Matthew Dykes of  Kapow! Comics in Sherwood, Arkansas has been following the retailer comments on Tuesday shipping (see “Mark Farace of All American/Mo's Comics on One Day Earlier”) and says his competition has an unfair advantage by getting their shipment on Tuesdays:

I figure now is the time stir the pot about Diamonds shipping policies, after seeing I’m not the only one who has problems.  Maybe this post will get a few more people to question Diamond about this.

I have been asking repeatedly since I opened to please let me receive my books on Tuesday like my main competitor.  I understand if you have more stores it’s a convenience for you to get all your books a day early and be able to sort them.  But this also gives them an unfair advantage in the marketplace, which is wrong.

As hard as I try, I can not get my books sorted and have pull lists done before I open at 10 (which is the same time my competition does).  So people are less eager to come to my store before the other one (which I have heard before).  And trust me it gets old having people ask "why aren’t your books out before you open when the guy up the road is set and ready to go?"  It really does give them a very unfair advantage.

Now the fun part about this whole thing is not only do I have to get my order checked in and ready to display but having to deal with UPS constantly damaging my heavy boxes or the lack of concern with how they are packed coming out of Diamond Memphis distribution, which is an every week thing.  So I get to deal with all that on top of rushing to get my books out.  It really does make me have to take a back seat to my competition.  And all Diamond says is that  I don’t qualify for Tuesday shipping.  

OK, so here’s where I really get annoyed.  I know for a fact that my competition does not meet the 40k a month minimum to receive Tuesday shipping.  The reason I know this is because out of the five to seven Diamond reps (yes, I have had this many between temps and losing the three permanents) I have had since I opened  2-1/2 years ago, one of them broke the cardinal rule and discussed another account with me.  He/she told me that there is no way my competitor reaches his monthly minimum.  So I guess if you have been with them long enough they just let you slide.  You just get grandfathered into the Tuesday shipping policy.  To me this is an unfair business practice.  I really hope someone at Diamond reads this and thinks twice about what I have said. 

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