I don’t think they ever stated the print run on the trade/virgin kickstarter comics. Maybe @elreycomics can chime in on that. I ordered some and would like to know as well.
I just got my We Live #1 incentive from TFAW, in the flimsy mailer, and it is beat up. It’s just for my PC, but still disappointed.
That’s a bummer. Contact TFAW, let’em know. Unfortunately they likely can’t replace since it’s a ratio variant.
It’s a flaw in our system we’ll have to figure out that I didn’t think of until you mentioned it. The packing slip is set to alert them on anything above cover price (the incentive variants, oversized issues, etc.) so that they know to upgrade their packing to a cardboard mailer, but for indie incentives we charge cover price…
Was it bagged and boarded at least?
Yeah, it was bagged and boarded. Just one of those bad luck times it got banged up.
It would be great to have the option to pay extra for better packaging no matter what’s being ordered.
1 Like
Those mailers aren’t great but if you order more than a handful of comics TFAW will ship in a box. I have had comics damaged in those mailers but never had any damaged when they shipped in the box.
This shouldn’t matter. Your order should be secure no matter how many comics you buy and no matter if they are cover price or over cover price incentives. I keep seeing people sort of pawn off TFAWs shipping problems onto the consumers lol That is not how this should work. Order more so they ship in a box? No. Just ship peoples stuff properly no matter what they order. The end.
3 Likes
Damages happen, no matter the retailer. The main kicker I find with TFAW is they’ve taken care of me every single time. Midtown has shoo’d me away while others have as well.
So yes, every order in a perfect world should arrive in minty fresh condition but that’s not always the case.
As I’ve had plenty of TFAW rigid mailers show up in pristine, I’ve also had the fair share of them show up like the HULK went to town on them on the USPS shipping docks… I even had one literally get folded in half so the mailman could fit it in my mailbox not designed to hold such things…
As @RipCityGamer has pointed out, they get more comic mailers reported with damage than the rigid mailers. Now, he could be just flat out lying about that but so far he seems like a genuinely trustful guy who has no reason to lie about such things either.
It’s all a risk for bigger retailers. They have to cut costs on packing and shipping unless everyone wants to see the price of their orders go up… Sadly, we live in a very cheap world, people want it fast and cheap…
Mine came a little beat up too. It shipped separately and in the flimsy mailer. The system wouldn’t have picked up on it because it pre-sold for less than cover. So even though it was an incentive (which should be the trigger not just the price) it wouldn’t have shipped in a Gemini because of the price.
Mine was bagged and not boarded for what it is worth.
Absolutely damage will happen no matter what but I used to use envelopes too and I would get damage complaints every couple of weeks so I stopped and switched to Gemini mailers for any comic sold and I have had 1 damage complaint in the last 90 days out of 388 sales. Obviously I don’t do the volume tfaw does but most of my sales are single issues and every single one gets a Gemini mailer. That was a huge difference maker for me in damage complaints and customer satisfaction and all it took was for me to stop being cheap and lazy about my packaging.
I am sure Brendon is not lying but he also isn’t the one packing orders. People are complaining about comics just being tossed in boxes and envelopes without proper protection. It seems like it is the order packers discretion or just some employees cutting corners and it is probably costing them more money than it should. Not in just refunds but in customer attrition. If a customer gets a few damaged orders they are likely to just stop ordering altogether even if it gets taken care of.
You are never going to stop damages from happening but as a business owner you surely can do everything in your power to limit them for your customers.
2 Likes
I actually bought some of the same rigid mailers myself (didn’t have time to make my usual custom ones from the free USPS supplies) when I was selling a lot more a few months back and just by adding cardboard to sandwich the single issues, not one damaged book.
So, it’s not the container failing, it’s always how things are packed. If you do it right, you can prevent most if not all damage from occurring during transit.
So yes, packers might be inconsistent, which a retailer can fix with some quality control but one can always say you’ll never get consistent handling of the packages out of every USPS employee. Sadly, that will never happen at that level.
1 Like
I’m a bit paranoid about shipping damage, so I sandwich my books between the cardboard dividers that Gemini has, then place that in a usps priority bag (for water resistance), then inside a very-well-taped Gemini mailer. I’m about 400 sales without a damage complaint.
2 Likes
I do the bag and boarded comic inside an envelope. That is taped to the Gemini style mailer to keep from shifting and then taping the Gemini securely.
4 Likes
I’ve bought from Anthony before…He packs really well.
Luckily, my bagged and boarded copy from TFAW arrived undamaged despite one of the mailer’s corners being bent.
1 Like
I just got my We Live #1 incentive from TFAW, came all nice and minty… but I also threw in like 4 other books as well.
I also just finished reading it and issue #2… great series. Knew I would enjoy it. Now can’t wait for issue #3.
2 Likes
Do you agree with me that it could be the new Canto?
I think it and The Autumnal are great
1 Like
I knew when I saw the art and solicitation I’d like it since I like Canto.
I had the same feeling about it. I don’t often push our purchasing team to go super heavy on smaller publisher titles that don’t have a lot of pre-orders at the time we submit FOC, but in this case (and for Giga) I went as heavy as we do for some of the bigger Marvel/DC titles, and it looks like I was right!