shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jun 7, 2014 5:22:19 GMT -5
I've always been of the belief that ever since the '90s cover prices have been spiking uncontrollably, but I realized a pretty simple trend the other day that seems to hold true, showing that comic prices have increased steadily and at a regular rate since the 1960s, even if that steady rate is far more dramatic than the rate of inflation.
Essentially, every twenty years, cover prices quadruple and quintuple.
1960s: Average cover price is 15 cents
1980s: Average cover price is 60 to 75 cents (15 x 4 is 60, 15 x 5 is 75)
2000s: Average cover price is $2.50 to $3.00 (.60 x 4 is 2.40, .60 x 5 is 3.00, and .75 x 4 is 3.00)
If this pattern continues to hold true, we can expect $10 to $12 cover prices in the 2020s.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jun 7, 2014 6:02:38 GMT -5
Comic prices and new york city pizza have a correlation.In the mid 60s pizza was 15 cents vs comics 12.Early 70s pizza was a quarter when comics were 20 cents.By the mid 80s they were equal at one dollar. But after comics went direct distribution only and circulation plummetted,comics rose in price much faster. Now an average slice of pizza goes for $2.50-$2.75. An average comic is much closer to $3.99
Its easier for me to stop buying comics than quit pizza
*Prices above do not include toppings
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ironchimp
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Post by ironchimp on Jun 7, 2014 6:40:15 GMT -5
if you look at the price of indie books in late 80s/ early 90s they were actually really expensive - $2 or more wasnt unusual at all. I reread metropol recently and was really surprised to see it was $3 in 1993 or whenever it came out. A typical vertigo book was $1.50.
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Post by MDG on Jun 7, 2014 8:25:37 GMT -5
if you look at the price of indie books in late 80s/ early 90s they were actually really expensive - $2 or more wasnt unusual at all. I reread metropol recently and was really surprised to see it was $3 in 1993 or whenever it came out. A typical vertigo book was $1.50. That's true, and usually in B & W. That's one reason it sook me a while to find Journey (which I ultimately did in a six for a dollar box). |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 7, 2014 8:36:37 GMT -5
Which is why I buy alot more trades today  |
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ironchimp
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Post by ironchimp on Jun 7, 2014 8:58:28 GMT -5
and you'd pay the premium because it was often a one man operation, doing something different, on an erratic schedule while trying to hold down a day job. However, once marvel and dc saw that people were willing to pay $2-$3 for a aardvark, a carrot, ninja animals, and all sorts of other lunacy they realised they had undervalued their properties for years and moved their prices in line with the indies.
That's how i understood it anyway - it had next to nothing do with superstar pencillers etc but the fact people were willing to pay double or sometimes triple the price of a major comic for an indie.
if anything - a creator owned book might actually be cheaper today than it was in the late 80s early 90s when you take account of inflation.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 7, 2014 9:26:00 GMT -5
I'm hoping that at some point, someone will realize how many comics move when comixology does sales, and try doing a print comic at a lower price point. You get more cash from selling 300K books at $1 than 30K at $3.99, after all. And the extra exposure and popularity could really be something.
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Post by thebeastofyuccaflats on Jun 7, 2014 10:35:34 GMT -5
I'm hoping that at some point, someone will realize how many comics move when comixology does sales, and try doing a print comic at a lower price point. You get more cash from selling 300K books at $1 than 30K at $3.99, after all. I'm afraid not. In fact, ridiculously low prices are essentially what did in the comics at the old magazine racks in supermarkets, drug stores, & such; the profits they brought in were too damn low, no matter how many comics units technically moved (wouldn't work in the direct market anymore, either-- at least beyond a promotion type thing a la 'Image Firsts' or 'After Watchmen'; dirt cheap prices are what did in Kurt Busiek's Untold Tales Of Spider-Man and Marvel's other 99-centers at the time). And making said comics digital I doubt would work, either. Sure, there's no printer, but sites don't just put stuff up by magic. There'd still be a staff needed there, and all that. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2014 11:19:23 GMT -5
Where comic increases in the 90s are concerned, Chuck at Mile High beats the name of Ron Perelman like a drum and lays blame on the collapse of the industry on him and his team.
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Jun 7, 2014 12:43:12 GMT -5
Where comic increases in the 90s are concerned, Chuck at Mile High beats the name of Ron Perelman like a drum and lays blame on the collapse of the industry on him and his team. For maybe the first and hopefully the last time ever, I mostly agree with Chuck. Carl Icahn had a lot to do with it, and Ike Perlmutter was involved as well, though he ended up saving Marvel in the end. There was a really detailed and interesting book about the machinations behind the 90's crash called Comic Wars: www.amazon.com/Comic-Wars-Marvels-Battle-Survival/dp/0785116060It's got a ton of business detail, so it may not be of interest to everyone, but it explains everything that went on |
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Post by maddog1981 on Jun 7, 2014 15:51:03 GMT -5
$4.99 is probably my line in the sand for comics. It's just pathetic grabbing a couple of books at the shop and having to fork over $20 for it. The only thing that really keeps me reading currently is using DCBS and the discounts I get for that monthly. Otherwise I'd probably be reading 2 or 3 books a month or none at all.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2014 16:07:03 GMT -5
and you'd pay the premium because it was often a one man operation, doing something different, on an erratic schedule while trying to hold down a day job. However, once marvel and dc saw that people were willing to pay $2-$3 for a aardvark, a carrot, ninja animals, and all sorts of other lunacy they realised they had undervalued their properties for years and moved their prices in line with the indies. That's how i understood it anyway - it had next to nothing do with superstar pencillers etc but the fact people were willing to pay double or sometimes triple the price of a major comic for an indie. if anything - a creator owned book might actually be cheaper today than it was in the late 80s early 90s when you take account of inflation. I always thought the quality of materials used in indy comics of the 80's were superior too. Not to mention the near complete lack of ads, excusing one or two in-house ads at the back of the book. The covers were nicer, they had on average about 50% more pages, the paper was thicker and whiter. The printing was sharper and finer. You could see fine details in ink work. And the ones that had color, the color was nicer. I've never liked how newsprint felt on my thumbs. Something a little sturdier is nice. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2014 16:11:01 GMT -5
I'm hoping that at some point, someone will realize how many comics move when comixology does sales, and try doing a print comic at a lower price point. You get more cash from selling 300K books at $1 than 30K at $3.99, after all. And the extra exposure and popularity could really be something. They might be able to print up reprints of bestsellers and sell them at a dollar and still make a profit, but I doubt they could with new and original content. The cost of manufacturing and shipping and distribution and retail likely add up to more than a dollar, not counting the talent's cut. Kind of like video games, Sony could end the XBox by releasing all new games at $20, but that wouldn't cover the cost of development. After they've sold a million copies and everyone got a check they drop the price of the greatest hits games to $20, when it's really just the cost of a disc at that point. |
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ironchimp
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Post by ironchimp on Jun 7, 2014 16:57:50 GMT -5
and you'd pay the premium because it was often a one man operation, doing something different, on an erratic schedule while trying to hold down a day job. However, once marvel and dc saw that people were willing to pay $2-$3 for a aardvark, a carrot, ninja animals, and all sorts of other lunacy they realised they had undervalued their properties for years and moved their prices in line with the indies. That's how i understood it anyway - it had next to nothing do with superstar pencillers etc but the fact people were willing to pay double or sometimes triple the price of a major comic for an indie. if anything - a creator owned book might actually be cheaper today than it was in the late 80s early 90s when you take account of inflation. I always thought the quality of materials used in indy comics of the 80's were superior too. Not to mention the near complete lack of ads, excusing one or two in-house ads at the back of the book. The covers were nicer, they had on average about 50% more pages, the paper was thicker and whiter. The printing was sharper and finer. You could see fine details in ink work. And the ones that had color, the color was nicer. I've never liked how newsprint felt on my thumbs. Something a little sturdier is nice. yeah that's a good point too - indie publishers drove up printing, paper stock, and colour processes to create higher (and more expensive) production standards. Dc and Marvel were slow but eventually they saw that they had to follow suit as people were willing to pay a premium for superior quality. nexus was $1.50 in 1983 which with inflation = $3.60 today eightball was $2 in 1989 which with inflation = $3.80 today so prices in indie sector have basically followed inflation for 30 years. |
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Post by the4thpip on Jun 8, 2014 2:27:38 GMT -5
I'm hoping that at some point, someone will realize how many comics move when comixology does sales, and try doing a print comic at a lower price point. You get more cash from selling 300K books at $1 than 30K at $3.99, after all. And the extra exposure and popularity could really be something. Marvel did try that in the late 90s. And even though they tried different concepts (from kid-friendly retelling of old X-Men stories to very 90s action-oriented Avengers titles to Kurt Busiek's brilliant "Untold Tales of Spider-Man"), the experiment failed. |
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