Seems comic shops are furious, many say this will end quite a few shops because of the rising shopping cost, loss of discounts from diamond, and unreliable distributors that are novice in the industry.
I wish more people & customers would think & feel how you do.
I think retailers are really more upset about how DC Comics is doing this & the timing of doing this. It appears theyāre giving retailers only one week to switch over or theyāll miss out on new DC titles.
If they team up with Amazon, Amazon will sell the new comics & put many small businesses out of business. Everyone will probably forced to buy through Amazon. I donāt want to buy comics from Amazon.
The 2 new distributors are Lunar & UCS. Lunar is owned by DCBS & UCS is owned by Midtown Comics which they both have an account with Diamond. Midtown handles accounts for the east coast & DCBS handles accounts for the west coast. I just applied to UCS earlier today. Iām waiting to hear back & get an update. Currently to my knowledge they are only doing DC, but because they order through Diamond, they may offer other publishers as well, unless Diamond cuts their accounts. If Diamond does that, they lose 2 of the biggest accounts they have. DCBS & Midtown are the only ones that are benefiting off this whole situation. Everyone else is taking a hit. Publishers, Diamond & retailers. Even some customers are going to take a hit. Iām taking a hit & I have to make changes to my business, Iāll probably lose some customers because of it, but hopefully Iāll bounce back in a year or 2.
I only buy on line because in my area the only comic shops near me are run by rude A- holes. ( I am curiouse how the lets be as rude as possible to the costomers approach to buisness is working out for them now. ) This wont change much for me. l hope DC goes with limited print runs. increse the cost per issue. and maybe even go quarterly pre order direct market. while not limiting the avalibility of trade paperback and graphic novels at bookstores. In short if you want to read comics, sream, graphic or TPB cost less, are more avalible and arenāt missing key issues. If you want to collect, itās going to cost money. We dont need comic shops anymore with so many collections avalible on E bay, FB, pedagree, comic link and on and on and on increasing the value of our modern collectables. Down with comic shops we can finally buy sell and trade with out the rude middle man.
Well, not all LCS stores are rude. The people who worked at the shop I used to frequent were quite nice. Also, I have a real hard time saying, āDown with comic shops!,ā when that equals people losing their livelihoods.
The increased cost of comics is a major reason why I rarely buy individual issues nowadays, so if Iām gonna wish for a price change, Iām gonna wish the other way. (Iām selfish like that ).
Its all good. I realize not all shops are rude. I do order from shops that are online In fact I recently found a shop on FB that realy went above and beyond. I am however a fan of pre order and limited print runs even if it costs me a little more.
Iām genuinely surprised by the backlash from some shops. Arenāt monopolies a bad thing? Not being a shop owner, I dont have all the info, so if anybody can explain this attitude, Iād appreciate it.
I live in a rural area that doesnāt have much in the way of comic stores. The closest we get is a rack or two in the basement of the used book store, thatās all tossed together and not even sorted. I usually read most things online, but will still buy things I want a physical copy of. Iām much more likely to go the trade or omnibus route if it looks likely than collecting individual issues though.
I am glad DC Comics did right thing, because Diamond did not very good job. there rumors Pam Lifford, President of Warner Bros. Consumer Products is not happy with DC Comics monthly . I feel sorry for LCS. they are not happy DC break up with Diamond.
I donāt think retailers are essentially mad that DC is leaving Diamond, but more mad at how theyāre doing it & the timing of them doing it. It will cost retailers more on shipping to do business with 2 distributors than just one. Long story short, people are angry because theyāre losing more money at a time theyāre struggling most.
If they go that route, it will just lead them to only doing graphic novels. DC Comics as weāve known them will basically be gone. I donāt want single issues going away. Iād like for them to be cheaper.
Iām really curious how much in sales will DC drop during this transition. Sucks too, because Death Metal is getting ready to come out.
I could be wrong, however I suspect the average reader doesnāt care much who distributed the comic to the store. Theyāre just gonna buy what they like.
If you mean sales dropping because retailers donāt order as many copies, I think that could push interested readers to either a mail order service or a digital platform.
Iām disappointed. Living in a rural area with one comic shop, it has ended my business with that store. I know I can order online from Midtown Comics, but I really liked supporting local business.
The new $1 DC Digital First line came about rather suddenly. Just musing, but it makes me wonder if a deeper foray into digital publishing might be part of DCās overall publishing plan.
Yes, there are already retailers saying theyāre going to boycott DC. I imagine most of them are smaller retailers. Larger retailers who profit a lot wonāt quit DC, theyāll take the hit in shipping. There are roughly 1900 comic book retail āstoresā in the U.S. like 4 years ago, there were like 2200. Itās a combination of there are less people opening up comic book stores then there are people closing comic book stores. There are people who are struggling financially and have less money for hobbies & there are people who switch hobbies. Thereās a lot of factors involved in figuring out all the different factors affecting the comic industry. Right now, the heart & soul are comic book stores. The heart & soul, like many other things in the country are struggling. Weāll see how much left is standing in a couple years. Hopefully it will rebuild.
DC still sells more physical than digital. Why buy digital when you can read here on DC Universe?
Would you support a fellow DC Universe member?