How Manga Pricing Works

Vertical logo

Over at the Diagonal, the Vertical Tumblr, Ed Chavez, the Marketing Director for the notable manga publisher, has put out some insight into how manga volumes are priced. (I’m assuming that Ed handles the Tumblr. It’s not credited.)

First, in relation to an announcement of two upcoming titles, a fan complains that the seinen titles (those manga aimed at adult males) are priced at $13 instead of $10. The response includes some key facts about Vertical’s pricing:

Vertical logo

  • All seinen releases are at least $12.95. This is due to the inclusion of color pages and the bigger format size.
  • Hardcovers are priced at $20 or above.
  • The price points for the company have stayed the same for six years.
  • Shonen and shojo titles are priced at $10.95
  • In Japan, seinen titles are also usually more expensive that shonen and shojo.
  • This is due to seinen generally selling less than the younger-focused genres.

A later post lists all of Vertical’s titles, with prices, since 2009. There’s a good discussion of pricing decisions there, based on the success of the market. I’m impressed to see a publisher being so open.



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