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Diamond plans a May 20th restart date
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19 posts in this topic

Diamond Comic Distributors is working toward the distribution of new, weekly product in mid- to late-May. We have had many exciting conversations with our publishing and retailer partners and are pleased to take the next steps toward that goal. 

While we know that the pace and process of reopening stores will be different throughout the country, we have set a target on-sale date of May 20

As all of you are aware, however, we find ourselves in a fluid situation and there are many factors including quarantine measures, what services retailers are able to offer and the volume of orders that have the potential to effect whether we are able to meet this date. That said, we have heard your concerns and agree that taking these steps toward resuming distribution is a positive, important step in our collective move forward. 

We are providing this target date to allow you as much time as possible to communicate with your customers and gather the information you need to order appropriately for your store and customer base.

Several important processes are underway to ensure the timely delivery of product that retailers and customers want, so please carefully review the following information and deadlines:


Final Order Cut-off

  • Today, April 28, the initial list of FOC products will be published. Products from all vendors intended to ship for the on-sale date of May 20 will be included, and your FOC adjustments must be completed by Monday, May 4 at 11:59 PM ET
     
  • This list may be modified through the week but will be finalized by the usual time of Noon ET on Friday, May 1. Please refer to the FOC WEEKLY page on Diamond’s Retailer Services Website.
     
  •  All DC Comics titles released during our pause in distribution will be included in the first shipment of new, weekly product.


Shipping and Payment

  • Retailers must have verified their shipping address by 6:00 PM ET on May 8, taking into account any closures that may require shipments to go to a different address or be held at the UPS hub.
     
  • Any retailer who requested that their account be placed on hold must contact Retailer Services at service@diamondcomics.com and request that the hold be removed by May 8 to receive product for the target on-sale date of May 20.
     
  • Outstanding credits, including those generated by Marvel’s increased discounts for product impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak and quarantine measures, will appear on the May 20 invoice if they have not already been applied to another invoice.
     
  • The replenishment order process will resume with the first order cutoff of May 13. Please note that shipments may be delayed as we work through the significant number of orders that have accumulated during the quarantine measures.
     
  • Retailers with payment terms requiring certified funds may pay with non-certified checks until further notice or may pay via credit card by contacting our Credit Department.
     
  • The weekly Day Early Delivery Fee will be suspended while we evaluate changes to the program.


This period has been difficult for everyone, particularly our retailer partners on the front lines. We appreciate your support and the many positive messages we have received as we work through business and safety concerns. We are heartened by the many examples of your ingenuity and creativity as you find ways to serve your customers that are new. We are happy to provide tools like the Shopify Generator, Sell Sheet Generator, and Previews Pullbox. Your use of these tools is what has made them so successful. 

While we work toward the target on-sale date of May 20, retailers can continue to take advantage of backlist product via Diamond’s Retailer Services Website. Also, we encourage retailers to ensure their Comic Shop Locator Service listings are up-to-date with services offered, such as delivery or curbside service, and that store hours are accurate. This will help direct customers to stores that can continue to meet their needs through this time.

Please also continue to consult our Coronavirus Resources page for an ongoing list of resources available to retailers. Additionally, you can click here for a single source of other Coronavirus-related information from Diamond and our publishers.

Thank you again for your continued support as we all plan for our future. We are committed to communicating with you during this process and look forward to our continued partnership.

Edited by lighthouse
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Weirdest takeaway here is that if you’re a shop who put your account on pause, you have to commit by May 8th whether you want to start receiving shipments on May 20th. And if you don’t know whether you’ll be open by then, you’re committing to receiving shipments while you might still be closed.

During last night’s FOC adjustment for DC I wiped out 70% of my orders for May 20th and May 27th. Still have enough in for subs and preorders, but I erased every shelf copy, every statue, every Omnibus (some of which were originally ordered 8 months ago). I don’t plan on having shelf copies of anything other than new series launches for at least 3 weeks after reopening.

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Sounds like a realistic street date for new comics on May 20/20. Hopefully, some brick n mortar comic shops will be allowed to re-open in 3 weeks.

Anyone use Shopify Generator? What does it entail to help launch your comic shop online during Covid-19 season?

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11 minutes ago, aardvark88 said:

Sounds like a realistic street date for new comics on May 20/20. Hopefully, some brick n mortar comic shops will be allowed to re-open in 3 weeks.

Anyone use Shopify Generator? What does it entail to help launch your comic shop online during Covid-19 season?

Most decent POS systems will let you convert your inventory seamlessly. But it’s limited to how accurate and complete your POS inventory is. And making them available online commits you to filling orders that may not be profitable (or at least not a profitable use of time). Which is why many choose not to.

Plus if your customer service level provided via online store doesn’t match your in-person level, you risk significant damage to your brand.

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Five DC books shipped this week - my LCS (which is shockingly not closed) emailed me and said they've gotten them:

  • Batman Giant #4
  • Daphne Byrne #4
  • The Dreaming #20
  • Nightwing #70 2nd print
  • Batman #89 2nd Print

I figure for $25 this is an interesting speculative play. What happens if these books are not sent with a Diamond shipment in May/June? I'd have to believe that the amount of these five books (and whatever comes out in the next couple of weeks) printed will be really small. 

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1 hour ago, dupont2005 said:

Coronavirus era comics are going to have relatively low print runs it looks like. 

And truly unknown extant copies, since all of them will be returnable.

Make no mistake there are many B&M shops that pay no attention to the secondary market when it comes to new releases and will simply destroy their excess copies to get money back out of them. There are a lot of shops that are glorified newsstands with no interest in maintaining any inventory of comics past their first 8 weeks of existence.

The official print run for a random issue later this month might be 25,000 copies but there might be 5,000 of those returned/destroyed.

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Note that part of the reason I am willing to order at "zero shelf" is that I fully expect to have far more than normal deadbeat subs over the next few months. I always take that churn into account, but especially so here.

To pick a title at random, I have 13 subs for the current Firefly series from Boom. I normally order 19 copies expecting to have 1-2 copies leftover to head to back issues three months hence. I'm reasonably confident that even ordering 0 shelf copies I will still see 1-2 copies leftover three months hence as they gradually come back out of boxes never picked up.

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Have you been retailing long? When I was a kid it was pretty much guaranteed that the price tag on A list Marvel/DC titles went up when they hit the back issue bins. Nowadays it’s almost a guarantee anything that doesn’t sell immediately will be a bargain comic. I would assume retailers are ordering accordingly based on that too. Could be a partial reason why 80’s comics are so plentiful. I temember the LCS not really having any gaps in ASM or UXM for about a 10 year span. Not a single issue for less than 140% of cover though, which seemed standard at the time. Quarter bins were for Archies, black and white indies, damaged comics, and team up books

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1 minute ago, dupont2005 said:

Have you been retailing long? When I was a kid it was pretty much guaranteed that the price tag on A list Marvel/DC titles went up when they hit the back issue bins. Nowadays it’s almost a guarantee anything that doesn’t sell immediately will be a bargain comic. I would assume retailers are ordering accordingly based on that too. Could be a partial reason why 80’s comics are so plentiful. I temember the LCS not really having any gaps in ASM or UXM for about a 10 year span. Not a single issue for less than 140% of cover though, which seemed standard at the time. Quarter bins were for Archies, black and white indies, damaged comics, and team up books

I opened my first shop last millennia.

Today's "barely a back issue" market is vibrant. Nearly every week there are multiple releases fetching $15-20 the same week they come out. Many drop back to not much over cover. But there are a staggering number of commonly available (ie not weird incentive) books that are consistent sellers at 3-5x cover price when just a couple months old. The print runs on virtually anything that wasn't available for store exclusives are low enough that it takes very little additional demand to eat up all the cover price supply. The books where store exclusives exist? That's another matter. 10 stores each getting their own exclusive puts 25,000 excess copies of the regular issue into the supply and virtually guarantees that all any additional demand will do is suck up copies from those stores that would have otherwise been packing paper.

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8 hours ago, lighthouse said:

Weirdest takeaway here is that if you’re a shop who put your account on pause, you have to commit by May 8th whether you want to start receiving shipments on May 20th. And if you don’t know whether you’ll be open by then, you’re committing to receiving shipments while you might still be closed.

During last night’s FOC adjustment for DC I wiped out 70% of my orders for May 20th and May 27th. Still have enough in for subs and preorders, but I erased every shelf copy, every statue, every Omnibus (some of which were originally ordered 8 months ago). I don’t plan on having shelf copies of anything other than new series launches for at least 3 weeks after reopening.

I was just about to ask you whether or not the print runs were going to remain unaffected. With people severely cutting back how will that impact print runs in a few months.  I'm asking because I have no idea how this works. 

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2 hours ago, Buzzetta said:

I was just about to ask you whether or not the print runs were going to remain unaffected. With people severely cutting back how will that impact print runs in a few months.  I'm asking because I have no idea how this works. 

Publishers decide the print run size but most are around 105-110% of initial orders. Image will often choose a large overprint of a book they are heavily invested in (Oblivion Song, Undiscovered Country). But over 90% of titles are just “Diamond got initial orders for 30,000 so we printed 32,000”. Publishers know that stores will order second and third prints. Now that they nearly always have new covers (even if it’s just small color differences), they can afford to sell out and just do later prints when demand is there. But they still do a small overprint for damages, misships, and expected advance reorders. 

So if Diamond got 30k ordered of the December to February issues and only got 20k ordered of a book releasing this month? Yes absolutely it will have a smaller print run than the rest. (21k instead of 32k etc). 

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4 minutes ago, lighthouse said:

Publishers decide the print run size but most are around 105-110% of initial orders. Image will often choose a large overprint of a book they are heavily invested in (Oblivion Song, Undiscovered Country). But over 90% of titles are just “Diamond got initial orders for 30,000 so we printed 32,000”. Publishers know that stores will order second and third prints. Now that they nearly always have new covers (even if it’s just small color differences), they can afford to sell out and just do later prints when demand is there. But they still do a small overprint for damages, misships, and expected advance reorders. 

So if Diamond got 30k ordered of the December to February issues and only got 20k ordered of a book releasing this month? Yes absolutely it will have a smaller print run than the rest. (21k instead of 32k etc). 

Thanks... ever since my LCS closed I have been playing the game of sit out six months and order all of them down the road because I only buy one modern title.   That many not be possible with the books coming out during this time period. 

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On 4/28/2020 at 5:49 PM, Buzzetta said:

With people severely cutting back, how will that impact print runs in a few months. 

I am sure pre-orders on comics will be cut to the bone this Covid-19 summer. My LCS has a big sign on their front door saying 'Only 1 customer allowed at a time inside the shop.' LCS recommends calling or texting ahead of time for curbside pick up of their comic subscription from the front of their shop. Basically, not allowed to chit-chat or meander the new issue rack or back issue bins anymore. Perhaps LCS will allow max. 2 customers at a time inside their store by June 1, 2020, if provincial/state health rules allow it. Terrible summer :p for small business.

 

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1 hour ago, aardvark88 said:

I am sure pre-orders on comics will be cut to the bone this Covid-19 summer. My LCS has a big sign on their front door saying 'Only 1 customer allowed at a time inside the shop.' LCS recommends calling or texting ahead of time for curbside pick up of their comic subscription from the front of their shop. Basically, not allowed to chit-chat or meander the new issue rack or back issue bins anymore. Perhaps LCS will allow max. 2 customers at a time inside their store by June 1, 2020, if provincial/state health rules allow it. Terrible summer :p for small business.

 

I am tempted to do an actual subscription with Marvel.  Is that still a thing?   No comic shop in the world is going to allow me to have a pull list of one title. 

I have a feeling that the next year's worth of books are going to be in very short supply. 

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13 hours ago, Buzzetta said:

I am tempted to do an actual subscription with Marvel.  Is that still a thing?   No comic shop in the world is going to allow me to have a pull list of one title. 

I have a feeling that the next year's worth of books are going to be in very short supply. 

When I first opened the current shop, we did allow folks to get just one title. But the deadbeat rate on single-title subs winds up over 70% in the first six months. We bumped it to 3 titles for about a year and the deadbeat rate for 3-title subs was still around 50% in the first 6 months. Now our minimum is 5 titles. 

But I do have one single-title sub who’s been with us since the first month. He buys some back issues which gives him a reason to come in more often. We tried for a while to encouraged him to check out other titles. But he reads Flash and that’s it.

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1 hour ago, lighthouse said:

When I first opened the current shop, we did allow folks to get just one title. But the deadbeat rate on single-title subs winds up over 70% in the first six months. We bumped it to 3 titles for about a year and the deadbeat rate for 3-title subs was still around 50% in the first 6 months. Now our minimum is 5 titles. 

But I do have one single-title sub who’s been with us since the first month. He buys some back issues which gives him a reason to come in more often. We tried for a while to encouraged him to check out other titles. But he reads Flash and that’s it.

From 1998 until December of 2019, when the LCS closed, I was a one title guy, ASM. lol There was one small period where I increased it to two titles but that was only when they launched the new Valiant line. 

I doubt I will find that again.  It looks like I am going to try to do a subscription with Marvel itself. 

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They still planning May 20? Parts of New York are reopening today, but they are not, mostly, the high population areas other than Rochester and Syracuse. NYC, Long Island, Westchester, Buffalo, and Albany are still on lockdown. Isn't CA still pretty tight? Of course, comic shops here should just start selling food, in which case they can be open, and it seems some electronics are getting a pass. (So set up a cell phone kiosk?) Go figure. (Or booze, but they need a license.) While I believe covid19 was an is a big deal, it's time to start. The irony is they want to push barbers, gyms, etc. in some areas to open up... those are the most dangerous ones!! A comic shop? Easy...ask folks to wear a mask and limit how many people come in for a while.

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4 hours ago, the blob said:

They still planning May 20? Parts of New York are reopening today, but they are not, mostly, the high population areas other than Rochester and Syracuse. NYC, Long Island, Westchester, Buffalo, and Albany are still on lockdown. Isn't CA still pretty tight? Of course, comic shops here should just start selling food, in which case they can be open, and it seems some electronics are getting a pass. (So set up a cell phone kiosk?) Go figure. (Or booze, but they need a license.) While I believe covid19 was an is a big deal, it's time to start. The irony is they want to push barbers, gyms, etc. in some areas to open up... those are the most dangerous ones!! A comic shop? Easy...ask folks to wear a mask and limit how many people come in for a while.

Officially yes. But it's going to be a VERY small shipment, as the DC stuff didn't reach Diamond in time and will instead arrive with the May 27th stuff.

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