Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment

The Impact Of Marvel's Free Comics On Diamond's Statistics – Is It All About Targets?

There are lies, damn lies and statistics.

Comics that cost more bring in more money and more dollar share.

Comics that cost less bring in less money and a lower dollar share.

So a comic that costs $2.99 has to sell 150% the amount a comic that sells $3.99 to bring in the same in dollars.

So, while Batman #10 and #11 were the top selling books of November in the North American direct market at $2.99, when it came to making money they were only in eighth and eleventh place. The most revenue raising comic was Civil War II #7 and All-Star Batman #4, both at $4.99

And that also helps us spy anomalies. Marvel SVP – Publishing Tom Brevoort said that Diamond rankings doesn't take into account free copies of comics that Marvel sends out to retailers. Well, Diamond has told me that they do, but only on the unit share side, not the dollar side – as they are free.

Because, yes, Marvel has been ramping up sending out free copies of selected titles to retailers, based on how much they already ordered. The practice was rife in around 2012 but has now returned with a vengeance. Ostensibly it's to encourage retailers to find a ceiling of sales that they might not have reached with more conservative numbers, which may encourage them to order more in the future once they have seen exactly how much they could have sold if they had ordered enough. But do it enough and it creates serious statistical anomalies.

Let's look in this action. I've run the comparative dollar and unit amounts below, courtesy of Diamond Comic Distributors.

Avengers #1 and IVX #0. Both $3.99 books. In units they are neck and neck, and tenth and eleventh place.

But in dollars earned, Avengers is in 5th place. And IVX #0? Eleventh. The difference being that Marvel shipped 50% extra copies of IVX #0 out.

So which other overships existed recently and can we find examples? Well, Mosaic #2 and Great Lakes Avengers #2 also had overships to match them to a retailer's initial order of their first issue.

Well, Mosaic #2 at $3.99 is 93rd on the unit list but 148 on the dollar list. While All-New X-Men #15 at $3.99 is 94th on the unit list but 86th on the dollar list. Which indicates that overship copies pushed it up..

While Doctor Strange And The Sorcerors Supreme #2 at $3.99 is 99th on the unit list (a massive drop from #3 in September, the effect of an #1 and being in the Marvel Collectors Corps box) but 92nd on the dollar list. But Great Lakes Avengers #2 at $3.99 is 100th on the unit list but 147th on the dollar list.

Now, of course, there are other ways that the difference in placement can be explained. Sometimes Marvel offers discounts that make ordering a $3.99 Marvel book cost the same as ordering a $2.99 book. And while sometimes offers can be made to individual stores, this was not widely available for those issues in question. Indeed – discount was available to retailers on Avengers #1 who exceeded orders of All-New Avengers #10 by 150% or 200%. But it was still much higher up the dollar list than IVX #0.

Both Great Lakes Avengers #2 and Mosaic #2 would not have been on the Top 100 list if not for Marvel matching #1 orders with #2 orders for free.

And this is going to happen more and more. Here's a non-exhaustive list from Marvel of late – and on the way. Avengers #2 match to #1, Champions #3 match to #2, Nova #1 100% overship, Slapstick #1 100% overship, Guardians of the Galaxy #15 100% overship, Gwenpool Holiday Special Merry Mix Up 100% overship main cover, Hawkeye #1 100% overship, Jessica Jones #3 match to #2, Mosaic #3 match to #2 which was already matched to #1, Invincible Iron Man #2 match to #1, Occupy Avengers #2 match to #1, Gamora #1 100% overship, Mighty Captain Marvel #0 100% overship, Star-Lord #1 100% overship.

And why should anyone care? Because this is how Marvel – or any company – can game the system. If Diamond reports the unit share first – and they do – the all any publisher needs to do to get the PR of a number 1 hit, is send out 150,000 free comics to stores – whether they have ordered them or not.

We pointed this issue out in 2015. And in 2012. And again. And again. This is not a new problem. Just Marvel seems to be taking advantage of it even more now than they did in 2012.

We need better statistics.

TOP 100 COMIC BOOKS
Based on Total Unit Sales of Products Invoiced in November 2016

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