Forum - View topicNEWS: Direct Market Losing Manga Sales Share
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AnimeHeretic
 Posts: 179 |
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I can believe that direct doesn't do as well. You get to flip through stuff in a store, make a decision etc. Also, my online attempts are usually not as smooth...
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Amused Observer
Posts: 164 |
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I think there are other factors involved for direct market sales. Most comic stores are relatively small, compared to a Waldenbooks or a Barnes Nobles, and just numbers wise I would think the bookstores would order more manga in bulk.
But the female readership (or lack of at comic stores) is an interesting challenge for manga publishers. In my personal experience, I see there are certainly more female customers in bookstores compared to comic stores, and so it's not surprising to hear that manga titles geared toward female readers sell better at bookstores. |
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Haiseikoh 1973
 Posts: 1590 Location: Waiting for the Japanese 1000 Gunieas. |
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A $3.00 rag with 25 or so glossy pages mixed with an ad every 2 pages....
vs. A $9.99 book, B/W, around 200++ pages. Hmmmm..... 
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radicaledward
 Posts: 776 |
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Most of what they said in the article rang very true from my experience - you don't often see females in the comic book store, and most of the time the clerks don't know that much about manga. Comic books and manga both fit together in the Graphic Novel arena of a comic book store, but they have had a much easier time establishing a presence in the bookstore.
However, an up side to this is that since they established their presence in the bookstore they are viewed in a different light than if they established their presence in the comic book store and made the move to a bookstore. |
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Bara_Megami
Posts: 106 |
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I'm a woman, and I rarely buy from book stores because I feel that the people who work there think I'm weird for buying a 'backwards' book. I usually buy from my local comic book shop, since the staff there is quite knowledgeable (well, most of the staff) about manga, and there is usually more of a backlog whereas the bookstore that usually just has the current volume. Not to mention the comic book shop is a few dollars cheaper than my local book store, which amps up the price needlessly.
Maybe I'm a rarity though. I love going to my local comic book shop. |
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radicaledward
Posts: 776 |
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Isaaru
 Posts: 375 Location: the oppressed colonies in outer space |
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Seeing manga on the shelves at comic stores make me think its collectible and "hot." Thats why i stopped going.
And that and comic store folk are usually not very friendly unless your a hot babe, rich man with money coming out of thier pockets, or you play thier favorite card game. |
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Wyvern
 Posts: 1599 |
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And that's the main reason why the American comics scene is slowly dying right there-no one wants to go into a comic book store. Comic store owners tend to be elitiest jerks who don't want you in their store unless you can name all five Green Lanterns and what issues they first appeared in. What ends up happening is that people quickly learn to avoid places like that which only cater to the hardcore fan, so the industry doesn't get any new fans. People at anime specialty shops tend to be nicer in general, not to mention that you can get manga almost any place that sells books nowadays. Of course, if you ask a comic store owner why his store is losing money like crazy, he'll give you a million reasons why it's manga's fault, DC's fault, Marvel's fault, Yugioh's fault-everyone but him. |
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LordByronius
ANN Columnist
 Posts: 861 Location: Philippe for America! He is five. |
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Y'know. Not every comic store owner is like Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons. Comic shops are like any other specialty shop - introduce a new product that they're unfamiliar with, and they'll need to take time to adapt. Its only natural, really. |
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CCSYueh
 Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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But one can usually find manga cheaper online($5.85 for $10 list). Bookstores have sales, also, but most of the comic shops I frequent rarely have sales. Nor are they all that familiar with manga. Yeah, they'll order stuff, & the one bonus of my local shop is "lay-away"--tell them your fav titles & they'll put it in a box so one only has to stop by once a month.
But I can see the anti-female feel. I was heavy into American comics in the '80's before they changed & my life changed(Marvel pretty much eliminated all the supernatural characters & I had a kid). Comic shops were the first places I hit looking for manga, & found them severely lacking, Unlike the American stuff, the clerks were largely unfamiliar with manga so one of the draws of the comic shop-discussing the material. The few who know anything about manga often seem to have the attitude it's inferior to real American comic books. The one shop I enjoyed where they actually knew something about manga was just closed by the owner(he kept one about 20 miles away & one about 5 miles away with more traditional comic store staff.) The shop that closed actually had a clerk that liked yaoi & knew the tastes of the regulars that they could put new stuff in one's box they thought one would like & be right. Not to mention the regular American comic clientele acting like buying anything other than real American comics is blasphemy. As a chick, I find bookstores more gal-friendly. |
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Isaaru
Posts: 375 Location: the oppressed colonies in outer space |
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True True. Except you need not ask. They are always ranting about such things at the many comic stores I have visited over the past two decades. I can guarantee that many of them never took any classes on economics, marketing, or business management. They just "know" how to run a comic store because they can name five Green Lanterns. Comic book stores are just depressing places. |
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Haiseikoh 1973
Posts: 1590 Location: Waiting for the Japanese 1000 Gunieas. |
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Fixed. |
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10461 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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You seem misinformed about the comic book industry. After a decade of decline, the North American comic book industry has been undergoing gradual but steady growth for something like 5 years now... |
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CCSYueh
Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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As I said, I was into conics in the mid-to-late '80's which was when we suddenly started seeing dozens of series start up so they could have a volume 1. I still remember going to pick up Thor(which no one read) & it wasn't there because the had some hot artist guest it, yet low & behold there were 10 copies for 3 times the cover price in the back issues bin. I never collected comics for art or collectability-I collected for story. I was collecting when they kicked off Alpha Flight(did they print 10 million copies of that, or did no one buy it & that's why one found dozens of copies in the 3/$1 boxes?) Same with manga-I enjoy the art, but I buy for the story. I hated that I had to pay $20 for a Ghost Rider(another book no one seemed to read) just because John Byrne drew it.
Like the Baseball Card market & the Beanie Baby market(Cabbage Patch, name the hot craze of one's choice), people(speculators) who know little of the product jumped in to make a buck & the comic companies jumped at the opportunity to flood the racks with #1's because the speculators thought #1's were the most valuable without realizing some titles were just not popular. Comics grew too fast in the '80's which is why they've been struggling to turn that image around. Yes, it was great that we saw all the Independants spring up & they had some great titles the majors overlooked, but the market just was flooded. My husband & his swap meet buddies knew nothing about comics beyond they could buy them cheap off some kid selling his collection & double or triple their money selling them 2/$1(others would sell them for $1 each & all Volume 1's were at least twice that--one could tell they knew nothing about the title. At least I could tell my husband & his friend if they got a good bunch or a bunch of trash they would be lucky to make thgeir money back on). So I wasn't unfamiliar with comic shops & have wandered into them from time to time, but they haven't really changed much in the last decade. Still most seem to be run by former collectors who can talk all day about which version of which super hero is better, but comment how good the last GetBackers was & one might as well as be speaking Japanese. If part of the attraction of buying from a comic shop is that the clerks know the product, then they're failing at that with manga. Yes some, such as the branch in my (largely Asian) community the owner shut down last month are familiar with the product, but when I went to the Clairmont store to see about keeping a box running(something I almost didn't do) the clerk had to open the catalog to find the titles--the only one he recognised was Hellsing because it's Dark Horse. Clamp? What's Clamp? Ah, only one of the more popular manga artist groups. Why not go to Waldenbooks when faced with this kind of ignorance from a retailer who sells comic books? |
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The Ramblin' Wreck
 Posts: 924 Location: Teaching Robot Women How To Love |
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I don't think that he was referring to the comics industry but the "comic book speciality shop". Sadly, I've had several experiences similar to the ones he described, even before I started buying manga. I love comics and manga, but I've only found one comics shop that didn't make me feel uncomfortable to be in. (Oxford Comics in Atlanta, GA) |
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