I recently bought a batch of comics from Mile High Comics, and suffered a little dissapointment. I thought I might share my experiences, so that you might be forewarned should you think about offering Chuck and Co. some of your hard-earned comic cash.
The first thing you need to know about Mile High is, of course, that their company name was clearly chosen to reflect their prices. Let's pick a couple of comics at random from my "want list" and see how Mile High prices them. Let's look at the Mile High full price, the Mile High sale price (they have constant sales), vs. the "guide" prices from the Overstreet book and the ComicsPriceGuide website. All comics NM, except ASM #1 in Good. The Ultimate Spider-Man #2 that I priced was the "Car" cover.
| Comic | Overstreet | CPG | Mile High | Mile High Discount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| She-Hulk (Vol. 2) #20 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $5.00 | $3.50 (-30%) |
| Howard The Duck #1 | $22.00 | $20.00 | $35.00 | $35.00 |
| Ultimate Spider-Man #2 | $35.00 | $45.00 | $100.00 | $100.00 |
| Amazing Spider-Man #1 (G) | $842.00 | $420.00 | $4,000 | $2,000 (-50%) |
So as you can see, most issues are listed at prices at least double the guide price, although Mile High has Ultimate Spidey #2 at 00 of guide, and non-sale ASM #1 at a whopping five times CPG! These are just ordinary comics we're talking about, not CGC books - just plain old graded comics.
Now, Mile High always has sales going on most of their books. But don't be fooled. Even if you buy an "on-sale" comic, you're generally going to pay over guide, even for a discount comic. Of course, this isn't a real complaint... of course you should buy a price guide if you're planning to buy back issues. But just be warned, the bargains are very few and far between at Mile High Comics! Meanwhile, let's move on to my real issues with Mile High - of which I have two.
Firstly - they shipped the wrong comics! In my latest shipment, I received two incorrect variant comics. In both cases, my order processing sheet indicated the comic I really wanted, but the moron who pulled the comic from the shelves grabbed the wrong comic book. Maybe he figured I wouldn't notice! Specifically, I ordered the Spider-Woman (1999) #2 VARIANT cover, but received the regular cover, with bar code 00211. I ordered Web of Spider-Man (1985) #113, but received the variant cover bar code 11321.
Secondly - customer service is non-existent. Immediately after placing my online order, I realised I had ordered Web-Spinners #1 Sunburst cover, when I really wanted the "Another Universe" cover. I sent off an email right away to customer service, quoting my name, order number, and specifying what I had done, asking them to please send the other cover and charge me accordingly. Two days later, no reply to my email, and my order is confirmed with the wrong title.
I've had problems with this before at Mile High. A year or two ago I got shipped a comic with the cover completely sun-faded. That time I did get a response to my email, even promising to fix the problem. That was the last I ever heard from them. No follow-up ever arrived.
In their favour, I must say that Mile High do have an excellent packing and shipping service. They offer free shipping on large orders, and their packing is superb, I have never had a comic damaged in transit from them. However, you must also expect that you will be charged more than guide price, that complicated orders will be mucked up, and any attempts to have problems resolved will very likely require that you actually pick up the phone and yell at people. Be warned!