Increased price of variant covers

[Firespitter]

Has anyone else noticed that some variant covers have escalated in price?

I'm used to independents where the variant covers used to be the same cover price. E.g. Hellboy in Hell; $3.99. Variant cover $3.99. Now, the secondary market is where the prices are where I'm used to a jump, or certain retailers might try to capitalize on a comic by increasing the price but it certainly wasn't "The listed price".

 

But NOW, when I pick-up many...really ANY of the variant covered comics (mostly Marvel and DC comics), I'm seeing MSRPs of $5.99, $7.99, $9.99, $14.99. etc. on books where the Imprinted price clearly states: $3.99US.

 

I asked my local retailer about the variant price increases and all he could say is that the variants were costing him more as well. $15 is what I normally would pay for a GN and now that's what people are expecting to pay off-the-shelf for a floppy??? And I thought 3.99 was bad.

 

For instance; Books-a-Million has variant covers of Star Wars titles. It clearly states $3.99 on each of the front covers, but their ACTUAL PRICE is $5.99 and up at the register. Is that an accepted business practice? And am I the only one that is bugged by this?

 

If you go to your grocery store, and pick-up a loaf of bread with a big red label that says $3.59, and then at the register they ring it up as $6.00 would you just willing pay for it because the cashier states "Well, the imprinted price is just a suggestion, but the ACTUAL price is twice that."?

 

-Terry

 

 

[Kaboom]

 

For instance; Books-a-Million has variant covers of Star Wars titles. It clearly states $3.99 on each of the front covers, but their ACTUAL PRICE is $5.99 and up at the register. Is that an accepted business practice? And am I the only one that is bugged by this?

 

 

-Terry

 

 

Hi Terry, some of us are just used to paying more for a variant cover than cover price. Some shops sell variants at cover, others do not.

 

On the BAM books though, they have a policy that if the book is priced one way and it rings up higher, you get it at the cover price. BAM charges more for their variants and Fried Pie Variants because many times they are paying more for the books, sometimes even above cover price. However, if they are not priced higher, the clerk is supposed to give it to you at the stickered price.

 

I was at a BAM store where the clerk refused to give the book at the price that was on the cover, it was not repriced on their bag. I asked for the manager and the manager came over and said yes, give it to him at the price shown on the cover and not the price it rings up. I said great hold on a second and went and grabbed the rest of them off the shelf and purchased them, out of spite.

[krighton]

Stores know that people are buying variants and putting them on Ebay....so they want their cut.

[jreezy]

Stores know that people are buying variants and putting them on Ebay....so they want their cut.

 

I understand that, but if the MSRP is $3.99 and they are getting books at discounted dealer prices they are already marking them up on release day? I don't know how I feel about that.

 

I don't really "flip" variants because I buy what I like and usually its already slabbed.

[ygogolak]

Are we talking incentive variants?

[JLS Comics]

MidTown Comics pre-orders and EBay pre-orders are putting the books above cover even before they hit the shelves so it drives the prices up and the LCS is inclined to price similarly. Not every store, mind you, I know plenty that place variants at cover as long as their below like 1:20 and not a retailer incentive.

 

Fried Pie sells to American Wholesale Book Company who needs to make a profit and then BAM! also has to make a profit above and beyond that from us so thats why they're always priced at $5.99-$7.99. This is compared to the LCS who could price at cover price since they're getting the books directly from the distributor, Diamond (with exceptions as I mentioned above). Stores like Hastings and Newbury Comics I think are just being opportunistic with their pricing.

 

I will say though that the cover price aka MSRP does not always reflect TMV from demand and availability (supply).

[LarrysComics]

Has anyone else noticed that some variant covers have escalated in price?

I'm used to independents where the variant covers used to be the same cover price. E.g. Hellboy in Hell; $3.99. Variant cover $3.99. Now, the secondary market is where the prices are where I'm used to a jump, or certain retailers might try to capitalize on a comic by increasing the price but it certainly wasn't "The listed price".

 

But NOW, when I pick-up many...really ANY of the variant covered comics (mostly Marvel and DC comics), I'm seeing MSRPs of $5.99, $7.99, $9.99, $14.99. etc. on books where the Imprinted price clearly states: $3.99US.

 

I asked my local retailer about the variant price increases and all he could say is that the variants were costing him more as well. $15 is what I normally would pay for a GN and now that's what people are expecting to pay off-the-shelf for a floppy??? And I thought 3.99 was bad.

 

For instance; Books-a-Million has variant covers of Star Wars titles. It clearly states $3.99 on each of the front covers, but their ACTUAL PRICE is $5.99 and up at the register. Is that an accepted business practice? And am I the only one that is bugged by this?

 

If you go to your grocery store, and pick-up a loaf of bread with a big red label that says $3.59, and then at the register they ring it up as $6.00 would you just willing pay for it because the cashier states "Well, the imprinted price is just a suggestion, but the ACTUAL price is twice that."?

 

-Terry

 

 

on books where the Imprinted price clearly states: $3.99US

 

You know that it costs more to order a variant, right?

Publishers do not generate special cover art for free.

 

 

 

[Lazyboy]

Where have you been for the past decade? Living in a cave? Stuck on the moon? Have you heard that the Titanic sank?

 

Now, retailers putting variants out for sale without a higher marked price and then charging more at the till is another story, but WTF? Other than that, I can't believe you made this post in 2016.

 

By the way, the price that's actually printed on the comic is MSRP. But MSRP ultimately doesn't mean anything.

[Prince Namor]

Has anyone else noticed that some variant covers have escalated in price?

I'm used to independents where the variant covers used to be the same cover price. E.g. Hellboy in Hell; $3.99. Variant cover $3.99. Now, the secondary market is where the prices are where I'm used to a jump, or certain retailers might try to capitalize on a comic by increasing the price but it certainly wasn't "The listed price".

 

But NOW, when I pick-up many...really ANY of the variant covered comics (mostly Marvel and DC comics), I'm seeing MSRPs of $5.99, $7.99, $9.99, $14.99. etc. on books where the Imprinted price clearly states: $3.99US.

 

I asked my local retailer about the variant price increases and all he could say is that the variants were costing him more as well. $15 is what I normally would pay for a GN and now that's what people are expecting to pay off-the-shelf for a floppy??? And I thought 3.99 was bad.

 

For instance; Books-a-Million has variant covers of Star Wars titles. It clearly states $3.99 on each of the front covers, but their ACTUAL PRICE is $5.99 and up at the register. Is that an accepted business practice? And am I the only one that is bugged by this?

 

If you go to your grocery store, and pick-up a loaf of bread with a big red label that says $3.59, and then at the register they ring it up as $6.00 would you just willing pay for it because the cashier states "Well, the imprinted price is just a suggestion, but the ACTUAL price is twice that."?

 

-Terry

 

 

on books where the Imprinted price clearly states: $3.99US

 

You know that it costs more to order a variant, right?

Publishers do not generate special cover art for free.

 

When Book-A-Million gets a Marvel variant cover made (or anyone for that matter), are they required to use the Marvel $3.99US price, or can they put their own printed price on the book?

[LarrysComics]

Has anyone else noticed that some variant covers have escalated in price?

I'm used to independents where the variant covers used to be the same cover price. E.g. Hellboy in Hell; $3.99. Variant cover $3.99. Now, the secondary market is where the prices are where I'm used to a jump, or certain retailers might try to capitalize on a comic by increasing the price but it certainly wasn't "The listed price".

 

But NOW, when I pick-up many...really ANY of the variant covered comics (mostly Marvel and DC comics), I'm seeing MSRPs of $5.99, $7.99, $9.99, $14.99. etc. on books where the Imprinted price clearly states: $3.99US.

 

I asked my local retailer about the variant price increases and all he could say is that the variants were costing him more as well. $15 is what I normally would pay for a GN and now that's what people are expecting to pay off-the-shelf for a floppy??? And I thought 3.99 was bad.

 

For instance; Books-a-Million has variant covers of Star Wars titles. It clearly states $3.99 on each of the front covers, but their ACTUAL PRICE is $5.99 and up at the register. Is that an accepted business practice? And am I the only one that is bugged by this?

 

If you go to your grocery store, and pick-up a loaf of bread with a big red label that says $3.59, and then at the register they ring it up as $6.00 would you just willing pay for it because the cashier states "Well, the imprinted price is just a suggestion, but the ACTUAL price is twice that."?

 

-Terry

 

 

on books where the Imprinted price clearly states: $3.99US

 

You know that it costs more to order a variant, right?

Publishers do not generate special cover art for free.

 

When Book-A-Million gets a Marvel variant cover made (or anyone for that matter), are they required to use the Marvel $3.99US price, or can they put their own printed price on the book?

 

I have been offered SRP or NO price from Marvel.

The make up my own price wasn't on the table...

[Prince Namor]

Has anyone else noticed that some variant covers have escalated in price?

I'm used to independents where the variant covers used to be the same cover price. E.g. Hellboy in Hell; $3.99. Variant cover $3.99. Now, the secondary market is where the prices are where I'm used to a jump, or certain retailers might try to capitalize on a comic by increasing the price but it certainly wasn't "The listed price".

 

But NOW, when I pick-up many...really ANY of the variant covered comics (mostly Marvel and DC comics), I'm seeing MSRPs of $5.99, $7.99, $9.99, $14.99. etc. on books where the Imprinted price clearly states: $3.99US.

 

I asked my local retailer about the variant price increases and all he could say is that the variants were costing him more as well. $15 is what I normally would pay for a GN and now that's what people are expecting to pay off-the-shelf for a floppy??? And I thought 3.99 was bad.

 

For instance; Books-a-Million has variant covers of Star Wars titles. It clearly states $3.99 on each of the front covers, but their ACTUAL PRICE is $5.99 and up at the register. Is that an accepted business practice? And am I the only one that is bugged by this?

 

If you go to your grocery store, and pick-up a loaf of bread with a big red label that says $3.59, and then at the register they ring it up as $6.00 would you just willing pay for it because the cashier states "Well, the imprinted price is just a suggestion, but the ACTUAL price is twice that."?

 

-Terry

 

 

on books where the Imprinted price clearly states: $3.99US

 

You know that it costs more to order a variant, right?

Publishers do not generate special cover art for free.

 

When Book-A-Million gets a Marvel variant cover made (or anyone for that matter), are they required to use the Marvel $3.99US price, or can they put their own printed price on the book?

 

I have been offered SRP or NO price from Marvel.

The make up my own price wasn't on the table...

 

I guess that makes sense. It could get confusing.

[mysterio]

Where have you been for the past decade? Living in a cave? Stuck on the moon? Have you heard that the Titanic sank?

 

Now, retailers putting variants out for sale without a higher marked price and then charging more at the till is another story, but WTF? Other than that, I can't believe you made this post in 2016.

 

By the way, the price that's actually printed on the comic is MSRP. But MSRP ultimately doesn't mean anything.

 

I get irritated when Hastings has variants on the rack at cover price and then when they scan them at the register the $3.99 cover price rings up at $10 or something crazy. If you want to charge more than cover price, then put it in a bag and a board with a price sticker reflecting that. Otherwise, it is bait and switch and a horrible business practice.

 

I saw a lot of the new Deadpool variants at Hastings with $9.99 cover prices this past week. That is what they should do if they want to charge that much.

[Firespitter]

I suppose this is just a case of me just having fallen off of the turnip truck, and I've never been really hung-up on "variants". To be specific, I'm not talking about Incentive variants (1:5+), though that is what the $14.99 versions appear to be.

 

There's two different scenarios that have recently caused me to do a double take. They are apples and oranges in comparison: A normal brick and mortar and a Books a million.

 

In the first instance, I go into a brick and mortar store, and pick-up a couple (2) of comic books that are a month old, and when they are rung up. the cost is $12+. Puzzled, I ask the guy why 2 x 3.99 = $12. And the guy says "Those are variant covers. They are 5.99 each." And I say. "Oh. I didn't need variants, I would be happy with the regular covers. I'm not collecting these." And the guy replies "If these are the only ones, then I'm out of the regular covers." So.....I guess I'll just hand you $12.## and be about my day.

 

The other scenario was going to a Books-A-Million, and I picked-up 4 of the star wars comics (primarily to give to a friend), which all have $3.99US on the covers plus two comics out of the dollar bin $1 ea. Doing some quick math, I get 4 x $3.99 +$2 = $18. I hand the check-out girl the books and a $20, and she says "It's $22." I count the books again, and I go "huh? They're 3.99, right", and she says "Well, no they are $5.99, but they get 20% off because of this red sticker that says 20% off. so they are $4.75 ea. with the discount. So you're actually saving $5." So then I point to the $3.99US on each one of the covers. And she says "I don't know about that, but they ring up as $4.75 ea. with a discount." Whatever. I'm not going to go homeless because I had to pay an extra $3.50.

When I get home, I look on the books-a-million website and I see that the same comics are listed as 5.99 and no discount. So I guess the printed price of $3.99 is just plain wrong.

 

Back to the first scenario, I just looked at Midtown and MyComicShop and I see that the variants I picked up online stores list at $4.49 and $4.99 (before discount) even though the cover says 3.99 and 4.99 printed on them. The LCS charges an extra dollar. Not a big deal, I suppose.

-Terry

 

 

 

 

[UltraMaximus]

Where have you been for the past decade? Living in a cave? Stuck on the moon? Have you heard that the Titanic sank?

 

Now, retailers putting variants out for sale without a higher marked price and then charging more at the till is another story, but WTF? Other than that, I can't believe you made this post in 2016.

 

By the way, the price that's actually printed on the comic is MSRP. But MSRP ultimately doesn't mean anything.

 

I get irritated when Hastings has variants on the rack at cover price and then when they scan them at the register the $3.99 cover price rings up at $10 or something crazy. If you want to charge more than cover price, then put it in a bag and a board with a price sticker reflecting that. Otherwise, it is bait and switch and a horrible business practice.

 

I saw a lot of the new Deadpool variants at Hastings with $9.99 cover prices this past week. That is what they should do if they want to charge that much.

Deadpool #7 had a $9.99 cover fpr all variants actually. Huge issue.

[fastballspecial]

This will continue to be a trend I think. Even mail order services have jacked their prices on variants. I am quite sure its not to cover their increased cost. Even DCBS does it now.

 

Eventually this bubble will pop. One of my local shop is buried in variants. They have boxes and boxes of DC and Marvel variants. This is one area of comics I steer clear of. Its full of snake oil salesmen some of them are on this board.

 

[rjrjr]

 

All I know is when the industry moves to $5 books as normal, there shouldn't be too many complaints since many people are happy to hand over even more than that for brand new comics.

 

It is a strange hobby when it becomes commonplace for brand new comics to sell for hundreds of dollars just because the cover is different IMHO. (Didn't Dynamite have a few books that DCBS solicited for $1000 a year or so back? $1000 for a brand new comic book!)

[rjrjr]

This will continue to be a trend I think. Even mail order services have jacked their prices on variants. I am quite sure its not to cover their increased cost. Even DCBS does it now.

 

Eventually this bubble will pop. One of my local shop is buried in variants. They have boxes and boxes of DC and Marvel variants. This is one area of comics I steer clear of. Its full of snake oil salesmen some of them are on this board.

 

DCBS is in an ironic situation. They were happily buying into the variant craze, increasing their orders, until they realized they couldn't anymore. They don't even solicit most of the incentive variants that are available for some titles now because they don't qualify for them. Star Wars is one of those titles.

[tmcneil82]

I have sold my fair share of variants when I find them at good prices, but I will be all to happy if the variant covers go away. Or is at least reduced to a "print as many as are ordered" tactic.

[lightninglad]

I've been disappointed in MCS upping the price on recently released regular cover issues. Just as a quick example, Legend of Wonder Woman #2 came out Feb 10th with $3.99 cover and is now being sold for $5 on there website. My LCS is a fairly small town shop. The owner is a little conservative with his orders, so in the past any new books with good word of mouth that I may have missed out on locally I'd order from MCS. Sadly I've been doing this less and less as a lot of books are jacked up over cover mere days after there release. Seeing that makes you lose some trust.

[fastballspecial]

This will continue to be a trend I think. Even mail order services have jacked their prices on variants. I am quite sure its not to cover their increased cost. Even DCBS does it now.

 

Eventually this bubble will pop. One of my local shop is buried in variants. They have boxes and boxes of DC and Marvel variants. This is one area of comics I steer clear of. Its full of snake oil salesmen some of them are on this board.

 

DCBS is in an ironic situation. They were happily buying into the variant craze, increasing their orders, until they realized they couldn't anymore. They don't even solicit most of the incentive variants that are available for some titles now because they don't qualify for them. Star Wars is one of those titles.

 

That's odd though they haven't lost business have they? They picked up all of mailordercomics when they went under. Or is Diamond not allowing them to order some?