Heavy Ink Sucks!

I buy frequently from many other comic sites on the internet and I thought I would try this site as they seemed to have something I needed. What I got was 3 smashed comics poorly packaged and on top of thet they were SECOND PRINTINGS! There was nothing noted anywhere that these comics were 2nd printings or I would not have purchased them. When I got them they were horribly mangled as they were shipped with no bag & board and stuffed inside a shipping envelope with no protection at all. What’s all the over-blown hype about this place? Most other subscription services have much better discounts most start at 35% off, and you can buy Graphic Novels from Amazon, Instock Trades or Dreamlandcomics.com for 35% or more off not a measly 20% off and get free shipping too. I won’t be buying here ever again. What happened to the triple your money back guarantee?

It would appear that the sky is indeed falling.

I had a huge chunk of sky just damage the gutters on my house.

Glad I didn’t have to waste the money to figure this out. Packaging is important to me and I usually pay the extra buck from online stores that know their customers want comics in pristine shape.

Oh, dear lord. Give me an effing break.

-b.

HI, I admit, is for the more casual comic book reader. You can cancel issues up until the minute they’re processed for shipping (I canceled Kick Ass #3 in the comic store on my iPhone on a Wednesday afternoon because I couldn’t wait), compared to sites like dcbs which require 2+ month advance pre-orders. All shipping is free, so I don’t have to wait and try and create a large order to get free shipping. I admit, I don’t go here for trades because Amazon is cheaper with free shipping and instocktrades is even cheaper than them, but takes forever and a day to ship and their website sucks.

Second printings? You’re kidding yourself if you think anything you buy today will hold any value tomorrow. If those kind of things matter to you, expect to pay a premium for them, because if there is one thing comic sellers know it is that most of their audience are suckers. Oxford Comics sold a 1st printing of Kick Ass #1 for $4.99 while the 2nd printing was $2.99 because they know some people are stupid enough to pay for that. They won’t be able to give those things away once the trade comes out, though. And truth be told all comic stores run on slender margins. Once they sell out, they sell out and get more if they can. I wouldn’t want to be here if HI pulled 10% of their copies of a popular comic in the hope that they can mark it up later. However, maybe HI could at least let you know this is a 2nd/3rd/4th printing, which would be nice.

As for damage, I was upset about that too, but you get what you pay for. I had to learn the system and now I adjust orders accordingly (I always get small orders because they ship via first class, whereas the larger orders ship via bound printed matter and either got lost, took forever and/or showed up in HORRIBLE shape). I could order No Hero #0 for 80 cents here and have it shipped to my door. Just 1 80 cent comic. It would cost HI more money to ship it then it would for them to sell it to me! In essence, they’d lose about 200% of the money (80 cents to spend $1.20 to ship a $1 comic) to sell it to me. If I wanted, I could go to the local comic store and look through all of their copies of a certain issue and pick out the best looking one. Of course, I have to pay money to drive there, they may not even have it, and I get no discount and pay tax, but I bought and issue in the condition I expect.

HI is still in beta and they’ll have more features to address some of the issues you have (bagging and boarding, better packing methods, etc). Heck, just last week they tried on larger orders wrapping them up to better protect them. But it seems in your case you’re one of those obsessive comic books collectors that, to put it frankly, are in the wrong place. You’re more than welcome to pre-order 3 months in advance a bunch of shitty Marvel and DC titles somewhere else that locks you into your order just so you can get a 1st printing of whatever totally valueless comic it is that you want. Good luck.

Hrmm.. if this user is that upset about second printings, maybe listing that on the product page is a valid feature worth requesting.

as for the shipping.. to make things clear to other folks: heavyink ships their stuff in a sturdy cardboard sleeve, not just an envelope. Trust me, if your postal service manages to smash-up a heavyink mailer.. a bag-and-board wouldn’t have made much difference. That said, when you use the free-shipping option your comics are at the mercy of your local postal service. Most post offices are good about delivering your mail in good condition, but some people are just cursed to receive mangled shipment after mangled shipment. The UPS-shipping option is best for these folks. (not that I’ve tried it)

and RE: the guarantee… did you try to contact HeavyInk about this, Laurie? or was the forum your first stop?

What does the “triple your money back” guarantee have to do with anything here? It’s not for 2nd printings or damaged comics. It’s when HI promises to fulfill an order and they can’t. And even then, I THINK HI actually automatically does it for you. I know I had a Dummy’s Guide to Danger: Lost at Sea issue that they didn’t get in when it came out and they just gave me a credit for double the cost (3x guarantee because they never charged me for it).

We’ve said this before.
We’ll say this again.

If you have problems with your order, PLEASE EMAIL US. We’ll get back to you. The forums are not the best manner to get us to contact you about your order.

Looking into your order quickly, it seems that there might have been damaged within the postal service – your order seems to be many months old. In addition, it seems you purchased a few popular comics that were in second printings when you ordered. We have changed the process of packing and shipping comics since your order was shipped more than 4 months ago.

We are aware that a number of customers who did not expect to receive 2nd printings and were not expecting them. We’ve heard this and are looking into options. If you have ANY questions about the status of an item, feel free to email us. We’ll get back to you with any answers.

Again: Forums are not the best way to get a hold of HeavyInk. Emails are much more functional and will have the issue resolved much easier.

/sign zombiedictator

Do you honestly think that Heavy Ink sent your order out in that condition? How on Earth is Heavy Ink even remotely responsible for the way your package showed up? This is clearly something you need to contact your local post office about and maybe if you contacted Heavy Ink they would be more than happy to help you with this.

Sigh. Responding to people like this doesn’t help. They half-read the website, then complain. I’ll betcha anything “mangled” to him/her is a little crease on the corners of the books.

And, great post, zombiedictator.

“I’ll betcha anything “mangled” to him/her is a little crease on the corners of the books.”
-nice one Eric

Of course comics today aren’t worth anymore than what you pay for them… It’s good to know that the dedicated consumers of this site know some of the little tricks to get their best value out of what they spend their dollars on, and share it with newbies like me. I totally LOVE the IDEA of this site and the potential it has. Me, I just like my comics like I like my women – clean, tight, and well dressed. I mean, if you end up with a sloppy jaloppy from time-to-time, it’s all good. It’s what’s on the inside that matters right?

The value I get from this site: free shipping, 20% off, the ability to cancel/add titles at a moment’s notice without pre-ordering them 3 months in advance, supercedes an occasional corner crease. I don’t consider that “mangled” or even damaged, and I certainly don’t think it’s HI’s fault—the method they use to ship is fine with me.

What I really despise is people like the thread creator using this forum for nothing more than bitching and moaning, when it’s been pointed out time and time again that the best way to get things like this resolved is by the Contact Us link. It’s also telling that the things people like “Laurie” complain about are pretty much discussed and went over if they would bother, y’know, READING the info on the site.

As for the second printings – I seriously think there’s nothing more in the world I hate more than comic book “collectors”—the kind that don’t actually read the books. WHO CARES if they are second printings, unless you’re a “collector” and are buying these books for investment purposes. Maybe it’s just me, but people like that drive me absolutely nuts.

So, in other words – shut up, Laurie. If you don’t like the site, that’s cool – nothing’s keeping you here. But don’t pollute this forum that is overall full of great people with your nonsense.

I always thought that if you’re buying comics on a regular basis, and not throwing them away after they’re read, you’re pretty much collecting them aren’t you?? I’m loving this thread. There are so few new comics now that have any investment value. Honestly I’d never heard of a “SECOND PRINTING” until this year. I know with some Marvel comics they say “Second Printing” on the cover and the cover it’s self is a pannel from the book and not the original cover. This is all new to me.

It’s certainly can’t be HI’s fault if a books shows up on your steps “mangled”. It’s somebody’s fault though. I mean, I know how it feels when you can’t rely on your country’s postal service to do their job. It just makes you feel icky.

I would tell “Laurie” – if you want your comics to show up in some crazy ass packaging and with quick deliver: check out an Ebay store called “Horizon Comics”.

Still though, this site and the services they provide are fucking sweet and inovative. I can’t wait to see how it developes in the future.

FYI, I just got my Walking Dead #50 in the mail. No big deal, until I opened the package and found it was the limited edition 100:1 variant Erik Larsen super heroes cover. That’s super rare and I got it. and all I had to pay was $2.39.

:) :) :) :)

I just checked Ebay. It’s going for $20 and up.

Not long ago there was a post bitching about shipping times – I was gonna stick my 2 cents in then, but I held off – things have gotten a lot better. My first couple orders took quite a while, now they ship on Wednesday or Thursday and arrive on Monday – pretty frikkin’ good for discounted merch with no shipping charges. I was going to agree with the “it’s not MINT” complaint – I’d like to think I’m a “collector” so I get it. But you know what? I’ve gotten bent corners from Midtown Comics, torn inner pages from Mile High, and creased covers from Badger and Graham Crackers. I’ve also made it to the local too late and ended up settling for an over-handled shelf copy. All those places either don’t discount as deep, charge full cover price, charge a ton for shipping or in the case of the local, cost me gas and sales taxes. I’ll take HI warts and all over my current options. Finally, the real reason I decided to add to this thread – my most recent order arrived PERFECT, and I wanted all the doubters to know about it. All 6 books, flat and shiny – not a mark on ‘em. The geek in me cackled with glee! Then I smudged ‘em up reading them. I really think the brown wrapping paper helps a lot – keeps the books in one bundle and makes the shipper less likely to bend – keep doing the wrapper, I’ll even pay for it. I really dig HI, things get better with every order. I can only imagine what the site will be like when it is out of beta. Thanks!

I just got my first order from a Marvel publisher direct subscription. I was expecting far worse. HI could only be better so i’m gonna have to get subscribing to something here.

That’s super rare and I got it. and all I had to pay was $2.39.

I just checked Ebay. It’s going for $20 and up.

Cue the cheesy “It PAYS to shop at HeavyInk!” commercial.

when the bitter cold of night snaps at my toes and disturbs my fitful slumber, I think of HeavyInk and a golden warmth, culled from the sun itself, returns me to somnambulance…

You can’t complain about the “triple your money back guarantee” until you’ve CONTACTED HEAVYINK ABOUT GETTING YOUR MONEY BACK.

Them’s the rules, dear.

I Have emailed you several times still no triple money back I guess them’s NOT the rules dude. And to make things clear,no I am not complaning about a small crease, all 3 of the books I bought were smashed, torn and folded in half as the mailer was so thin the mailman bent it in half to shove it in the mailbox. Your packaging is the WORST I have ever seen, I have bought many comics from other sites and they ship them in BOXES so they CAN’T be bent in half. Let’s not forget your ARE dealing with a product people want in good shape not a piece of shit that’s ripped and smashed.

Eeek.

Yeah, if your mailman looks at a big cardboard mailer stamped “DO NOT BEND” and stuffs it into a mailbox… I don’t trust your local postal service. :) If you choose to stick with Heavy Ink (which, judging by your tone, you probably won’t), use the UPS-shipping option.

Just curious: Did you use the email form on the Contact Us page, or reply to one of the messages from outgoing@heavyink.com?