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Walking Dead 100 - Guess the Print Run!

Started by jjeanius,

354 posts in this topic

the blob

the blob

Posted
Posted

Comics fell out of favor at those traditionaql vennues because they aren't that profitabe and get stolen and result in a bunch of kids hanging out reading them. Shelf space being at a premium it went to other stuff. Also, they were returnable, so comic cos liked selling in those venues less.

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jjeanius

jjeanius

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I don't own a comic shop, but I think it went down like this:

 

Every store whether it was a comic shop or grocery store or whatever sold comics. Which severely cut into the number of orders for your LCS, resulting in little/less profit. So they asked the distributor/publisher if they can have exclusive selling rights so they get more people into their stores and answer questions, talk shop yada yada. Avoiding the 'Wal-Mart' effect essentially.

 

I have no idea if that is close to the truth, just my speculation.

 

 

Jerome

 

I'm not sure exactly what happened either, but this makes no sense to me. Why would publishers/distributors agree to an arrangement that limits exposure and sales...? The publishers and distributors want to sell as many books as possible...period. Therefore, they want to get them on as many shelves as possible, no matter where those shelves reside. Keep in mind that comic book stores grew out of the demand for a secondary marketplace...there were no comic book stores for the most part until the 1970's. If anything, I would think comic book stores might actually get behind a much wider marketplace, as they would no longer be a niche/underground market. If comics were still sold in grocery stores, gas stations, and pharmacies, readership would grow and there would be new collectors seeking out back issues, hence more traffic to the LCS. I can't think of anyone that was happy to see the newsstand market disappear.

 

I always thought that the newsstand market disappeared because Diamond was unwilling to accept returns on unsold comics (unlike with magazines and newspapers, which can always be returned). So...the newsstand market was unwilling to take the risk on comics when it was not their main source of income...as opposed to the direct market (i.e., comic book stores)...which existed SOLELY to sell comic books.

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comicalgems

comicalgems

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I bought my first comic in a grocery store and sought out a comic shop once I wanted back issues. I do see comics sporadically at the grocery store down the street but the selection seems fairly random.

 

Personally I think Marvel is missing out not having comics in Walmart next to all the Avengers toys this summer...at the same time not sure why DC hasn't launched a monthly comic to promote their Imaginext toys.

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the blob

the blob

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I believe that the few non-direct market outlets that still sell comics are able to return them to some extent, but they do not get nearly the discount that comic shops do, have a more limited # of titles to pick from, etc.

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Guardian Comics

Guardian Comics

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I went to two of my LCS's today and here is what I got when I asked what their plains were for their orders of WD #100.

 

The first one said they usually order 200 copies regularly so they were going to order 1000 copies this time around. The second says they sell 15 copies monthly and would only order that many this time around as WD moves best in TPB form.

 

Jim

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rsortor

rsortor

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I wasn't being sarcastic in any way. Michael is very knowledgable and seems to pull facts out of his . Overflow information assuming his brain is full. The speed with which he replies with some of his facts tells me he either knew the factoid off the top of his head or his laptop is on a type of google speed.

 

Aha! Thanks for clarifying that. Reading the pro and con narrative of this thread almost swayed me into thinking that the G.A.tor deal might not be a wise investment. Toward the latter pages there seemed to be a preponderance against the idea. Then the_blob, mschmidt and branget's comments suddenly convinced me otherwise! At that moment, I misinterpreted branget's words, thinking it was kinda funny. But the bottom line is the same: I consider branget an especially shrewd & savvy collector/investor, (not unlike just about everyone else here (worship) ) and would be lost without everyone's input. :headbang:

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N/A

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If I read your post right you would like my 2c

 

If you don't mind 25 copies of each variant and 1:200 with a cost of $500 then go for it. No issue there. If you hope to sell the majority of those to cover some of the cost then I would caution you against that. If you go on eBay right now you can buy a copy of every book for $225. To compare the 2 you would have to sell 192 comics for about $2 each while hundreds of other people are doing the same thing.

 

If you have no experience liquidating 200 $1 comics I would say save yourself the headache. For those with experience you know how it goes. You can try preselling sets which is usually not a bad idea but comes with its own headaches.

 

In short it depends what your goal is. If fear of not getting a copy of a book is the driving force then fear not. This is a US message board I thought it was the home of the brave. ;)

 

rantrant

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Lethal_Collector

Lethal_Collector

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Posted
I don't own a comic shop, but I think it went down like this:

 

Every store whether it was a comic shop or grocery store or whatever sold comics. Which severely cut into the number of orders for your LCS, resulting in little/less profit. So they asked the distributor/publisher if they can have exclusive selling rights so they get more people into their stores and answer questions, talk shop yada yada. Avoiding the 'Wal-Mart' effect essentially.

 

I have no idea if that is close to the truth, just my speculation.

 

 

Jerome

 

I'm not sure exactly what happened either, but this makes no sense to me. Why would publishers/distributors agree to an arrangement that limits exposure and sales...? The publishers and distributors want to sell as many books as possible...period. Therefore, they want to get them on as many shelves as possible, no matter where those shelves reside. Keep in mind that comic book stores grew out of the demand for a secondary marketplace...there were no comic book stores for the most part until the 1970's. If anything, I would think comic book stores might actually get behind a much wider marketplace, as they would no longer be a niche/underground market. If comics were still sold in grocery stores, gas stations, and pharmacies, readership would grow and there would be new collectors seeking out back issues, hence more traffic to the LCS. I can't think of anyone that was happy to see the newsstand market disappear.

 

I always thought that the newsstand market disappeared because Diamond was unwilling to accept returns on unsold comics (unlike with magazines and newspapers, which can always be returned). So...the newsstand market was unwilling to take the risk on comics when it was not their main source of income...as opposed to the direct market (i.e., comic book stores)...which existed SOLELY to sell comic books.

 

That's another really valid point. I wish I knew why, o well :shrug:

 

Jerome

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comicalgems

comicalgems

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If I read your post right you would like my 2c

 

If you don't mind 25 copies of each variant and 1:200 with a cost of $500 then go for it. No issue there. If you hope to sell the majority of those to cover some of the cost then I would caution you against that. If you go on eBay right now you can buy a copy of every book for $225. To compare the 2 you would have to sell 192 comics for about $2 each while hundreds of other people are doing the same thing.

 

If you have no experience liquidating 200 $1 comics I would say save yourself the headache. For those with experience you know how it goes. You can try preselling sets which is usually not a bad idea but comes with its own headaches.

 

In short it depends what your goal is. If fear of not getting a copy of a book is the driving force then fear not. This is a US message board I thought it was the home of the brave. ;)

 

rantrant

 

You sir, are my favorite writer of softcore err...uhm...where am I?

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G.A.tor

G.A.tor

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I don't own a comic shop, but I think it went down like this:

 

Every store whether it was a comic shop or grocery store or whatever sold comics. Which severely cut into the number of orders for your LCS, resulting in little/less profit. So they asked the distributor/publisher if they can have exclusive selling rights so they get more people into their stores and answer questions, talk shop yada yada. Avoiding the 'Wal-Mart' effect essentially.

 

I have no idea if that is close to the truth, just my speculation.

 

 

Jerome

 

I'm not sure exactly what happened either, but this makes no sense to me. Why would publishers/distributors agree to an arrangement that limits exposure and sales...? The publishers and distributors want to sell as many books as possible...period. Therefore, they want to get them on as many shelves as possible, no matter where those shelves reside. Keep in mind that comic book stores grew out of the demand for a secondary marketplace...there were no comic book stores for the most part until the 1970's. If anything, I would think comic book stores might actually get behind a much wider marketplace, as they would no longer be a niche/underground market. If comics were still sold in grocery stores, gas stations, and pharmacies, readership would grow and there would be new collectors seeking out back issues, hence more traffic to the LCS. I can't think of anyone that was happy to see the newsstand market disappear.

 

I always thought that the newsstand market disappeared because Diamond was unwilling to accept returns on unsold comics (unlike with magazines and newspapers, which can always be returned). So...the newsstand market was unwilling to take the risk on comics when it was not their main source of income...as opposed to the direct market (i.e., comic book stores)...which existed SOLELY to sell comic books.

 

That's another really valid point. I wish I knew why, o well :shrug:

 

Jerome

"I always thought that the newsstand market disappeared because Diamond was unwilling to accept returns on unsold comics (unlike with magazines and newspapers, which can always be returned). So...the newsstand market was unwilling to take the risk on comics when it was not their main source of income...as opposed to the direct market (i.e., comic book stores)...which existed SOLELY to sell comic books."

 

this is pretty much the reason

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brendanb438

brendanb438

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If I read your post right you would like my 2c

 

If you don't mind 25 copies of each variant and 1:200 with a cost of $500 then go for it. No issue there. If you hope to sell the majority of those to cover some of the cost then I would caution you against that. If you go on eBay right now you can buy a copy of every book for $225. To compare the 2 you would have to sell 192 comics for about $2 each while hundreds of other people are doing the same thing.

 

If you have no experience liquidating 200 $1 comics I would say save yourself the headache. For those with experience you know how it goes. You can try preselling sets which is usually not a bad idea but comes with its own headaches.

 

In short it depends what your goal is. If fear of not getting a copy of a book is the driving force then fear not. This is a US message board I thought it was the home of the brave. ;)

 

rantrant

 

 

What are the usual headaches that people see when it comes to preselling something?

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comicalgems

comicalgems

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Posted
If I read your post right you would like my 2c

 

If you don't mind 25 copies of each variant and 1:200 with a cost of $500 then go for it. No issue there. If you hope to sell the majority of those to cover some of the cost then I would caution you against that. If you go on eBay right now you can buy a copy of every book for $225. To compare the 2 you would have to sell 192 comics for about $2 each while hundreds of other people are doing the same thing.

 

If you have no experience liquidating 200 $1 comics I would say save yourself the headache. For those with experience you know how it goes. You can try preselling sets which is usually not a bad idea but comes with its own headaches.

 

In short it depends what your goal is. If fear of not getting a copy of a book is the driving force then fear not. This is a US message board I thought it was the home of the brave. ;)

 

rantrant

 

 

What are the usual headaches that people see when it comes to preselling something?

 

Getting a bigger wallet?

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N/A

N/A

Posted
Posted
If I read your post right you would like my 2c

 

If you don't mind 25 copies of each variant and 1:200 with a cost of $500 then go for it. No issue there. If you hope to sell the majority of those to cover some of the cost then I would caution you against that. If you go on eBay right now you can buy a copy of every book for $225. To compare the 2 you would have to sell 192 comics for about $2 each while hundreds of other people are doing the same thing.

 

If you have no experience liquidating 200 $1 comics I would say save yourself the headache. For those with experience you know how it goes. You can try preselling sets which is usually not a bad idea but comes with its own headaches.

 

In short it depends what your goal is. If fear of not getting a copy of a book is the driving force then fear not. This is a US message board I thought it was the home of the brave. ;)

 

rantrant

 

 

What are the usual headaches that people see when it comes to preselling something?

 

#1 for me is dealing with all the lack of patience among the buyers. In the case of online preselling the eBay and PayPal protection expires. Makes some buyers nervous.

 

You are selling product you haven't seen. There are always risks with that. You can search the boards for discussions I believe you have commented on.

 

The actual work involved in filling the preorders.

 

 

 

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N/A

N/A

Posted
Posted
If I read your post right you would like my 2c

 

If you don't mind 25 copies of each variant and 1:200 with a cost of $500 then go for it. No issue there. If you hope to sell the majority of those to cover some of the cost then I would caution you against that. If you go on eBay right now you can buy a copy of every book for $225. To compare the 2 you would have to sell 192 comics for about $2 each while hundreds of other people are doing the same thing.

 

If you have no experience liquidating 200 $1 comics I would say save yourself the headache. For those with experience you know how it goes. You can try preselling sets which is usually not a bad idea but comes with its own headaches.

 

In short it depends what your goal is. If fear of not getting a copy of a book is the driving force then fear not. This is a US message board I thought it was the home of the brave. ;)

 

rantrant

 

 

What are the usual headaches that people see when it comes to preselling something?

 

Getting a bigger wallet?

 

lol

 

My wallet would shrink doing things this way. (thumbs u

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ComicConnoisseur

ComicConnoisseur

Posted
Posted
If I read your post right you would like my 2c

 

If you don't mind 25 copies of each variant and 1:200 with a cost of $500 then go for it. No issue there. If you hope to sell the majority of those to cover some of the cost then I would caution you against that. If you go on eBay right now you can buy a copy of every book for $225. To compare the 2 you would have to sell 192 comics for about $2 each while hundreds of other people are doing the same thing.

 

If you have no experience liquidating 200 $1 comics I would say save yourself the headache. For those with experience you know how it goes. You can try preselling sets which is usually not a bad idea but comes with its own headaches.

 

In short it depends what your goal is. If fear of not getting a copy of a book is the driving force then fear not. This is a US message board I thought it was the home of the brave. ;)

 

rantrant

 

 

What are the usual headaches that people see when it comes to preselling something?

 

#1 for me is dealing with all the lack of patience among the buyers. In the case of online preselling the eBay and PayPal protection expires. Makes some buyers nervous.

 

You are selling product you haven't seen. There are always risks with that. You can search the boards for discussions I believe you have commented on.

 

The actual work involved in filling the preorders.

 

 

What would concern me is when the Walking Dead #100 debuts it will be in the middle of the summer when the latest Batman and Spider-man movies are getting hyped. I would hate to see tons of these just sitting there in July. I do think long-term it would pick up when season 3 starts,but I could see a lot of speculators flipping these in the summer at lower discounts because of no patience with not getting the high prices they think they will get.

2c

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brendanb438

brendanb438

Posted
Posted
If I read your post right you would like my 2c

 

If you don't mind 25 copies of each variant and 1:200 with a cost of $500 then go for it. No issue there. If you hope to sell the majority of those to cover some of the cost then I would caution you against that. If you go on eBay right now you can buy a copy of every book for $225. To compare the 2 you would have to sell 192 comics for about $2 each while hundreds of other people are doing the same thing.

 

If you have no experience liquidating 200 $1 comics I would say save yourself the headache. For those with experience you know how it goes. You can try preselling sets which is usually not a bad idea but comes with its own headaches.

 

In short it depends what your goal is. If fear of not getting a copy of a book is the driving force then fear not. This is a US message board I thought it was the home of the brave. ;)

 

rantrant

 

 

What are the usual headaches that people see when it comes to preselling something?

 

#1 for me is dealing with all the lack of patience among the buyers. In the case of online preselling the eBay and PayPal protection expires. Makes some buyers nervous.

 

You are selling product you haven't seen. There are always risks with that. You can search the boards for discussions I believe you have commented on.

 

The actual work involved in filling the preorders.

 

 

 

 

When doing a presale communication is key, you have to be the one sending them emails and messages before they can start to bug you. :)

 

In the past when I have done presales I let them know up front what my expectations would be if I was buying from myself, and make sure any concerns are addressed within 24 hours of them paying for the items.

 

Then I send them follow up emails every 10 to 14 days with a quick message thanking them for there business and keeping them informed on the status of the presale. Finally the week of the item coming in they are informed of everything was received and being boxed up, then they get a final email with tracking info and that the item is in the mail.

 

Now I agree that doing a presale on eBay as a buyer that is outside of the 45 day buyer protection policies is just crazy unless you stick to an established Power Seller with stellar feedback. Anything less is just asking for someone to take your money and run. Unless there is some incentive for ordering the item super early I would just wait to be within a month or so of the release myself as a buyer.

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