Aside from the fact the person shipped a comic in between two very thin pieces of cardboard…
They did not secured the comic inbetween the cardboard and it slid around in the oversized bag.
So imagine my surprise as I’m cutting the envelope a fair distance away from the cardboard, only to find a corner of the comic sticking out right where my scissors just were!
I’m not sure how how I missed cutting the comic…but I cut the bag and the corner of the book was right along that edge…literally the blade brushed up against the book, but did not damage it.
And this person had all sorts of positive reviews on how well and secure he shipped his books. Need to leave some feedback. The reviews were so misleading.
You’re asking for spine ticks if the comic shifts…or when the tape gets removed because you have to put pressure down n the area to get the tape off. Or if you must, make the tape long enough so that pressure to start picking away at the tape is placed away from the spines
Also…I know most like painters tape…but damn it’s a bitxh to get off of mylar….for some reason it sticks a lot more than basic scotch tape. It’s brutal trying to lift it up as it is…much less near an edge…
I fold over the ends of any tape used inside the package. It makes little tabs to pull on instead. I can recount dozens of books being secured with painters tape that broke the tape and allowed books to shift around and be damaged. So not a fan of painters tape.
I’ll tape books in three places along a piece of cardboard. Top, bottom, and along the free edge. That’s all you need.
Pull tabs help. I’ve not had any issues with painters tape except for mylar/mylites. For some reasons the glue really likes to bond to that material type.
Did ground advantage USPS prices just go up again? I was getting a label Friday, and if I shipped Monday instead of yesterday, the cost was like 60 cents more.
And a book I shipped today cost $6.72. Single book. Under 12 oz. That’s the most I’ve paid to ship.
The planned price change, which was approved by the Governors of the Postal Service on March 24, is an 8 percent increase that would affect base postage prices on the following retail and commercial domestic competitive products: Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select. No other products or services would be affected, including First-Class Stamps. Pending favorable review by the PRC, the price change would go into effect at midnight Central Time on April 26 and would remain in place until midnight Central Time on Jan. 17, 2027. At that time, the Postal Service can determine if a different long-term approach is needed.
I purchased a couple of German Michael Turner Witchblade issues from Germany. This is how they arrived, no bag, no board, and wrapped in newspaper. It wasn’t even in a document mailer, just a regular craft envelope. Absolutely incredible. I’m guessing this is the guy that says you can get your weight down to 4oz! Needless to say, they are beat up. Pretty disappointing after the excitement of finally finding these two covers.
Just got my (2) sets of the most recent Flops release from his site.
One set was bottom right corner crunched because whomever packaged it, did an awful job centering the comics on the cardboard. I guess that one’s for the collection
I cannot complain too much though because I like the trading cards they added
I also sell magazines and ordered a bunch of magazine mailers from Gemini that work for these type of books.
I order my comic mailers from Gemini because my shipping cost and shipping discounts are governed by the weight. I have close to 700 listings at the moment, so changing to a different mailer may add only a couple ounces, but those couple ounces could bump the shipping cost an extra $2 depending on where it’s going.
If selling multiple lots of comics, I’ll reuse a box that I’ve received larger orders in.
I can usually send up to 6-8 books confidently with Matt’s mailers. A little heavier than Gemini, but thicker/sturdier, too.
The sweet spot for me is 5 books. I’ve been selling a ton of SIKTC back issues in 5-packs. I put the 5 bagged/boarded issues into 1 golden age bag. They fit snugly, but perfectly. Surround those with 2 pieces of cardboard. Throw some painters tape on, put them in a mailer, and they’re set.
Prestige books are a bit of a headache to send. If you do a bunch, I’d get the magazine sized mailers.
I’ll either reuse my Vinyl cardboard mailers for this when I save them and or just create my own custom cutout from boxes I obtain from other shipments, etc.
What do you ship oversized or thick comics in? Not necessarily omnibus like, but more DC Black Label size’ish
When I don’t have geminis, I sandwich comics between 4 pieces of heavy cardboard. I get the cardboard at BJs (free).
So I would just carve out larger pieces. Maybe add a 5th or 6th layer depending on the value/condition.
If you sell a group of comics together that do not fit in a traditional Gemini, what do you use?
MCS typically ships my comics wrapped in plastic and in a box with padding. I hold on to those supplies and re-use. Otherwise I’d secure them together and sandwich them between the same cardboard as I would with one comic.
I may add an extra layer of cardboard every 2 comics as added protection/robustness.
Where do you order your boxes from?
I don’t anymore. I re-use what I get in the mail buying comics, or make my own from free supplies (BJs/Costco). Saves money and less carbon footprint.
I will add it’s quite infrequent for me to ship a large comic/magazine or have an order of more than 2 comics.
Sanity check requested. Anyone here still using Gemini mailers?
My latest batch arrived and these are less than 8" wide. I don’t have any of my previous Geminis left to compare, but were they not 9" wide before? I’ve been happy with what I was using but now feel a little paranoid at less box surface to take the brunt of corner bumps.
