Diamond Drops Preview Catalog Price Next Year

Previews November 2014

As of January 2015 — the system works two months ahead, so that’s the earliest they can change — the Previews monthly comic store ordering catalog will be $3.99 a copy instead of the current $4.50. Diamond is promoting this reduction as making the price the same as “the cost of a comic book.” I think that says more about rising comic prices than Diamond decreases, but then, I have long-standing qualms about being asked to pay money to buy a catalog to spend more money in pre-orders.

Particularly these days, when it’s easier to pre-order through an online store (since those orders tend to be able to be cancelled if I change my mind and possibly cheaper) than a comic shop, unless you’re reading the traditional monthly issues, I would think Diamond would want to make things easier for customers, not throw more barriers in their way.

Previews November 2014

Still, a 500+ page monthly publication costs money to print and ship. Maybe it’s time for Previews to provide a free online version, as I’ve been asking for for years. (They would previously sell you one for $3.99, but that was through Diamond Digital, and with that program ending, I’m not sure if that version is still available.)

The bigger problem is customers and retailers using the same ordering information, but I don’t see how to solve that easily or quickly. The barriers between those categories are so porous that you can’t prevent the information from passing between them.



2 comments

  • Kat Kan

    I hate online catalogs – they’re damned difficult to use when trying to find something, whereas with the physical catalog I can go almost immediately to the right page. I know, I’m old-fashioned. But I really do not like the movement to put everything online. I do NOT want to spend all my waking hours working on the computer or looking at a tablet, it hurts my old eyes, so I much prefer printed catalogs and printed books (all types).

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