I Want to Buy

when to buy zines

Zines are a unique fandom product that appeals to many people: a collection of art and stories from amazing creators, in physical book form, sometimes with discounted merchandise included! So yeah, I can see the appeal. But there's obviously a flip side to something that is made by people from fandom, who only have usernames and handles and not a lot of experience. We're often attracted to the zine because of the artists and writers coming together to create something around a theme we love, but it's important to trust that the mods running the zine will also follow through. They have the job of turning all that work into reality, after all, and shipping it to you.

Of course how you spend your money is up to you, but not all zines are created equal, and if you want to avoid disappointment it would help to look at zines with a discerning eye. See what previews of inside pages zines can have, especially if you're interested in the fic as much as the art -- formatting fic in zines has not always yielded the most readable works, and this isn't covering the general design of the zine itself that may or may not match up with the zine's graphics (the graphics mod is not always the person laying out the zine, so keep that in mind too!).

That's just on product quality. When you buy a zine you are often pre-ordering, which means the product isn't even finished yet. There's good reason for this, but we've often heard of horror stories where zines have simply taken people's money and, faced with the actual task of turning a project into reality, mods either buckle under stress or outright run away with the money.

I can't tell you what to watch out for. I've been fooled by people I would have (and did) supported publicly, because they were my friends and I trusted them. There are red flags, to be sure -- check out the Contributors section to see what those are.

But at the end of the day purchasing zines can be a leap of faith, and the best you can do is make sure that distance between where you jump from and where you're landing is as manageable as possible.

Know what protections you have

If you aren't sure about a zine, remember the following points to safeguard you from losing your money:

  • You have up to 180 days of protection with PayPal. Most banks/debit cards/credit cards only give you up to 90 days. Know when you purchased your zine and until when you have to bail with your money intact. (This is why, unless I have a strong incentive otherwise, or trust the zine mods, I will often wait until closer to the end of POs before I purchase.)
    • If at the 160-day mark you have yet to receive your copy, and the zine updates don't inspire a lot of confidence, write to the zine and ask for a refund. (I heavily advise you to write to the zine first, as honest delays do happen, and the zine should always be given a chance to resolve issues without bringing PayPal into it.)
    • If the zine does not reply/process a refund in a 1-week period, contact PayPal to request a refund. I suggest this after you've reached out to the zine and given them plenty of time to accommodate you because PayPal will penalize the zine an additional $35 in chargeback fees if you do this. It's not always the best scenario for a fan-run project, so it's important to give them the opportunity to fix it themselves first.
  • Most zines do run leftover sales. Depending on the demand you do run a risk of losing out on merch or good copies of the zines, but this is also an option for you.

Know what you're responsible for

In much the same way that zine mods have an obligation to keep you updated and deliver a product to you, you are responsible for a few things too:

  • Take care and avoid typos when filling out order forms. Whether it's your address or the email address, double-check your details before placing your order! It's hard to spot incorrectly typed emails from the zine mod perspective so be careful when writing these very important details in.
  • Check zine socials for updates before you ask. The first question you ask may be the tenth the zine mods have to answer, so please be mindful about what has already been asked and answered in their social media profiles.
  • Update zine mods with address changes. Some zine mods will send out an email to double-check, but it doesn't hurt to be proactive any time you have a foreseen move or change in address coming up. If you fail to update the zine with address changes before they are sent out, there will be little you can do to recover packages and may have to incur additional costs.
  • Know how to accept packages if you are an international customer. Zine mods are running a small, one-time business, and shipping internationally is an expensive task -- in fact I guarantee that most of the time, the amount you are paying for an international shipment only partially covers the actual cost of sending that package to your country of residence.
    • So please do your part in ensuring that you are aware of any possible customs fees and taxes that you may have to pay for on top of zine costs. Very few zines will cover this for you, as zine mods do not have the capacity or resources to cover those variables.
    • Know how to contact your customs office! They won't always tell you when zines have arrived, and mods do not have the capacity to check on every package tracking number they send out.
    • Likewise, do not ask zine mods to mark packages down as cheaper than they were bought for. This is against the law and could get them -- and yourself! -- in trouble.