Thank YOU for taking the time to read this new blog post about our shipping charges and policy update in accordance with the latest news from our shipper USPS. The bad news is that they are increasing their rates on May 12th, 2008 to their customers, which includes us!
So this is our UPDATED Shipping Policy AND Explanation of Shipping Charges as of 05-09-08 for purchases that won't be shipped until May 12th, 2008 or later. These are in effect until we are forced to change them again, which appears to be at least yearly from now on as USPS is planning another increase in postage costs in May 2009!
Until further notice via our blog updates or on the individual listings... feel free to use this blog post as reference for shipping rates that are NOT listed on the individual listings!
We will be referring to this blog post in our future communications with our customers or potential customers asking what our rates are to their country!
First of all, there are many different shipping solutions on eBay at this time. However we don't subscribe to the thought of running auctions/fixed price/store format listings for a low price and then charging additional shipping on each and every item that is purchased. (i.e. $3.00 for first item and adding $1.00 for each additional item which would be $7.00 to ship 5 comics to USA customers.) We are going to stay with our Flat Rate Shipping Charge for Comic books (only) to USA addresses, and not currently increasing it at this time.
The above means that for our USA customers that we will ship unlimited 'raw' / 'unslabbed' comic books only for the Flat Rate Fee of $4.99! When the comics and the insert/folder/envelope/etc. are less than 13 ounces, the bubble wrap envelope will ship 1st Class with a delivery confirmation already included for the $4.99 charge. When the 4th comic is added to a package, that usually puts the total weight over 13 ounces, which means we have to put the entire contents in a Flat Rate Priority envelope which is going to cost us $4.80 on Monday May 12th. Add the delivery confirmation receipt charge that we include, and you'll see that we make NO money on shipping and actually Lose money on shipping 4 or more comics! Our local USPS office AND the Washington DC office have informed us that comics are NOT to be sent 'media mail', so we can't ship comics that way, sorry! So our Flat Rate Shipping Fee of $4.99 is a 'loss-leader' for us....
We will COMBINE shipping for mixed items (magazines / comics / books / promo items) where possible to save our customers on combined shipping charges, but they are NOT part of our 'unlimited shipping flat rate fee' when comics are mixed with other type of items, due to the weight and odd sizes of the items basically!
Currently we are still running the "unlimited shipping" feature for certain items and to certain locations. Please read carefully the below paragraphs that explain our shipping to charges for the items you buy and to where you want them shipped!
Also please Note: eBay's 'Check Out Program' cannot handle combining our comics, magazines, dvds, toys etc together when it "invoices" you. There is a 'discount line' at the bottom of the items, shipping, insurance etc that you can use to revise the total. If you can't use the 'discount line' to reflect the correct shipping amount, please let us know, and we'll be glad to send you a combined shipping invoice!
SHIPPING COST TO USA Addresses:
SHIPPING COST FOR NON-CGC COMIC BOOKS:
The FLAT RATE Shipping is for NON-CGC graded comic books only! (NO magazines and NO CGC encapsulated graded comics!) We will continue to ship unlimited non-CGC graded comics to USA addresses only at the special $4.99 shipping cost for a while longer! Whether you buy one or three or ten or even more comics!
SHIPPING COST FOR MAGAZINES:
We also sell Magazines, but they are odd-sized and varied in number of pages so they cannot be sent via the 'unlimited shipping' rate, sorry! We will combine shipping where we can, but please email us FIRST for combined shipping cost BEFORE you click to buy multiple magazines! I cannot emphasize this more... e-mail us FIRST!
SHIPPING COST FOR CGC GRADED COMICS:
CGC graded comics come in plastic holders and are shipped only via a Priority BOX so as to protect the holders. We can place 1 to 2 CGC graded comics in the Flat Rate Priority Box for $9.99 to USA addresses only for a while longer, as you can see that the new USPS charge to us of $9.80 for the postage plus additional for the delivery confirmation receipt is actually a 'loss-leader' for us now!
SHIPPING COST TO CANADA:
FLAT RATE Priority International Shipping is for NON-CGC graded comic books only! We will ship 2 to 9 non-CGC graded comics to CANADIAN addresses only at the $10.99 shipping charge! Sorry, no magazines and no CGC graded comics at this rate!
However, If you want to buy JUST ONE NON-CGC comic, (no magazines either), then the shipping cost would be $4.99 for FIRST CLASS INTERNATIONAL, but ONLY FOR ONE SINGLE STANDARD SIZED COMIC BOOK. No Annuals or Giant-Sized Comics at this special rate as the postal cost to us is based on weight!
PLEASE NOTE: We will ship up to 25 single standard sized non-slabbed comics in a Flat Rate Priority Box to Canadian addresses. Please email us FIRST for current quote. Those rates have gone up May 12th also.
For those in Canada that are interested in magazines, we can ship one in a Flate Rate Envelope. Possibly two magazines in a Flat Rate Envelope depending upon the magazine size and page counts. Please email us first with which magazine(s) you are interested in. Small magazines the size and approximate page count of comics can be shipped one at a time for a $6.67 shipping charge. Shipping for one non-comic book sized magazine will be $10.99 for a flat rate envelope. If we cannot fit the number of magazines you want in the envelope, then the mags will have to placed in a Flat Rate Priority Box for an amount TO BE DETERMINED as magazines are different sizes and page counts and cannot be be figured out how to ship AFTER being purchased. Please contact us first, as our magazines are NOT listed for shipping outside of the USA at this time. The listings would have to each be revised to allow you to purchase them individually. We will be glad to do so after we communicate with you on the costs and how many would fit in the box!
For CGC Comics - We have been hesitant to ship these internationally, but are now considering shipping them to Canadian addresses. On an individual buyer basis only. Please email us if you have interest in our CGC listings. The CGC encapsulated comics would have to be shipped via Global Priority Flat Rate Box for the $(To Be Determined) USD Shipping Charge PLUS Insurance. We can place from one to two CGC encapsulated comic(s) in each Flat Rate Box. E-mail us via eBay's email program to discuss further....
SHIPPING COST TO UNITED KINGDOM & AUSTRALIA:
FLAT RATE Priority International Shipping is for NON-CGC graded comic books only! We will ship 1 to 9 non-CGC graded comics, (no magazines) to the UK or AU/NZ for $12.99 as that is what the Priority International Envelope will hold with cardboard insert for protection.
NEW NOTE: We can now ship up to 25 single standard sized raw (non encapsulated comics) in a flat rate box to the UK and Australia. Our charge for this would be $(To Be Determined) USD at this time for the shipping. Please email us for that rate after May 12th, 2008!
SHIPPING COST TO OTHER COUNTRIES:
For countries that are NOT listed above, or listed in our eBay listings, we still may be able to ship to YOUR country! There are multiple reasons why we don't universally show that we ship to your country, but we encourage you to e-mail us with your question as to shipping charges for YOUR country!
Items like comic books are relatively easy to ship via USPS Global Priority Flat Rate Envelopes, but unfortunately they don't ship everywhere in the World via that rate yet! And eBay doesn't separate out several countries in 'Europe', only United Kingdom and Germany from the other countries.
(i.e We will ship to France, etc...)
There are some countries that we just can't ship to because of their postal systems mishandling our packages in the past... Please e-mail with your question as to if we can ship and what the charge would be to your country!
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For the listings of all the comics on auction or in our eBay Featured Store, just click here! Thanks for reading this blog post... Usually we blog about pop culture - comics - comic books - or related items. This was a update on our shipping rates and policies so we can add it as a link to our e-mail correspondence starting 05-09-08 and to our store header! Please note we reserve the right to make changes in the future...
Michael and Tina
Note From Make It So Marketing:
Each comic / comics book or magazine in our eBay Featured Store is individually graded, inventoried, priced, bagged and boarded, before being listed for sale!
We attend several pop culture and comic books conventions during the year to replenish our inventory for resale! If you don't see what you are looking for, feel free to email us a 'want list' and if in stock, we'll place it in our eBay Featured Store just for you and email you with the listing number(s)!
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