Comic Shops – Get your store prepared for 2021 holiday sales! To start the season, ComicsPRO is sponsoring Local Comic Shop Day on Wednesday, November 24th. To participate, comic shops can register with no charge in 2021. Track the LCSD Facebook page for announcements about the special comics available for this event.
To help stores stock-up with products BCW has in the warehouse, BCW is offering 20% off in-stock printed comic boxes and Comic Book Stor-Folios (excludes the standard white comic boxes and black Stor-Folios). Offer good through November 30th, 2021. Comic shops can get this savings when they sign-in to their bcwsupplies.com wholesale account, add the products to their cart, and use coupon code LCSD21 during checkout. Comic shops that do not already have a BCW wholesale account can apply here.
BCW printed comic boxes and Comic Book Stor-Folios
BCW Supplies, a manufacturer of products to protect, store, and display collectibles, is moving its headquarters to a larger facility. BCW currently has two warehouses in Anderson, Indiana. The main warehouse and office is on 31st Street, and the second warehouse on North Broadway is a former supermarket. BCW has been growing steadily over the past few years, and increased product demand during the pandemic made the need for a larger warehouse a necessity. During 2021, BCW will be shifting operations from the Anderson facilities to an existing warehouse eight miles to the east. The new headquarters will be at 8984 State Road 236 in Middletown. This Middletown site was previously a Down Lite pillow factory, and the Liebhardt Woolen Mills before that. With a strong work force, Anderson has been an excellent home to BCW since the company was founded 40 years ago. The tough decision to move was based upon the perfect fit with the available Middletown facility.
The Middletown community can expect BCW Supplies to be a good neighbor. BCW normally works a traditional business week, with a few large trucks coming and going throughout the day. BCW employs 50 members currently, and expects to grow with the larger headquarters. Job opportunities are listed on the BCW page as they become available.
BCW Supplies ships parcels and freight orders from our Indiana warehouse using trusted carriers like UPS, FedEx, and various freight companies. This allows us to offer competitive shipping rates within the 48 contiguous United States—and for larger orders, we even provide Free Shipping (see our Free Shipping page for full details).
However, Free Shipping does not apply to orders shipped outside the contiguous U.S., including Alaska, Hawaii, and international destinations. Because international shipping costs are often significantly higher, we understand that this can be a barrier for customers located outside the U.S. Thankfully, there are alternative ways to purchase BCW products that can reduce these shipping costs.
Option 1: Buy Direct from BCW
International customers are welcome to place orders directly on our website. During checkout, our system will calculate the shipping charges for most international addresses. If you’re willing to pay standard international rates, this is the fastest and most direct way to get BCW products.
Option 2: Purchase Through Our International Distributors
To help lower shipping expenses, many international customers choose to buy BCW products through our authorized distributors. These companies are located in various countries and offer regional access to BCW products—sometimes with lower shipping fees or faster delivery.
Each distributor operates independently, so their business models may vary:
Some distributors sell directly to consumers
Others only sell to retail stores
A few serve both consumer and retail markets
For example, in Canada, our distributors Grosnor and Dynamic supply only to retailers. If you’re a Canadian collector, you can request your local hobby shop to stock the BCW items you’re looking for. The store can order directly from one of these distributors, helping you avoid international shipping charges. While this process may take a bit longer than ordering from our website, it can significantly reduce your total costs.
To find a distributor that serves your area—and to learn if they sell directly to consumers—please refer to our BCW Distributor List.
Option 3: Use a Freight Forwarding Service
Another solution for international orders—especially large ones—is to use a freight forwarding service. This is particularly useful for wholesale customers.
Here’s how it works:
Place a large order on our website and choose a U.S.-based freight forwarder as your delivery address.
If your order qualifies for Free Shipping, we’ll deliver it to the freight forwarder at no charge.
From there, the freight forwarder arranges international shipping to your location.
For instance, a wholesale customer in Singapore might have a freight forwarder in California receive their pallet. BCW handles shipping to the California address, and the freight company takes over from there. Many of our international customers already use this method to efficiently manage shipping costs for bulk orders.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re a collector placing a small order or a retailer sourcing bulk inventory, BCW offers multiple ways to get our products internationally. From direct online ordering to regional distributors and freight forwarding services, there’s a solution that can meet your needs and help you save on shipping.
If you have any questions about the best option for your location, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
ComicsPRO is a trade association for comic book retailers. The goal of ComicsPRO is:
to develop better marketing and daily business practices for comic book retailers
to improve the condition of their industry by educating the public about comic books in general
to provide a voice for independent comic book retailers
Marco, the ComicsPRO Director (center), with Ken and Nancy from BCW Supplies
BCW supports the ComicsPRO organization, and its member comic shops, through several methods.
ComicsPRO retailers are pre-approved for a BCW wholesale account. All you have to do is complete a simple registration form and you can begin enjoying the benefits provided by BCW as a ComicsPRO member.
Resellers of BCW products – The BCW Affiliate Program is separate and distinct from our Wholesale Program. Resellers with a business license can apply for a BCW wholesale account. Resellers can also contact a BCW distributor to order products. We reserve the right to accept or decline affiliate applications, or to terminate accounts that do not align with BCW’s core values at our sole discretion.
The BCW Affiliate Program is designed to assist case breakers, bloggers, streamers, and others that are promoting their hobby online. As an affiliate partner, you can receive a commission for sales at bcwsupplies.com when the customer uses a coupon code unique to the affiliate. The process is simple, free, and fast to sign up. In this video I will walk you through all the steps needed and explain more about the program as we go. The process and benefits are described below, and in the video.
BCW offers nearly 1,000 products to protect, store, and display collectibles. Purchasing a full case of a particular item has always been the way to achieve our best pricing at wholesale. We understand that retailers may not want to buy a full case of a particular size or color of a given product, but purchasing at a price that provides a good profit is essential. BCW has adopted a new pricing structure for wholesale customers to make ordering a single product, or less-than-case quantities, more affordable.
Traditionally, distributors have fulfilled the need for less-than-case quantities to retail stores. However, BCW products are not available through every distributor, and most distributors do not carry our complete line of products. This has created a problem for stores that cannot acquire the BCW products they need from their distributor. BCW offers stores to order directly at competitive prices, regardless of the order size.
BCW welcomes industry veteran Andrew Phillips to the BCW Sales Team. Andrew will be using his gaming and comic background to help hobby shops and online retailers get the quality hobby accessories they need, with the affordable pricing expected from BCW Supplies. Continue reading →
To a comic book collector, a trade paperback (TPB) is a thick comic bound with a cardstock cover. These are usually the same width and height as current comic books but are thicker than traditional comics as they have significantly more pages. A TPB might be a series of comic books or a given story arc, originally published as individual comics that have been combined. A “graphic novel” might classify as TPB, but a graphic novel could be larger or have a hardback cover. The term “omnibus” refers to an even larger bound collection of comics that were previously published as individual comics. An omnibus is more likely to have a hardback cover and be larger than the “current comic” in width and height.
BCW offers bags and boards for collectors who want to protect their trade paperbacks from the elements. As TPBs are thicker than traditional comics, understanding what size of bags and boards are needed can be confusing if you don’t have lots of samples for testing. Below are common examples of TPBs to help you determine what bags and boards you need for your collection.
BCW only recommends polypropylene bags for these thicker comic books, as poly bags are flexible and can easily wrap to the depth of the TPB. Mylar bags are not a great solution for TPBs, as the Mylar is less flexible and will not wrap around the trade paperbacks properly.
The trade paperbacks shown above are a common size. They’re “current” width and height, and their depth (thickness) ranges from 1/8″ to 1/4″. For their protection, we recommend Current Backing Boards and Resealable Silver Age Comic Book Bags. While the Silver Bags are larger than the Current Boards, the bags are filled with thick TPBs, so the end result is a perfect fit.
To grade comic books, trusted companies such as the Certified Guaranty Company (CGC) and the Comic Book Certification Service (CBCS) will evaluate comic books, grade them on a 1 to 10 scale, and encapsulate each comic in a rigid plastic frame, called a slab. A grade of 10 is a flawless comic, but that grade is rarely awarded. These comics will be protected for years to come, and a graded comic will have a higher secondary market value. The obvious negative of getting a comic slabbed is you cannot view the interior pages without breaking the slab, and the risk of damaging the comic in the process.
To store comic books and keep them safe, most collectors place each comic in an archival-safe bag along with a firm backing board to support the comic and protect the edges. The collection is then placed in a “short box”, holding about 150 bagged and boarded comics.
Storing comics has always had a challenge keeping the comics upright when the box is not full. If the is box is completely full, there’s no problem as the comics naturally keep themselves upright with the ends of the box supporting them. However, if the box is only partially full, the comics can topple over like a row of books without a bookend. Collectors can easily solve this problem by placing some comics sideways in the box or using another object as a bookend inside the box. Nonetheless, this issue has always been annoying to collectors.
The BCW Comic Book Bin solves this problem by keeping a partial collection upright at all times. The Bin is made from molded polypropylene panels that are snapped together (see the the second video below). This manufacturing process allows the Bin to have several features not possible with the traditional cardboard short comic box. The Bin uses special Comic Bin Partitions that fit into evenly spaced notches. The Comic Book Bin comes with one Partition. This Partition is movable, so you can use it as a bookend to keep a small collection of comics upright. As your collection grows, you can shift the Partition to the next slot, and so on, until your Comic Book Bin is full. If you want to fill all of the available slots with a Partition, packs of 3 extra Partitions can be purchased separately.
While you may find the Comic Book Bin assembled at your local comic shop, they are normally unassembled, coming in five panels and one partition. The panels snap together to make a sturdy bin. Please review the video below to see the simplest sequence to assemble the Bin.
Golden Age comics and graded comic books are too large for the Comic Book Bin. While BCW is considering making a Graded Comic Bin, our cardboard Graded Comic Boxes are our best solution for CGC/CBCS slabs at this time. We are also considering a Long Comic Book Bin, but at this time our cardboard Long Comic Boxes or corrugated plastic Long Comic Book Boxes are our best options. For magazines or Golden Age comics, our cardboard Magazine Box is BCW’s best storage solution. If you want to lobby for other products, or suggest product improvements, please comment below. We’re listening!
BCW welcomes industry veteran Andrew Phillips to the BCW Sales Team. Andrew will be using his gaming and comic background to help hobby shops and online retailers get the quality hobby accessories they need, with the affordable pricing expected from BCW Supplies.
