So, we’re batting around the idea of a national (international?) chain of comic stores as a tool, and by no means the absolute answer, to stabilizing the comic sales market. The question I have first is why has none of the big publishing companies, or for that matter Diamond Distribution, embarked on making this happen? Again, in many other forms of retail, the people making the stuff are also selling the stuff regionally, nationally and internationally (think clothiers like The Gap – love them or hate them, you know about them).
It’s almost stupid that they aren’t. I can’t think of too many industries where one company makes a product then expects little individual, independent retailers to do all the promotion for them and their product. Seriously, does GM make cars and not promote them? Its similar market template as they sell their product to little individual, independent dealers but the parent company does a substantial amount of promotion (yes, I understand that car dealers are generally brand specific).
Okay, how about shoe makers or anything you find in a department store? Sure there are exclusives but that’s not a deterrent or an excuse. It’s a model that works, clearly.
The one participant in this grand scheme that completely baffles me as not being the leader in creating a chain is Diamond Comic Distributors. Diamond is the leader in distributing first release English language comics in the world and is routinely accused of having a monopoly on the market. That is true one level, as there is no competition so they are a monopoly by default, but most people tend to speak of their position with a negative tone.
While only having one of anything is generally not a good thing in distribution or retail (or professional wrestling), there are certain advantages to the situation from a behind the counter perspective. It would take a bit to get into everything positive and negative about this arrangement but here’s a few of the key points; better discounts, easier ordering and accountability of product and substantially cheaper shipping. Overall, it makes the generally unprofitable market of selling comics viable and fairly stress free.
A recent discussion about this with a co-worker brought up the oft-used argument that competition creates a better market. Unfortunately in comics, that wouldn’t be the case as the creation of a second global distributor would only be eating from the same pie, not making a new one. In other words, another distributor is not going to increase the number of comics being sold. That said, if there are two distributors, that would mean they are each distributing fewer comics and therefore cannot offer the same discounts I am currently receiving. Plus, I will now have multiple shipping charges which would also be higher as the volume would be lower.
A good real life example of competition being not too great is the deregulation of the electricity. While there are options for the public, the companies were able to charge higher distribution rates because of lower volume which resulted in increases in costs to the public. Or, in another example, if you buy more comics at HH, you get a bigger discount.
I can certainly understand some of the frustrations small press has with Diamond but there are some things that having multiple distributors would work against them as well. They have to pay for shipping to Diamond but if they have to split their stock between several distributors, there are more charges on less freight. Also, they would be paying for multiple catalogue ads that would be more expensive since, again, volume has been diluted.
Say what you will about there being only one “evil empire” but in the end, the other distributors from the early 90’s died out because the industry wasn’t big enough to support them. Comics just aren’t big enough.
Or are they?
Next time, creator rights versus work for higher, the cost of shiny covers and publishing opportunities.
Andrew Foley said
November 4 2006 @ 1:09 pm
I couldn’t swear to it, but I’d bet Diamond doesn’t try to create its own chain of retail outlets for legal reasons. There’s an inherent conflict of interest in the distributor for the vast majority of comic shops opening up shops that are in direct competition with their current retail “partners”, and I don’t think they’re that from a DoJ investigation for monopolistic business practices as it is. The effort involved in keeping the playing field level and, even more importantly, making sure everyone believes it’s level, is likely more than it’s worth.
The GM comparison is more apt if applied to Marvel or DC. Diamond doesn’t create anything other than Previews (which, considering the cost on publishers’ sides for ad space and the cost on retailers’ sides to get ahold of the book is probably the most profitable comics-related publication currently going); it’s just the middle man. It mightn’t be a bad idea for Marvel or DC to open their own stores, a la Disney–oh, wait, they can’t, they’re exclusively distributed by Diamond and would have to pay a significant portion of their books’ cover price to sell them directly.
Fantagraphics, on the other hand, just opened a brick-and-mortar store last week. I’m very interested in seeing how that works out for them (well, I hope.)
“It would take a bit to get into everything positive and negative about this arrangement but here’s a few of the key points; better discounts.”
I’d love it if this were true, as it would prove one of the basic premises of capitalism false. But the cheaper shipping thing doesn’t track for me either–unless comic companies made the same disastrous moves that led to the collapse of the market in the 90’s of going exclusive with a single distributor, forcing retailers to split orders to get all companies’ titles rather than having them available from all or at least multiple distributors. Just because there’s more than one distributor doesn’t mean retailers have to deal with more than one of them (unless the publishers force them, which is stupid and therefore, admittedly, likely). And having more than one option for where to get your Marvel and DC books would (theoretically) force distributors to give retailers the best deal possible.
By the same token, distributors would have to compete for ad revenues from all companies, forcing the prices for catalogue advertisements lower. As it is, after almost doubling its PREVIEWS ad costs (at least for small pressers) over the last couple years, it’s pretty untenable for all but the most robust small press companies to pay for that ad space and expect to make a profit anyway (I suspect there’s a reason IDW EiC Chris Ryall writes so many of their books, and it’s not a dearth of talented people willing to do the job). When you’re paying more for a PREVIEWS ad than the entire print run of the comic you’re advertising, there’s something wrong.
This is all in theory, of course. Capitalism doesn’t work, so there’s no reason to think being stuck with the current monopoly (which became one by default but remains one through ongoing and deliberate effort) is any worse than the situation would be if actual market forces were involved.
One place I do very much agree with you is the notion that Diamond, which is basically THE power in North American comics right now, doesn’t do much to help either its publisher or retail partners promote the medium. Perhaps the new “Kids books” division announced last week will prove to be a step in the right direction, though I suspect it will end up more targeted at selling product into existing bookstore venues rather than trying to bring kids into existing comic shop ones.
“the other distributors from the early 90’s died out because the industry wasn’t big enough to support them.”
That may be true for some of them, but I don’t believe it accounts for all of them. A significant contributor to the distributor implosion was DC and Marvel deciding going exclusive was a good idea. Another was the industry as a whole pushing collectability over quality, flooding the market with crappy books with nineteen covers each, alienating a good portion of their existing fanbase and quite likely a number of potential readers along the way.
A
Happy Harbor Comics said
November 4 2006 @ 3:53 pm
For what is probably a better thought out article on my opinions of the matter, try this article by Julian Darius at Sequart.com
http://www.sequart.com/columns/index.php?col=5&column=980
Brian said
November 16 2006 @ 4:51 pm
hmmm…
I of course am fully behind the idea of both Marvel, DC and Diamond, doing their part to advertise comics. That is a no-brainer.
To keep costs down, wouldn’t you order all your comics from just one distributor? “Yes, Brian, but I guaruntee that not all comics would be available from both.” (I hear you tell, me
If that was true, wouldn’t there be more competition for both distributors to have the same inventory, and therefore, offer cheaper ads, and take less of a cut from the books they sell, to keep publishers coming back to them?
On the flip side, it does sound like Diamond, by offering such large discounts to you, the retailer, is trying to keep it’s clients happy enough that a second distributor is not even wanted. This is smart of them.
Bri