Comic Shop Trends

[HassanT]

I was not surprised by who it was but I wanted to read the book before someone told me who died.

Well, who Brevoort's marketing machine would have you believe died, anyway. I still maintain that there was no death.

I agree.

[comicm]

I was not surprised by who it was but I wanted to read the book before someone told me who died.

Well, who Brevoort's marketing machine would have you believe died, anyway. I still maintain that there was no death.

I agree it had a Star Trek the Wrath of Kahn ending and we all know that Spock came back

[Paul Nolan]

it really as if ComicM's shop doesn't really support the industry much... Yes Marvel's marketing machine has hyped FF 587. But given the chance for a few new walk-in's you screw people over by doubling the price of the comic?
That's all kind of wrong.

My LCS has a monopoly for South Central England. It abuses its position by charging 10 % over what its OWN website lists as an RRP for the same comic.
For example Amazing Spider-Man 657 is a $3.99 title. ForbiddenPlanet.Com lists the web price as £2.65 and the RRP as £2.90. Forbidden Planet Southampton charges £3.15 for the same comic.

Hence my Standing order is now online. I pay £2.38 for a bagged and boarded comic.

If a comic shop wants to fleece their customer, I'm a HUGE advocate for go and shop else where.

[GABE!]

Well 3 days in and of the 300 copies of the polybagged Fantastic Four there are about 125 left. Each box customer seems to be buying 2 copies. If you are not a boxed customer you are really getting screwed. 100 copies of the issue were put in Mylar (Thickest kind) and were marked up to 6.99 a copy with a limit 2. Box customers can request at regular cost but walk-ins will have to pay the $6.99.

I think this is all sorts of wrong. How can you get more people to try the book if you are screwing them over?

Makes sense to me. sounds like the shop was trying to have enough copies for their regulars who may not have preordered the book or have it on their pull list, and the raised priced ones where for people who just heard about it on the news and tried to buy as many as they can to flip later. I've know of many shops that did this to reward the regulars and keep them coming.

[JohnMayo]

I was not surprised by who it was but I wanted to read the book before someone told me who died.

Well, who Brevoort's marketing machine would have you believe died, anyway. I still maintain that there was no death.

I agree it had a Star Trek the Wrath of Kahn ending and we all know that Spock came back

To me, the difference is that we don't see a death. We see a scene that ends on a note with death very much in the cards but not entirely unavoidable even if highly probably. This isn't a matter of thinking the character will be back so much as not being shown, much less convinced, the character died.

[Paul Nolan]

Makes sense to me. sounds like the shop was trying to have enough copies for their regulars who may not have preordered the book or have it on their pull list, and the raised priced ones where for people who just heard about it on the news and tried to buy as many as they can to flip later. I've know of many shops that did this to reward the regulars and keep them coming.

But for an industry that NEEDS fresh blood or old friends to return? Surely cutting your nose off to spite your face.

[BobBretall]

Hence my Standing order is now online. I pay £2.38 for a bagged and boarded comic.

If a comic shop wants to fleece their customer, I'm a HUGE advocate for go and shop else where.

I think this is perfectly reasonable. Stores that practice predatory selling techniques do not deserve loyalty or continued support from their abused customer base.

[GABE!]

Makes sense to me. sounds like the shop was trying to have enough copies for their regulars who may not have preordered the book or have it on their pull list, and the raised priced ones where for people who just heard about it on the news and tried to buy as many as they can to flip later. I've know of many shops that did this to reward the regulars and keep them coming.

But for an industry that NEEDS fresh blood or old friends to return? Surely cutting your nose off to spite your face.

But, how is a issue that is in a bag that most of the "fresh blood" will NEVER OPEN OR READ going to make them into returning customers?

[BobBretall]

But, how is a issue that is in a bag that most of the "fresh blood" will NEVER OPEN OR READ going to make them into returning customers?

I think there are 2 kinds of people who would seek out the issue:
1) Those who are STUPID, think the issue will be valuable, and just want to preserve it in the plastic bag. Throwback to the 1990's sort of people.

2) People who heard the news and just want to read the issue to see what all the fuss is about.

No absolute way to determine if the new customer is Type 1 or 2, however, if I was running a shop I'd limit it to 1 copy per customer and point out "You know, this is a great comic if you want to open the bag & read it, but I can give you a guarantee with 99% certainty that this comic is not going to be worth $100s down the line, so if you are buying it as an "investment" save your money, it's NOT a $4 investment, it's $4 worth of entertainment.

[Paul Nolan]

Makes sense to me. sounds like the shop was trying to have enough copies for their regulars who may not have preordered the book or have it on their pull list, and the raised priced ones where for people who just heard about it on the news and tried to buy as many as they can to flip later. I've know of many shops that did this to reward the regulars and keep them coming.

But for an industry that NEEDS fresh blood or old friends to return? Surely cutting your nose off to spite your face.

But, how is a issue that is in a bag that most of the "fresh blood" will NEVER OPEN OR READ going to make them into returning customers?

I doubt all the people making special visits will be doing it for percieved monetary gain. Yes a decent proportion will, but there will be those who crack it open too.

[Trev]

Well 3 days in and of the 300 copies of the polybagged Fantastic Four there are about 125 left. Each box customer seems to be buying 2 copies. If you are not a boxed customer you are really getting screwed. 100 copies of the issue were put in Mylar (Thickest kind) and were marked up to 6.99 a copy with a limit 2. Box customers can request at regular cost but walk-ins will have to pay the $6.99.

I think this is all sorts of wrong. How can you get more people to try the book if you are screwing them over?

That kind of instant markup on a new comic would really sour me on that retailer. Much more so than the local retailer near where I work that replied that they were sold out of Fantastic Four #587 when I asked and then quietly moved the copy that had been sitting on one of the display cases and hiding it away. Now, it may well be that copy was spoken for, but it was still kind of annoying.

which shop was this? going on my list of shops to not visit -- and I didn't know there was a shop near my old office.

[Trev]

But, how is a issue that is in a bag that most of the "fresh blood" will NEVER OPEN OR READ going to make them into returning customers?

I think there are 2 kinds of people who would seek out the issue:
1) Those who are STUPID, think the issue will be valuable, and just want to preserve it in the plastic bag. Throwback to the 1990's sort of people.

I bought a couple extra in the bag for my kids' college funds. Now they can go Ivy League if they want!

[comicm]

But, how is a issue that is in a bag that most of the "fresh blood" will NEVER OPEN OR READ going to make them into returning customers?

I think there are 2 kinds of people who would seek out the issue:
1) Those who are STUPID, think the issue will be valuable, and just want to preserve it in the plastic bag. Throwback to the 1990's sort of people.

2) People who heard the news and just want to read the issue to see what all the fuss is about.

No absolute way to determine if the new customer is Type 1 or 2, however, if I was running a shop I'd limit it to 1 copy per customer and point out "You know, this is a great comic if you want to open the bag & read it, but I can give you a guarantee with 99% certainty that this comic is not going to be worth $100s down the line, so if you are buying it as an "investment" save your money, it's NOT a $4 investment, it's $4 worth of entertainment.

He is limiting the copies but he is not treating the type 2 customer fairly. The only customers he is treating fairly are the pull list customers.

[JohnMayo]

I think there are 2 kinds of people who would seek out the issue:
1) Those who are STUPID, think the issue will be valuable, and just want to preserve it in the plastic bag. Throwback to the 1990's sort of people.

Wow. That is harsh.

These people are either uninformed or misinformed. In either case, I agree they are out for the cash grab and are clearly wrong about the issue going up in value. But that does not mean they are inherently stupid. They just don't know any better. Stupid implies that they are incapable of understanding the situation if it were explained to them.

[JohnMayo]

Well 3 days in and of the 300 copies of the polybagged Fantastic Four there are about 125 left. Each box customer seems to be buying 2 copies. If you are not a boxed customer you are really getting screwed. 100 copies of the issue were put in Mylar (Thickest kind) and were marked up to 6.99 a copy with a limit 2. Box customers can request at regular cost but walk-ins will have to pay the $6.99.

I think this is all sorts of wrong. How can you get more people to try the book if you are screwing them over?

That kind of instant markup on a new comic would really sour me on that retailer. Much more so than the local retailer near where I work that replied that they were sold out of Fantastic Four #587 when I asked and then quietly moved the copy that had been sitting on one of the display cases and hiding it away. Now, it may well be that copy was spoken for, but it was still kind of annoying.

which shop was this? going on my list of shops to not visit -- and I didn't know there was a shop near my old office.

Capstone Comics on Parmer, just a few block east of Fry's. Generally it is a good store but I was unfavorably impressed with the young lady told me they had no copies while subtly removing the one that was visible and putting it away. Again, presumably a regular customer had it reserved or something like that.