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"Looking for the The Best Places to Buy Your Omnibuses, and Collected Edition Comics? Join Us for the Ultimate Unboxing Showdown! What is the best place to buy comics, collected editions, and omnibuses? Look no further! In this video, I dive deep into the world of comic book shopping, comparing the experiences from four popular online retailers: Amazon, Cheap Graphic Novels, InStock Trades, and our sponsor Organic Price Books. But that's not all - I also visit a local comic shop to see how they stack up against the online giants. Join me as I unbox, compare prices, packaging quality, and overall customer experience to find out who offers the best bang for your buck! Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more comic book tips and insights.

00:00 Introduction
01:03 Ordering on Amazon
01:58 Ordering on CGN
02:55 Ordering on Organic Price Books
04:28 Ordering on Instock Trades
07:58 Comic Book Shop Tour
11:58 Ranking the Shipping Speed and Costs
14:18 Amazon Unboxing
15:47 Cheap Graphic Novels Unboxing
17:14 Instock Trades Unboxing
18:34 Organic Price Books Unboxing
21:04 Final Scores - Jake
28:30 Final Scores - Jordan
30:31 Credits

[zachespinoza]

Legitimately- this video is a great resource and really good investigative journalism for collectors. Absolutely solid work fellas

[InefficientShady]

Huh this is pretty interesting all things considered. The minor disses at Amazon were kinda funny though. I usually buy most of my comics n’ trades and stuff on there and always get great results but I guess it’s different for everyone! Just ordered my first Omni from organic priced books excited to read it! Great video btw!

[NMan]

I still can’t believe how OPB is still in business. I’m glad for those guys, but aside from the niche people on some YouTube channels and the occasional person online, MOST people I know buy from IST, then CGN, and finally Amazon itself, for new books. I know I did research around June/July 2021, but I found no reason to buy from OPB. They ALWAYS have higher prices. I know back around 2014-2019 CGN had some nice OOP books and whales for decent prices. I bought a lot from them around that time and especially from some Black Friday deals in 2018 and 2019. Since then, not really. The last time I ordered from them was June 2022. I guess people have a lot of extra money to throw to OPB? I can’t afford to do that. Also, I give 100% credit to those people who buy their collected editions from their LCS. They are paying top dollar with a minuscule discount. Those people definitely have money!

[colonelweird]

I think the specifics of how you did this experiment slanted the results unfairly, if your goal was to create a realistic comparison. First, downgrading IST for stacking books when this was a factor none of the other vendors had to deal with it was very strange. Plus you didn't explain what was wrong with doing that. Both books were in plastic and were held firmly in place by the packing materials. They arrived undamaged. So what's the downside? And does any other vendor do any differently? You also claimed OPB had the best packaging, but why is that the case? To me it seemed like IST, CGN, and OPB all had roughly equivalent packaging. But in this video there was one negative you didn't mention about IST's packaging: they had the book sitting on the bottom of the box, so there was no extra protection on that side. I can't recall whether they usually do that or not. Otherwise they all had plenty of cushioning materials that were firm enough to prevent the books from moving around. As for price, I think it's pretty clear that in most cases IST will beat other vendors, especially given the policy of free shipping over $50, which is a pretty low bar. And if you order new books every week, there's another discount. As for shipping speed, that clearly depends on where you are in relation to the vendor, and whether or not you order a book they have in-stock. For me, IST is usually much faster than CGN, because I'm on the other side of the country. (I haven't ordered from OPB.) But one advantage of CGN is that their website states whether or not they have the book in stock (otherwise it's a "special order, " which adds a couple of weeks or more to the shipping speed). IST doesn't have that, but I do seem to receive my orders faster from them than CGN most of the time. But I do agree the IST website has some weird issues at times, such as books appearing and disappearing at random, missing cover images, multiple listings for the same title, or listing volumes they don't have for sale -- factors that affect a pretty small number of books, but enough to be noticeable.

I would add one frustrating downside to ordering from IST and CGN (and maybe OPB): they don't have access to a full range of graphic novels or collected editions. There are always plenty of books you simply can't get from them, publishers whose entire lines are missing, or large parts of their backlist. I don't know why this is the case. Presumably they use specialty distributors that only carry a limited selection. Even more frustrating, IST and CGN don't have the same selection. Sometimes one will have a book, sometimes the other, sometimes neither. I would like to stop ordering from Amazon completely, but so far I don't know an alternative.

Edit: After submitting this I look at a couple of recent IST boxes I still have sitting around. They seem to be using a mix of bubble wrap and molded foam packing material now. And in most (or maybe all?) cases, they shape the packing material so the books don't sit on the bottom of the box -- there's always a gap of about an inch (or more) between the box and books. Was that the case with your box in this video, or did it just look like they were sitting on the bottom to me? If the latter, that was pretty unusual -- I would guess that whoever did the packing made a boo-boo. The box was plenty big enough to provide protection on all sides.

[DumDumDugan]

OPB and IST are the best by far. I never shop anywhere else unless I feel like supporting my local shop.

[brada]

I wanna start by saying I enjoyed the video and the concept. I however disagree with the grades. Personally my slowest IST order came faster than my quickest CGN order. IST has also always had superior customer service to CGN for me. OPB is great but for most things they’re way more expensive. I feel like someone new to the hobby watching this video to find out where they should shop is going to be driven away from IST and I think that’s a bad thing. Just my opinion, liking the videos keep up the good work.

[elanrhys]

I think it’s important to remember that going to your LCS is the better experience, especially when you go on a semi regular basis as the staff are usually very knowledgeable and can head you in the right direction and give you recommendations on things they know you will enjoy. Building a rapport with your local LCS is really important in my opinion.

[astr]

although i found it weird that cgn wraps books in plastic bags, it was relieving when hearing its a rainy day on delivery day or your area suffers from flooding

[Boushh]

Its IST every day. People will complain about shipping times but most of you arent gonna read them anyway so whats the rush? I know yall got a 150+ backlog anyway lol

[wwecrazy]

IST is cheaper but ships slower, OPB is more expensive but ships faster and they have the best packaging protection around

[OmniNationComics]

One of the valuable videos you’ve ever put out bro. Very informative. This is gonna help somebody who is just getting into the collecting game for sure.

[newspooiechannel]

I should point out that Amazon only offers free shipping to Prime members and/or when it is $25 or more. It was $25, then $35, then $50, but they brought it back down to $25 a couple years ago.

The good thing about picking up a book directly at an LSC is that you can inspect the item prior to purchase and no waiting times!

The only one thing I would have suggested to include was a random eBay purchase!

That said... for a while, thanks to the Omnipocalypse and being impossible to track some books down in 2020, I had been pre-ordering stuff from DCBS, but I'm starting to cut back on that. When not DCBS, I tend to order my omnis from IST. Almost always 1 omni is enough for free shipping and they tend to do random (clearance) sales even less than a month after one comes out.

CGN does have a flat shipping rate and they tend to have some harder-to-find books available either directly or via special order. It is a nice place if you want to buy in bulk or take advantage of their Nick & Dent sales. They also did not charge sales tax on any of my orders. This may vary for others based on their local tax regulations, but this basically negates the shipping cost entirely for me and can actually save over IST's prices on items at times, even with their loyalty discount.

Admittedly, I have not ordered as much from OPB, but they are another good option for items that may be out of stock at IST or CGN. And from what I have ordered, the content has come super well packed. The most intricate protection from your books that you will get from any of the suppliers. And you can get stuff like bookmarks and bonus codes for future orders that they will toss in.

Amazon... I tend to do this only when they are having a B2G1 sale or they have something that is absolutely not available anywhere else. I've had ups and downs with books arriving either in great condition or battered, beaten and ripped up. Sometimes they put in an airbag or two, other times they throw the book into a box that is 3 times its size with nothing at all. I refuse to order anything that isn't hardcover, because I know it will come demolished. And even when the omnis do arrives, the plastic wrap is ripped up along the edges or randomly somewhere in the center of the cover. To their credit, though, they do often have some decent-priced DC omnis in their inventory.

LSCs... the last time I bought a collected edition at an LSC was either the early 2000s or late 90s. I just find it easier to grab stuff online now. I'm not really a single issue type of person and if I visit an LSC and don't find a book, I feel awkward leaving empty-handed. Plus, a lot of the comic shops that were here in the 90s are long, long gone now. I can only think of one in the area that is still around.

[geminisundone]

Best in the UK is Books etc and Forbidden planet.

[CaptainUnderpants]

Good video. Also, I’m not sure if you guys noticed but the blurring effect reveals everything for a second each time it’s used..

[ZizouZico]

I’m obviously late to view and comment but hope this helps you guys anyway. I’ve only been ordering online for a few years but your experiences are largely consistent with mine for all these vendors.

One thing I’d add is that if you want to upgrade shipping to UPS (or apparently now also FedEx on IST), you can only do so on IST or OPB. I don’t do it for speed but because my regional USPS facilities are literally (according to my local news anyway) ranked among the worst in the country in losing or damaging packages. I’ve had numerous packages lost by USPS over the years and never by UPS or FedEx, although I know people sometimes do. It’s just more consistent for me when I upgrade and it’s a pretty cheap upgrade at IST.

The only other thing I’d note is that since individual purchases can vary in terms of cost or packaging, I base my purchasing on experience over multiple orders. While not perfect, IST has given me the best combination of price and packaging over time.

[paulcurlin]

I agree with most of your ratings with two exceptions. 1) My personal bias is against IST due to a very negative experience I have had with them a few years back. haven't ordered from them since. 2) I think comparing a local storefront against super warehouses on prices is a little wonky and unfair to the local comic shop. Their margins are higher and of course there will be a price difference. Rating them low on timeliness? Two stores were visited and then the book was obtained within 2 or 3 hours of trying to get it? That's better then days 🙂 I still enjoy your channel, though.

[chitownbud]

Organic price books my favorite👍 but I do Amazon because sometimes it’s the cheapest but got to be careful because they don’t always wrap it it nice .

[ChristianPierce]

my book from organic priced books was not wrapped in bubble wrap so just know it was not like this for most people, and i ordered 2 day shipping and it took them 4 days to bring the package to the post office with no warning of a processing time, would be nice to get a heads up about it.

[bunkmastab]

OPB has my heart, if price is remotely close they're the ones I want to go with. Cool idea to compare all of these, but that's a lot of laughing Batmans you guys have!

[JabelsXY]

I have never received packaging from Amazon before. Insane