Posted By:
Bob Lemkebut when I left SCD two years ago, the paper was being printed in Shawano, Wis. on Saturday, and trucked to Chicago for national dispatch. Every ZIP Code that had 6+ copies going to it was placed in a seperate mail bag for delivery directly to that post office. Any ZIP Code with fewer than six copies was put into a "Mixed States" bag along with all other copies with the same first three digits of the ZIP Code. Those Mixed States bags were routed to each post office represented by even a single copy in the bag, with the not unsurprising result that the bags somedays sat for relatively long periods in one or more of those post offices before being routed on.
I was publisher back when SCD was nearly 400 pages and THE fastest way to buy/sell cards and memorabilia. Getting your copy first back then often meant getting the first crack at any real bargains to be had. That's when First Class, UPS, etc., delivery alternatives were offered at extra cost.
With SCD's status as the timely marketplace having been usurped by eBay, I imagine delivery complains are not so frequent or vehement these days. And, with the way current ownership has decimated the "support" staffs, and with the oft-mentioned bigger problems in the hobby and in its pages, I doubt that beleaguered middle management types have the resources or corporate clout to effect any real improvement to the delivery situation.