon we’ll be able to get our orders in from them and to help with that were going to start ordering an extra pallet of bags and boards as backup in case they get backed up again in the coming months.
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I would bypass the paper wrap completely and go with a plastic or plastic bag. I know it’s not environmentally friendly but it works better and provides more protection. If done properly it’ll also make the books waterproof.
To thick of paper will cause damage just packaging the books. To thin and the books break loose. Smaller bundles will help as well. I personally won’t bundle more than 10-12 books together.
Props to Brendon and TFAW for listening and taking actions. I think that customer service level is why most on this forum buy from them. I really appreciate this.
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I buy from them because the ratios are cheaper than most places. I have also not had any major problems with orders but I have only gotten two so far. And to be honest the big order I just got the comics were all stacked on the same side so there was a nice small curve on every single comic of my 60 comics or so. Well the curve is actually on the boards and can be corrected but it’s still something they shouldn’t be doing and if it kept happening I would cut back my orders significantly. “Someone new in the warehouse did it”, while likely true, is only an excuse you can use so many times.
Definitely props to them for taking action but even if they keep taking action I would eventually stop buying from them because no matter how good your customer service is I don’t want to have to deal with problems every order or every other order or every 3 orders or any orders at all in the history of ordering ever. Getting it right first is the best customer service you can give.
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We are really fortunate to have the ear of Brendon to bend. Thanks for being willing to answer what seems to be relentless questions about TFAW; you could just hide and ignore statements, but are proactively working on them.
Thank you.
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thanks brendon for listening to everybody’s feedback and coming up with practical solutions.
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I greatly appreciate the time and effort Brendon. It lets me know TFAW really cares about what their customers say and the books we spend our money on.
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Perhaps fixing the underlying problems would be the prudent course of action? I honestly see excellent customer service and the TFAW rep on the boards goes above and beyond and deserves a raise. Seriously I was just thinking how much time he spends answering work questions and seems an excellent employee. However results will speak volumes. I’ve upped my orders to avoid the rigid mailers and am hoping by the time my bigger orders start to ship everything’s resolved. It’s good to know they have excellent service but as I’ve said before the best customer service is one you never have to deal with in the first place.
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It is certainly cool @RipCityGamer is here. It’s funny because he is here for spec and comic news but just so happens to be willing to lend us an ear. I can honestly say we don’t see reps from other major online retailers jumping in to answer questions and such. So kudos to Brendon for doing that.
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And yes, I’ve made sure to tell him that he’s not obligated to respond to every @RipCityGamer tag either… 
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