Comments on: Another Response to ComicPRO

By: Alan Coil

Alan Coil — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 01:53:11 +0000

Point taken, Johanna. I actually didn’t even remember that you were writing reviews for Hibbs, not because they are forgettable, but because of compartmentalization. I simply had that thought filed away. I check his site daily for potential reviews.

I am not a retailer, just a longtime reader, but I have always thought it unfair that convention going publishers should get the benefit of First Sale. If it truly is such a hassle and the shipping costs so high, as many have said, then getting it to the LCS at the same time is only fair.

I have also felt it unfair that convention goers got all these opportunities to get swag the rest of the country can’t, but that is just jealousy rearing its ugly head. ;)

By: Johanna

Johanna — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 01:35:35 +0000

Alan, on the issue of self-reporting customers saying “I already bought that”, I recently overheard a retailer tell the following story. He saw one of his customers on a popular message board talking about an indy title that was well-respected there. The customer said “oh, I’d buy that, but my store doesn’t carry it.” The store actually did have it, and the retailer set one aside for the customer. When it was offered to the customer and the observation mentioned, the customer said “I don’t want to buy it, I just said that.” Apparently, the customer was overcome by peer pressure and would rather misrepresent his store than say “I’m not buying it.”

I’m sure that Hibbs’ numbers are accurate and that those customers really did tell him they already got it elsewhere… but I bring this up to point out that sometimes customers lie. Especially to save face and/or save money. But if I didn’t respect Hibbs, I wouldn’t be working with/for him at the Savage Critic. And I know he and other retailers like him do think this is a serious problem. I hope a solution good for everyone can be found.

By: morganagrom

morganagrom — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 01:30:18 +0000

He could have, but that’s not the point of the paper. The point of the paper is that convention debut sales cost the retailers money, though there’s scant evidence of it.

Moreover, any convention sales have the potential to cost some retailers some re-orders, but that’s not exactly the point and the paper doesn’t suggest that publishers should to get out of the convention sales business entirely (though given this position paper, who knows).

By: Simon Jones

Simon Jones — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 01:26:58 +0000

Alan–>
No offense, but I think you’re missing the mark on the Tom Spurgeon response, and flat out wrong to inject personalities into the discussion. Just as Brian Hibbs knows his own store’s numbers, so do the various experienced publishers who engage in pre-release selling and swear that it’s beneficial. Taking one side’s word at face value over the other is a show of bias, something Spurgeon isn’t willing to do.

This issue is also beyond any one particular retailer’s experience, or even the experience of a majority of retailers, as ComicsPRO presents its case in such a way as if to say their conclusion is universally true for all of the industry, which it certainly isn’t.

By: Alan Coil

Alan Coil — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 01:09:55 +0000

And if the 3 copies had sold in the first 2 weeks, he could have tried to re-order more, maybe selling 5 or 6 total.

In any business, you cannot state exactly how much money you have lost (or, rather, not made) to potential sales. All you can do is say that in the past, you would have sold X amount of books based on long-time patterns. As Hibbs has kept all his records since the day he opened, he would be the one to know his business trends best.

By: Alan Coil

Alan Coil — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 01:05:09 +0000

I’ve never met Tom Spurgeon. I’ve read several places where he is a good guy. So I have nothing personal against him, but that read just like a ‘The Comics Journal” piece, and I quit reading them well over a decade ago.

Brian Hibbs has been a retailer for a long time and has written over 150 columns about retailing. His thoughts should be carefully considered, not just cast aside like his name is Comic. Shop. Guy.

By: morganagrom

morganagrom — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 01:03:04 +0000

“Well, if 3 customers came into the store and said they saw it at a convention and couldn’t wait, that is proof enough to the retailer and to most any reasonable person.”

Not without a statement as to whether the retailer was able to eventually sell them to another 3 customers, who might have heard about the book through the convention buzz. In which case, it’s not 3 lost sales, it’s 3 lost re-orders, a more speculative harm.

By: Alan Coil

Alan Coil — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 00:55:55 +0000

“”For one thing, you CAN’T PROVE that you lost $225 sales in Lost Girls. …”
=====
Well, if 3 customers came into the store and said they saw it at a convention and couldn’t wait, that is proof enough to the retailer and to most any reasonable person.

By: ADD

ADD — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:25:08 +0000

Tom Spurgeon’s commentary on this issue so far has been nothing short of brilliant, to the point and utterly inarguable.

And I am really looking forward to seeing what retailer Christopher Butcher has to say about all this.

By: morganagrom

morganagrom — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:00:47 +0000

Tom Spurgeon gets it right when he says “For one thing, you CAN’T PROVE that you lost $225 sales in Lost Girls. You haven’t done the work to prove this. So stop it.”

He does stop short of asking the crucial question though, of whether the retailers are still sitting on their initial order copies. If they aren’t, if they wound up selling what they thought they could sell in the first place, then the position paper becomes fatally meaningless.