Ratio Variants query, it's bugging me! 0

[TheSpud]

Had to go in Moderns as that's where the ratio variants are.

Anyhoo,  I see 1:10, 1:25, 1:50 etc etc.

Retailer has to order 10 copies of Beezleybob #1 cover A to get

1 variant cover of Beezleybob #1 Cover B Incentive variant.

So, here's my problem......  Retailer is getting 11 copies of the book

therefore Cover B is a  1:11 variant?

OR.... Does the    ":"  mean something different?

1:10

1 in 10

You still with me?

Discuss

[IbukiLord]

The incentive is only available to purchase when they have met the ratio quota for cover A, cover B unlocks when they have bought 10 copies. It does not count towards the next incentive therefor it is not a 1:11 as that would mean they need to purchase an addtional 9 copies of cover A to get another 1:10 but they have to purchase another 10 copies to get 1 more.

Edited March 14, 2021 by IbukiLord

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

the ratio is (all B):(all A), not (all B):(all copies), assuming of course that orders are tailored to take advantage of getting the rarer variants

Edited March 14, 2021 by GeeksAreMyPeeps

[TheSpud]

4 hours ago, IbukiLord said:

The incentive is only available to purchase when they have met the ratio quota for cover A, cover B unlocks when they have bought 10 copies. It does not count towards the next incentive therefor it is not a 1:11 as that would mean they need to purchase an addtional 9 copies of cover A to get another 1:10 but they have to purchase another 10 copies to get 1 more.

So it's a 1 for 10 Variant not a 1 in 10 variant?

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

36 minutes ago, TheSpud said:

So it's a 1 for 10 Variant not a 1 in 10 variant?

yes

[Lazyboy]

9 hours ago, TheSpud said:

Retailer has to order 10 copies of Beezleybob #1 cover A to get be allowed to order

1 variant cover of Beezleybob #1 Cover B Incentive variant.

Slight fix.

[TheSpud]

14 hours ago, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

yes

So it's a 1 in 11 variant? 

[ExNihilo]

31 minutes ago, TheSpud said:

So it's a 1 in 11 variant? 

That falls apart when you get to the 1:25, 1:50.

ie, if you order 50, those 1 in 11's suddenly become 5 in 58.

So best to just stick with "for".

[valiantman]

Because no one has said it yet, I'll throw in the required statement:

"Ratio incentive books are what the RETAILER must do to get a copy.  They are not what the PUBLISHER will print.  The publisher MIGHT print exactly how many the math predicts, but they can print 1,000 extra books at pretty much zero cost and use them as marketing, re-order incentives, bonuses, freebies, etc.  There are many cases where a publisher has thousands of leftover ratio incentive books at the distributor and they go on sale through Diamond Distribution for $0.99 each or less.  Even the Ultimate Fallout #4 1:25 variant was overprinted, and the extras ended up in $5 packs of random comics at Five Below stores."

[Lazyboy]

13 hours ago, TheSpud said:

So it's a 1 in 11 variant? 

No. The ratios refer only to the number of regular copies a retailer must order to be able to order a copy of that variant.

If a store ordered 100 regular copies, they could also order 10 1:10s, 4 1:25s, 2 1:50s, and 1 1:100 variant.

[TheSpud]

So the retailer orders 100 copies & gets 10 variants.

Retailer gets 110 copies total,

So it's a 1 FOR 10 variant BUT a 1 IN 11 variant

[Get Marwood & I]

1 hour ago, TheSpud said:

So the retailer orders 100 copies & gets 10 variants.

Retailer gets 110 copies total,

So it's a 1 FOR 10 variant BUT a 1 IN 11 variant

I see what you're getting at Spud, but no.

Two shops are told: "Order 10 of the standard and you'll get 1 variant cover". That's a 1 FOR 10 arrangement.

Shop A orders 10 standard copies and gets 1 variant.

Shop B orders 5 standard copies and gets no variant. 

If they were the only two shops in the world, what would the overall 'IN' ratio be then?

And how would that ratio be affected if, at a later time, the distributor released to those shops all the 1 for 10's that they printed and which were never claimed? And is the 1 for 10 based on direct sales only or, back in the day, newsstand copies too? And how do multiple variants of the same issue play into the mix? Or unsold standard returns?

You can say what the order ratio is - your FOR scenario, but no one can say what the resulting overall extant ratio is - your IN scenario - as there are too many variables that will influence that. You'll never be able to say that x standard copies of any given comic exist, with y copies of its variant, and then arrive at a meaningful ratio. 

Did that make sense? It's early and I've only had one coffee. 

[TheSpud]

5 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

I see what you're getting at Spud, but no.

Two shops are told: "Order 10 of the standard and you'll get 1 variant cover". That's a 1 FOR 10 arrangement.

Shop A orders 10 standard copies and gets 1 variant.

Shop B orders 5 standard copies and gets no variant. 

If they were the only two shops in the world, what would the overall 'IN' ratio be then?

And how would that ratio be affected if, at a later time, the distributor released to those shops all the 1 for 10's that they printed and which were never claimed? And is the 1 for 10 based on direct sales only or, back in the day, newsstand copies too? And how do multiple variants of the same issue play into the mix? Or unsold standard returns?

You can say what the order ratio is - your FOR scenario, but no one can say what the resulting overall extant ratio is - your IN scenario - as there are too many variables that will influence that. You'll never be able to say that x standard copies of any given comic exist, with y copies of its variant, and then arrive at a meaningful ratio. 

Did that make sense? It's early and I've only had one coffee. 

Dammit! I was having fun here & you went and gave a sensible reply.

 

Now if you'd just made me think of adding the 1:25, 1:50 variants into the 1:10 mix.

IE order 50 get 5 x 1:10, 2 x 1:25, 1 x 1:50 I could have gone on for months :-)

[Get Marwood & I]

Just now, TheSpud said:

Dammit! I was having fun here & you went and gave a sensible reply.

 

Now if you'd just made me think of adding the 1:25, 1:50 variants into the 1:10 mix.

IE order 50 get 5 x 1:10, 2 x 1:25, 1 x 1:50 I could have gone on for months :-)

It was fun while it lasted Spud

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

On 3/15/2021 at 11:50 AM, valiantman said:

Because no one has said it yet, I'll throw in the required statement:

"Ratio incentive books are what the RETAILER must do to get a copy.  They are not what the PUBLISHER will print.  The publisher MIGHT print exactly how many the math predicts, but they can print 1,000 extra books at pretty much zero cost and use them as marketing, re-order incentives, bonuses, freebies, etc.  There are many cases where a publisher has thousands of leftover ratio incentive books at the distributor and they go on sale through Diamond Distribution for $0.99 each or less.  Even the Ultimate Fallout #4 1:25 variant was overprinted, and the extras ended up in $5 packs of random comics at Five Below stores."