The Marvel Numbers Game

I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to the exact sales on the sales charts because they don’t always reflect what is really going on.  I look at trends and things like that, ie how is a bookselling over the last 6 months and things. You get weird spikes that show the numbers can be manipulated.

One case was last year with Marvel’s Point One one-shot where Marvel double shipped us the book (if we ordered 20, we got 40) and then the sales charts showed it as if they had actually sold 40. A book that had little interest was suddenly a Top 10 book that month.  Marvel often offers us insane discounts on books to get us to up our orders and then crows about how big the sales numbers are.  I have no problem with anyone crowing about numbers, but make sure they are legit and based on demand, not on manipulation.  Platinum Comics did it several years ago with Cowboys and Aliens. They were trying to sell the book as a movie pitch and wanted it to be the highest selling book that month. They literally paid several big stores to order them by the thousands. Lo and behold, it was perceived as a big deal and they sold it to the movie studio.

Marvel is doing this again.  Amazing Spider-Man #692 is an anniversary issue.  Its $5.99.  And they are throwing us some incentives. Lots of them.

If I order the amount I intend to, taking into account a slight bump (15%) for the anniversary part, it would cost me $103.03.  If I order 150% of what I ordered of #685 (they always tie it to a previously ordered book), I can take an additional % off my bill, which would make it $120.64.  At this point I can also order sets of variants (for which I already have a customer for.) So, I am already going to do this to get the variants.  Here’s where it gets wonky.

To get to the next discount level, I need to order 9 more copies for a total $1.92 . But if I go to the highest discount level, exceeding 200% of my order of #685, it will cost me $117.40.  Yes, you are reading that right.  I can order 50% more and actually save $3.24.

150% = $120.64

175% = $122.56

200%= $117.40

So, momma didn’t raise no dummies.  I’m going to order at the 200% level, which in this case is 30 more copies than I think I will need.  But those 30 copies only cost me an additional $14.37 and I can get the variant set for the customer that wants it.

So, if 1000 other retailers do what I’m doing, there will be some 30,000 odd extra orders and probably a #1 book of the month.  But it won’t really be the #1 selling book that month. Just #1 due to the numbers game.

 

 

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