Wednesday, the best day of the week, new comic book day. It is like your birthday in the middle of each week (well, one where you buy your own presents.)
We open things up to hear from you. A free for all.
The 278th edition of the open forum!
Did you know we have the forum up and running, you can check it out at the official CHU Forum site, go over and sign up.
As always we also want to hear about your weekly pickups.
So, What were your pick ups?
Hard to believe that shops consistently are sold out before Wednesday on hot books, especially on Batman titles. Seems like they need to do their homework better.
??? They base a lot of their pre-orders on previous months sales. So if customers aren’t buying the title, they are less inclined to take risks and over stock.
Especially with Hell arisen 3….poor sales in issue #1 led to a low order for issue #3.
A lot of the hype came after FOC. Rest assured, there will be plenty of copies of Batman 91 and 92 on the shelves….and then those who over ordere will wonder why no one is buying the title anymore…
Your copy was listed on eBay for six times cover price. Because deep down they will always chose a quick score over you.
The only way to keep this from happening is to stay ahead of the game.
My goal as a shop owner is sell-through. My typical weekly shipment is around 600 copies between around 60 titles. My target is to sell 570 of those copies during their first 12 weeks, leaving 30 of them to transition into the back issue boxes. But I view any result over 540 as acceptable. Shoot for 95% but I’ll take 90%.
If I miss out on ten customers I could have sold Batman 90 to had I ordered more, it’s true that I’ve left around $20 in extra profits on the table. But there’s a good chance that seeing I sold out to subscribers will convince 2-3 of those ten to set up a pull list. Being occasionally sold out of popular titles is good for business when it encourages folks to sign up. It’s much easier to turn a 5-title sub into a 6-title sub than it is to find 12 folks to each buy one shelf copy.
Whereas if I order ten copies too many, hoping to chase walk-in sales that never arrive? I’m out $20 that I’ll never get back. I can dump the ten copies in a back issue bin and they take up space, choking out the sales of better books like weeds in a garden. I can dump them in a dollar bin and stifle actual pull customers. If a title makes it to the dollar bin each month why ever sign up for a pull to pay full price? My best result is likely to put 2 in the back issue boxes and donate the rest to charity or throw them in a dumpster. Either is better than poisoning the well.
Did I actually order more of Batman 90 than I did Batman 88? Yes I did. I wouldn’t be active on this site if I wasn’t the type to “do research”. I bumped up my shelf copy count by 10 at FOC. After 89 came out I had 4 new signups for pulls, and even though we only guarantee pulls made by FOC those four folks will get copies of 90. The other 6 will be on the shelf. But I’ll still turn away 40-45 requests today. Some will be from regulars of other shops who only contact me when their shop runs out. Some will be from flippers who don’t have a pull at any shop. And some will be folks who are irregular regulars with me that haven’t quite flipped the switch to sign up for a pull yet. I wouldn’t be surprised if 2-3 of them flip that switch today.
But either way 90% of the new comics I sell this week won’t be Batman. And new comics are only 25% of my business. So avoiding wasting $20 on ten copies that will never sell is much more important to me than chasing an extra $80 in profit it turns out I could have made this one time.
Absolutely loved reading your perspective. Glad you are here as well. We are fine with retailers doing their research. All are always welcome. I know running any business can be difficult, but sounds like you totally have a goal and a business plan that will keep your shop healthy. And healthy shops are definitely something we want.
Thanks for sharing your insight. Much appreciated!
the List keeps growing or creators and publishers pulling out of Emerald City Comic Con due to corona virus concerns….will the fans even show up at this point?
On a similar note..they just shut down the Arnold Classic in Columbus, OH. The competition will continue but trade show/spectators cancelled. Not sure of numbers but that is a massive event with a worlwide draw.
Do you have the list. I think con season is going to suck until summertime because of this.
CGC cancelled now.
I saw that.
Will they cancel Wondercon due to Coronavirus? I already bought tickets and have hotel, I really really hope not. Or at least DC, CGC etc do not pull out.
Emerald City is in Washington State which is the epicenter of the American outbreak. Mostly elderly with underlying conditions that are dying but still scary as hell. Better safe than sorry.
If you were intrepid, Think of the bargains!!
There are over 70 creators that have canceled now for ECCC.
I am worried for convention season.but health first.here is a interview with Athena finger .could have been a tad better.would love feedback.scored a few batman #90s love ya all blind adam out https://soundcloud.com/user-732754768/awesomesauce-radio-anthena-finger-2020
Nashville tornados last night have wrecked the distribution chain for a lot of books in a multi state radius.
Hopefully you are safe we are getting massive storms right now. Scary as hell. And we are outside Baltimore.
Spec’n is fun but health and safety first. Get supplies just in case but try not to horde. We’re not there yet.
Strange Academy #1 has new characters and a Campbell cover. Is this a good investment opportunity?
I always say bet on Cover A. If it ever heats up, it’s gonna be a while. It’s more of the long term if you ask me.
Yup, I got a cvr A. Looks like 6 new characters show up.
It’s not a bad one.
Got 3 sets of Batman 90 and 2 copies of Ms. Marvel 13. I was hesitant to buy the Ms. Marvels but they were the only copies out in both shops I went to so figured I should grab them even if they’re still widely available online.
Anyone else think Dr. Strange looks odd on the Strange Academy #1 Campbell variant? He’s too gaunt…and there are too many lines under his left eye. I like everything else about the cover except him.
Weirdest thing about this week for me? Apparently MCS is sold out of the regular cover of Wolverine 1. Considering they certainly would have chased some of the high ratio variants it boggles my mind that they would be sold out already.
I ordered the double signed copies from midtown. Couldn’t pass up the Dell Otto double signed. Funny that they would sell out. Ben Percy has been doing the signing circuit so I wonder if shops he was signing at helped deplete the stock.
With today’s announcement that Dark Nights Death Metal will have 1:25 and 1:100 incentive covers, you can bet the order volume for issue 1 will be MASSIVE.
It was already going to be massive. It’s available for store variants.
Booo urns….
No Batman today, but i did meet Jonathan Glapion today at OLB(my lcs)! He was there signing his exclusive Mercy #1 cover, really cool guy!
I just realized that Marvel is doing The Empire Strikes Back 40th anniversary variants. So now I have to start pre-ordering them and picking up the ones I already missed. I made pretty good on the first ones they did a couple years ago.
Well I had hell arisen on subscription with an online store and had 3 copies of both covers for #3 coming to me….. But of course they were shorted on the issue and with the high demand…. None for me now thanks, I’m driving.
That’ll teach me to pass up other avenues.
That stinks. Which store
That seems to only be a problem with hot books ALL THE TIME. And if you ordered 6 copies, how did they not hold at least one for you?
Seems very fishy to me…I would speculate (because that’s what we do here) that they saw your potential to make $100s off those books and rather than keep you as a Loyal customer kept threw you to the curb and pocket the profits for themselves.
I agree with Tony….which store?
NAME NAMES!!!!
I would take my business elsewhere. If you had it on your pull you should at least get a copy.
My LCS still has like 7 copies of Batman #90 on the racks…wonder what’s up with that
I wonder what’s up with you not buying them!
Price has dropped to about $17-$20 shipped…i would grab ‘em!
You guys are hilarious…don’t u have jobs? If you buy every copy available of a book readers and collectors want all you do is deprive real fans of the books…eventuality all you will do is alienate the customers who keep this hobby alive. The prices aren’t real…they only spike because people that are only looking for a profit make them unavailable to everyone else. If you want to make extra money fo it the old fashioned way…work harder or get a side hustle…stop preying on those that truly love comics for what they are…
You keep referencing “get a side hustle” um… I am in social work for a living. Comics is my side hustle. Lol. No one is preying on anyone but if you want to keep coming here and being a troll we will just go ahead and boot you.
There was still a stack of Batman 90 on the shelf of my LCS by the way. That’s after the 3 copies I grabbed. And FYI sold them already. Love my comic selling side hustle. And you want to talk “true collectors” my 40,000+ comics say I am more of a collector than you are.
It’s true, I keep telling him to stop buying and start selling more.. one day we’ll see Anthony on an episode of Hoarders where there are tiny paths through his house and his family fears that one day his long boxes will fall on top of him, trapping and killing him.
there is some truth to what Ramon says, but I will say I don’t grab more than two copies at an LCS ever, unless I come back days/weeks later and copies are still on the shelf. In fact, There was only one copy of a Hell Arisen on the shelf last week and I beat a guy to it….and I still gave it up to him because I know he’s a regular and a reader first. That was an easy $40 I handed over, no regrets.
I try to be fair, but also make a Little money on the side which 100% of the profits go back into comics (or the occasional toy).
There’s no truth in what Ramon said… At least in the context he brought forth.
Batman 89 and Hell Arisen 3 2nd Prints are sold out at Midtown. If they can’t keep up with demand, then who can?
Doesn’t it seem kind of strange on all of eBay only 5 Batman 89 A cover and 1 B cover.
That is strange.