Posted in: Comics | Tagged: 2021, comic store in your future

Comic Store In Your Future – Lunar Makes Us More Money Than Diamond

Published Sat, 02 Jan 2021 15:30:44 -0600

Last updated Wed, 15 Jun 2022 16:21:19 -0500

Rod Lamberti of Rodman Comics of Ankeny, Iowa, writes Comic Store In Your Future weekly for Bleeding Cool. Find previous columns here.

The year 2020 is about over. Many people will be glad to see it go and are hoping for a much better 2021. There were a lot of lows. Shutting down for months was never something I thought would happen when we opened ten years ago. There were many bad things about 2020. If I were to write about them, it would be a much longer column; plus, it was much worse for some than others. Watching or reading the news in 2020 was, at times, challenging.

But there were good things for us in 2020 too. After twenty-five years, Diamond is no longer the only vendor for comics. DC left Diamond after Diamond could not pay their debts and ended up having Lunar handle their shipping needs. With Lunar shipping, we have only had one shipment with any damage, another with a shortage on one title, and one that arrived on release day. Ironically, the weekly Diamond shipment also arrived on release day that week. Reordering from Lunar was never an issue, and customer service for us is excellent. Their shipments often make it days before release, taking the worry out of whether the shipment will be late or not. Here in Iowa, winter usually means winter weather delays. Currently, shipping companies are experiencing high amounts of products being delivered due to the holidays and people wanting to avoid the coronavirus. Diamond has sent out a warning about the busy holiday season and lets us know that it is out of their hands once it is shipped. Lunar, by having fewer damages and issues, is currently making us more money than Diamond.

In 2020, after DC left Diamond for whatever reason, it brought about the end of Diamond's secret shopper program. I will not miss people who knew nothing about comics, being hired to act like they wanted two new comics that could not be sold yet, and then Diamond sending me the same follow-up report afterwards. The secret shoppers had the same script each time. Over the years, it got ancient. When we have actual customers, we do not need the distraction. The worst time was the secret shopper who showed up when my comic shipment was sent to another state, and they would not listen to me. I kept repeating I did not have the comics because they were not here. I told them even if I wanted to sell them early, I couldn't because they were not in. Having to pay for the secret shopper program and having no choice really was a slap in the face. So long, secret shopper program!

Wizards of the Coast, the company behind Magic the Gathering, was kind enough to send out free booster boxes of their Mystery card set to gaming stores. This helped a lot of people. It also showed that they do think something about the gaming stores that promote their products.

No more new comics material at Walmart from DC? DC selling new comics through Wal Mart was a big deal at first, then not so much. I now believe DC made a mistake with some of their choices. For example, after years of people wanting to see what Bendis could do with Batman, it finally happened; but only in a comic exclusive to Wal Mart packed mostly with reprinted material. I tried following the story though lost interest and stopped reading it. Same with the Tom King Superman story. I enjoyed some of the reprinted stories more than the new material. I did like the new classic Legion story in the From Beyond the Unknown Giant. First issues from the first wave for titles such as Teen Titans #1 were in demand and had people bothered; they were going for much more than cover price online. That is no longer the case; currently, no one is talking about them, let alone buying them. One day, I hope to get the box Walmart had of Superman crying after the Giant issues sold out. For whatever reason, I found that cool.

DC letting us sell comics on Tuesdays was a major boost. Tuesdays went from being open, mostly to get ready for new comic Wednesday, to holy smokes, people are hungry for comics. From what I was told, when DC Tuesdays first started, we were the only ones selling DC comics on Tuesdays in the area. If true, I am surprised. That would be like if I did not sell a new Magic product on release day and waited a day. A lot of people would go elsewhere to buy it. DC Tuesdays gave us a major boost to help us recover after being closed for so long. DC having new comics available helped out a lot. Sadly, we did have customers that never got back into comic collecting after the shutdown. We got lucky and got new ones.

With DC leaving Diamond, gone are the sales charts showing DC's market share. The Marvel vs. DC sales battle is now no longer for public display. DC was always the underdog in the comic market share against Marvel. Once in a while, DC would overtake Marvel, though most months, Marvel would win. I believed the Marvel vs. DC battle was a needless distraction. So, what if Marvel wins yet again or DC manages to? If the comic market does not grow, is it really a win if it keeps shrinking? I don't run my store thinking of ways to beat other stores. My thinking is, how do I make the most money possible? How do I increase my customer base and keep current customers happy? Both are ways to make more money. Marvel and DC have some of the most recognized characters on the planet, yet their comics reach so few people. Aquaman, the Avengers, Black Panther, Superman, Thor, X-Men, and so many more are so well known, yet their titles hardly sell. The Harry Potter movies grew the character's readership while the Marvel and DC movies failed to grow the characters' comics.

Our customer base grew in 2020. Not only that, we managed to expand our group of great customers, meaning people who really enjoy the store. If we would be back, the store's forced closing and the unknown made us less taken for granted. At the time, I had no idea if we would be closed for two months or even a year. I was not trying to be dramatic, just honest. I looked into the government aid, and when the question of how much do you need was asked on the online website, I was like, heck if I know. The first day we could apply for government help, we were only scheduled for a mandatory shut down for two weeks. Two weeks would have been OK, even though at the time, I thought there is no way this will last just two weeks. Oddly enough, I figured it would last roughly two months. Somehow, I was right. I still am not sure why it was done for only two months when it had not even really flattened the virus curve, but all of this was out of my hands.

We had customers show they cared about us. I had a lot of people offer to get gift certificates to help us out. I told them not to, and they were surprised. Over the years, we have gained new customers after other comic stores closed. A common thing these new customers would tell me is they prepaid or whatnot and lost money when the previous store went under. My sales often pitch to them is, we do not do prepay. If something happens to the store, they are not out any money. This is often a reason they became customers of ours. My thinking on the gift certificates at the time was, it was unknown when we would be able to reopen. If we were mandated to be closed for, say, eight months or more, odds are it would be too much. I did not want to sell gift certificates, which possibly would be worthless down the road. A lot of people were surprised when I explained my line of thinking. I did not want to be a drowning man taking anyone else down. I had people offer to help out money-wise. I said no. I was thankful for the offer though my thinking was how much money does one pour into something that could not be open for regular business?

A customer bought me a copy of the last issue of the 1997's Resurrection Man. Online it was listed as having a letter written by me. I got a chuckle out of that. He also told me to think back to when I wrote the letter. What was I doing at that period of time? I had been so caught up in the now of 2020 madness; I had not really thought of the past and just worried about the future. It was strange to think back to years ago suddenly—a time when I had a lot less responsibility and was a lot cockier. Back then, Wednesday was a must-stop-in day at Dragonfire Comics to pick up my comics, and the future looked bright. I was young and dumb. I remember telling Jeff, the owner of Dragonfire Comics, about my letter getting printed in Resurrection Man's last issue. He joked I need you to write into some of these other low selling titles and get them cancelled also. Resurrection Man may not have sold well though I enjoyed the heck out of the series. I also managed to get letters printed in Showcase and Damage. Luckily rereading the letter I had written in the back of Resurrection Man was not as embarrassing as I thought it might be. I was wondering if I would come off as an overly happy fanboy. It was good to think back to the past.

2020 soon will be in the past, hoping for a good 2021.

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