At the same time, don’t be a jerk. If you ask them to order 200 copies of Comic because you think it will be hot and spec is completely dead at release, don’t change your mind and force the shop to take the loss.
5 Likes
Yes, good point. If you are going to have a relationship with them, make it a mutually beneficial one. Both sides can benefit greatly from this, but if you burn bridges, don’t expect for them to stay in the relationship.
Also, remember that if you order 200 copies of something they will not all be 9.4-9.8s. With the way shipping is, it is not possible to get them all in that condition. If you order a few of something I can sift out the bad ones and take a loss on them (diamond does not take returns unless they are beat to hell), but that is a lot harder to do in large quantities.
My shop gave me the cover I ordered, but I heard they are sending some to CGC. So, I guess the customers didn’t get the best copies. I feel worse and worse about giving my money to them.
3 Likes
Ya, that is a bad move. 2 big red flags in comic shops are if they offer pre-order 9.8 graded comics or if they pre-sort the best ones to get graded. Both of these mean the general customers are not getting the good copies. You have to be unbiased when you are giving customers a product. If you have some at the end and you want to grade a few, fine. But if you are taking the best ones before the customers can, that is unfair.
3 Likes
Do you think this kind of bulk order relationship is only possible with a local comic shop? For example, does TFAW or PCK have the ability to ship 200 books? Or is shipping cost generally prohibitive? My LCS is Midtown Comics and I don’t think they would do this kind of thing. Very corporate. All of the small comic stores where I live have been wiped out. Would need to find some place else.
My guy would let you buy it for cover, then send it to CGC for you if you cover the grading charges.
Sure, we do this. I have a few customers that order in very large quantities that I work deals with. For example, higher percent off based on quantity or if we do not bag and board them all (we have a few customers where we just bag and board incentives). Instead of buying through the site, my regulars just email me what they want and I create a custom invoice based on an agreed upon discount + shipping costs. As an example, a full Diamond box can hold 150-200 comics and ships for $30-$40, so shipping cost is a big factor, but is usually still negated by savings.
2 Likes
If I ran a shop, pre-orders of 1 or 2 copies of repeat customers I wouldn’t charge up front costs. But even if they were weekly loyal customers, any that wanted to do a big bulk order like that to get the incentives or just a huge amount of books, I’d make them front the money to place the order.
The issue here is that even if they have already paid for them, you are required to take returns in some situations. So, they could return all the books and leave you holding the bill.
Very true, but paying up front lessens the risk. If they were a loyal repeat customer though, I’d probably tell them all sales final unless they arrive damaged, then they just work with me to get replacements from Diamond.
Someone walking in off the street for the first time asking if they can order 200 copies of Venom #35 to get 2 of the 1:100 variants or what not, I’d just tell them sorry, can’t do that.
2 Likes
Many online shops would be able to ship 200 comics. We used to have some overseas customers that would all order together under one account and get a pallet of boxes every month sent to them.
But bigger orders might be split up into several boxes, and when you get to that kind of bulk shipping you need to expect at least some of them might show up a bit more beat up just because whatever is on the bottom (depending on which way the carriers store it) is having a lot of weight pushing down on it.
Agreed. I normally do not offer the ability to due special orders in bulk to anyone unless they are long time regulars. The only reason I actually offer these things here is because my experience with the people of this community has been very good.
3 Likes
And we’ll help you hunt them down if they try and screw you over… 
3 Likes
If they do it that way, that’s when you make it a new inventory/line item (like I suggested to PCK previously) where you call it like “200 Comic 2 100 Bundle - $500” so if they wanted to return it, they couldn’t just return the individual books and keep the 1:100s.
1 Like
This is very important. While I always separate out incentives and give them extra protection etc. There is some additional risk to buy in very large numbers.
Yup, exactly what I would do. It’s all or nothing. All sales final unless they arrive damaged, then we just work it out together with Diamond.
1 Like
Shop I visited yesterday (I don’t visit often simply due to distance). Fellow was walking out with a box of 100 copies. Since he preordered and paid for a hundred copies, he was also provided with all associated variants the 100 copies provided. I thought that was pretty cool. I’m not a big spender like that…but that was a great buy/investment imo.
3 Likes
I just read the first issue and thought it was good. I was surprised to see a few youtube videos trashing the comic. Saying Disney is dealing garbage and suckering in people to buy junk.
2 Likes
Maybe they are just mad they did not pre-order enough copies 
7 Likes
Youtube algorithms favor inflammatory content. They get more clicks and views for hot takes. Nobody wants to watch a video that says “Thing you expected to be good is good and you should feel good about it.” These learning algorithms know that we engage with social media platforms to a higher degree if we connect on a negative base level.
See: Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now
5 Likes