shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,408
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Post by shaxper on Jul 2, 2015 8:57:15 GMT -5
We've had strong impressions that comic sales have been up for years now, but sales of print floppies are now officially back to 1995 levels: icv2.com/articles/markets/view/31916/comics-graphic-novel-market-sales-hit-new-20-year-highI believe 1994 is when the decline began. I don't expect to see comics garnering 1990-1994 levels again (maybe ever), but 1995-level sales is surprisingly healthy! Very surprised by this, in fact. In 1995, we still had comics on spinner racks in drug and stationary stores, and we still had rampant speculation as well. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 2, 2015 9:07:11 GMT -5
That's good news, but I admit I'm surprised: comics are so expensive today there is no way I could afford to follow them the way I did in the 90s.
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Post by Pharozonk on Jul 2, 2015 9:09:22 GMT -5
Now if only we could get kids to read those comics!  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 9:45:55 GMT -5
This isn't just for floppies though, it factors in graphic novels as well. Which is fine and still counts though, since it was a market they could have been tapping more in 1995 but hadn't put that amount of effort into it yet. It's all still sales.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 9:48:07 GMT -5
With Comixology on board, I'm stunned to read that sales of comic books are back at 1995 levels. This is very good news indeed.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,408
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Post by shaxper on Jul 2, 2015 9:48:23 GMT -5
This isn't just for floppies though, it factors in graphic novels as well. Which is fine and still counts though, since it was a market they could have been tapping more in 1995 but hadn't put that amount of effort into it yet. It's all still sales. No, the report actually breaks the figures down into floppies, gns, and digital sales, specifically comparing sales of print floppies to sales of print floppies. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 9:53:46 GMT -5
This isn't just for floppies though, it factors in graphic novels as well. Which is fine and still counts though, since it was a market they could have been tapping more in 1995 but hadn't put that amount of effort into it yet. It's all still sales. No, the report actually breaks the figures down into floppies, gns, and digital sales, specifically comparing sales of print floppies to sales of print floppies. Ah, sorry. Spoke after just a skim. I'm actually surprised the graphic novel sales haven't seen greater increase. It was the greatest increase of all existing channels, but still. Weren't trades and GN's a rare sight back then? Or maybe those newspaper strip collections were selling greater than I had assumed. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 10:09:22 GMT -5
The one caveat I would add is that the prices are adjusted for inflation, but comic prices have risen at a significantly higher percentage than inflation, so the dollars generated is skewed because fewer units are generating more dollars per se. Also it is a dollar comparison, not unit comparison, so we aren't getting a comparison of how many comics were sold 2014 vs. 1995, just how much revenue was generated from those sales.
$1 in 1995 = $1.57 in 2014 a 157% increase
typical floppy price 1995 $1.50 Typical floppy price 2014 $3.99 a 266% increase.
Even adjusted for inflation, that's going to be significantly fewer units selling to generate those equivalent revenue levels.
-M
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 2, 2015 11:09:33 GMT -5
The one caveat I would add is that the prices are adjusted for inflation, but comic prices have risen at a significantly higher percentage than inflation, so the dollars generated is skewed because fewer units are generating more dollars per se. Also it is a dollar comparison, not unit comparison, so we aren't getting a comparison of how many comics were sold 2014 vs. 1995, just how much revenue was generated from those sales. $1 in 1995 = $1.57 in 2014 a 157% increase typical floppy price 1995 $1.50 Typical floppy price 2014 $3.99 a 266% increase. Even adjusted for inflation, that's going to be significantly fewer units selling to generate those equivalent revenue levels. -M This is a great point. As Shax pointed out, 1995 would have been considered towards the end of newsstand distribution of floppies. Comics were still being priced at a point that reflected this, but in the years since the pricing has outpaced inflation and reflects the increasing costs of a niche collector's product. |
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jul 2, 2015 12:04:04 GMT -5
The one caveat I would add is that the prices are adjusted for inflation, but comic prices have risen at a significantly higher percentage than inflation, so the dollars generated is skewed because fewer units are generating more dollars per se. Also it is a dollar comparison, not unit comparison, so we aren't getting a comparison of how many comics were sold 2014 vs. 1995, just how much revenue was generated from those sales. $1 in 1995 = $1.57 in 2014 a 157% increase typical floppy price 1995 $1.50 Typical floppy price 2014 $3.99 a 266% increase. Even adjusted for inflation, that's going to be significantly fewer units selling to generate those equivalent revenue levels. -M This is a great point. As Shax pointed out, 1995 would have been considered towards the end of newsstand distribution of floppies. Comics were still being priced at a point that reflected this, but in the years since the pricing has outpaced inflation and reflects the increasing costs of a niche collector's product. When I jumped into comics in 1994 in St.Louis MO there were still comics on newsstands. At least 4 local outlets (convenience, drug and/or department stores) that I could get comics from. Marvel (I think DC was already at 1.95) still had 1.50 newsstand editions, the ones sold outside of LCS, and the Deluxe 1.95 format, which I started getting once I was able to get to a LCS. By the time I had gone to the LCS I started seeing less comics in other stores. I worked for a convenience store chain Quicktrip, which noticed by 97/98 or so they weren't carrying them, as weren't most other stores. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 2, 2015 14:05:35 GMT -5
I'd buy alot more comics if they were $1.50  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 14:07:22 GMT -5
I'd buy alot more comics if they were $1.50 Adjusted for inflation, the cover price should have been $2.35 in 2014... -M |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 2, 2015 14:20:35 GMT -5
You sure? $1.57 sounds more correct to me. Other than a few particular items (like gas and comic books) 50% higher than 1995 seems more like what I'd guess in my head.
Either way, it's a far cry from $3.99
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 2, 2015 14:37:16 GMT -5
You sure? $1.57 sounds more correct to me. Other than a few particular items (like gas and comic books) 50% higher than 1995 seems more like what I'd guess in my head. Either way, it's a far cry from $3.99 Comics weren't a dollar in 1995. Most were around $1.50. So if you adjust for inflation they'd be $2.35. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 14:37:26 GMT -5
I used the official gov't inflation calculator to determine that $1 in 1995 is $1.57 in 2014 money, using that as the base $1.50 works out to $2.35.
-M
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