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Alternatives to DCBS?
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109 posts in this topic

7 hours ago, Schmakt said:

I don't collect many variants, but I *do* collect Daredevil variants... I had to stop ordering them from DCBS though.  I can't be paying $50, $100, or more for books that show up in 9.0.  I rarely have ever *not* gotten a variant I ordered, but I feel like I'm better off looking on ebay after the fact now as something just isn't working.  I ordered the cheap variants on DD 1, so we'll see what happens in that shipment.  As of now, however, I'm not paying those premiums. (most problems on on the spine... either due to the small bags/boards they switched to a while ago or maybe rubber-banding instead of taping...)

I primarily collect Valiants, and I *have* had issues with not getting variants that I've ordered, and then they say a few months later that they couldn't get their damages replaced, and by then the rare ones have pretty much disappeared into collections. (Seriously, try to find a Valiant 1:50 from the last couple of years at a reasonable price in top condition. If it's key or semi-key then forget it.)

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Just got my shipment today and despite paying for Mylites and half-backs most of my books are in regular bags and boards... the others are in mylites but with some crappy board in them... basically posterboard given how it bends.  I don't see a lot of damage yet, but I haven't had time to pull everything out and scan it.  Definitely seems like the books are in better condition, but here's yet another problem.  They used to be so good... wtf is going on with them now?

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On 2/12/2019 at 4:45 PM, Schmakt said:

Just got my shipment today and despite paying for Mylites and half-backs most of my books are in regular bags and boards... the others are in mylites but with some crappy board in them... basically posterboard given how it bends.  I don't see a lot of damage yet, but I haven't had time to pull everything out and scan it.  Definitely seems like the books are in better condition, but here's yet another problem.  They used to be so good... wtf is going on with them now?

I've had that happen a few times. Don't remember whether the conditions were affected (but then, how would you know for sure, unless everything was a 9.8?); I emailed them and they sent the supplies in the next shipment

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Just got another very nice shipment from them.  Out of about 92 books, all were strict 9.4-9.8 with the exception of about 4 being in 9.2/9.4.  However, my copies of Spawn 293 came with all 3 covers like I ordered but the BW variants were not the 1st print error copies, but 2nd prints!  This book was not recalled as has been discussed at length on the boards so I'm at a loss as to why they did not send me the 1st prints that I ordered.  They are still selling for a bit of a premium so it would have been nice to get what I actually paid for, and make some cash flow back on this order. It is not like they can pull the 1st prints out of their at this point and send them to me....thoughts???

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5 hours ago, gradejunky said:

Just got another very nice shipment from them.  Out of about 92 books, all were strict 9.4-9.8 with the exception of about 4 being in 9.2/9.4.  However, my copies of Spawn 293 came with all 3 covers like I ordered but the BW variants were not the 1st print error copies, but 2nd prints!  This book was not recalled as has been discussed at length on the boards so I'm at a loss as to why they did not send me the 1st prints that I ordered.  They are still selling for a bit of a premium so it would have been nice to get what I actually paid for, and make some cash flow back on this order. It is not like they can pull the 1st prints out of their at this point and send them to me....thoughts???

TFAW and DCBS (and could be more online shops) sent the error books back to Diamond. For anyone that ordered, they received the corrected version (2nd print).

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10 minutes ago, Second Blight said:

TFAW and DCBS (and could be more online shops) sent the error books back to Diamond. For anyone that ordered, they received the corrected version (2nd print).

Yeah my LCS sent back error books for replacement 

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Thanks for all the responses, I originally posted this last year in response to people complaining about damages and shortages due to DCBS moving their distribution center. From all of your responses it seems that since they have moved back to Indiana that they have things back on track and are back to providing a great discount on high grade new books with good customer service. I will definitely be giving them my business going forward, thanks again for all the great input everyone!

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7 hours ago, Chinatown said:

Thanks for all the responses, I originally posted this last year in response to people complaining about damages and shortages due to DCBS moving their distribution center. From all of your responses it seems that since they have moved back to Indiana that they have things back on track and are back to providing a great discount on high grade new books with good customer service. I will definitely be giving them my business going forward, thanks again for all the great input everyone!

Depends. These were in a recent shipment:

IMG_6676.thumb.JPG.4d3bced3a490b9feb439313e616867b1.JPGIMG_7893.thumb.JPG.365966af37f7d57451d2201d2240af4b.JPGIMG_7517.thumb.JPG.bd26bb7b95734b41da0d2c95bd31b217.JPGIMG_8978.thumb.JPG.816c77c67bc1cbd909f5314a48a0d4d7.JPG

 

Edited by GeeksAreMyPeeps
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Like most people here, I've seen the rate of damaged books increase, albeit slightly, over the last year or so.  Now I just got the notice that California has been added to the sales tax list for DCBS.  My cost just went up almost 10% - yikes!  Those two factors have me considering switching to another service, either online or local (based in Los Angeles).  The DCBS discount was the main reason I stuck with them, but if I can find another vendor with a similar discount that isn't charging sales tax - that would be great.  Any suggestions?

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I received my first shipment from them and so far so good.  All the books I received appear to be as good or better quality than what I would have been able to pick up off the shelf myself.  And I saved roughly 40%.  If every month is like this, I really don't have much to complain about except my choice of bag/boards (might go up a level to Mylites or to Mylite2's)

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On 4/2/2019 at 3:21 AM, ExNihilo said:

I received my first shipment from them and so far so good.  All the books I received appear to be as good or better quality than what I would have been able to pick up off the shelf myself.  And I saved roughly 40%.  If every month is like this, I really don't have much to complain about except my choice of bag/boards (might go up a level to Mylites or to Mylite2's)

I did Mylite 2's forever, then to Mylites and down to the regular bags/boards.  Problem is they charge an arm and a leg for the mylars, and they are current size to boot which sucks.  I hate current sized bags personally.

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8 hours ago, gradejunky said:

I did Mylite 2's forever, then to Mylites and down to the regular bags/boards.  Problem is they charge an arm and a leg for the mylars, and they are current size to boot which sucks.  I hate current sized bags personally.

I wish they'd do silver bags and boards as an option

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10 hours ago, brentdevil said:

Is it better to order with bags and boards, or not? Condition of the comics aside, it seems far easier to do this than buy them separately, unless they're so terrible they'd need replacing, like Midtown's.

Their regular bags and boards aren't bad by any means.  Though I wish they would use the resealable bags more often (they have done this before); most times they send the books in the regular flap bags that either need to be folded or taped.  I've been ordering from them for 3 years now.   

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Yes they moved back to their original location in Indiana, from what I've gathered here the move to Tennessee was such a disaster they had to move back or risk losing all their customers and going out of business because their service went so downhill when they moved to Tn.

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Does DCBS reimburse you for books that have tears?  I received a copy of ASM #19 that has a noticeable tear that appears on the cover and the first few pages of the book.  As though it was bound by a rubber band at some point.  I order all my books bagged and boarded so I can't imagine the damage occurred in transit and must either be a printing defect or occurred elsewhere from Diamond to DCBS.

Does anyone else have a similar issue with a copy of ASM #19?  Otherwise, has anyone dealt with an issue with DCBS and what was your process?  I'll likely email them once I go home and take a close look over the other 30 books from the shipment.

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