UK comic TBP comic costs to high?

[kevmann16]

I just really started buying TPB and GN's thanks to iFanboy and I went to ComicHole.com to try pick up some more books:

IDENTITY CRISIS TB, PRIDE OF BAGHDAD HC and RUNAWAYS VOL 2 HC

The total came to $38.92 which is just under £20 the same as Blankets just cost me from my Local comic store it seemed a huge bargin, but I knew shipping would be high but it was $42. More than the books!

This made it around £41 over the £30 limit for import tax meaning an extra 17.5% would be add plus charges.

On amazon.co.uk I can get the same books for £35.57 plus around £5 postage meaning if it wasn't for taxes I it still would be be as cheap on comichole even with the massive shipping charge plus Pride of Baghdad for example has a 4-6 week shipping time on amazon.

I cant buy these book in my local comic store because while I get my single issues at a decent price each week, the price of TPB's are more often than not nearly twice the cost of getting them on amazon.

So anyone know of an online UK comic store that I might be able to get my books from or are the UK TPB's overpriced compared to US cost everywhere making Amazon my best option?

[fred]

I just really started buying TPB and GN's thanks to iFanboy and I went to ComicHole.com to try pick up some more books:

IDENTITY CRISIS TB, PRIDE OF BAGHDAD HC and RUNAWAYS VOL 2 HC

The total came to $38.92 which is just under £20 the same as Blankets just cost me from my Local comic store it seemed a huge bargin, but I knew shipping would be high but it was $42. More than the books!

This made it around £41 over the £30 limit for import tax meaning an extra 17.5% would be add plus charges.

On amazon.co.uk I can get the same books for £35.57 plus around £5 postage meaning if it wasn't for taxes I it still would be be as cheap on comichole even with the massive shipping charge plus Pride of Baghdad for example has a 4-6 week shipping time on amazon.

I cant buy these book in my local comic store because while I get my single issues at a decent price each week, the price of TPB's are more often than not nearly twice the cost of getting them on amazon.

So anyone know of an online UK comic store that I might be able to get my books from or are the UK TPB's overpriced compared to US cost everywhere making Amazon my best option?

I'm American so I don't have this problem but I have heard it frequently. I think that a while back on the podcast they had a guy from Austrailia discussing what things cost there and it was crazy

[JAFlanagan]

On the other hand, the GBP is like 2:1 with the dollar, so you can take a cheap trip over here, load up on books and ipods, laughing all the time about our worthless monopoly money.

[kevmann16]

On the other hand, the GBP is like 2:1 with the dollar, so you can take a cheap trip over here, load up on books and ipods, laughing all the time about our worthless monopoly money.

I just got back from Canada the £ is over 2.3:1 C$ so I did plan on get some books while over they but I couldn't find a comic store in Whistler, I did get a couple of DVD's and some clothes.

With the US $ so low near Christmas I hammered the Threadless.com $10 shirt sale and got 9 new T-shirts, I would of got 2-3 quality T-shirts over here for the price I paid and that was including the shipping charge that was really cheap.

The lower the $ goes the better for US brits with the internet shame our wii's can't play US games

[jimmyp]

I normally buy from stores, and yeah, definitely too expensive. I don't trust buying off the web, 'cause in the past I've recieved books pretty bashed up...
There was a comic convo. here in Newcastle a few days back where they had everything at web prices. There were some Y:TLM paperbacks 3 or 4 quid cheaper, which was pretty good.

Does anyone buy from Forbidden Planet's website?

[JAFlanagan]

Ah, the threadless $10 sales....

The 3 of us have to confer to make sure we're not buying the same ones when that happens. I've gotta find a new place to get shirts.

I don't know what to tell you about the prices. I always feel bad for non-american comics readers, because it's just harder and more expensive, and there's no way around it.

At least you have national health care!

[jimmyp]

Ah, I still owe my dentist £15...damn it.

[JAFlanagan]

Ah, I still owe my dentist £15...damn it.

I've spent over $600 with mine in the last year.

I think that works out to about £15. Maybe 16.

[chrisuk]

My comic store sells trades at 0.7 $>£ conversion, so you can see that you're paying about 10% more than americans are. Bear in mind that UK comic stores have to pay more than American stores do for their stock, as Diamond UK (the wholesalers) knock up the prices a little to cover import fees.

Even though, paying 10% more for your trades is usually a lot cheaper than buying them at US prices then importing them. No independant comic stores and afford to match Amazon's prices however, in the Uk or in America, simply because Amazon buy in such huge bulk.

[JAFlanagan]

Only now, after I changed my avatar did I realize where Chris' quote came from.

The thing about Amazon is this. For a little while, I felt bad that I wasn't supporting an LCS when I bought from them, but then I decided there's nothing bad about them that I know of. They just provide what I know as a really good service. Good prices. Good customer service. Fast shipping. What's wrong with supporting a good company? Even if they're big? I still buy all my weekly books from a store. And currently, my store is pretty much a hulking behemoth as well.

[kal]

I sure am glad I live in America, home of cheap(er) comics and oversized sodas.

I have no qualms about buying off Amazon, either. I'm all about supporting my local comic shop (which is the prime reason I don't buy my singles online), but come on now, 30% off the list price? Quick and often free shipping? Gotta do what makes your wallet happy.

One of my favorite things about going to cons, though, is the half of trades booths that are always around. I end up with sore shoulders by the end of the con cause I'm lugging around two backpacks filled with trades.

Ah, consumerism!

[fred]

I love that you can essentially wander into a gas station in America and pick up a mop bucket full of soda for 1.50. It's probably my favorite thing about America.

[chrisuk]

Only now, after I changed my avatar did I realize where Chris' quote came from.

I really hope that the rumours of Will Arnett playing Ant-Man turn out to be true. Even if they aren't, I'm looking forward to it, mainly because it's being co-written by Joe Cornish, and I'm a big fan of the Adam and Joe XFM podcast.

[elfoxio]

I use Destination Venus (http://www.destinationvenus.co.uk) unless theres a massive price difference to that on amazon.

I used comic hole once to buy my weeks books and it was a couple pound cheaper but they arrived the following Tuesday so trying to avoid spoilers was a *****.