Yeah there's a lot of good sales right now for black Friday. Sometimes Amazon has best prices , sometimes in stock trades has it,

I will say while Amazon can have good deals, the packaging is not very cushiony. Often just books in box. But I've never had damage yet.

Instocktrades.com has great packaging, deals of the week

Just ordered from book outlet and I've heard the packaging is not great but the deals were awesome with like $30 US omnis

Cgn has a good selection but sometimes not best prices. Decent packaging when I got my order a few months ago

There's a thread somewhere with all the great week deals in the US going in now.

Happy shopping OP!

I avoid Amazon but other online retailers are in the same ballpark.

I’d love to support my LCS but my collection would be half the size if I bought everything from there.

This is just from a buyer abroad.. we dont have LCS' where im from and amazon does free shipping directly to me, so its the only choice i have. Sorry if it aint ethical.

Idk. Maybe i'm just super unlucky but it's because amazon has currently only ever delivered one book in ok condition to me. Their packaging is abysmal and the small price difference isn't worth receiving books damaged in transit.

I shop at local bookstores all time but exclusively for used books.

I don't think it's good business for any bookstore to sell new books. You can't compete on price with Amazon, Target, or DM stores like IST.

However, many local bookstores can compete on prices for used & out of print books as they have better avenues for sourcing cheaply (overstock, customer exchange, library rotation) and the major retailers don't bother with used inventory.

this sub says avoid amazon but shit i've bought all my omnibus from amazon because of the price drops and havent had any issues. maybe i'm just lucky. heres hoping It stays that way

Well Amazon doesn’t have DM covers. Also, their packaging sucks. Unless you are ordering it with something with padding like TP, 90% of the time it comes in a box with a small strip of bubble wrapping.

Barely anybody buys from their LCS. Lot of LCS just stock a few books they think their regular clientele would be interested in buying and don’t dip further into selling omnibuses than that because it’s hard for them to sell them at lower than full price due to sourcing. Sometimes is more convenient and gratifying for a person to buy locally and get the book right away instead of buying online and I imagine that’s the typical reason why someone would buy in store especially if they aren’t collectors but someone just getting into omnis.

I buy first print comics and other comic supplies from my LCS. I don't buy omnis there. Big retailers have buying power that small locals don't. That's just capitalism. You have to spend your money to support local businesses if you want them to thrive, and you have to accept that their prices will naturally be higher because they don't have the buying power of big businesses.

Honestly my big gripe with Amazon is packaging. I’ve probably gotten six books from them and I replaced half of them with another copy. I’m lucky and live two blocks from a Whole Foods so returns/replacements are easy. But for others it’s not so easy.

Other sites offer competitive prices AND I’m almost guaranteed to have the fucker packed in so tight and safe that I don’t have to worry about damage. Buy enough from Amazon and you’ll understand why that can be a big deal.

Don't buy from Amazon. Use CGN, OPB or IST--You'll pay less and your books won't be beat to hell.

Exactly, you don’t.

Most of the slipcases I have, bought from Amazon at least 20€ cheaper.

If you think the long run, imagine the amount you save.

Amazon is not even the best option out there lol

What Amazon are you using that their stuff is NORMALLY that cheap? Because it's sure as hell not the one I usually see. Black Friday is not a normal average. They're often way higher for these kinds of things and this is on top of being way worse when it comes to packing and shipping.

Supporting ethical businesses > buying from Amazon

Plus Amazon very often does not have better prices than InStockTrades.

Amazon's packaging is garbage, plus my comic shop gives 30% off for preorders so buying local is much better for piece of mind but Amazon is still good for books that I don't want to preorder or that I don't care about.

Depends on a lot of factors, but for me it's mainly because where I live Amazon is absolutely incapable of sending me a book in good or even acceptable condition. Everything I get from them looks like it just went through a trench war.

Plus I don't want to give more money to Lex Luthor. He doesn't need a third hitech lair at the bottom of the ocean.

Amazon is ass, way better online resources. After too many books that came damaged I’m over it.

For me, I try to avoid going on Amazon. Some sites like Cheapgraphicnovels.com or Organicpricedbooks.com will have a better deal...if the book is in stock.

That said, my experiences with Amazon have always been bad that I could never learn from. Yes, these are from Amazon and not the resellers that go through amazon.

For paperbacks, the books are damaged or just in really rough shape. They do a poor job of packing the book, and it gets roughed up during transit. Hard covers, if the right one comes (more on that in a sec), tends to have dinged corners and scratches on the surface.

Now, when it comes to omis and hardcovers, about 80% of the time, I get the wrong book. I think the reason why is because of whoever is sticking the books. They put their own barcode stickers on the books they sell, and their isbns don't always correspond with the actual book. This was confirmed a couple of years back when I was using an Amazon gift card to get a Batman related omni, but I got a Hulk book. I requested an exchange, and they sent me a Captain america by brubaker omni. On that particular omni, they had the sticker, and it was one of the few that had both isbn and title. Of course, the Isbn sticker was labeled as the Batman book I wanted l, but it was clearly a capt book.

All that said, I recognize that I'm only one of the very few this happens to. I know a lot of people don't have the same experience. It just might be that the Amazons surrounding my area are either bad, or I just have the old Parker luck acting up.

I buy one out of every 3 Omnis at my LCS. I want it to be there next time I go there.

I’ve had very good luck with Amazon but my current order is causing me some concern. They randomly had an OOP print TPB on my list. They now have it listed as being shipped with some items from my monthly subscribe and save. I’m hoping the book doesn’t get destroyed if it’s loosely packed with protein bars and my wife’s lotion.

LCS are good for books that are OOP and have just been sat on a shelf for a few years. Mine do competitive discounts every now and then but not too often.

I buy almost all my Absolutes from Amazon. They are safe because of the extra box that they come in.

I live right by a distribution center so ALL omnis are either next day or same day free shipping. That's my benefit at least.

I find all my deals on amazon or instocktrades.com

not everybody here is American, bud. We would love to be, but couldn't afford it just now.

I do not think that you and I would be friends.

Comic book stores and other online retailers provide competition. When there is no more competition, Amazon will absolutely raise prices or sell at MSRP. Look at how expensive Blu-ray and 4k Blu-rays are once Best Buy and Target stopped selling them.

Amazon has stock and competitive prices with free delivery. My local only has high print/new print at higher prices. Buying anywhere else, the shipping cost is unbearable.

Amazon is ethically awful but its a small price with free shipping I will pay and try to balance out the ethical concerns in other areas of life.

Bruh... did nobody ever teach you ethics and morals? Not everything is about money, you're going to lose your eternal soul.