The Unspoken Crisis Killing Comic Shops!?

[GreenLanternRanger]

From Bleeding Cool

As the sign points out, Pack Rat has $1,481.20 in comics that were not picked up from their pull service in the last 3 months. Not I’m not sure if that’s cover value or the amount they paid, but either way those books are tying up their ability to order more inventory and since they are being held for customers, they can’t be sold.

If you are a subscriber at your local comic shop and haven’t picked up your books in a while… either head down and get them or set them free so they can find a good home and retailers can then cycle that money back into buying more books. Maybe we need #PickUpYourBooks

It’s the comic book circle of life… don’t be Scar.

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/01...l-comic-chops/

Personally I agree with the article. If you add a book to your pull list or special order an item you have an obligation to pick it up! Comic shops aren't Wal-Mart or Amazon. For them every sell counts!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

From Bleeding Cool

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/01...l-comic-chops/

Personally I agree with the article. If you add a book to your pull list or special order an item you have an obligation to pick it up! Comic shops aren't Wal-Mart or Amazon. For them every sell counts!

I agree. If you order books, then buy them!

[mortari]

That's what's killing my shop, over 1/2 his new inventory is stuck waiting for people with pull lists to show up.

[MindofShadow]

pull lists should be paying in advance.

I swear, comic shops have no hope at all

[Surf]

Soo, you can't tell a comic dork- 'Stud, you've got a finite amount of time to claim these books or else they go back on the shelf'. What comic store owner doesn't have a policy for this type of situation? Now not having had a pull list for some time now I may be missing something but feel this is in no small part a condition of the variant cycle retailers find themselves in. Seem like when you have to order 300 to get a handful of a certain issue, you're going to fill the buck bin or quarter bin up pretty damned fast over several months of time and a store already confined for space (I mean what comic stores aren't) that just pushes it to the limit.

[Panfoot]

I think my main comic book shop keeps books up to a month, maybe a month and a half at most, I remember when I first signed up one of the questions on the sheet was how often you expect to pick up your books(every week, every other week, every month, something like that). There pull list box seem to be about 3 short boxes behind the counter that never seem particularly overstuffed.

[GreenLanternRanger]

Yeah, how long a shop will hold your pull is all up to them. The shop I go to actually used to hold books for up to two months, but when they realized that caused people to be lazy about picking stuff up they moved to a 2 week and then they go back on the racks policy. Which thankfully seems to have worked well for them.

But yeah, I think a lot of the time customers both old and new take their LCS for granted far too often.

[ed2962]

Yeah, how long a shop will hold your pull is all up to them. The shop I go to actually used to hold books for up to two months, but when they realized that caused people to be lazy about picking stuff up they moved to a 2 week and then they go back on the racks policy. Which thankfully seems to have worked well for them.

But yeah, I think a lot of the time customers both old and new take their LCS for granted far too often.

That's what my store does. If you request a book, they give you 2 weeks then it goes back on the shelf.

[Brian Cronin]

The issue is that we're dealing with luxury items here. Therefore, any stricter standards would result in the customers simply ceasing to be customers of that store. Stores know this, hence the leeway that they give customers. It's just the nature of selling a luxury item.

But yes, of course the customers who don't pick up the books are ultimately at fault. People have a very strong tendency to absolve themselves of any number of "sins" like this.

[Vic Vega]

I knew dudes who had small long-boxes worth of stuff from their pull list that they had yet to claim.

And those weren't deadbeats, just chronic procrastinators.

That's why stores have to have a stricter policy on how long they hold books.

[Brian Cronin]

I knew dudes who had small long-boxes worth of stuff from their pull list that they had yet to claim.

And those weren't deadbeats, just chronic procrastinators.

That's why stores have to have a stricter policy on how long they hold books.

And if the stores had stricter policies, none of those guys would have picked up their comics "I'm a chronic prognosticator. Oh, they changed their terms on how long they hold books? Then I guess I'll change my entire personality!". It's not happening.

It's all a balancing act that the stores have to go through, judging how long is too long to hold the books, because whenever they decide to cut things off at, that's when they lose that customer. There are plenty of times, though, when that is the right play (don't throw good money after bad), but whenever point they chose, they're losing the customer at that point (obviously with some rare exceptions).

[Scott Taylor]

Retailers are in a tough spot here, and they have to identify the needs of their customer base and balance those against their need for consistent revenue. Pull lists are an expected convenience, but its the retailer's risk. Part of the business. I don't personally maintain one because I know I can be a flake about these things.

[JasonTodd428]

My local comic shop's policy on that is a bit strict because they simply don't have a lot of space. The longest they will hold onto books on a pull list is a month (as there are people who come once a month to pick up books) and if you fail to pick them up in that time then they will revoke your pull list and re-shelve the titles. Now they do call you before re-shelving the books or revoking your list because life happens sometimes but once they revoke your pull list you are not allowed to make a new one until some time has passed.