By the Numbers: January 2015 Print Run

www.comichron.com has posted the print run numbers for January, some really interesting ones on there.

On the low side, there wasn’t too much super-exciting.
Holy F*ck #1 came back at 1,666 copies, of course it did.
Tim Daniel’s new book, Burning Fields #1 had a print run of 5,729, another rare book.
Zombies vs. Robots came back below 9,000 copies at 8,725, even with the announcement of the movie deal.
The winner of the month was Marvel with Star Wars #1 selling out of 985,976 copies, including 200,000 copies for Loot Crate and about 100 other variants. Selling out that money is incredible, but not surprising.

67 thoughts on “By the Numbers: January 2015 Print Run”

  2. And Star Wars #1 2nd print is almost an easy $10 book right now. If you can find them, buy’em and sell’em.. or hold a few for a while (the black background is way better than the white one 1st print), most shops in my area are still getting rid of Star Wars #1 first prints..

    2. So, even without a discount.. I spend $5 on a comic. I turn around and sell it on eBay for $10. Ebay takes it’s 10% so it gets a dollar. I made $4 profit. Do that X amount of times and it starts to add up.
      So your telling me, if you had $5 and I told you if you gave me that $5, in return I’ll just hand you $9, you wouldn’t do it every single time? 😉

      1. I’ll do this type of sell cause it’s an easy way to balance your books. You can basically buy the comics you want for yourself and it ends up almost costing you nothing to collect. That’s why I say, if you can make profit on any book, do it, it pays off in small ways. Yeah, you’re winning jackpots but hey, if I can collect and read comics practically at no cost except costing me some of my own time, heck yah I’m gonna do it.

      2. “Yeah, you’re winning jackpots but hey” meant to say “Yeah, you’re not winning jackpots but hey”.. fingers slow today! 🙂

      3. I disagree completely. Buying a 5 dollar book, plus a bag and board and shipping supplies bumps it another dollar to 6. Then, the 4.95 to ship and I’m at 10.95 before the comic is out the door. After eBays/PayPals 13% haircut, I have to sell that 5 dollar comic for 12.58 just to break even. If I sold for 10, I’d be out 2.58. And I haven’t even included things like the cost of my time, gas, storage etc. That’s why I mainly sell bulk or high dollar books.

        1. Depends on how your selling. My local shop, all new comics come with bag and board for me, I don’t spend a dime on them.
          I’m also very resourceful when it comes to reusing packaging. I don’t spend any money on packaging materials, except tape.
          I also ship media mail and always, always make the buyer pay for the $2.92 shipping it costs anywhere in the U.S. unless it’s a high dollar book. Unless it’s a $50 or higher, the winning bid or buyer is paying for the shipping.
          Gas? If you ship USPS, you can schedule pickups you know right to ship! 😉

        2. If you’re offering free shipping to the buyer on a $5 book and then spending $4.95 to ship it, you should lose money cause that’s just bad business if you ask me. 😉

        3. Also, if I were a big time seller (which I’m not), I’d just not bother with eBay (the middle man) and setup my own website (which is freaking easy nowadays) to avoid all the fees. One can host a website for dirt cheap as well, even less than what one pays for eBay’s 10% cut.
          If done right, I’d buy my mailing supplies in bulk as well, to save more money.
          So yeah, right now, when I sell a $5 comic on eBay, I’m making close to $4 each and every time.
          I’d adjust a few things if I was selling more but it can be done. 😉

        4. Oh and what type of bags and boards you buying man? One shop sells the backer boards 100 count for $7.99 and the poly bags for $8.99 100 count. That comes to a total of 17 cents for bag and board. I want some of your awesome $1.00 bag and boards.. 😉

      4. I can tell by your response you don’t sell much on eBay. First, with cheap shipping you get what you pay for and I’ve lost way more comics using economy and those are total losses which can eat up the profits from 2 or 3 other sells. 2nd, I do make the buyer pay the shipping and eBay fees and that’s my point, either you are selling it for 10 and losing money or selling it for more like 15-16 bucks to make your 4 dollars (13 or so with cheap shipping). Lastly, I double bag and use 5 backing boards (I actually get them cheaper than the quote you had) because when people buy from me, I’m going to do everything I can to get it to them in the shape it left me, hence why I also don’t use economy or media mail. If you haven’t been burned yet by these, it’s only a matter of time.
        As for the website idea, I can only guess you haven’t thought that through. How long do you think it would take and how much marketing do you think you would have to buy to get even half the traffic of the world largest flea market, eBay? How would you compete w the buyer protections offered by eBay? Would you accept PayPal/credit cards and who would pay those fees? Now that you’ve set up an online business, how are you going to handle sales taxes for in state customers? Setting up legitimate web site can be much more costly than eBay.

        1. I don’t ship a lot but I’ve worked shipping docks before in the past. I would never pay extra for cardboard, not when plenty of businesses are tossing them out each day.
          You really think USPS treats a cardboard box shipped via media mail any different than one in their priority envelope?
          I’ve done website design in the past, when it was more coding on the back end. Trust me, it’s much easier nowadays, one can almost register domain, point click, upload logo.. boom you have a website with shopping cart that accepts credit card payments. No comic shop is getting eBay traffic since not all traffic there is for comic buying.
          Ask Anthony how I package my comics? He’ll tell you and I don’t spend any extra buying boxes, etc.
          I think your making it sound harder than it really is. Like I said, eBay works great if you randomly sell to make a little extra. But if you’re selling hundreds or thousands a month, remove eBay and their crazy fees, do it yourself, you’ll make more money if you do it right (which isn’t as hard as you think it is).

            1. Haha and I spend zero dollars on my packaging materials (except tape). Oh, I’m good too, I don’t spend more than a couple minutes packaging up comics to mail. Except maybe yours though but that’s because you run this awesome site. 🙂

        2. You can even get free Priority boxes from USPS that can be used to sandwich your comic, with enough padding on the sides to prevent bent edges. Buy you some bulk manila envelopes for cheap.. etc.
          Who cares what the packaging looks like right? As long as it makes it safely. It can look horrible if it wants, as long as the goods inside are secure and safe. 🙂

      5. Jeez, it’s not about how you package it or the super cheapskate ways you can get it done and the book arrive safely. Your missing the whole point. You say a 5 dollar book can be bought and when worth 10 dollars sold on eBay for a 4 dollar profit consistently. Using your numbers, most buyers I know unless they are inexperienced would factor your 3 dollars for shipping into the 10 dollar book worth and only bid up to say 7 bucks or buy someone’s else for 10 w free shipping, unless it’s a super hot book. Every once in a while you’ll get a noob that overpays. eBay and PayPal fees are actually more like 13% for casual sellers so you have 8.70 left. 3 for shipping and 5 for the book, you made more like .70 cents and that’s because you had free shipping supplies.
        As for the website idea, I was assuming you would do the design so I wasn’t talking at all about that set up cost. You do realize CC companies charge merchants when cards are used right? I was also just referring the the traffic on eBay for comics, not overall traffic. There is a reason most mom and pop web stores have shut down and instead have a link that states ‘Click Here for my eBay Store’ on their website.
        I been selling on eBay over 15 years and have sold everything from gold bars to cars to music equipment to vinyl to baseball cards and comic books. So I’m well aware of how easy and how hard something is to sell.

        1. Yes, I’m well aware that CC companies charge a % on transactions but I know it’s not a 13% charge each time.
          Cheapskate ways? If your selling things to make money, why would you go the route that eats into your profits? That’s not cheapskate, that’s just smart business. If you can’t come up with clever ways to maximize your profits, then why are you selling in the first place?
          Honestly, if you’re going to offer free shipping and eat those costs on a $10 book that cost you $5, that is a reason not to bother with those. But that’s not the point I’m making. The point I’m making is, right now, I can sell $10 books that cost me $5 or less and make money doing it. If you can’t yourself, you can’t disagree with me when I’m doing it all the time already. 😉
          If I was a big time seller, I’d probably go the route of setting up my own website, do smart marketing to drive people to it, to maximize my profits. Honestly, eBay is great for people like me who sell less than 30 items a month. But if I was selling hundreds or thousands, you’re just making investors money you could be keeping yourself or for your business.

        2. You keep flip flopping as well about the shipping costs and who’s paying for it. First you say it costs you $4.95 to ship in your first reply, then you said you make the buyer pay for shipping in your next response.. now it’s eating into your profits cause you offer free shipping.. to attract more buyers.. which is it man? 😉
          Your right though and I won’t argue if someone is buying a $5 comic, add the $5 for shipping it’s going to cost you and then you sell it for $10.. only a moron would do that! Why would anyone spend $10 on something to turn around and sell it for $10 plus fees to then be in the negative?

      6. Face meet palm. 13% is eBay (10%) + PayPal (2.7%) fees, those are different than the CC fees I’m referring to.
        Nothing wrong with being a cheapskate, just calling it for what it is. And while yes it can reduce your expenses, it can cost you much more in other ways.
        I’m not flip flopping about shipping. I’m simply saying most buyers factor the cost of shipping into their purchases. A book worth 10 bucks would sell between 6 to 8 bucks for me with 3 dollars listed for shipping cost more often than not, in my experience.

        1. I have found and been told that people do not pay as much attention to shipping costs unless they are outrageous when it comes to buying. That a person is more likely to buy a book that is priced cheaper with shipping costs than a slightly more expensive book with shipping costs built in. Not exactly relevant to the topic at hand but I thought I would throw that out there. I keep track of all my expenses as I claim income on my taxes. I break it down to loss (damaged books), cost, and everything else. It may not be worth it to some people to sell for less than $10 but I do pull in good income even from small sales. I prefer bigger gains but will not turn down a profit where I can take one.
          Sent from my iPhone
          >

        2. So, when you go to the actual store to say, buy a new pair of pants, do you go home and calculate the time it took + the gas cost to come up with the actual cost of the pants you just bought?
          For someone who buys online a lot, I just expect a shipping charge but I don’t add it to the value of the book. When I say I bought a $10 book off ebay because it’s worth $10, I’m not including the shipping charges I got charged.

      7. I prefer the word “frugal” over cheap. Cheap is when you have the money to spend but you don’t even though you might need to…while frugal is just being smart and cautious with how you go about using your money.
        I have done the $4-5 book that you can turn and sell for $10 and what I will do is charge $2.50-3.00 shipping. If it is under 14 oz. then it can ship first class. Current regular and extra sized comics can be sandwiched in oversized cardboard in a bag and board all stuffed into an envelope, and you will still hit the weight mark. The book will get to the buyer quickly and at $2.50-3.00 a lot of buyers do not think about shipping.
        When it is all said and done, you end up with a $3.50-4.50 profit…which is enough to go buy another comic. Which is all it is really about.

        1. Good catch. I didn’t say it but thats dead on about being a cheapskate vs just being frugal or smart about making the most you can. Why hold out for just the bigger sales? If you can sell 3 dollar comics for 10 bucks, the profit alone on those could be buying you more 3 dollar comics that end up being bigger payouts and that’s my whole point. Even if I wasn’t selling the few I do, I’d still be buying comics. Selling a few to offset the costs to me is all bonus.

  4. I got caught up with Media Mail last week ..so now im using First class shipping …Im still in my rookie year lol ..

      1. I do pay extra for tracking though, always buy tracking. It rarely ever gets lost when they are required to scan it. The only time I lost something was when the buyer did not want to buy tracking. They also lived in Germany. They also gave me the wrong address cause after 3 months, they finally said they didn’t get the item. They got their money back plus shipping. I was out an item and $20 in shipping costs. I called every freaking post in Germany asking about my package, etc, cause I had a customs number and the USPS tracked it until it left the country. 4 months goes by, I get my freaking package back. I knew immediately what it was when I opened the mailbox.. I was like hot damn, let’s sell it again and make my money back. 🙂

      2. That is one good point with shipping priority, you are protected if lost or damaged as a seller. My packing is so good though, unless I paid more than 50 bucks myself for the comic, I ship media mail. If it’s lost, I’ll take the 5-6 dollar loss because any buyer should not worry or care about priority or insurance, they’re backed by the eBay protection, they don’t get the item or its damaged, they’re getting they’re money back no matter.

      3. I think you have those Spectres mislisted on the bay. There are three listed at the price range you said, but it says 45 not 54 as in the comic shown.
        And that’s one I’m going to dig out of my dollar bin when I get in to work today, so thanks.

    2. I avoid media mail at all costs because it puts my package in the hand of the post office for a longer amount of time. I can send about 1-2 comics first class and meet the 13oz requirement and charge a flat $3.50. I can also stuff about 4-7 in a flat rate priority for about $5.75. Ebay gives you the discount so you can offset the ebay and paypal fees this way and make an extra buck.
      Any lot larger than this and I tend to just go with a medium priority box…or if there is no demand for the comics I will ship media male…but for most things in demand I have found that buyers don’t mind paying a little extra to get it faster.

      1. I should setup a training video on ways to pack your comics that protect them against Hulk himself. 😉

          1. Haha, I do put some extra effort in your packages. Most packages still only take me a few minutes to pack.

  5. “Lastly, I double bag and use 5 backing boards (I actually get them cheaper than the quote you had) because when people buy from me, I’m going to do everything I can to get it to them in the shape it left me, hence why I also don’t use economy or media mail. If you haven’t been burned yet by these, it’s only a matter of time.”
    Your math bugs me, I don’t see how your saying your losing $2-$3 for a single comic that sells for $10.
    Let’s do a real world scenario if done right (at least how I’d do it):
    Comic Cost: $5
    Bag and Board: $.15 (Let’s not add 5 more backer boards, you’re just losing money)
    Shipping: $3 (Media Mail with Tracking, yes, you can get tracking with media mail)
    Comic Sells for $10
    Shipping Charge: $4 (Let’s charge them an extra dollar for packing materials)
    Total Collected: $14
    Ebay/Paypal Fees Combined = 13% total on the actual item cost, so 13% on $10 is $1.30
    The comic cost you $5 so now overhead cost is $6.45 after adding the $1.30 from the fees and $0.15 for the backing board/bag. If you’re smart about packing materials, let’s just assume the ratio of throwing an extra dollar in the shipping costs that the buyer is paying comes out even, you take your $10.00 minus $6.30 and you should be making $3.55. Do that 20 times, you just made $71 profit.
    If you sell that Image comic book that cost you $3.00 for $10.00, you’re now making $5.70 per book. Do it 20 times, you just made $114 profit.
    So I’m failing to see how you’re losing $2-$3 per comic if you buy it at $5 and sell it for $10 while charging the buyer shipping costs.
    But if you don’t want to sell the $5 comics for $10.. whatev’s, just leaves more opportunity for me to make the sale then.. 😉

    1. Because most knowledgeable buyers I know would say a comic would have to be worth 14 dollars before they would pay 14 dollars for it on one single transaction. Noob bidders/whales and hot books are a different but I’m talking most cases, in general, in my experience.

      1. Last month, I dumped 8 comics that I got for $2.99 each that are $10.00 books or more now. All shipped via media mail with tracking for $3.00 each, paid by buyer. Auctions started at $9.99, BIN for $14.99. Most went for $9.99 after just one bid.
        I spent $23.92 on all 8 comics. I’ll just say I sold them all for $9.99 each, a few went to like $11 or $12 each, I think one BIN at $14.99. But I turned $23.92 on comics into $79.92. A profit of $56.00.
        Sell how you like, I”m just saying to others out there, if you find a comic at retail, $5 or less and it’s selling for $10.. you can make money. It’s not thousands or millions but for someone who sells to basically buy more comics so the offset means I’m getting most of my comics I keep for free.. heck yeah I’m gonna sell those $10 books and heck yeah people are wiling to spend $2.92 for media mail. I haven’t had one lost or damaged in the 2+ years I’ve been doing it.
        Yeehaw!

      2. 2.99 * 8 = 23.92
        – Nice! Where can I purchase comics with no sales tax or shipping costs???
        9.99 * 8 = 79.92
        – Even sweeter… Where can I get on of those no fee eBay and PayPal accounts?
        56 in profit?
        – Me thinks the math is fuzzy with this one

        1. Aha. I can chime in on this. I shop at two stores I get discounts of 10-20%. A $2.99 book costs me $2.69 plus tax which is $2.85. If I sell it for 9.99 minus cost and fees it is a $5.85 profit.
          Sent from my iPhone
          >

        3. I left the tax off since I also said I sold some at 11, 12 and 15 dollars. I buy most of my comics in person so most sold I paid no original shipping. I was trying to keep it simple but if you wanted me to add in the 8.25 sales tax on the 23 bucks I spent, so minus 2 bucks…. so fine, I made 54 bucks in profit, not 56…geez

          1. Sorry, I was going fast so yeah, drop another 10 bucks off the profit margin after ebay/PayPal fees, still, I can say I’m doubling my money right? Not too shabby if ask me.

            1. I do prefer bigger returns like the 5 Morlocks #1 I got for .95 cents each and sold for $25 each on Monday. I bargain shop a lot for books. I have 4 Spectre 45 up for 55-65$ each which I paid .95 cents for that help offset smaller gains.

              1. Yeah, those are awesome. The time I spent like 6 bucks on Batman New 52 #2-7 at half price books and sold them as a set for like $132.
                The other big win I had was V Wars #1 1:200 and 1:100 variants I found at cover, sold one set for like $140 another individual 1:100 for like $50 and I still have a set I’m holding if the show ever comes.
                I love the big gains as well and when they’re that much, I offer free shipping because the profit margin is just that good.

      3. I think in this day and age…if you are paying full retail price for a comic and for bags and boards at the shop you faithfully give your money to each week….you need to find a new local comic shop.

  6. I thought I was going to find some awesome tips in the comments. Have you guys measured penises yet? Lol

  7. My 2 cents:
    1. I have never bought any shipping materials with the exception of tape as well. I use priority mail boxes that I cut up into boards to protect the comics, comic mailers I ship with are all ones I received comics in originally. I have a bunch of packing paper, bubble wrap, and foam peanuts I save from thing s I receive in the mail, and I grab extra materials from my job on truck days P(I work at a clothing dept store) Reusing supplies is the best way to go without a doubt.
    2. Poyo ships very securely, I got captain marvel #7 from him on ebay and it was shipped as well as I ship my comics out, which is really well if I do say so myself. I got the idea of using blue painter’s tape from him as well. Another alternative to tape is ordering priority shipping stickers from the usps website FOR FREE, I use these a lot too. POYO look into that (the 3.5 inch stickers and the longer ones)
    3. Saver discounts are freaking beautiful, I get 20% off at my LCS, my tax rate in Cali is 8%so every book I buy locally has a 12% discount + bag and board comes with every book I buy from midtown (online) and my LCS, so no cost there.
    4. Ebay fees are freaking nuts. I first started selling and making profit by selling EOSV 2 reg cover, I picked up the 29 my LCS and have 4 left for sale and 5 for my personal collection. I sold 20 of em to the tune of over a 1000 in profit. After that I started shipping out books with smaller profit margins, 4-10 bucks in profit each. Unaware of how the fees worked I realized after offering free shipping and super low prices I was losing anywhere from 30 cents to a few dollars per each sale. I offer free shipping on my books on ebay if I have many quantities of it I want to sell or I am making a super high profit or more on a book. For singles or oddballs I do charge 3 for shipping (10 percent is taken) which costs me 2.92, so on that end I pay 22 cents on those which is okay with me.
    2.99 book bought for 2.63 and sold for 10 gives you profit of 7.37 – 1 for ebay fee = 6.37- 30cents paypal = 6.07 – 22 cents for shipping = 5.85 * 8 = 46.80 would be my profit – 30 cents for the insertion fee for a BIN if its a singles listing so 46.50 is what I would profit the way I do it.

    1. Nice tips on the USPS stickers. And yes, painters tape rocks. It holds well but also makes it easy to pull off to unpack without damaging the bag the comic may be in.

      1. I do what I can *insert saluting emoticon here* Yeah man low tack is easy on them bags.

  9. Me too. My penis is not worth measuring.
    I bought 500 Affinity mailers last year for 40 cents a piece because I have had nothing but success with the mailer. ALL other supplies (Tyvek envelopes, priority shipping supplies, cardboard)=free from USPS. Books, bag and board ok. 10% off at shops. Top rated seller discounts :). If I make two bucks I call that a win. I sell to collect and read, with a little vacation money on the side for fishing trips. But I make more than that 😉

    1. Yup.
      I get all happy when I get only the mega or power ball on my lotto ticket to win a few bucks.
      A few weeks back, I found a 5 dollar bill on the ground walking the dog.. best damn day of 2015 so far… 😉

  10. I’ll put my two cents in. Bear in mind I also use my profits to buy more comics and feed my collecting habit. So I am perfectly fine with $3-4 profits.
    I keep all of my Amazon boxes and cadboard boxes. I pay for inexpensive mailers, tape,and bubble wrap. I ship all comics sandwiched between cardboard and wrapped in bubble wrap.
    I’m good with media mail for $10 and under, 1st class until $25, then priority. I’m okay with eating a little of the shipping if it helps me sell something, but I do try to account for the $$ spent on the materials.
    In regard to my time, gas, and efforts? I write it off in my head figuring I could have worse hobbies!
    Great to hear these tips and see the breakdown of profits. Since I’m happy anytime I sell something for more than I pay, I dont normally dive into the details.

    1. “In regard to my time, gas, and efforts? I write it off in my head figuring I could have worse hobbies!”
      I loved that line.. it’s so very true. I could be out blowing way more money and getting nothing in return for it.

  11. The hunt is half of the fun! I never take gas or time into consideration. Finding the hidden gems is the reason I started selling.

  13. I read that comics aren’t allowed to be sent Media Mail because they contain advertising and that Media Mail packages are subject to search by the post office. I’ve never had it happen to me but I started shipping Priority because of that.

    1. The rules state media mail is used for:
      “Perfect for sending books and educational materials.”
      “The material sent must be educational media. Video games, computer drives, or digital drives of any kind are not items qualified for mailing at Media Mail prices.”
      Comic books are books. You can send magazines as media mail and they have ads in them.
      If it’s made of paper, it’s pretty much allowed for the most part. I think they even allow music cd’s and vinyl.
      Everything you send via USPS is subject to search if they have a valid reason. Most of the time they only search if the package looks suspicious though.

  14. As a retailer I can say I prefer to sell on ebay than from my own website – because the heavy traffic is already there searching and looking. However ebay also charges 5% of your shipping cost so ebay/paypal actually takes 18% in total of your final sale price. So yes if you don’t have decent markup then you really are not profiting. This is one reason for many to not trying to speculate on comics cause in the end most do not succeed. But of course there are tons of great success stories out there! As a retailer to help costs for speculators I will do bulk discounts on new comics that buyers want to speculate on so it helps a bit to save some money. Another way to potentially make money selling as a speculator is buying high grade new comics and get them CGC graded and then list them on ebay.

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