Realistically, how much more do you guys think comic books can go up in price? How much more are you willing to spend on them? Do you feel that the average $3.99 price on a book is fair? I feel like I’d be okay with more ads in them if the prices could go back down to $2.99 a book. Just curious about everyone’s thoughts on this subject.
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Some adds are cool to see. 2.99 is so much better
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When I was a kid, in the 1980s, comicbooks cost 75¢ each. In 2018, comicbooks are $3.99 each, so more than 4x the cost. Don’t be surprised when the day comes where a single issue is $6.99 or more.
Sadly, comics are priced in relation to what other comic companies are doing, rather than with the mindset that comicbooks are competing against other, often less costly forms of entertainment. Two comics, $8 in total, twenty pages of story each, is about 40 minutes of entertainment. Conversely, $8 is an entire month of Netflix, with shows and movies. $5.99 is the cost of a 250 page soft cover novel that will last a good four to six hours. The comicbooks pricing model is antiquated, but publishers seem unwilling to modernize.
Many readers assumed that digital comics would help drive prices down, as publishers don’t have to pay for printing costs, but that hasn’t been the case. Digital books cost just as much as their physical counterparts, and include DRM.
The most likely scenario is that the Big Two will keep upping their prices to make up for the continued loss of readership, eventually hitting a threshold where the loss of revenue from declining readership can no longer be offset by raising prices for the remaining readers. The market will begin to collapse, and in a desperate attempt to stave off the inevitable, prices will go down substantially, as the Big Two chuck out every gimmick possible to bring back readers.
It appears that I am being negative, but honestly, it pains me to say this, as comicbook reading and collecting is my first, and oldest hobby. But the writing is on the wall. The characters born from comics will continue to thrive in other media, but American comics have been on a downward spiral ever since the 80s, and the industry has never recovered.
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I would buy more current runs if the price were lower
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It would have to be something really good but it would be nice if we see more comics on next year we are the loyal fanbase but I will stick to my 1$ old comics
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I love the user name John Stewart is my GL
Plus digital comics is the new way to read but I do enjoy having a comic in my hand but digital is so convenient
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I know a tremendous amount of work goes into every issue but $3.99 is too high
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It really makes this app worth while
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For what we pay on here it’s definitely a bonus
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I think what we’ll eventually need to see if print periodical comics are to continue to survive as a viable format is somethibg more like the Walmart giant books where you have a hundred pages of content, most of it reprints, for around 6 or 7 dollars a pop.
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I agree with what you are saying @GLJohnStewart. As an avid reader, I can go to my local used bookstore and purchase a book for 3.99 that will take me hours or sometimes days to read and enjoy. A comic always takes roughly 20 minutes, for me, to read. It is why it has been hard to ever justify spending current prices on comics. I tend to wait until collected volumes are released as they tend to be more agreeable to my wallet, if I purchase at all. I find it harder and harder to want to spend money on single issues every single time I see people discussing many of the current storylines.
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I’m with PrincessAmethyst - I wait until there is a trade paperback. I can’t remember the last time I bought single issues of a physical comic book - probably Knightfall/Sword of Azrael. With many public libraries having tons of comics via Hoopla, that’s another outlet that makes buying them somewhat obsolete, unless you just like collecting them.
The problem with comics is that drawing the art is a ton of work, its often very, very pretty, and the artists and authors certainly deserve to be reasonably compensated for their work; but it also means this stuff can get expensive, and that can be a turnoff. I’m more likely to buy graphic novels, as well, as they strike me as better value for the money. I just pre-ordered the Garcia/Picolo “Raven” graphic novel that is coming out next summer.
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Honestly, that’s why I spend so much with Comixology. If you wait for a sale, they end up costing $1 or less an issue. And I just tried mail subscriptions again for the 1st time in 20 years and have never had such an awful experience. I subscribed to 5 comics 4 months ago and issues just don’t come and when you contact them they are often sold out of the issue and give you an issue credit. So far only 2 of the 4 subscriptions have even arrived. And I have no difficulties getting my mail, so it makes me think they aren’t mailing them.
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I’m good at 3.99, and I think that is fair in this day, and age, but that is also just about my limit because I pull 12-15 titles a month. Anymore, and would be hard to justify.
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$3.99 for an ongoing that is published once a month is my top out price.
What about Shazam? $5 for 40 pages?
It’s like a fancy magazine. Magazines cost a lot of money.
Taking modern economics into account and how everything is relative, I think prices are fine. I’m sure $1.00 in the 70’s or whenever felt like $3.99 today. It’s all relative.
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The current prices are too high as is. I can buy a trade that costs a little more than the cost of two issues and have a complete storyline.
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