Digital vs hard copy....what do you buy and why?

[Ohnooze]

I'm just getting back into comics after 25 years of not picking one up. The whole digital option seems to have drastically changed things.

Back in the day you bought a hard copy bagged it with a backboard and put it in the box and saved it because one day it would be worth something. 25 years later most everything I bought is really pretty common. In fact the local shop has pretty much everything I had saved 25 years ago. It seems to me that comics now are pretty much worthless unless you own a business. And really if you wanted to sell your comics, unless it is something really rare, you may not even get what you paid for it.

So coming back to comic I find myself at a cross roads...hard copies will only take up space really. Seems like the only reason to buy a hard copy is because of your own love for that particular comic.

Am I wrong? Am I misunderstanding how things work now?

[FishyZombie]

more of a digital guy. Its just less of a hassle. Plus there are no comic book stores near me, so I don't have to deal with the guilt about not supporting small businesses.

[Lee Stone]

Digital.

Less physical storage space required. So more house space.
Easily transported. I had to move 50 miles a few years ago, in my truck, in the rain... So I had to make one trip just to carry comics.
Less expensive. Prices don't go up on back-issues. They actually go down.
Convenience. I can buy any comic I want without having to drive into town. And I can get new comics the day they come out.
More convenience. No matter what I may want to read, they're easily found on a whim and I don't have to search through boxes or pull stacks of comics out.

[Dark-Flux]

Still collect trades and HCs, but floppy wise im mostly digital.
Theres still a few series i get in physical format but the list is ever dwindling.

[HauntedCastle]

I'm getting back into comics now for the first time since my childhood and although I could go digital, I find it more satisfying to have the actual comics. Part of it is nostalgia, part of it is because I have a few shops near my house and work and part of it is because I like the "collecting" mentality, even if they will be worth pennies when I am on my death bed.

[Ohnooze]

So basically I'm not missing out on anything or making a bad financial decision if I go digital.....

[JasonTodd428]

Digital though I do still buy the trades for books I particularly enjoyed.

I simply don't have the room to store single issues so between that and a management change at my LCS that left me unhappy I decided to go fully digital as of Rebirth. The best part about it, for me anyway, is that I can get any book I want the day its released or even weeks later if I want without having to worry about whether the shop got their shipment on time or not or that the issue will be sold out.

[steeplejack2112]

I'm getting back into comics now for the first time since my childhood and although I could go digital, I find it more satisfying to have the actual comics. Part of it is nostalgia, part of it is because I have a few shops near my house and work and part of it is because I like the "collecting" mentality, even if they will be worth pennies when I am on my death bed.

I'm with you. I also enjoy the collecting aspect. I can understand how reading digital is good for saving space, but I think digital comics are a waste of money. Just my opinion.

[AlexanderLuthor]

There are certain books I but floppies of because I have been for years and like to collect (Batman, Superman, JL). Everything else I buy digital

[Bor]

So basically I'm not missing out on anything or making a bad financial decision if I go digital.....

Well yes and no. While its true most modern comics are unlikely to make you a huge profit there are a few odd examples like walking dead 1. Even normal issues will offer atleast some resale value, though not much. Digital comics offer no resale value at all. But if you go in with the expectation of being to make money on this then you are setting yourself up for a fall. Its really a personal choice. I dont buy single physical single issues because it a lot cheaper for my because I live in a different country.

[Austin316]

Digital for speculative, trade for collecting.

For instance, I'm buying Rebirth issues digitally and will probably buy the first few of the series that interest me, then I'll probably trade wait after that.

[GlennSimpson]

My story is this: I still buy print issues, because I buy them from Discount Comic Book Service at such a big discount (and with a lack of sales tax) that way more than makes up for what I pay for shipping. So for a $2.99 comic I pay like $1.79 or less.

If I wanted to do better than this for digital, I would have to wait 1-2 months for DC's price to go down, and wait for Marvel to have their sales, which would still mean waiting a long time for me to get the cheapest price on the books. So for me, right now, print is actually still cheaper to get books that have just come out. I have a lot of space dedicated for comics storage so it's not too much of a problem yet.

If there comes a time when I can buy digital day-and-date for cheaper than print, then I will switch.

[Bor]

My story is this: I still buy print issues, because I buy them from Discount Comic Book Service at such a big discount (and with a lack of sales tax) that way more than makes up for what I pay for shipping. So for a $2.99 comic I pay like $1.79 or less.

If I wanted to do better than this for digital, I would have to wait 1-2 months for DC's price to go down, and wait for Marvel to have their sales, which would still mean waiting a long time for me to get the cheapest price on the books. So for me, right now, print is actually still cheaper to get books that have just come out. I have a lot of space dedicated for comics storage so it's not too much of a problem yet.

If there comes a time when I can buy digital day-and-date for cheaper than print, then I will switch.

If I was american I would likely do the same. For me the math is very different. A new 2,99 comic will cost me 27 danish kr for a physical issue and 21 kr for a digital issue. Waiting for the drop for a digital issue means that after a month or two that same issue will cost me 13 danish kr or 7 danish kr if I wait for a sale. The saving is even higher for a 3,99 issue.

[Batarang]

TPBs and HCs for me. I just get TPBs and HCs anymore. I actually started to seriously collect with trades and HCs 13 years ago then i switched to single issues for a while cause i heard Didio say in an interview or something '' single issues are what keeps us going '' or something like that... It was so long ago, (i can't remember what didio excatly said but it was something like that) so i switched to single issues cause i really wanted to support DC... and it seemed like single issues were the way but i realized that i still wanted the HCs and TPBs even if i had the single issues and it was so expensive to collect single issues, i had to order 2 orders each month... the shipping cost was so much and i had to deal with customes problems... so i switched back to HCs and Trades again cause i could order two orders evey 4 month like that, alot cheaper and less costumes problems and HCs and TPBs were what i really wanted... happy end

[GreenLanternRanger]

I'm physical for comics. I just feel its more worth my money to have something I can hold in my hands.

I dont mind digital for games, movies & music, but I gotta have physical for books and comics.