Some breaking news from DC. I am not sure Lunar is ready to handle this, but it is an interesting development.
"In April, UCS Comic Distributors and Lunar Distribution partnered with DC to transition to a multi-distributor model for the Direct Market, at a time when comic book distribution was on pause and the supply chain disrupted as a result of the safer-at-home orders that were put in place. We are now in our next phase where, as of January 1, 2021, DC publications will continue to be distributed in the Direct Market by Lunar Distribution, Diamond UK, and Penguin Random House (for graphic novels and collected editions only). UCS Comic Distributors will no longer distribute DC publications, but retailers can continue to order from UCS through the end of November.
We want to take this time to sincerely thank UCS for their help during this transition, and we will continue to provide all our support to UCS as retailers shift their accounts over to Lunar or other distributors.
Please Note: the last date to place FOC orders and reorders through UCS will be November 29, 2020. Any publication eligible for returnability must be returned to the distributor from which it was received by their returnability end dates; returns received after that end date cannot be accepted.
Additionally, DC is requiring that orders placed through Lunar Distribution total a minimum of $125 (USD) per weekly order based on retail sales value (cover price), or total $500 monthly. Orders that do not meet this amount will be held until further orders are added and the minimum is met, at which time the combined orders will be shipped. The minimum order requirement goes into effect with the December 6, 2020 FOC date. In order to help transition all accounts smoothly, information is below about how to sign up with Lunar Distribution. Should retail customers have any questions about transitioning to Lunar or another distributor, send an email to ComicShopQuestions@dcentertainment.com.
As always, DC remains committed to comics shops as the cornerstone of our industry. This community is the source of countless stories and relationships that inspire us and our fans every day. We thank you for your support, and we will continue to provide business updates as they happen.
Ya, it is pretty crazy. We use Lunar, and while I can say they are amazing at shipping, I do not believe their customer service is ready for this. They do not even have a phone number and it takes days to get email replies. I guess we will just have to wait and see how it goes!
Seems like DC may end up back at Diamond. With that being said has any retailer gotten a package from Plattsburgh? Seems that people who get their stuff from Plattsburgh are getting it from other distro centers.
How does a company that “services” clients operate without customer service and no phone number? That’s got red warning flags all over it…
I normally don’t buy from online shops that have zero contact info on them… Address and email at minimum, phone number goes above and beyond… if you don’t have 2 of the 3 listed, I’m not buying from you.
This is a fine mess. Will smaller comic shops be able to meet the $500 minimum even? I wonder if really small comic shops will outright stop carrying DC floppies?
Diamond just needs to hood out long enough and when dc comes back they really will have a monopoly on the industry. I shudder to imagine what the industry is going to look like in 6 months
100% agree. Not only is it not listed on the site, but if you ask them through email, they say they do not have an active phone #. I have asked if this is temporary (that was months ago) and they said they could not speak on it.
This is definitely bad for small shops, and very stupid for DC. For a little perspective, Diamond comics has a minimum monthly order of $425, and that is for all publishers except DC. So if shops want to have both, they have a minimum order of $925 a month. DC is the obvious one to be cut if shops are not able to meet that.
I feel like $500 monthly (cover price) is fairly easy to meet? I myself have to buy at least $100/mo in DC books, and I get a discount off of cover price at my LCS. That’s Batman, Tec, Death Metal, Joker War, odds and ends here and there + variant covers of a lot of books. I’m just 1 customer, and I feel like I have a smaller pull list than others who wait in line with me. I think $500 isn’t too much of a stretch. Batman costs $3.99/ea and 100 copies of that is $399.00 that is JUST BATMAN.