Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers!)

You've got questions? We've got answers!

I see some negative reviews on the App Store. Are the problems factual? Why don't you respond to these reviews?
In all honesty, most of the negative reviews you will find on the App Store are either due to user error or written with malicious intent. This is not to say that there are no legitimate negative reviews, but they are indeed quite rare if you ignore the noise. We do take every single review, legitimate or otherwise, very seriously and do our best to resolve real questions and problems. Before you leave a review on the App Store, please contact us and give us a chance to address your concern.

Why do we not respond to these reviews via the App Store? Apple does not have a mechanism or allow developers to respond to reviews, whether positive or negative.

So if you're one of the thousands of people enjoying Zap-Kapow already, PLEASE take a moment to let the world know on the App Store! We thank you and your country thanks you.

I just spend weeks loading my whole collection into the Favorites and now they're gone! What's the deal?
Easily the number one question we get. The long and short of it is that the Favorites feature was never meant to hold entire collections. Anything over 400-500 issues in there will cause your app to timeout when it's communicating back to the server, thus not loading them and giving the appearance that they're "gone". We've made some changes with Version 2.0 that will allow for offline browsing (storing the fave issues locally on your device), but it's still not the intention of this feature to catalogue entire collections.

The Favorites are meant to be used for the cream of the crop issues in your your collection (or ones that you wish you had!). Kind of like sticking a dog-ear on an old paper price guide's pages to mark a frequently referenced spot. Dog-earring every page would be pointless.

However, because of our users desire to utilize Zap-Kapow in a more robust way, a full-blown desktop version of Zap-Kapow is in the works! The desktop app will tie back into your iPhone/iPad version and offer better support for entering in thousands and thousands of issues. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages for more info.

You keep mentioning a desktop version on Twitter and Facebook ..?
Apple threw us for a loop is what happened there. We have every intention of releasing a desktop app that ties back into your iPhone/iPad version (and will actually be more robust for full collection management). We began looking into this in the summer of 2010, just as Apple announced the OSX App Store. Naturally, that was a bit of a game changer and opportunity for us to really maximize what we were up to. The App Store is out, but before we can toss up Zap-Kapow in there, we need to make some changes "under the hood" to the mobile version itself. Most of these updates will roll out with Zap-Kapow Ver. 2.0, paving the way for the desktop app ... finally!

Where do Zap-Kapow's prices come from?
Zap-Kapow averages several sales areas for comic books, including online auction sites, comic shop retailers and other industry resources. If you are a retailer who would like to be included in Zap-Kapow price surveys, drop us a note at zap-kapow@bamninja.com.

How often is the price guide updated?
Zap-Kapow is refreshed with the latest comic book title and price guide information on a monthly basis. Updates to Zap-Kapow are 99-cents and are accessible from within the app itself. Please note that your initial purchase of the Zap-Kapow app comes with the very latest edition of our price guide and data. From that point on you can update it as often as you like, but whenever you do you'll be getting everything updated to that point. So if you were to purchase Zap-Kapow in August and then update your price guide in December, you would be getting all the prices and updates made to our database between August and December for the same price (99-cents). How often you update is completely up to you!

What is the difference between Near Mint and Good?
Mint, Fine, Good, Poor, etc. are terms used to describe the condition of a comic book, which in turn affects its value. Think of Near Mint as an "A", Very Fine as a "B", Fine as a "C", and Good as a 'D'. Learn more about these comic book grading terms and others here.

Do you have CGC prices?
Good question. We hope to bring CGC (Comics Guaranty Company) graded comic book prices to Zap-Kapow in the future.

You're missing some stuff ...
We know, we know ... It takes a village as they say, and we could always use some new citizens. If you see something that you believe is in error or that needs added to Zap-Kapow's comic book data, please let us know at zap-kapow@bamninja.com or better yet, hit the action icon in the upper-right of the issue detail and click the "Report Issue Error" button from within the app itself ... This method passes us important info that helps us troubleshoot what you're seeing (or not seeing!). And thanks ahead of time!

How do I submit a cover scan or pricing info?
Drop us a line at zap-kapow@bamninja.com. If you are a retailer who would like to be included in Zap-Kapow price surveys, drop us a note at zap-kapow@bamninja.com.

How do Zap-Kapow price guide updates work?
Your initial purchase of the Zap-Kapow app comes with the very latest edition of our price guide and data. From that point on you can update it as often as you like, but whenever you do you'll be getting everything updated to that point. So if you were to purchase Zap-Kapow in August and then update your price guide in December, you would be getting all the prices and updates made to our database between August and December for the same one-time price (99-cents). How often you update is completely up to you! Anytime you chose to update, you'll get the very latest for 99-cents Much, much cheaper than most printed price guides.

Why don't your prices match other price guides?
Better question (from our point of view) would be how come their prices don't match ours! Actually, since prices on comic books vary from region to region they'll never be identical across multiple sources. Another factor in varying prices can be the time it takes for them to be gathered and then printing in a magazine or book format. Zap-Kapow updates its prices all constantly, and then releases those to the masses on a monthly basis in the form of a price guide update from within the Zap-Kapow app itself. Ultimately, your comics are worth whatever someone is willing to pay you for them though, Zap-Kapow is meant to merely be a guide to what a comic book may have sold for recently.