Batman/Deadpool Much Better Than Deadpool/Batman But Sold Worse

Posted in: Batman, Comics, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, X-Men | Tagged: Batman Deadpool, dan mora, deadpool, Deadpool/Batman, grant morrison, rob liefeld

Batman/Deadpool Much Better Than Deadpool/Batman But Sold Worse…

Brian Hibbs, owner of the Comix Experience comic book store in San Francisco, posted on social media regarding the sales of the recent Marvel/DC Comics crossover, starting with Deadpool/Batman from Marvel Comics.

“In the first fourteen days on sale we had a 100% sell-through on the stock we brought in. This includes 50 copies of the “A” cover and 70 mixed copies of 14 variant covers… All covers were identically priced by publisher at $6.99. We therefore grossed $838.80 of net sales. We also had two 1:50 ratio variants, and one 1:100. Those sold on eBay for a combined $105.59, so total gross sales on the Marvel version: $944.39. Our cost to buy those 123 comics, including shipping (which is $0.00 from PRH), was $404.09, so we made a gross profit of $540.30.”

Nice. But what about Batman/Deadpool from DC Comics?

“Because we sold out “so fast” on the Marvel edition (I was expecting to have stock for at least a month, I bumped the DC version a little bit… I ordered 60 copies of cover A (+20%), that seemed like a pretty reasonable risk based on the velocity of the Marvel edition. DC’s cover A was $7.99. We also ordered 85 mixed copies of 18 of the DC variant covers which… ran between $8.99 and $10.99 retail. We have sold 34 copies of cover A (a 57% sell-though), and only 33 total copies of the mixed variants (a wretched 39% sell-through) — three of the variant covers have not sold even a SINGLE copy in two weeks. This is despite more signage and more hand-selling (I thought the DC version was a far far superior comic book)” DC’s combined totals were $1253.55 of potential cover price, but we only sold $576.33 in gross dollars, and have $677.22 in inventory left over. There were no incentive variants on the DC versions, which means we grossed $944.39 on Marvel vs $576.33 on DC — DC is thus only 61% of dollar sales in the same period, despite being 14%+ more expensive of a cover price. Our cost to buy the $1253.55 worth of DC’s version was $564.10, but there’s also SHIPPING from Lunar. It’s REALLY hard to exactly figure out those expenses on individual comics, but overall our shipping costs have been recently close to 3.5% of cover price, so that would amount to lets pretend, another $43.87, for a total of (GUESS!) $607.97, which means that as of this moment, we took a _NET LOSS of $31.64 so far_ on the DC version in terms of cash flow. YES, we have copies still to sell, but I am guessing we won’t come close to 100% sell through on the book and will end up selling many copies at a loss at the end of the sales period. Maybe not! Maybe these will still be trickling out a few copies a month until next June! I would have liked to have that money RIGHT NOW, however, as it does me zero good to have these looking forlorn on the racks like that.”

So Brian Hibbs, so far, made a loss on DC’s Batman/Deadpool, and that’s not taking into account the man-hours spent receiving and selling copies, the store rental space taken up and other costs. He also adds, “we had exactly and precisely identical preorders on each version: 16 copies of cvr A” Notably, DC Comics declined to offer tiered ration covers for their covers, something that they have been doing less and less of, of late. So there was no additional eBay bump for retailers who ordered a goodly amount of copies. Other retailers shared similar stories;

• Fines Massey of Massey’s Comics in Lebanon, Missouri, writes; We had a similar situation here at my store. We sold out on Marvel by the first weekend. We still have copies of the DC. The extra price for variants is definitely a sticking point for customers. $7.99 is already a lot for a book. When you start tacking on a dollar or two, people start second guessing their choices.
• Mal Briggs of Impact Comics, Canberra, Australia, wrote, “Sold through the Marvel order in 3 days. Got a box of the DC one waiting for space on the rack where it is full on multiple spots.
• Ralph Watts of Comics and Paperbacks Plus of Susquehanna Valley, Pennsylvania, added, ” told you that DCs sell less than Marvels on the type of books. I guess your numbers prove me right. However I wish I was not. Since I ordered my Batman numbers and Deadpool numbers combined and added 3, since it was about 30 some issues. I sold out of both. I re ordered the Marvel one (got none on re order), because CIVILIANS asked about it after it shipped. Was not concerned on the DC one since no CIVILIANS cared. Cindy Sherwin Fournier from Diamond once said that you never lose money by selling out of a book. One of my rules of thumb.”
• Ron Hill of JHU Comic Books in Staten Island, New York, wrote, “We sold approximately 50% of the ordered copies. The DC version has sold approximately 86% of the copies that the Marvel version sold in the same time period about 2 weeks… We ordered 30% more of the DC version which we agonized over… My best guess we’re probably going to sell about 75% of the copies by the middle of January…. The Marvel version sold out and also had ratio variants which provided significant profits. In hindsight, we should have ordered it exactly like the Marvel one and not increased… However, I expect this to continue to sell off the shelf for months to come and I think we’ll eventually sell them all… It’s something I like to refer to as a “tchotchke “, I think this book will continue to have appeal to various dabblers for the months to come… It’s more than likely an evergreen”
• Colin McMahon of Pittsburgh Comics, Pennsylvania, wrote, “Marvel sell-through is 96%. DC’s is 71%. Neither a failure, but months later, higher priced. Less interest. Fewer people buying multiple covers at the higher price.”
• Rob Liefeld of, you know, Deadpool had his own take. “So, I can actually speak on this as a retailer as I ordered 1000 copies of Marvel’s Deadpool/Batman and sold thru 100%. I’m a specialty retailer as I sell autographed copies. Definitely not apples to apples, but my experience is the same. Being cautious, I ordered 700 of DC’s Batman/Deadpool, and my personal feeling is that it is the far superior product, Morrison & Mora took a big and daring swing, from cover to cover this is better than the Marvel production in every way. I won’t achieve sell thru anywhere near 50%. Several covers I cannot move, even at reduced prices. Marvel getting their version out first proved to be advantageous. There was certainly market confusion on this one.”

What’s the betting DC Comics will get to go first with Superman/Spider-Man this time? And will they bring back the ratio variants?

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