Posted in: Comics | Tagged: comicspro, diamond

Diamond's Plan To Shrink Their Size By 60% – And Shipping Fees By 40%

Last week, Bleeding Cool scooped the news from the ComicsPRO Summit that Diamond was to offer a cut of 40% to freight and shipping charges.

Last week, Bleeding Cool scooped the news from the ComicsPRO Summit that Diamond Comic Distributors was to offer a cut of 40% to freight and shipping charges to comic book stores going forward. Bleeding Cool now has more details of what is being offered to retailers and the impact it may have.

Geppi Family Enterprises Chief Sales & Service Officer Chris Powell presented to the assembled retailers and publishers an overview of the Geppi Family Enterprises brand and the various companies it encompasses. "The scope of these companies and the breadth of experience their teams have in the Direct and Book Markets is unique," said Powell. "All of them work together to provide an unmatched level of services and selection to our retail partners. One example is our recent acquisition of CGA, one of the premier grading companies in several industries, which allowed us to add more residential shipping volume to our contracts with various freight companies. This will result in savings for us that can be passed on to retailers. Another is the introduction of Overstreet Access, the digital app for our Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, which will allow retailers even greater opportunities to showcase their stores' inventories to dedicated collectable comic enthusiasts looking to complete their collections."

I have been told that the principal reason that Diamond has survived the loss of DC Comics and exclusivity to Marvel Comics, IDW, Dark Horse and more to distributors who offer better prices is Geppi Family Enterprises' gaming distributor Alliance has gone from strength to strength. Diamond also still has exclusivity for DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, IDW etc., to the UK and Europe through Diamond UK, which makes up around 15% of their comics distribution business, and that many retailers – for pure ease of use – have stuck with Diamond for Marvel and more – in total still representing around 40% of Marvel's direct market sales.

Indeed, it looks like Alliance and others have been taking over some of Diamond Comic Distributor's space within the company. Powell talked further about supply chain disruptions, rising costs of goods, services such as transportation/freight, leases, and staffing. "Like retailers, we have multi-year contracts for many of these services and leases. With the many changes in our industry over the last couple of years, we are only now able to begin adjusting to fit the 'new normal' in meaningful ways. In recent months, a number of the GFE companies have moved into shared workspaces that used to only be occupied by Diamond, and we will be reducing our space by 60%."

And that would lead to reduced shipping costs for retailers. Maybe enough to keep some ordering through Diamond, rather than switching to Penguin Random House. Powell explained, "with these savings and new contracts with UPS and FedEx in the works, we will recognize additional savings and these savings will be passed on to our retailers. In April, we will reduce UPS charges on print goods by approximately 20%, with an additional 20% reduction in July. That means a box that currently costs $50 to ship to a retailer will be reduced to around $30, a significant saving."

So, how will that swing the needle for retailers having to make distribution decisions between the various distribution service on offer? And might it save a few comic stores from going under along the way? Boom Studios has also announced a 2% freight rebate to help retailers to offset increasing freight costs, on Boom's books…

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