Jay Bardyla of Happy Harbor Comics of Edmonton, Alberta read comments by retailer Joe Krolik (see 'Joe Krolik of Comics America on Deep Discounting') and says  tracking orders works:

Mr. Krolik says:

 'Hi, if you give me your order and make me bust my butt many times as hard as I would if you bought your books straight off my racks, I will reward myself by cutting my nose right off my face when I slash my profit margin to next to nothing.'

I'd have to disagree with that statement as when done properly, maintaining files is overall less work than having people buy off the rack, primarily because it reduces the amount of risk when ordering.  We use a database system to track all customer purchases and orders and spend less than a day doing our monthly order, all the while worrying less about our budget.  With all the guaranteed sales that maintaining customer files provides, I wonder how businesses can afford not to do so?  Why gamble on what people might buy?

'Some stores give a larger discount based on a larger order...'  And what's the harm in rewarding SOME people who contribute substantially to the income generated by your business?  You receive a discount on your purchases from your distributor based on volume, doesn't that make it almost hypocritical to not offer a similar practice to high volume customers?

'It does nothing to expand the market.'

Again, I'd have to disagree.  Probably the largest complaint from people about why they don't purchase comics is the expense.  If you are putting the cost of comics, even off the shelf, into a range that's more appealing with proper marketing, that can be more enticing to people sitting on the fence about comics.

This week, our business will begin the practice of 'Fair Market Pricing' for comics, since the majority of comic book publishers are unaware of how to convert US dollars to Canadian.  We will stop the high volume discounts we give at the till and tag all comics with proper Canadian exchange rates, which will still leave the final prices as they were previously but the savings will be more obvious since the sticker prices will have the correct price upfront.  We expect with our media releases, this will generate buzz not just from within the customer base but also from others who may be interested in comics but were always put off by Marvel's and DC's ridiculous pricing.

The opinions expressed in this Talk Back article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.