Shipping
Where I ship
Within the United States only. I'm not shipping internationally at this stage. That may change, and this page will say so when it does.
What it costs
One rate per order, set by how big the parcel is. Raw comics: $6.00 for up to 3, $8.00 for 4 to 9, $10.00 for 10 to 12 and $12.95 for 13 or more. Comics are light, so the postage moves in steps rather than per book, and one, two or three cost the same to send.
Graded books ship Priority Mail, always: $11.95 for one or two and $15.95 for three or more. A slab is heavier than a stack of comics and it travels in a rigid box, so it costs more to send and I am not putting one in the cheap service.
Orders of more than 12 comics ship in a box rather than a mailer. A comic mailer holds 12. Above that it is one box and one parcel, not several, which is why the rate steps once and then stops.
Orders of $75 or more ship free. Your cart shows how close you are.
If a discount code is applied, the $75 is measured on what you actually pay after the discount, not before it.
How long it takes
There are two numbers here and only one of them is mine.
- Orders under $25: 3 to 7 business days to pack and post.
- Orders of $25 or more: 2 business days to pack and post.
That is processing time, not delivery time. It's how long I take to get your order into the postal system. Once USPS has it, delivery is theirs, and I'm not going to promise you a date somebody else controls.
Who carries it
USPS, in every case. Ground Advantage for raw comics, Priority Mail for graded books and anything urgent, and Media Mail for books that are not comics.
Media Mail is not used for comics, and that is deliberate. USPS excludes anything containing advertising, and virtually every comic carries ads. A comic sent that way can be opened, charged at the full rate, or returned. It is a genuinely cheap option for the non-comic books, and it is the wrong option for everything else.
Tracking
Every order ships with tracking, emailed to you when it leaves. Ground Advantage, Priority Mail and Media Mail all include it.
Insurance
Ground Advantage and Priority Mail both include cover up to $100 as standard, so most orders are already protected.
Anything over $100 I insure myself, at my cost. Between that and the cover USPS includes, every order is insured for its full value, up to $5,000, and there is nothing for you to add or pay for. $5,000 is the ceiling USPS will insure a parcel to.
How it's packed
Raw books are bagged and boarded, then packed into Gemini rigid comic mailers. Those are built for this one job, and they are why a book arrives flat rather than bowed at the corners.
Graded slabs ship in a SlabShipper kit, four pieces of moulded foam inside a USPS box, holding one to three slabs with nothing loose enough to move. A slab that rattles is a slab that arrives with a fresh scratch on the case.
Big orders may arrive as more than one parcel if they will not safely fit in one. You still pay one rate either way.
If it arrives damaged, or does not arrive
Tell me within 48 hours of delivery and send photographs of the parcel and the book. I need those photographs to claim with USPS, so send more rather than fewer, and email them rather than using the contact form, which cannot carry attachments. I'll refund or replace, on the terms in the refund policy.
Keep the packaging until I tell you otherwise. USPS can ask to see it.
If a parcel is lost in transit, I file the claim with USPS. You do not have to deal with them.
Wrong address, or a refused parcel
If a parcel comes back because the address was wrong or delivery was refused, I refund the books and keep the postage. The postage was genuinely spent.
If the address you entered is wrong and the parcel is delivered to it, that one is yours. USPS did what it was asked, so there is no claim to make and nothing to recover, and I cannot replace a book that is already at somebody else's door. Almost everything here is the only copy, so there is usually no second one to send even if I wanted to.
Check your address at checkout. It's the one part of this I can't fix for you.
Cancelling
Cancel any time before it ships, at no charge. Once it's in the post it's on its way. If you have an account, open the order under Your orders and press Ask to cancel this order. Otherwise email support@grabmyslabs.com or use the contact form and I'll sort it.