New Comics too expensive?

[Hobgoblin]

An inflation calculator determined that a $1.25 comic in 1992 would cost about $1.75 today. Close to $2.00, but I was a bit off.

[Chi Bamm]

They should do a study about this at some college or something. Very interesting......

[joe_collector]

My how I love reading more of these "paper cost" conspiracies...

 

If paper cost was the main reason why comics went from 25-cents in the mid-70's, to $2.99-$3.99 now, then magazines would cost you about $35-$50 in 2005.

 

Anyone price a new magazine lately? Are they $35 to $50?

[uclapeterg]

Every magazine I read has way too many ads. With a magazine's larger fan base, I bet the ad revenue helps keep the costs low.

 

With comic's circulation shrinking every year and the ad revenue shrinking because there are less and less readers, the Companies have to pass more of the printing costs etc. to the buyers. I don't think comics are too expensive right now.

[joe_collector]

I'd like to hear from someone associated with comic printing, what the unit cost would be on a 100K print run of something like X-Men. Like what Marvel pays per comic ONLY for the printing.

 

I have a rough idea, but I am sure that many of you would be very surprised at the actual cost.

[joe_collector]

I almost forgot a very important factor in the ultra-high price of comic books:

 

The Direct Market: Now that comics are focused almost entirely on the Direct Market, these comic store owners make a living selling new books, and require much higher margins compared to the old newstand/convenience store model, where comics were only a very, very small piece of the overall pie. Again, this is reflected in the cover price.

[Hobgoblin]

Every magazine I read has way too many ads. With a magazine's larger fan base, I bet the ad revenue helps keep the costs low.

 

With comic's circulation shrinking every year and the ad revenue shrinking because there are less and less readers, the Companies have to pass more of the printing costs etc. to the buyers. I don't think comics are too expensive right now.

 

Agreed. Magazines pay for their costs with the hundreds of ads that can be present in the thicker magazines, so they don't have to deal with increasing costs of paper, etc.

 

Comics on the other hand, have some outside ads, but in a Marvel comics, several of the ad pages are for Marvel Comic related products, which means they're not getting any extra help paying to print that page.

 

Joe, if you think increasing paper cost has nothing to do with the rise in price of comics, you're much more naive than I thought you were.

[Hobgoblin]

I almost forgot a very important factor in the ultra-high price of comic books:

 

The Direct Market: Now that comics are focused almost entirely on the Direct Market, these comic store owners make a living selling new books, and require much higher margins compared to the old newstand/convenience store model, where comics were only a very, very small piece of the overall pie. Again, this is reflected in the cover price.

 

Is that why most LCS's will give reduced rates for loyal customers? Go ask Marvel why they recently moved their $2.25 books up to $2.50. My LCS was not happy with the raise in price.

[joe_collector]

Actually, resident store owner, retail guru, late-shipper and man-about-town Lighthouse wrote a very good commentary on why high comic book prices are great for stores and why lower prices would not increases sales by a noticeable amount.

 

It made a lot of sense and was quite an eye-opener to someone like me, who advocates lower cover prices.

 

Look it up, or hopefully someone will post a link.

[joe_collector]

Joe, if you think increasing paper cost has nothing to do with the rise in price of comics, you're much more naive than I thought you were.

 

Then post the actual unit paper cost Marvel pays per comic on a hypothetical 100K print run, and then compare that to fixed costs, salaries, royalties, licensing, Diamond's cut, the retail store's cut, and all of the other costs and profit margins.

 

If you think that the "paper cost" strawman is going to be the largest number of the two, then you are a shill from a comic company. No one with a brain actually believes the "comic prices are high because of rising paper prices" BS they're shoveling...

 

Out of a $2.99 X-Men comic book, what do you think the printing costs (including setup, plates, etc.) per copy are? Then what do you think are the paper costs per copy taken from that number? Probably a few cents a copy at most.

[joe_collector]

I work in printing for a living...biggest expense is in fact paper..the money is in the cost of the paper,not the ink,or the plates or the make-ready

 

What do you think the actual per-unit paper costs (not including setup, plates, inks, labor) would be on a single comic book?

 

I have a rough idea due to running financial figures at a magazine, but I'd like your input before posting anything here. Personally speaking, I can't see it being more than a nickel a copy for JUST the paper, if that.

[Hobgoblin]

[Jack Anderson]

My how I love reading more of these "paper cost" conspiracies...

 

If paper cost was the main reason why comics went from 25-cents in the mid-70's, to $2.99-$3.99 now, then magazines would cost you about $35-$50 in 2005.

 

Anyone price a new magazine lately? Are they $35 to $50?

 

Regardless of whether it's the main cause or not, you can't deny that using the glossy paper they use has to cost more than using the newsprint paper they used to use.

[Paladin]

Joe, if you think increasing paper cost has nothing to do with the rise in price of comics, you're much more naive than I thought you were.

 

 

I'm not Joe, but I do find the glossy paper point an interesting question. If we follow the logic of higher prices for glossy paper : then can someone answer a question or few about Marvel's pricing from the mid-nineties? Before the questions here's the pricing facts I noticed.

 

Back in the mid-nineties Uncanny X-Men #318 (a regular issue) was printed on glossy paper and cost $1.95 .

 

24 issues later Uncanny with issue #342 went back to non-glossy paper but still cost $1.95 .

 

5 issues later (one of the issues was the minus issue) Uncanny #346 still had non-glossy paper and the price rose to $1.99 .

 

Shoot all the way up to Uncanny #402. It also had non-glossy paper and checked in at a $2.25

 

Glossy paper comes back in round Uncanny X-men #413 and still rings in at $2.25 . Guess we could count our blessings that there wasn't an immediate price rise with this return of the glossy paper .

 

Flash forward to today 50 issues later at #463 we still have the glossy paper and we are at $2.50.

 

#342-#402- 60 issues, non-glossy paper and total price hike of 30 cents .

#413-#463- 50 issues, glossy paper and a total price hike of 25 cents .

 

So why did Marvel go back to non-glossy paper back then? Was it cost cutting at the time? Maybe there was a glossy paper shortage? If it's the glossy paper that causes the price to rise then why did the price continue to rise when the non-glossy paper was brought back? Inflation again?

 

I don't profess to know everything about the pricing, but I found it interesting that Marvel went back to non-glossy paper and the cover price continued to rise.

 

I'm sure they're just charging us what's fair, enough to make a tidy profit. Right?

[Lazyboy]

Joe, if you think increasing paper cost has nothing to do with the rise in price of comics, you're much more naive than I thought you were.

 

I don't recall him saying it had NOTHING to do with the price, just that it's not the major contributor.

 

Back in the mid-nineties Uncanny X-Men #318 (a regular issue) was printed on glossy paper and cost $1.95 .

 

24 issues later Uncanny with issue #342 went back to non-glossy paper but still cost $1.95 .

 

UXM 318-321 were printed with both deluxe (glossy) and regular editions. It seemed to be a short experiment by Marvel. I don't know how many of their other series did the same thing (except Wolverine). I don't own any of the regular editions, but I believe they were $1.50.

Uncanny X-Men 342 would be 28 issues later due to the Age of Apocalypse (between 321-322)

[Lazyboy]

Closer to the original topic, I do think comics are too expensive now. I'm only buying a few series right now and most of them are minis. Other than Green Lantern and All Star Batman and Robin, the only new comics I have bought recently are the Countdown minis, JLA 115-119, Identity Crisis, GL: Rebirth and a few comics I got at a significant discount.

I started buying comics again (more seriously) less than a year ago. My average cost per comic (yes, I've kept track of everything I've bought) is currently around $0.75 (and that's Canadian) and that includes all the new stuff I listed above. Unless I really want to read new comics right away and/or I don't think I'll be able to get them significantly cheaper in the future, they just aren't worth buying for me.

[Jeffro.]

In recent years, my new comic purchases have trickled to almost nothing and it's not because of the price, it's because the new comics, by and large, just don't "do" it for me. The artistic styles (more cartoony, more manga influenced, the "image" look) just repel me. This is admittedly, a generalization, but the trend seems to be moving more this way.

 

I know change is inevitable, but if comics were more like they were pre-1990, I would still be buying.

[joe_collector]

Regardless of whether it's the main cause or not, you can't deny that using the glossy paper they use has to cost more than using the newsprint paper they used to use.

 

Sure, but do you realize the unit "paper cost" numbers we're talking here are small, as in cents vs. cents? The per-copy impact of higher-priced paper has virtually no impact on a $2.99 cover price.

 

It's just a strawman the comic companies put up for fanboys to throw rocks at.

[Hobgoblin]

I know change is inevitable, but if comics were more like they were pre-1990, I would still be buying.

 

Me too. I actually love reading Flash and other DC titles that still use the same old paper quality.

[joe_collector]

The more vocal "Modern Fan" gets riled up when I say this, but:

 

I don't think comic books even exist anymore.

 

Think about it, from their inception and for almost 70 years since, comic have been a low-cost, mass market consumable that was enjoyed by all ages. These comic books were highly visible at newstands and stores, used basic materials, and were a low profit-high volume business.

 

Comics were basically dirt cheap entertainment and were analogous to newspapers. Buy 'em, read 'em, and then toss 'em.

 

Over the last decade or so, this scenario has changed into one of high-end glossy paper, low visibility, niche comic store, low volume-high priced market. Illustrated stories have done a 180 degree turn, and the "comic books" of today do not resemble those of the prior 70 years in the least, other than that the new ones still contain words and pictures...

 

I contend that the comic book as a form disappeared in the 1990's mania, and what emerged after the crash was a high-priced graphic novel format tailored and marketed exclusively to adults, and similar in design and pricing structure to TPBs or other higher-end publications. Or basically, the opposite of what a "comic book" was from 1933 to the 1990's mania.