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Is this for real? DC Cuts Ties with Diamond Comic Distributors
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178 posts in this topic

1 hour ago, Juno Beach said:

Yellowjacket. The owner Ed talked to Gareth at Legends. Curious has three locations so they might be okay with shipping with the volumes they order.

It's been ages since I've been to Victoria, but remember visiting all three shops.

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15 hours ago, Tec-Tac-Toe said:

A few board members over the years have noted that DCBS notified them of its intent to commence charging them regular shipping fees, as opposed to their discounted one, because they were purchasing multiple copies of the same comic book and, thus, DCBS flagged them as retailers. I do not recall if any member noted that DCBS inquired whether they were selling their DCBS comic book purchases via eBay (edited to deactivate link). Of course, since I am not affiliated with DCBS I do not know if they adhere to this stance.

 

DCBS is a retailer selling to individual customers.

Our flat rate shipping and discounts are based on a single consumer purchase. Customers selling on eBay, Amazon, or other auction sites, that are not eligible for a Diamond account, may place orders with our approval. Those customer orders are not eligible for flat rate shipping and are subject to actual shipping costs.

Orders that contain multiple quantities of more than a quantity of 2 are clearly orders for resale, speculation, or group purchase, and are also not eligible for flat rate shipping and are subject to actual shipping costs. Those accounts will be noted accordingly.

Interesting. When was this?

I ask because, I used to order books from them that I wanted to get signed and slabbed, specifically because of the way they bagged and boarded and shipped their books - usually in quantities of 3 to 5 and then have them shipped directly to my store (though using my actual name). This would've been 2015. 

I wonder if they cracked down on this from some specific purpose. As a retailer, I would've been happy to have customers order multiple quantities of silly modern comics.

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8 hours ago, Hieronymus Bosch said:

Interesting. When was this?

I ask because, I used to order books from them that I wanted to get signed and slabbed, specifically because of the way they bagged and boarded and shipped their books - usually in quantities of 3 to 5 and then have them shipped directly to my store (though using my actual name). This would've been 2015. 

I wonder if they cracked down on this from some specific purpose. As a retailer, I would've been happy to have customers order multiple quantities of silly modern comics.

I do not recall, but will estimate a rough time frame of such posts over a period of two to four years ago, 2016 to 2018. If others have been posted since, I do not recall reading them. A quick review of the DCBS topic in the Modern section seems to solely focus on DCBS shipping an exorbitant amount of damaged comic books, especially during the period that it was located in Memphis, TN. Thus, the relevant posts appear to be contained in other topics.

Now, whether DCBS' contract with Diamond prohibits it from selling to retailers is, of course, unknown to me.

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So my previous question has now been answered. After making no reference to their plans for DC Direct Toys, DC drops the bomb today that any new product due out after May 1st will no longer be shipped by Diamond. Those items are now only available from EE, Lunar, UCS, and Sideshow.

Considering DC Direct products are usually ordered 4-8 months in advance, it definitely throws a wrench into things, having to backtrack through past orders to determine which items need to be rush reordered from new distributors.

 

Q: Will Diamond Comics Distribution or Diamond Select Toys be fulfilling existing/open Purchase Orders for products scheduled to be in market after May 1, 2020? 
 
A: Diamond Comics Distribution and Diamond Select Toys will not be fulfilling any orders for product scheduled to be in market after May 1, 2020.  Those orders are cancelled and will have to be placed with one of the new distribution partners.
 
Q: What about reorders of old products previously purchased with Diamond Comics Distribution or Diamond Select Toys?

A: Diamond Comics Distribution and Diamond Select Toys can still process and fulfill re-orders of previously purchased product at this time.

 

It's none of my concern whether DC needs to make a change. But their handling of this process has been as far from smooth as could be. Between not arranging in advance for UK distribution options (and forcing them to backtrack and worth with Diamond after all), not porting any order information over, making these changes on 1-business-day notice in the case of comics, or zero notice in the case of statues... sigh.

I thought MLB and its union was the most dysfunctional relationship out there. But DC is saying "hold my beer".

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15 hours ago, lighthouse said:

So my previous question has now been answered. After making no reference to their plans for DC Direct Toys, DC drops the bomb today that any new product due out after May 1st will no longer be shipped by Diamond. Those items are now only available from EE, Lunar, UCS, and Sideshow.

Considering DC Direct products are usually ordered 4-8 months in advance, it definitely throws a wrench into things, having to backtrack through past orders to determine which items need to be rush reordered from new distributors.

 

Q: Will Diamond Comics Distribution or Diamond Select Toys be fulfilling existing/open Purchase Orders for products scheduled to be in market after May 1, 2020? 
 
A: Diamond Comics Distribution and Diamond Select Toys will not be fulfilling any orders for product scheduled to be in market after May 1, 2020.  Those orders are cancelled and will have to be placed with one of the new distribution partners.
 
Q: What about reorders of old products previously purchased with Diamond Comics Distribution or Diamond Select Toys?

A: Diamond Comics Distribution and Diamond Select Toys can still process and fulfill re-orders of previously purchased product at this time.

 

It's none of my concern whether DC needs to make a change. But their handling of this process has been as far from smooth as could be. Between not arranging in advance for UK distribution options (and forcing them to backtrack and worth with Diamond after all), not porting any order information over, making these changes on 1-business-day notice in the case of comics, or zero notice in the case of statues... sigh.

I thought MLB and its union was the most dysfunctional relationship out there. But DC is saying "hold my beer".

That's interesting, and I had been wondering if it would end up being the case. Sideshow is notable because for years they've created their own products based on DC licenses, but in recent months (maybe longer) they've also started carrying straight up DC Direct/Collectibles products. So you can buy the SST Batman statues right alongside DC's own Batman statues. I thought it was odd, but perhaps this has been in the works for a while.

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On 6/8/2020 at 3:27 PM, JJ-4 said:

I agree.  It also makes you wonder just how poorly Diamond was run as a business, poor reputation and not able to be profitable as a monopoly?  I think they were either run by a complete idi0t or Diamond was just able to squeeze huge amounts of profit out of the system that lined the pockets of the owners.  If they go out of business, good riddance.

Even though I don't really buy any of the new books nowadays, I am still somewhat aware that many of the retailers are not that happy with how Diamond runs the direct comic book market and their control and influence over everything.  :(

On the other hand, as a vintage comic book collector I am also well aware of Geppi's love for the collectible side of the market and how he has always been an avid and ardent supporter of the vintage comic book market through many of the ventures and activities he has funded over the decades.  In this sense, I would much rather see Geppi with a stronger Diamond who continues to support and sometimes even lose money funding the collectible side of the market, as opposed to a Diamond Distributors that has gone out of business.  hm  (thumbsu

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On 6/11/2020 at 11:26 AM, piper said:

It's been ages since I've been to Victoria, but remember visiting all three shops.

I imagine Yellowjacket that is primarily a gaming shop will have to get their DC Comics via Lunar sub-distributed from next door Legends Comics especially since the minimum DC monthly order will be $500 US retail by December 2020.

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So far my file LCS loves the service they are getting from the DC distribution service relative to what Diamond provides. They are responsive and do not eff up on orders like Diamond does. 

Edited by kimik
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23 hours ago, kimik said:

So far my file LCS loves the service they are getting from the DC distribution service relative to what Diamond provides. They are responsive and do not eff up on orders like Diamond does. 

Same. I was talking to the manager at my LCS a couple of weeks back and they loved it, and wish they could get away from Diamond altogether.

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17 hours ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

Yeah, that's what I was talking about when I said we were down to one.

My store was with UCS, so now they have to change things once again. I'm just glad I didn't take over a (very small) mail order operation last year.

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2 hours ago, DavidTheDavid said:

So how has this gone for folks? From the beginning to now, my LCS says it's been minimally disruptive and not caused any issues for them.

What have you folks seen?

I wonder how this has affected Diamond as an ongoing concern?

The LCS where I have my holds loves it. They hated Diamond, and so far have been really happy with the DC distribution, and wish that Marvel would get away from Diamond as well. That's only one shop, mind you, but that's what they told me. The Tuesday delivery doesn't affect them as they're closed on Tuesdays, so all of their new books still go out on Wednesdays as before. 

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