Monthly Sales Figures 0

[Aweandlorder]

i see $5 asking prices on amazon. how do you see if anything actually ever sells for that much? and if one copy does sell, hard to assume 20 more will sell

 

on ebay you can buy copies for $1.89, with $4.00 shipping and 25 cents per additional copies, some less

 

sales for $1 and $1.35 at mycomic shop..

 

Something isn't a great flip if it only is under the most optimistic scenarios (I'm sure to sell 20 copies to one guy at $5 a pop...)

 

 

I'm not buying into this as a legit flip right now. Not worth properly packing and shipping a comic at those crummy margins. My time is worth something.

 

I don't mind a per book margin like that here on a bulk sale, stick it all in one box, etc.... but outside of here.

 

With that said, I don't think this would be a bad one to have bought 50 copies of and tucked away. I think it probably will go up to more proftitable numbers at some point, but some of these are stiill out on the rack right now.

 

Deadpool is hot, but it isn't like X-Force 2 is even burning things up. I wish it would because I have a bunch of those.

 

seriously. Im not here to teach you how this works. And I say this because not once have I seen you agree with anyone in here. And thats fine, Im not here to win an argument.

Just to tell you that selling comics on Amazon is very profitable based on what I demonstrated above. If you dont believe it, Ill still like ya

 

show me a link to completed sales. asking prices are meaningless. if insufficiently_thoughtful_persons are spending $5 for something that is $1.50-$2.00 all day on ebay then more power to you. if you can move these in quantity at $4-5 then you have a great business model, i agree.

 

i used to sell books for $3-$4 on ebay. I used to feel like an insufficiently_thoughtful_person every time I did after I was done packing them up.

 

and i agree with plenty of people here on all sorts of things.

 

Theres no links to show for sold listings on amazon, Amazon's proof is in the rankings.

20,000 rank with a book is proof that this comic moves in the volumes that I disclosed. But if you didnt believe me then, you wont believe me now. so lose lose for me.

I wouldnt call people who buy on amazon insufficiently_thoughtful_persons, much like I wouldnt call a seller on eBay whos clueless about the potential in Amazon an insufficiently_thoughtful_person. But thats just another thing you wont believe me so, again, pointless

 

[Aweandlorder]

This was a book at 6.00 each copy for a total of 60 dollars plus shipping.

 

Item(s) Subtotal:

$60.00

Shipping & Handling:

$39.90

Total before tax:

$99.90

 

You tell me that was a good deal? I think not. Amazon may be great for sellers but horrible for buyers buying multiple comics.

 

-------

 

ok, now i understand why awean likes amazon. you do need to sell multiple copies to someone to properly rip them off (within the allowable rules of amazon), but yeah, selling something with slim profit margins and then getting over by charging $4 shipping seven times does provide a good profit margin.

 

what i don't understand is why someone would buy anything like this via amazon? sure, 1 copy for your kid or whatever, but why would anyone buy multiples?

 

thats hysterical

Youre not ripping anyone off. Youre simply adapting to demand.

I bought many many many comics from amazon which were a STEAL and didnt bother with asking sellers to combine because I got them for such a bargain

Many people know about this.. Youre reading about a book heating up and youre running to Amazon to clean up while everyones looking for copies on eBay. This happens to this day

 

[ygogolak]

can you provide a link to which diamond mailer you are talking about? if i can pay $3.00 to ship with a 50 cent mailer it would be worth it over $3.50 and free/homemade mailing supplies.

 

Wait, you're spending $3.50 just on supplies? I thought that included the shipping cost?

[Aweandlorder]

 

btw.. A 5.00$ sale on Amazon is 9.00 with shipping. Minus 2.60 shipping and 1.00 Amazon fees and cost of .75 a copy youre looking at 4.65 profit. And as was mentioned earlier, with Amazon, when you buy multiple quantities shipping is still 3.99 for each added copy. Buyers are aware of that and order regardless.

Sellers here are so old school with eBay one day they will wake up and realize how the Amazon machine is much more efficient with modern non keys and TPB and the party will be over for us

 

Not too sure where you are getting your fees, but you are wrong. At $4.74 (the current low price on Amazon) the fees are as follows:

 

$4.74 + $3.99= $8.73

Amazon takes $2.06 of that right off the top and that is only if you are paying the $39.99/month for your store there. You have to add another $1 to the fees if you are not paying the $40 per month. Shipping depends how you pack. I use the Diamond mailers and they cost about .50 per to buy in bulk and then shipping is typically $3ish for FCM (they are very solid and I know the item arrives safe) and that is another $3.50 out the door. Take off another .75 or whatever you paid for the book and that leaves you with a whopping $2.42 each on average. Does that add up? Sure. Is it a pain in the butt to send out packages when you make $2.42 each and have to contend with Amazon's liberal (borderline insane) return policy? I don't feel it is worth it. To each there own, but I just wanted to correct your math because that was not accurate.

 

Correct, its 20%, so the 2.06 sounds about right, which is why I started off with the 2.00 profit margin, which is less than your 2.42

Ive been selling on Amazon for 3+ years and havent had more than a handful returns, and when I did, it always ended up well

And once again, if youre dealing with a random 5.00 book I wouldnt bother, but if its consistent and in demand, its money in the pocket with very minimal work mainly because alot buy multiple quantities.

[Aweandlorder]

can you provide a link to which diamond mailer you are talking about? if i can pay $3.00 to ship with a 50 cent mailer it would be worth it over $3.50 and free/homemade mailing supplies.

 

Wait, you're spending $3.50 just on supplies? I thought that included the shipping cost?

 

[the blob]

can you provide a link to which diamond mailer you are talking about? if i can pay $3.00 to ship with a 50 cent mailer it would be worth it over $3.50 and free/homemade mailing supplies.

 

Wait, you're spending $3.50 just on supplies? I thought that included the shipping cost?

 

no, i'm not spending anything on supplies, but i hack up boxes, which can be a PITA, but postage runs about $3.40-$3.50.

 

if a mailer is sturdy enough and results in $3.00 postage then my shipping/handling cost would still be $3.50 and less labor.

 

once upon a time i got a deal on some uline comic/magazine mailers and they were about 50 cents each and i bought like 400 of them, but that was 15 years ago and i never saw the deal again. i didn't need additional carboard inside those either although something to prevent the comics from slipping around was needed.

Edited February 18, 2016 by the blob

[ygogolak]

can you provide a link to which diamond mailer you are talking about? if i can pay $3.00 to ship with a 50 cent mailer it would be worth it over $3.50 and free/homemade mailing supplies.

 

Wait, you're spending $3.50 just on supplies? I thought that included the shipping cost?

 

no, i'm not spending anything on supplies, but i hack up boxes, which can be a PITA, but postage runs about $3.40-$3.50.

 

if a mailer is sturdy enough and results in $3.00 postage then my shipping/handling cost would still be $3.50 and less labor.

 

Right, if you're like Nate, you like the piece of mind of extra cardboard and such. You're not going to get lower than $3.35 probably. I use free cardboard and a manila envelope which probably cost $0.10, plus tape. I really don't even think about that as it is the cost of doing business.

[the blob]

This was a book at 6.00 each copy for a total of 60 dollars plus shipping.

 

Item(s) Subtotal:

$60.00

Shipping & Handling:

$39.90

Total before tax:

$99.90

 

You tell me that was a good deal? I think not. Amazon may be great for sellers but horrible for buyers buying multiple comics.

 

-------

 

ok, now i understand why awean likes amazon. you do need to sell multiple copies to someone to properly rip them off (within the allowable rules of amazon), but yeah, selling something with slim profit margins and then getting over by charging $4 shipping seven times does provide a good profit margin.

 

what i don't understand is why someone would buy anything like this via amazon? sure, 1 copy for your kid or whatever, but why would anyone buy multiples?

 

thats hysterical

Youre not ripping anyone off. Youre simply adapting to demand.

I bought many many many comics from amazon which were a STEAL and didnt bother with asking sellers to combine because I got them for such a bargain

Many people know about this.. Youre reading about a book heating up and youre running to Amazon to clean up while everyones looking for copies on eBay. This happens to this day

 

listen, i'd take the money too (and that's why i say it's a rip off within the applicable rules...just like if I rented a room in my house in brooklyn for $1200...i'm ripping someone off in the big picture, but doing so within the rules), but i would feel very bad charging someone $40 to ship 10 comics even though amazon allowed me to. while there are no doubt random individual sales of a $5 comic that is less than $2 on ebay, i really have to wonder who the heck is buying multiples at $5. i know there are a lot of stupid people in the world, but....

[the blob]

Theres no links to show for sold listings on amazon, Amazon's proof is in the rankings.

20,000 rank with a book is proof that this comic moves in the volumes that I disclosed. But if you didnt believe me then, you wont believe me now. so lose lose for me.

I wouldnt call people who buy on amazon insufficiently_thoughtful_persons, much like I wouldnt call a seller on eBay whos clueless about the potential in Amazon an insufficiently_thoughtful_person. But thats just another thing you wont believe me so, again, pointless

--

 

ok, so it is ranked something like 25,000th on amazon according to this:

 

http://www.amazon.com/BELIEVERS-DEADPOOL-mutant-reprint-Deadpool/dp/B0193Y7A9M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1455839099&sr=8-3&keywords=deadpool+true+believer

 

 

Does that mean they are selling like hotcakes at those prices? Educate me. I don't pretend to know.

 

Have you been selling at that price on Amazon? If you've moved multiple copies at $5 then that's great, bravo, it's a solid flip. If every book I buy out of a dollar box is a $4+ profit on a flip I will take that any day of the week.

Edited February 18, 2016 by the blob

[Aweandlorder]

Amazon's rankings are not easy to crack. I still learn as I go.

I will just tell you what I told Kav a few weeks ago in the TPB debacle..

LEARNING THE AMAZON RANKING SYSTEM AND ADAPTING TO IT IS KEY TO SELLING ITEMS SUCCESSFULLY ONLINE.

It involves alot of experimentation and tracking. Amazon is very fussy about people keeping tabs on tracks, my guess is that they are providing this information exclusively to 3rd party groups for a pretty penny, which is why you and me are out of the loop.

But historically, I can tell you that comic books (not tpb) with a sales rank of under 100,000 are a comic to look out for. That means that if youre the lowest price on that particular listing you will move it in very large quantities.

As to your question to why do people buy on Amazon instead of eBay?

Well, so many reasons, first being convenience, amazon's listings for popular products are alot more visible on google than eBay's. Second is Paypal vs credit card. I know you may find it hard to believe, but many people dont have paypal and are more accustomed to paying with creedit card. 3rd is its name, Amazon to many is considered the Best Buy/Wal-Mart of books/electronics whereas eBay is considered as a thrift shop.

Hope that helps

[fastballspecial]

You forgot to mention Amazon Prime as well. The free shipping option for rural people is a godsend. They use it on comics as well.

 

The other aspects you mention hurt Amazon including the sellers that don't combine which is just ignorant.

 

That being said it is trending toward Amazon for all the reasons you mentioned, but as a buyer Amazon is much more of a shoot then Ebay is. I cant tell you how many poorly grade and poorly packed comics I have gotten. Even if they were a steal it gets old having to deal with that.

 

Ive have no problem believing you can do very well on Amazon. They are very overpriced, but the free shipping option helps and if you can manipulate the metrics right its is profitable just like ebay is for cost effecient sellers.

 

 

Edited February 19, 2016 by Fastballspecial

[Aweandlorder]

You forgot to mention Amazon Prime as well. The free shipping option for rural people is a godsend. They use it on comics as well.

 

The other aspects you mention hurt Amazon including the sellers that don't combine which is just ignorant.

 

That being said it is trending toward Amazon for all the reasons you mentioned, but as a buyer Amazon is much more of a shoot then Ebay is. I cant tell you how many poorly grade and poorly packed comics I have gotten. Even if they were a steal it gets old having to deal with that.

 

Ive have no problem believing you can do very well on Amazon. They are very overpriced, but the free shipping option helps and if you can manipulate the metrics right its is profitable just like ebay is for cost effecient sellers.

 

 

Its funny. If sellers list an item on eBay with free shipping, will you accuse them of taking advantage of you if you buy multiple quantities from them?

Its all about the final price. Always

But I hear ya

[rjrjr]

You guys need to start expanding your horizons a bit.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0193Y7A9M - ranking 21,000 on Amazon is HUGE for comic books on that platform, just in case you guys are wondering

Its been moving for 5.00 a pop on Amazon for awhile. And yes. If youre moving 20-30 units a day at 2 dollar profit a pop thats an investment I will take all day any day from now until retirement

 

It sounds like a lot of work actually. But, I don't begrudge anyone that needs or wants to put in that kind of work to make a living.

[Aweandlorder]

Soooo... any other observations on this months sales figures

[Prince Namor]

Deadpool #5 and 6 under 60,000 copies despite the hype leading up to the movie...

 

A-Force #1 65,000

Rocket/Groot #1 59,000

Silver Surfer #1 57,000

 

All new all different Avengers 3 and 4 at 57,000

 

Uncanny X-men #1 93,000

Uncanny X-men #2 55,000

 

Ouch.

 

Thank goodness for Star Wars, Secret Wars, and Old Man Logan.

 

But if you think THAT's alarming, read this:

 

How Low Can DC go?

 

[the blob]

You forgot to mention Amazon Prime as well. The free shipping option for rural people is a godsend. They use it on comics as well.

 

===

 

yes, my wife is addicted to that. so how does that work for a seller?

[oldbsturgeon]

When I sold I had to meet certain criteria before I qualified to ship via prime. I never did though.

I do kno you can have amazon store it for you or you can keep it until it sells. Personally on collectible items I don't trust amazon grunts to not damage it

[kimik]

Deadpool #5 and 6 under 60,000 copies despite the hype leading up to the movie...

 

A-Force #1 65,000

Rocket/Groot #1 59,000

Silver Surfer #1 57,000

 

All new all different Avengers 3 and 4 at 57,000

 

Uncanny X-men #1 93,000

Uncanny X-men #2 55,000

 

Ouch.

 

Thank goodness for Star Wars, Secret Wars, and Old Man Logan.

 

But if you think THAT's alarming, read this:

 

How Low Can DC go?

 

So the take home message from all of this is simply that if you do not do a full out relaunch of #1s your sales will suffer? That is essentially what is happening here. Take out the mass speculative effect of the latest group of #1s and Marvels numbers are not looking as healthy either. You can say the same for Image as well, but add in the fact that their new #1s are selling at lower levels than in the past as the speculators have moved on.

 

It will be interesting to see how the DC "Rebirth" relaunch plays out, but my guess is that it will not work as well as the New 52 relaunch did.

 

[Prince Namor]

...You can say the same for Image as well, but add in the fact that their new #1s are selling at lower levels than in the past as the speculators have moved on.

 

Two years later, same period of time....

 

Nov-Dec 2013 + Jan 2014

 

Black Science #1 40,873

Manifest Destiny #1 17,371

Protectors Inc 16,434

Alex + Ada #1 14,292

Umbral 14,536

Saviors #1 17,894

Dead Body Road #1 16,840

Krampus #1 9,078

A Voice in the Dark #1 10,230

Deadly Class #1 34,572

Minimum Wage #1 7,003

TOTAL: 199,123

 

 

Nov-Dec 2015 + Jan 2016

 

Huck #1 35,299

Goddamned #1 33,809

Monstress #1 30,041

Jupiter’s Circle V2 #1 18,175

Citizen Jack #1 15,075

Ringside #1 14,205

Limbo #1 10,289

Symmetry #1 17,522

Violent #1 11,751

Black Jack Ketchem #1 8,022

Cry Havoc #1 20,677

TOTAL: 214,865

 

[the authority]

...You can say the same for Image as well, but add in the fact that their new #1s are selling at lower levels than in the past as the speculators have moved on.

 

Two years later, same period of time....

 

Nov-Dec 2013 + Jan 2014

 

Black Science #1 40,873

Manifest Destiny #1 17,371

Protectors Inc 16,434

Alex + Ada #1 14,292

Umbral 14,536

Saviors #1 17,894

Dead Body Road #1 16,840

Krampus #1 9,078

A Voice in the Dark #1 10,230

Deadly Class #1 34,572

Minimum Wage #1 7,003

TOTAL: 199,123

 

 

Nov-Dec 2015 + Jan 2016

 

Huck #1 35,299

Goddamned #1 33,809

Monstress #1 30,041

Jupiter’s Circle V2 #1 18,175

Citizen Jack #1 15,075

Ringside #1 14,205

Limbo #1 10,289

Symmetry #1 17,522

Violent #1 11,751

Black Jack Ketchem #1 8,022

Cry Havoc #1 20,677

TOTAL: 214,865

 

 

Good point from a distributor level. The difference I see is in the actual sales to customers. Black Science #1 was sold out at Midtown within a month. You can still buy Huck #1A and 1B, both 1st prints, in quantities of at least 25 each. The book came out 11/18/15.

 

Midtown (limit 50)

http://www.midtowncomics.com/store/dp.asp?PRID=Huck+%231+Cover+A+Regular+R_1481857

 

DCBS at $1.75 (limit 5)

https://www.dcbservice.com/product/sep150568/huck-1-cvr-a-albuquerque-clearance

 

You can also buy the B cover at TFAW (limit 5)

 

 

This could be because more people are doing what I am and buying more stuff digitally or it could be that there is less demand. Which or what do you think is causing it ?