A year and a half ago, I attended an investor conference where Marvel (prior to its acquisition by Disney) presented, and the speaker was John Turitzin, EVP & General Counsel. His presentation was relatively standard fare (for those of us who have been to this type of dog and pony show before), but then someone brought up the issue of recent price increases from $2.99 to $3.99. Turitzin responded (care of Robot 6):
“We’re always testing our pricing on our comic books to see to the extent to which it is inelastic, and we can increase our profit in that business,” Turitzin said. He added that different books have different price points, noting the most popular titles saw a price increase, while the lower-selling monthlies, as well as the comics aimed at kids, did not. “We’re just looking to maximize our profits for that business while not alienating our own fan base by making them feel that they’re gouged, which I hope you don’t feel,” he told the fan.
“Our goal is to maximize our revenue, and if we’re not maximizing revenue then our pricing is wrong, and we have to take a look at that … so you can hope we see that attrition, and our prices come down.”
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DC Entertainment
- All 32-page (standard) comics to $2.99 from $3.99
- Majority of 40-page comics will move to 32-page format and lower price to $2.99
- Story content from 22 pages to 20 pages (meaning two more pages of ads)
- Oversized, specials and annuals will still be priced higher
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Marvel Entertainment
- NEW books will be priced at $2.99 instead of $3.99 beginning in January
- Both companies also alluded to reductions in their overall lines, as well, but didn’t elaborate
This is something [the fans] are asking for, and we want them to show us that it does mean something. Because really, the conventional wisdom up till this point have been that the fans will pay whatever it takes to buy their favorite comics, and I think there's a certain amount of cynicism in that. And I think it ultimately leads to the destruction of our business because you can't just keep asking people to buy more and more expensive books, especially in a down economy like we're experiencing.
Jason is a mutant with the ability to squeeze 36 hours into every 24-hour day, which is why he was able to convince his wife he had time to join the iFanboy team on top of running his business, raising his three sons, and most importantly, co-hosting the 11 O'Clock Comics podcast with his buddies Vince B, Chris Neseman and David Price. If you are one of the twelve people on Earth who want to read about comics, the stock market and football in rapid fire succession, you can follow him on Twitter.
Clearly, Mr. Turitzin should have had security remove the fan at last year’s meeting………
I have no idea how this will play out in the longer term, but i expect a noticeable increase in unit sales for the first several months of the new pricing system (ie..fans like me will likely buy a few extra titles with the money "we save").
Nice Job as always Jason.
A couple of thoughts occur to me. The number of page reduction might help more artists get their work done on time. And would not have to hurt their bottom line if paid on a per page basis. Before they did 10 issues a year: 220 pages. Now they do 11 issues: 220 pages. With 10% more time per month available, fewer missed deadlines and skipped issue. Assuming the artists don’t just adjust to new schedule and are similarly late. But if per page, the lateness will mean less moolah.
The price paint is an issue to me, but it tends to rank #3 on my list. First is how excited I am for the creators/team, second is how religious I am about collecting the work (I know, sad, but what ya gonna do), and third comes price. When I pick my comics, I always throw back a few that I didn’t really need and those are almost always the $3.99 books. If most people are like me, the $2.99 DC price point will have only a minor effect on month to month sales. The biggest effect those prices have on me is every time I think about dropping or scaling way back on this hobby because it is too darn expensive. That won’t effect month to month decisions, but has a retarding effect on industry growth in general. I suspect the DC rollback difference from Marvel won’t last long enough to gauge that sort of effect, especially as $3 is already a lot to pay per book.
I know that I’ll buy more. Can’t speak for anyone else.
I may be buying 1 more book per week thanks to this, but that’s not a very significant change. However, I’ll probably be less likely to drop books after a bad (or not very interesting) issue or two. At least, I’ll probably be more likely to finish out an arc (for example, with too many $4 books too quickly eating up my weekly budget, I recently dropped some books mid-arc that were just mediocre to me, like Birds of Prey and Green Arrow, and last year with Streets of Gotham and Gotham City Sirens).
I’d like to say that the price point is an issue, but it just isn’t for me. This is actually one of the cheaper hobbies I have (waaaaay below drinking as it relates to expense). I just want to pick up books that are good reads. It’s almost more insult to injury when I’ve bought a book that was bad for $3.99, but isn’t a factor on how much I buy in the first place.
I fear a massacre of low- and mid-range books is on the horizon.
@conor I think that’s the next logical step if $2.99 doesn’t show marked unit growth.
The creator question is a big one for me. While they might lose the income of 2 pages per book (which can be substantial), there’s probably a better chance of the book surviving if people are more likely to buy a $3 book over a $4 book. I hope it doesn’t sting the creators too much. It’ll be interesting to watch.
@Wood: And it sucks because my favorite books tend to live in those ranges. We’ll see.
I dropped quite a few books over the last year from both DC and marvel because they went to $4. If they were to go back to $3, I would probably pick most of them up again. Not all, because some have been replaced by other/new series.
Do you think they’ll pull a backsies and go back to $3.99 before dropping the lower sellers?
After this announcement I became a little more lax on trimming my pull list. I was going to reduce it by a good 25%, but with the reduction in price, I might keep it the same size for the sake of supporting my favorite books.
The proposed derivative impact of #1s was an interesting point. How many #1 issues flooded shelves this summer? I am really curious to see where we are this time next year.
to be brutally honest i’m likely to just pocket the extra savings, which overall will keep me in the hobby longer. I’m not necessarily going to spend that extra money on an extra book or two each week just because i have "allowance money" to spend…is that what the big plan is? Yahoo did a similar story this morning on how Wallmart tried this strategy with ramping up "rollbacks" as loss leaders hoping consumers would buy other products when they were in the store….sales actually went down, with sale items being the prime purchases.
If a new series or mini is put out that looks really interesting i’ll be a bit more likely to check it out at 2.99, but i’m not going to buy extra books that i wouldn’t have before just because they are a buck cheaper.
@Conor – It’s inevitable. And, yeah, it sucks.
Personally, I’m willing to try more books (or return to books) at lower price points. Not sure if I’d choose a 2.99 new book over a 3.99 book I’m buying and enjoying – not quite following Marvel’s logic with its plan – but if there’s an interesting creative team on an interesting concept, I’ll try it.
I think the big thing was the way the prices just seemed to increase by 33% overnight. Past price increases were more gradual – with this trend of $4 books, you go to the shop, you’re paying $1 more for the same book you bought last month.
My only concern is how long is this going to last? And what will be the effects when prices do bounce up again? Will they only jump by that "missing" dollar, or will companies feel like they need recoup that lost income and raise prices by $1, $1.25, more? It’ll be good while it lasts, but nothing lasts forever.
I’m not going to be buying more or less. I’m just gonna stay right where I am.
I’ll buy a little bit more 3$ books in support of this. One xtra title and a mini per year + one shots here and ther.
What I want to know is why did they increase prices to $3.99 in the first place? Why not $3.25, which would have been a more modest increase? Anyway…
A bunch of thoughts:
Much like when they raised prices, the effect of this move will not be known for at least a year. I hope DC gives this move enough time to work its way into people’s buying habits.
This move won’t likely cause me to spend any more money — my budget is $50/month, regardless. But, this will translate into more issues purchased, certainly. It will also mean that, through natural attrition, I will likely buying less Marvel books over time,assuming that Marvel doesn’t have a glut of new $2.99 titles on the market. If other people are like me, that should help DC’s market share in the long run.
I think DC was wise to frame the move as "All of our ‘standard’ books are $2.99." I think that’s going to stick in people’s minds. People are going to simplify their mental math to: DC = $2.99, Marvel = $3.99. (It’s practically that way now. This just cements it in people’s minds.)
This move may get people to try other DC series. If that happens, it’s a big win for DC. We comic buyers are creatures of habit, after all. If we get hooked, they’ve got us. 😉
I live in the inelastic consumer section. I get 3 to 4 books a week and will often drop books when my buys become larger in quantity. Exceptions based upon ‘ends of runs’ and mini series
The next time you guys are feeling hard done by just remember this.
As of about 40 minutes ago the Australian dollar was worth 99 cents US. We still have to pay over five bucks for our comics.
While i will continue to pay this much for comics I do see a point where i will stop going weekly and limit the amount i buy
My recent decision to cut back on single issues was partly due to the increasing number of $3.99 books but more importantly due to upcoming huge life changes (soon-to-be father of twins). If this price reduction means I can fit more titles into my measly $25/month budget, so be it, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to add more books to my pull list simply because they’re $2.99 instead of $3.99.
@edward – That’s why I’m going more and more digital. Even full priced digital books are half the price of store bought in Australia. I get that they have to account for shipping but "just doubling the US price" has always seemed a tad exorbitant.
I think this will have a minor impact, but price is only one reason for poor sales. Access is a huge problem as well. The business model as a whole is the problem.
This is a well written article with a very solid discussion of elasticity (and I will be using it in class next semester).
During the Digital Distribution panel the Marvel rep (whose name escapes me) casually mentioned that Marvel’s digital approach is ALREADY profitable. That tells me that digital is now viewed as a legitimate approach. This could be influencing the pricing decision.
I’d also argue that there is a bit of income elasticity at work with the trades and/or issues. It is entirely possible that comics are price inelastic (over the relevant range), but income elastic (essentially a luxury good at certain income levels). It is possible the income effects are driving the (relatively meager) changes we are seeing.
Always interesting stuff Wood. Hopefully, this will translate into more sales, and I know I’d be more willing to check things out or pick up extra books. I just don’t know how big of a push it will give to the market, even if a bunch of people are in my same position. My fingers are certainly crossed.
If anything, I appreciate that DC and Marvel and listening to the fans and giving us the opportunity to back up all our complaining.
Thanks for breaking down the information like this, Jason. As soon as the news came down about the price changes, I was looking forward to you writing this article. Your analysis is always helpful.
What’s interesting about the digital side being profitable is that it’s mostly dominated by older stuff selling for less than 2.99 an issue. That’s something the LCS doesn’t do. If they sell out, they sell out. They don’t really have an unlimited stock of old issues and what they do put in the back issue bins doesn’t get the same attention old stuff on the app does. The app has so much potential to expand the audience in ways an LCS or a trade on a bookshelf can. I’m just waiting for digital subscriptions.
I buy between 12-16 books a month and my rule has always been I will pay $3.99 for a mini but not an ongoing and $3.50 for a book not from Marvel/DC because I’m willing to pay more for indie content. All of my Marvel/DC ongoings are $2.99. I think if these went up to $3.99 some would make the cut and some wouldn’t. If I look at Vertigo for example I can’t fathom dropping Fables or Scalped in any situation but I’m fairly confident that if Unwritten and Sweet Tooth went up to $3.99 they would be gone. I dropped American Vampire for just that reason because I enjoyed but wasn’t in love with the title. On another note, one thing that hasn’t been mentioned is that what I will call franchises (Batman, X-Books, Avengers, etc.) are seeing a significant increase in number of books published. In other words, publishers will sell 6 Batbooks at $2.99 instead of 2 at $3.99 in the hope of getting Bat readers to buy all of them thus maximizing the overall profit of the franchise. Unfortunately this means, as Conor said, that midrange books particularly – I might add – ones not connected to a larger franchise are in serious jeopardy. I worry in particular about Secret Six and Brave and the Bold (the only 2 mainstream DC books I read) as well as Shield, X-Factor and yes, even Fantastic Four simply because all of these books exist outside of a franchise. (Yes X-Factor is technically an X-book but it has nothing to do with the rest of the X-Universe really and a good chunk of X-Factor readers don’t read the other X-books). If I’m DC looking at profit margins it almost makes more economic sense to cancel Secret Six in favor of a seventh Bat book because odds are good that most of the Bat readers – a market much larger than Secret Six readers – will purchase that book. Scary to think that if these books disappear I may just be reading a handful of Vertigo and indie titles. And after Scalped and Fables end I could see myself leaving the issue market altogether. I would really urge people to take a closer look at these stand-alone midrange titles. Because their creators aren’t bound by decades of continuity and crossovers – in my humble opinion and echoing Conor – these books have some of the best content out there. We just saw new column promoting indie books. Maybe a new column promoting low-mid range books from the big 2 would be useful as well? Secret Six and X-Factor alone should be top 50 books. (Again just an opinion but a heartfelt one).
It was Ira Rubenstein (I believe) from Marvel who mentioned that digital was already profitable for them.
Great stuff. Thanks Jason.
Great read, though I don’t know what you mean by "draconian measures" and I don’t think I want to.
I have never understood the Marvel limited series $3.99 price point. Limited series are extremely dicey affairs. Often with borderline characters, new creators, new artists, and a storyline that generally does not need to be told and won’t be part of the big story (i.e. continuity) Marvel is telling. Limited series are often a way for the Big 2 to test the waters, test new talent, test character viability. Why am I being asked to pay MORE for that over an established writer, artist, character, team I am enjoying. In addition to all that, the completionist compulsive in me is highly unlikly to let me purchase only 2 out of 4 issues of such a story. In for a penny, I am generally in for a pound (unless it is truly ass-tastic). Knowing that all going in, the $3.99 price tag makes a HUGE difference to me and I generally avoid Marvel limited series.
Event books are a different animal and it makes sense to jack the price up there, but if it is forlorn lost tale of Spidey and the Shocker told by J.P. Nobody and illustrated by Brazilian guy who might be great or awful, why in God’s name would I pay more for that? I am sure Marvel marketers are not fools. Am I alone feeling this way? Do most people get lured in my by the shiny #1 on the cover? Or the banner claiming a distant connection to an event people are already tired of? Maybe I am being too down on Limited Series.
I’m certainly more likely to try and buy a comic if it’s cheaper. I don’t have a tight budget so I’m not sure if I’ll buy more or less. I’m trying to cut back now due to time and interest more than anything.
To be honest I was just starting to break on the 3.99 books. Emerald Warriors, Uncanny X-Force and Batman, Inc. would be my first ongoing 3.99/32p books. I was all set for the inevitable 3.99 price all around. So this was a pleasant surprise. I already buy a lot more DC than Marvel and will continue to so now that their comics remain cheaper across the board.
Im sad to say that the price change wont affect my buying habbits. I would never drop a book just because it was priced a dollar more, I might however skip a new book that is priced 3.99 as opposed to 2.99, so if DC starts putting out more books I want then I might try more of them but for the near future it doesnt look like my pull list is going to get any longer.
Great article Jason. I do wonder that if page numbers go down we won’t see an increase of books by top creators and a decrease of books by mid level talent but the number of books remains stagnet due to readers habits. Like most things I think that only time will tell
My only feeling is that the comic publisher have had $3.99 books for about the last two years… I hope they give this "rollback" plan the same 2 years to rebound. Nothing will happen overnight.
the Tiki
@ everyone- The question on whether the $2.99 books doing better than $3.99 is a bit futile if you asked me because in the end; the creators and powers to be of the big two (and lets not forget the indie companies because should be included in this transition as well) have a lot to live up to with this pricing. As a consumer, I can’t afford to buy a $3.99 book on a consistent basis. Sometimes I carry the same behavior practice the same behavior when selecting $2.99 books too. Lately I’ve been very selective in picking out titles and my picks are usually initiated by the creative teams on them.
I’m going to remain patient with this turn of events and I’m optimistic that the companies will remain cognitive of this matter.
I will buy more comics if they are all 2.99. It is as simple as that, I’m not going to put down 4-5 bucks on something that is new that I want to try, but i will throw down 3 bucks. Like this weeks Strange Tale’s, I would have bought it, but it was 5 bucks, so no thank you.
Unforunately, the trend is already in place. It is sad that comics are going the way of most traditional print media. I think the future model will eventually be digital comics will come out first followed 6 months later by the trade. Will monthly issues go away completely? No, but be prepared to pay a premium such short print runs.
I happened to ask my neighborhood shopkeep about this today, and he could not have been happier about it as a retailer. His argument was that, when the Big Two were touting that no one would drop a book over a dollar, they may have been right about that but there was no measurement for the new books that would never get tried. Not that I have any examples in Doctor Voodoo, er, I mean, in mind.
From a personal standpoint, I am gobsmacked. I can only remember one other instance when this has happened, and by "remember" I mean "remember reading about from before I was born." And at that time, they dropped the number of story pages to something like seventeen.
as far as creators go and losing profits, they need to evolve or get a new job. Its harsh but its true. Its up to them to learn how to streamline their own process or add skill sets to make up revenue lost by less page count. Pencillers should learn how to ink and color and keep the extra revenue. Writers should learn how to letter and do production on their own books etc…There are creators out there who do this quite successfully (Guilroy and Layman come to mind) and i really think that is the next evolution of the comic creator.
Every other commercial art field except for comics has merged specialized production jobs into one key job with the help of technology and education. The comic industry is trapped in commercial art models straight out of the mid 20th century with specialized trades that are incredibly inefficient and more importantly expensive. The average monthly comic requires 6-10 people to produce it. That screams of inefficiency and seems like a huge reason why costs are rising and profits are declining. I can’t think of any other facet of the illustration (except animation) world that requires so many collaborators to turn in one assignment. I don’t think this workflow would be accepted in any other creative industry.
@Wood: I just realized your Pay Attention! posts have stopped, and now I miss them. Have you not found anything interesting on the internets lately?
@Cornelius
That was David Brothers.
I miss them a lot as well.
The drop down in price is a wining situation for myself, as well as many others. I may not spend the money on a new book in one particular week, but I will have the money for the following week just in case a extra book comes out I want to purchase. If I don’t spend it on any issues for a month or more, I will have money for an extra trade(WIN!!!)
@wallythegreenmonster, There are guys like Eric Shanower, whom write and draw and the issues and they still cost about the same, it takes much longer hence the increase in price. The average comic meaning DC and Marvel pay for a lot of over head, which drives up the price. Kirklsnd bought up the profit of selling less issues versus Marvel in his debate with Bendis.
That $1 difference means a lot to a student like me
Perosnally I’ll be picking up more titles. At the very least I’ll be going back and picking up Emerald Warriors which I left alone because of the 3.99 price point.
@JimBilly – I always thought the $3.99 for Marvel minis had something to do with having to assign staff. For example whereas regular books have regular editors, an editor has to be assigned a mini for a few months. Its an extra chore. Likewise for artists and writers who are only available for a short engagement. I guess I thought it was an extra expense for the company so I didn’t mind paying. Of course at this point when I talk about Marvel minis that I buy I’m basically talking about DnA’s cosmic books and I like their work so much that I would probably pay $3.99 for it in any situation. I do also pick up the occasional Marvel Knights title.
The $2.99 / $3.99 price point only affects my decision when I’m on the fence about something. If it’s a book / character /creator I like and it’s $3.99 I pick it up. If I’m undecided on picking something up, a $3.99 price point makes my mind up for me and pushes me away.
Case in point – Uncanny X-Force. I was on the fence; not an X-Men fan but always intrigued. Not a huge Remender fan but I love Opena. It gets much praise and POTW so I was on the verge of buying it – but the $3.99 price was the deciding factor in me putting it back on the shelf.
Still to expensive to consider buying regularly in Australia.
But if they put that stuff on their app for $2.99 I’ll happilly buy it.
Personally, I’ll be adding more books. Come January, I can think of six right off the top of my head that will be added to my pull list. I refuse to pay four bucks for a 22-pager, so these will all be new sales for DC.
As for Marvel, I like to read about cohesive universes. I’m tempted to drop my remaining three marvel books and spend the funds over at DC (althought it’s looking like Hawkeye & Mockingbird is probably going to be dropped for me) since I’m going to have to dance and weave my way around the four dollar books. It’s too much…and they already convinced this life-long Avengers fan that the world still spins while not reading their books.
Kudos to DC, and I’m going to try my damndest to stay glass-half-full on this one. I just hope the rest of the price-boycotters come back into the fold.
It will definitely be easier to add more titles at the $2.99 price point.With the $3.99 I really have to think it over before adding that title to my monthly list.Also I find that $3.99 titles are so much easier to cancel where a $2.99 title I will give it a bit longer.
I have always been partial to Marvel but that could be changing just because of the cost.
I definitely think that 2.99 books will sell a whole lot better than 3.99 books one reason why is that last year I had to drop a lot of titles because a lot of them were going to 3.99 and I could not afford to get a lot of those titles anymore but know that DC and marvel might go back to the 2.99 price I will be able to pick up more titles agian and I now what happend to me happend to a lot of other people too also another reason is that a lot of the books that are selling for 3.99 are not worth it
Well I know I’ll definitely be picking up Batman INC and The Dark Knight now that I’ll only have to pay $3.99 for the first two issues!!! Plus Action and GL: Emerald Warriors are great books so I definitely won’t mind paying a dollar less for only losing out on two pages!! I’m about to start picking up Detective again when the new arc starts so that’s another book I’ll start pulling again now for sure!! The truth is though, I probably would have bought all these books for $3.99 if the price hadn’t gone down, so I have no idea if that helps or hurts DC.
Whatever, as long as Morrison stays on Bats and Johns stays on the main GL book, I don’t see DC being in any kinda trouble.
I’m thinking this could only be a move to keep us the long time reader involved. I’m just speculating, but $2.99 is still way more than someone not invested in the title/character would probably spend for a book. So still few new readers, but it keeps us long timers with more book money.
Is this lower price going to reflect on trades also? On trades I was in Borders last weekend using my 40% coupon and talked to a mom (kinda hot) with her kid trying to figure out which Avenger book to get. I pointed her to the Marvel Adventures trades, but saw her point. Picking up issue #78 of a series could be daunting, but the trades should be more accessible to new readers. I read this crap and couldn’t pick a good new reader point on most of the series trades except Vertigo & Ultimate.
I budget myself $100 per month for comics. This change is good news that would be great if the general quality of DC’s books were up to the same level as Marvel. I may pick up some of the DC books that I dropped recently, but the fact is that I dropped them for reasons beyond pricing. This news says to me that Marvel is at a much more stable point in their operations than DC, and can afford to keep many of their books at 3.99.