As far as issues with damages/shortages, Midtown is a lot closer to where the comics are distributed from, so they likely also do get their shipments on time more often, and they travel through less hubs. So part of it for us is definitely being on the west coast and most shipments making a cross country journey.
Flat rate priority and media mail are things our warehouse leads are looking into for this year I know.
This would be nice. DHL sits on packages for a week and then hands it off to the USPS anyway.
And, thanks for taking time to share your TFAW knowledge here, repeatedly, when you’re just trying to participate as your own self and not as an employee.
Complaining about the shipping cost is ridiculous. I’ve never ever felt overcharged in shipping from TFAW and I’ve had some big orders. Expecting to be charged exactly what the post office charges is also unrealistic. They have people to pay to pack those orders & have supplies to buy as well that you seem to be forgetting about.
Marvel books on FOC are only coming up with a 20% discount. Did I miss this change?
I agree with this 100%. Most likely everyone on this forum knows how much it costs to ship a comic, or a bunch of comics, via ebay or some other selling platform. If you ship how I see most people ship, you take other people’s supplies that you get when they send you a comic, repackage the comics you are selling, and send it out. From an environmental point of view, this is great! Reusing shipping supplies probably has a huge impact there.
However, a company has to have the exact supplies ready and on hand when orders come in. Which means ordering supplies, storing them (cost of space), preparing orders, packaging (labor costs), and then a variable cost of when packages are damaged in transit (cost to replenish / customer service / more of those previous mentioned costs). Oh, and we didn’t talk about the cost to even manage all of this…some sort of internal system that everyone uses.
So, when we say, ‘hey, you could have shipped that flat rate priority’, well, that just isn’t the case when dealing with thousands of orders. They have to prepare for every type of order, whether it be 1 book, or 100, and can’t possibly predict what’s going to happen. Sure, they will have an idea via statistics, forecasting, peak seasons, etc., but for giant shifts in the market its difficult to predict those occurrences.
$8 flat rate quickly becomes $15 when you factor all those items in…and the only thing you can do as a company to bring that cost down is work out deals with the FedEx’s and UPS’s…who are seeing a demand unlike anything they’ve seen before…who have their own increased costs to deal with. So, telling them hey I want reduced rates, you better have some serious volume to back that up!
Probably doesn’t have an FOC date set. Sometimes (especially lately) marvel will adjust dates and we still have no easy way to automate changes from PRHs data.
Like I said, MOST of the time we get complaints on shipping costs it’s people who don’t understand what they picked. Or forgot they picked an option until the processing email comes. I’m pushing for the choices to be simplified a bit clearer but there are people every week who contact CS saying they picked like overnight Express for pre order processing (or whatever the fastest one is called) and had no idea that would cost more. UPS/FedEx can also surprise people with costs because their rates have gone up so much this year and unless you’re getting a bigger package the cost to send a couple comics through them is crazy.
That just means youve never had to pay $3+ shipping per book. Right now I have a 26 book order due to them sending whatever and whenever they feel like Instead of a 15 book 4 week order so my shipping stays below $20 usually about $17, 26 books shipped they are trying to charge me $65 in shipping not because I ordered 26 books for a 4 week order but because they screwed up my 4 week shipping schedule by sending one week worth of books when they fixed their building.
That is exactly what is happening to me right now as well. TFAW stacking books and invoice orders that should have shipped on my 4 week shipping schedule?. So now I am up to 31 books instead of the 15 and over $20+ in shipping.
My next ship date got pushed again another week as of yesterday and few more books added to the order?. So pretty much TFAW is shipping and stacking more books to orders when they feel fit instead of sticking to the shipping schedule we pick?. This has happened a lot on my last few invoices for pre orders
Including this week (1/5)…my pre-orders are 5 weeks behind. How the hell are they going to get that caught up and when? Looking at over 200+ books. Either multiple shipments a week or one large a$$ bundle that’s going to kill me in shipping costs and most likely results in damages.
If you are OK with your TFAW shipping charges, then great ! I am NOT !
I get larger packages shipped from other retailers at a cost between $5.99 to $10. I also know what my shipping charge is going to be when I place the order, unless there is an issue with a book delay, loss, etc. Because of the way TFAW processes and ships books, there is no clarity on shipping, and there are often multiple shipping charges. I have had a $16 charge on one order and then another $6 charge on another order, split between books that have been out for more than a month. These issues have been going on for a while, and TFAW should be more receptive to customers concerns (which I think Brendon mentioned that TFAW is looking in to).
My SUGGESTION and hopefully expectation that TFAW consider USPS if DHL is not delivering, is just that. TFAW can do whatever it wants to !
And other online retailers also ‘pay to pack those orders & have supplies to buy’ and still manage their shipping costs. I havent FORGOTTEN about it; that should be figured into the cost and strategy of operating a business.
So what you think of COMPLAINING, I think of airing out my grievances ! This is a thread on TFAW Status right ?
You do you, I’ll do me !
I dont get this argument. I sell on Ebay in a limited way. I list a shipping charge and stick to it. A customer buys my item, knowing the shipping charge. Its on me to ship the book based on the charge I specified. I dont list a book and say I’ll figure out the shipping charge later. How I pack it or the cost of materials is something I factor into my shipping charge.
For TFAW, I expect that I am going to be hit by multiple shipping charges since the last year (yes, yes, Covid, storms, staffing, etc.). I accept this and I still order from them. Still, doesn’t preclude me from being frustrated with the practice, sharing it on this forum, and offering suggestions to address it.
My shipping charge is not based on predictions ! You may be insinuating that TFAW does this or other sellers, and while I accept that this is the practice with TFAW, I dont have to like it.
I understand your process and struggles. I am just saying that more clarity would help in atleast understanding what the ball park shipping charge is going to be inspite of all the factors you and the other TFAW shipping policy defenders mention.
I know what to expect from TFAW and accept it ! Again doesnt mean it cant be improved and suggestions provided.
And I do appreciate your candor in discussing the topic on this forum. My comments were meant as a suggestion to improve service and customer response.
My assumption is that the shipping charge you pick is the one charged. If you get a different charge then that definitely isn’t right.
My comment was directed at the fact that people oftentimes complain about shipping but don’t take into account all the other items that go along with shipping a comic book.
With TFAW, I always pick the cheapest (monthly) shipping OPTION not CHARGE. The charge is variable, probably known to TFAW and their shipper. The charge gets adjusted based on how books are processed and shipped, and also how many books are in a shipment.
I have books that have been out for a while that are still not processed or shipped. Of these, some get shipped or not, resulting in multiple shipments and thus multiple charges.(on Ebay there is an advantage to offer ‘combined shipping’). Also, the rate is not comparable with similar online retailers (I understand that this depends on the deal between the retailer and shipper), which I am sharing, NOT complaining about.
As far as taking into account other factors in shipping the book, frankly thats on the seller, and I dont mean that in a rude way ! Thats something I figure out in my strategy while selling, and its on me to adjust accordingly. The point here, is that I dont tell my buyer that the shipping charge may be adjusted based on whatever factors. Ex. I sell two books and say I am going to ship by GoodMail. One of the books arrives late. I apologize to the buyer, let them know the book is late, and ship the books together in one package. I dont ship two separate packages AND charge the customer twice for shipping. If I do decide to ship two separate packages, I eat the cost of the second package, because I WAS NOT CLEAR ABOUT THIS IN MY SALE ! For TFAW, it is an unwritten rule, that I accept, that shipping charge and packages may vary !
Just to be clear, my comment wasn’t directed at you, just was making a general statement about shipping costs. I agree, it is on the seller. If the seller messes up and doesn’t calculate shipping correctly, its on them.
I think the high shipping cost is because they are adding in the cost of insurance. This way, they are reimbursed for the amount they refund the customer for damages.
Not taking it personally; just explaining my POV. I’m probably writing for many.
First, I’ve heard of insurance on TFAW shipping; is this true ?
I’ve heard the same thing about the cost covering insurance. I only had damage once with TFAW and they refunded me promptly. Nonetheless, I do think insurance should always be an optional feature, not forced. If forced, then the seller should be covering it (after all, they are protecting themselves), but that’s just my opinion.
I don’t disagree with you @DocCRR on the shipping charges. They can be tough to swallow sometimes, but I price that in to my buys so even though I will sometimes roll my eyes when I see the shipping charge, I just chalk it up to it being the price I pay to access some of TFAW’s offerings.