Good Deals thread

[DrGregatron]

Yes. On the other hand, if you also have Cheap Graphic Novels as your business name, you shouldnt price/ re price oop or going oop books that you have in stock on 2ndary market prices cause then they are no longer cheap graphic novels.

Both CGN and IST have great great customer service though. I dont buy through eBay or amazon, and from now on never from B&N.

LOL. Good point! Although, if they didn't raise the price on OOP books some douchebag would just buy them up cheap for resale on ebay--it seems like a whole helluva lot of the comic reading community makes a point of doing this.

I buy from both CGN and IST because they're both great places to buy from. I do tend to buy from CGN more often, though because they tend to be cheaper on orders of $100 or more.

[Horizon]

CGN is a good place, but I like IST better. Although IST usually offers 42% as opposed to CGN's 45%, the free shipping still puts you ahead. You'd have to buy over $200 worth of books for CGN to be cheaper.

[Bri]

You're being unrealistic.

Think of how many thousands of graphic novels are available at any given time. Think about warehouse space and the limits of physical space. It's completely unrealistic to think IST should actually have every single book in stock. They obviously have a ton of books in stock. But if something recent has sold out quick or it's an older obscure book, then it's not unreasonable to think they might have to go place an order with Diamond when someone places an order. Especially with an older book. It wouldn't make any sense for them to order more stock of older stuff since they might never get a sale from it. But if someone wants it, they can potentially have Diamond throw it in their next order and get it to you with a slight delay, which is better than not offering it at all. Only sometimes Diamond runs out of stock and IST doesn't immediately know that.

IST is a small business all things considered. They have the best prices on the internet most of the time. Their handling time is usually pretty reasonable. The shipping speed is out of their hands but it's rarely taken more than a week for me to place an order and receive it in California when it's shipped via Media Mail.

CGN is an actual comic book store with two physical locations, so they have a better idea of their inventory assuming they've got it all synced up. CGN also has horrifically slow shipping speeds over the holidays and during any significant sales, and their shipping policies are kind of a joke with $7 flat rate plus you have to buy EXTRA shipping unless you want to wait for an item to come into stock. Point being, it's a slightly different business model which has it's own downsides. Plus they price gouge on rare/OOP books which IST does not do at all, as Penoy pointed out.

If people want things guaranteed to be sitting in a warehouse and shipped to them the next day, feel free to order from Amazon with a paltry 20% discount maybe and then pay extra for next day shipping from one of the world's largest retailers.

And I don't see the relevance of how long it takes your bank to process a refund. 3 days is pretty standard from other internet retailers I've received refunds from. If three days is too long for you, tell your bank to pick up the pace. IST (or any other retailer) doesn't control your bank.

All your points are valid. This does not change the fact that the name of the company is IN STOCK TRADES. Not "We might have it trades, pay us now for the books we'll check our inventory and then if we don't have it we will place an order with the distributor and if they are out well tough luck trades." What they need is a name change. As for taking 3 days to process a refund I realize it is not IST's fault. It just pisses me off that I am charged instantly for something that I end up not getting and then have to wait for a refund.

[kodave]

All your points are valid. This does not change the fact that the name of the company is IN STOCK TRADES. Not "We might have it trades, pay us now for the books we'll check our inventory and then if we don't have it we will place an order with the distributor and if they are out well tough luck trades." What they need is a name change. As for taking 3 days to process a refund I realize it is not IST's fault. It just pisses me off that I am charged instantly for something that I end up not getting and then have to wait for a refund.

You're being pedantic at this point.

You're also misrepresenting most of IST's business. Again, they have a warehouse full of trades and inventory consisting of probably thousands of different books. Just because the occasional book might have to be re-ordered from the distributor and the distributor might be OOS doesn't make their name untrue or make them a lesser business. Furthermore, once they confirm something is indeed out of print, they stop selling it and don't waste your time listing it on the website. HOW DARE THEY NOT BE 100% PERFECT AND KNOW INSTANTLY WHEN EVERY BOOK IS OUT OF STOCK?!?!?! They're sitting on more book stock than nearly every other direct market retailer out there. The only places that might compare are CGN, Midtown, and TFAW (and once upon a time, ToW, but DCBS/IST bought ToW's online business). I've had Amazon cancel items on me after saying they'd get more in stock or ship by a certain date and they didn't come through. HOW DARE THEY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

If you're pissed you're charged up front, I don't know what to tell you other than take a chill pill or stop online shopping. That's how online shopping works. Things being OOS and undeliverable happens in every industry. Jeezus.

[Bri]

You're being pedantic at this point.

You're also misrepresenting most of IST's business. Again, they have a warehouse full of trades and inventory consisting of probably thousands of different books. Just because the occasional book might have to be re-ordered from the distributor and the distributor might be OOS doesn't make their name untrue or make them a lesser business. Furthermore, once they confirm something is indeed out of print, they stop selling it and don't waste your time listing it on the website. HOW DARE THEY NOT BE 100% PERFECT AND KNOW INSTANTLY WHEN EVERY BOOK IS OUT OF STOCK?!?!?! They're sitting on more book stock than nearly every other direct market retailer out there. The only places that might compare are CGN, Midtown, and TFAW (and once upon a time, ToW, but DCBS/IST bought ToW's online business). I've had Amazon cancel items on me after saying they'd get more in stock or ship by a certain date and they didn't come through. HOW DARE THEY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

If you're pissed you're charged up front, I don't know what to tell you other than take a chill pill or stop online shopping. That's how online shopping works. Things being OOS and undeliverable happens in every industry. Jeezus.

Yep, I need the chill pill. Me, I'm the one who's getting all worked up. (You need to start looking for replacement ! and ? keys). If it hasn't been clear (and it obviously hasn't) I am being a smart ass. It's not a crime, just dealing with minor frustration's with a bit of sarcasm.

To be perfectly clear, IST is a great seller with top notch service and excellent packing. All your points about them and the other companies are correct. But I am only referring to IST. I say if your going to call your company IN STOCK TRADES you have got to expect a little s--t when your items are out of stock. Is suggesting a name change really so outrageous? If the name of the company was anything else I would have never commented.

I didn't mean to get anybody all riled up. We are very lucky to have companies like IST/CGN where we can get are trades/Graphic novels at such generous discounts. I just get a little cranky when I don't get the trades I order. Who doesn't?

[Ramsay Snow]

You're being pedantic at this point.

You're also misrepresenting most of IST's business. Again, they have a warehouse full of trades and inventory consisting of probably thousands of different books. Just because the occasional book might have to be re-ordered from the distributor and the distributor might be OOS doesn't make their name untrue or make them a lesser business. Furthermore, once they confirm something is indeed out of print, they stop selling it and don't waste your time listing it on the website. HOW DARE THEY NOT BE 100% PERFECT AND KNOW INSTANTLY WHEN EVERY BOOK IS OUT OF STOCK?!?!?! They're sitting on more book stock than nearly every other direct market retailer out there. The only places that might compare are CGN, Midtown, and TFAW (and once upon a time, ToW, but DCBS/IST bought ToW's online business). I've had Amazon cancel items on me after saying they'd get more in stock or ship by a certain date and they didn't come through. HOW DARE THEY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

If you're pissed you're charged up front, I don't know what to tell you other than take a chill pill or stop online shopping. That's how online shopping works. Things being OOS and undeliverable happens in every industry. Jeezus.

You're being a bit harsh, but, yeah, that's the risk of online shopping. You have the option of getting a great deal (Which you often do), as well as not wasting time/gas going to a store, but there's the off-chance they may not have the item
in stock. In contrast, you'll pay more at a brick & mortar shop, but you'll know for a fact the item is available (there's also the instant gratification aspect).

[kodave]

Yep, I need the chill pill. Me, I'm the one who's getting all worked up. (You need to start looking for replacement ! and ? keys). If it hasn't been clear (and it obviously hasn't) I am being a smart ass. It's not a crime, just dealing with minor frustration's with a bit of sarcasm.

To be perfectly clear, IST is a great seller with top notch service and excellent packing. All your points about them and the other companies are correct. But I am only referring to IST. I say if your going to call your company IN STOCK TRADES you have got to expect a little s--t when your items are out of stock. Is suggesting a name change really so outrageous? If the name of the company was anything else I would have never commented.

I didn't mean to get anybody all riled up. We are very lucky to have companies like IST/CGN where we can get are trades/Graphic novels at such generous discounts. I just get a little cranky when I don't get the trades I order. Who doesn't?

You seem to be misinterpreting hyperbole (hence the CAPS and ?!?!) with actually getting riled up. That should be pretty clear by the context proceeding the hyperbole.

You saying you're being "sarcastic" while laying out an honest b-fest about IST needing to rename itself doesn't jive, but okay. You even do it again in your reply above. And whether or not it's "outrageous" to suggest a name change - IMO I find it incredibly stupid. It's just a name. It's a URL. It describes most of their business because having to go back and order books from Diamond is not their M.O. and is an exception rather than the rule. The name is not a promise to have every single thing in stock at all times. It's not a blood oath or a solemn vow to you.

Right in their FAQ they say:
"Q) When can I expect my order?

A) Orders are shipped within 48 hours after they are placed excluding weekends or when an item in your order is temporarily out of stock because of unusually high order activity. In the latter case, re-orders are placed with our distributor immediately for the out of stock item which can delay your order for approximately 3 business days."

It says right there that sometimes things are OOS.

And as for "I just get a little cranky when I don't get the trades I order. Who doesn't?" - I don't. Maybe it's a minor annoyance at best, but certainly not worth whining about when the reason is that Diamond ran out of stock and it's beyond the control of anyone else at that point. I found a decent sized comic shop with an online presence that listed an OOP Omnibus as for sale. I ordered it and a week or two later I got a cancellation email because Diamond was OOS (which I figured since the book was known to be OOP at that point). Was I slightly disappointed that this comic shop didn't have that Omnibus sitting on their shelf already? Perhaps. Any real annoyance was their policy of then holding my refund money as store credit instead of giving it back to me - but I asked for it back and they complied, so problem solved. I've had IST cancel a couple of books on me. No big deal. I think one was an older trade so it was probably just an inventory error, and the other was a book Diamond was clearing out and clearly I was a little late trying to get in on the demand for that book at a clearance price. No big deal. Certainly didn't think IST should change their name because of it.

But it seems to be a common theme in this forum (and just across the internet in general) to flip out when IST (or another retailer) delays a non-expedited order for a few days, even though their website clearly lays out their handling time and estimated delay times. People flip out when IST uses Media Mail and the Media Mail doesn't arrive earlier than the Post Office estimates even though Media Mail is advertised as the slowest method of USPS shipping. I've seen eBay sellers post horror stories of idiotic buyers demanding to know why they didn't have their item yet when it was just purchased the day before. People flip out over the dumbest reasons, and honestly your rant about IST's name seemed to fall in line with that. They're comic books, not essential goods. I think a desire for instant gratification and just general entitlement issues have become a huge problem with people purchasing many things over the internet, comic books included. There's a minimum level of competency and care at which any business large or small should operate that, and IST certainly meets that. But for some reason, some people think every internet retailer is Amazon. Which is why I said before "If people want things guaranteed to be sitting in a warehouse and shipped to them the next day, feel free to order from Amazon with a paltry 20% discount maybe and then pay extra for next day shipping from one of the world's largest retailers."

But no, people want to have their cake and eat it too. I'm not personally "riled" or "getting worked up" but I find the stupidity of such posts a disservice to the community that reads these forums and might be trying to gauge the reliability of certain businesses, especially when the businesses frequently provide top notch service and pricing.

Ultimately reasonableness is subjective, but even by a subjective viewpoint I think complaining about IST charging money up front (like every standard retailer on the internet), IST needing to change their name because a couple of books were OOS, or getting "pissed off" (at IST it initially seemed) that banks take three days to process a refund isn't very reasonable at all. You can try to defend those viewpoints all you want, but I'm not buying it. It's not like IST advertises a guarantee that everything will always be in stock. It's not like IST's customer service dragged their feet on issuing your refund once they learned they couldn't fulfill that part of your order. It's not like IST deliberately accepted payment for an order they knew they couldn't fill and had no intention of fulfilling. It's just a string of minor inconveniences.

[Dark-Flux]

I hate when mom and dad fight...

[NZ_InFerno]

Take it to pm, back to the deals pls

[DrGregatron]

Take it to pm, back to the deals pls

What deals? I keep looking here, but I keep on finding none.

[GenericUserName12]

What deals? I keep looking here, but I keep on finding none.

Here's one for you. IST has Locke & Key Special Edition HC books 2 and 3 for $25 each. That's a 75% discount!

http://http://www.instocktrades.com/...AMES/DEC120470

http://http://www.instocktrades.com/...DOWS/OCT130332

[Roland1580]

Here's one for you. IST has Locke & Key Special Edition HC books 2 and 3 for $25 each. That's a 75% discount!

http://http://www.instocktrades.com/...AMES/DEC120470

http://http://www.instocktrades.com/...DOWS/OCT130332

It doesn't make any sense to buy second and third volumes and not to have other special editions. Especially if to remember about upcoming Master editions hardovers.

[y2afuk77]

Thinking of ordering a few omnibus from IST to the UK. Just wanted opinion of UK buyers who have ordered from them regarding packinging, delivery time, and if anyone has been stung by custom charges. Thanks.

[Iron Fist]

Thinking of ordering a few omnibus from IST to the UK. Just wanted opinion of UK buyers who have ordered from them regarding packinging, delivery time, and if anyone has been stung by custom charges. Thanks.

I've only ordered trades from them, their shipping prices to the UK basically erase any saving you could make even when an omnibus is 50% off.

And you can't be stung by custom or import charges, books are immune to both and if you get charged them because a package has been mislabeled you can claim it back from HMRC.

[Johnatellodi]

I'm going to throw in my disdain for "Cheap Graphic Novels" real quick. They have some true jerks working there. I only shop ist and amazon currently.