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  1. #1
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    Default Is this a known thing among comic fans?

    Hello,
    I'm new into comic collection.
    I don't know if this is usual in the comic industry about prices going up within a few months time after their release, but recently I've been noticing a sharp increase in price (of collected editions, that initially, at the time of their release) costed much less.

    I mean the Omnibuses/TPBs/Collected Editions that released 6-8 months ago on Amazon, whose prices initially ranged from 20 to 50 dollars, now after 6-8 months their price actually ranges from 80 dollars to 135 dollars. Some even go as high as 200 dollars or more.
    ... And some of these brand new collected editions even become unavailable on Amazon, only to become available later (as used copies) from sellers with bad ratings.

    Is this a known thing among comic fans? Does the price goes up all of a sudden just a few months after their release?

  2. #2
    Incredible Member etrumble's Avatar
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    Yes.

    Supply and demand. True for any collectible. Conversely, if there are too many printed(compared to demand), the price may go down, although this is much less common.

  3. #3
    Moderator Balakin's Avatar
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    it always been a thing, depending on the demand (some books stayed in stock for years and years, other went OOP within a couple of months), but since the pandemic lots of books went out of print way faster than before and publishers were playing catch up with getting more stock.
    If you are really keen on getting specific editions I'd recommend preordering them (just make sure to be aware of Final cut off dates).

  4. #4
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    Thanks guys.

  5. #5
    Astonishing Member hyped78's Avatar
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    This is mostly seen on Omnibuses, rather than TPBs etc., I believe

  6. #6
    Moderator Balakin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hyped78 View Post
    This is mostly seen on Omnibuses, rather than TPBs etc., I believe
    Epics go out of print fast (and if I'm not mistaken they get reprints less frequently because of the slimmer profit margin) and some other chunkier trades (complete collections) do as well, depending on hype.

  7. #7
    Astonishing Member hyped78's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Balakin View Post
    Epics go out of print fast (and if I'm not mistaken they get reprints less frequently because of the slimmer profit margin) and some other chunkier trades (complete collections) do as well, depending on hype.
    You're right! I don't know why I didn't think of Epic Collections as I own quite a few of them and I've been hit by the OOP issue a fair amount of times. E.g. currently waiting for this reprint:
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...KL5A1OLE&psc=1

    Oh well, I will change my comment to "Yes, buy what you want fast before it goes OOP"

  8. #8
    Relaunched, not rebooted! SJNeal's Avatar
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    Personally, I think Epic Collections should be an evergreen format. When they first launched them (almost 10 yrs ago?), those first few rounds of releases were still available a couple of yrs later - I know, because I hesitated to see how soon Marvel would follow up, then scooped up something like 8 books in one order. Now, they go out of print *insanely* fast! All the while the paper quality has dropped while the prices have risen.
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  9. #9
    Extraordinary Member MRP's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SJNeal View Post
    Personally, I think Epic Collections should be an evergreen format. When they first launched them (almost 10 yrs ago?), those first few rounds of releases were still available a couple of yrs later - I know, because I hesitated to see how soon Marvel would follow up, then scooped up something like 8 books in one order. Now, they go out of print *insanely* fast! All the while the paper quality has dropped while the prices have risen.
    Marvel doesn't do evergreen books. They have nothing that continuously stays in print. They print to sell out. If something still has enough demand after it goes out of print, they will issue a new printing at some point, but nothing stays in print for them, and unless they know the new printing will also sell out, stuff doesn't go back to print. If something doesn't sell out, they misjudged the demand, it wasn't an intentional move on their part.

    -M
    Comic fans get the comics their buying habits deserve.

    "Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding." -Plato

  10. #10
    Relaunched, not rebooted! SJNeal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MRP View Post
    Marvel doesn't do evergreen books. They have nothing that continuously stays in print. They print to sell out. If something still has enough demand after it goes out of print, they will issue a new printing at some point, but nothing stays in print for them, and unless they know the new printing will also sell out, stuff doesn't go back to print. If something doesn't sell out, they misjudged the demand, it wasn't an intentional move on their part.

    -M
    Understood. It just seems like with pretty much any given volume from any Epic line going for $100+ on eBay less than a year after release, Marvel has been misjudging demand quite a bit. If one guy is willing to pay $100 for said book on the secondary market, I'm sure there are even more willing to pay $40 MSRP for the same book, were it readily available.

    Would Marvel rather have that money going in their pocket, or to some greedy little snot on eBay?
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  11. #11
    Extraordinary Member MRP's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SJNeal View Post
    Understood. It just seems like with pretty much any given volume from any Epic line going for $100+ on eBay less than a year after release, Marvel has been misjudging demand quite a bit. If one guy is willing to pay $100 for said book on the secondary market, I'm sure there are even more willing to pay $40 MSRP for the same book, were it readily available.

    Would Marvel rather have that money going in their pocket, or to some greedy little snot on eBay?
    Marvel doesn't care about the secondary market. They care about preorders and warehousing costs. Pre-orders set print runs. Printing more than preorders means warehousing extra copies until they are ordered. Amazon orders copies to keep on hand to sell for a longer window, and that's fine with Marvel as they don't have to pay warehousing on those, but if they print copies that aren't ordered initially by Amazon or other retailers, thy do have to pay warehousing costs. They do not want to pay those warehousing costs, as those fees are exorbitant and severely cut into margins on books that have to be warehoused as well as the entire print run of that book. Smaller margins means less profitability and sometimes less overall revenue even if you sell more copies. Selling an extra 400-500 copies by increasing the print run may not actually be profitable if they have to pay warehousing waiting for retailers to reorder after initial preorders are sold out, and will make less per copy sold. The only way print runs will increase is if initial orders increase. That is at the level of distributors and retailers, not on end customers who buy the books. It's the distributors who pay Marvel (probably less than $20 on that MSRP $40 book) not the end customers. Increasing costs to be paid by that $20/book by adding warehousing csts, doesn't make a lot of sense, even if it means selling a few more copies to end customers.

    -M
    Comic fans get the comics their buying habits deserve.

    "Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding." -Plato

  12. #12
    Relaunched, not rebooted! SJNeal's Avatar
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    ^ ^ ^

    "Why You Should Always Pre-Order Collections 101"

    FWIW, I'm never the guy actually hunting down and paying outrageous prices on eBay. I learned my lesson the hard way many years ago...
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  13. #13
    Mighty Member icctrombone's Avatar
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    try https://www.instocktrades.com they have many collected runs for a big discount.

  14. #14
    Fantastic Member slop101's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by icctrombone View Post
    try https://www.instocktrades.com they have many collected runs for a big discount.
    Only newer releases - they sell out quick! They also don't want to keep stock of too many books at once.

  15. #15
    Mighty Member icctrombone's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by slop101 View Post
    Only newer releases - they sell out quick! They also don't want to keep stock of too many books at once.
    I find quite a bit of the ominbus' and trades from past years. Anyway, it doesn't hurt to take a look. They still have the Thor epic books far cheaper than I see them for on eBay.

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