Rick Manzella of One Stop Comics in Oak Park, Illinois says offering more trade paperbacks at his store has sparked interest from a more diverse group of customers:

We at One Stop Comics in Oak Park, Illinois, found that by adding more trade paperbacks to our product mix, a more diverse clientele was reached.  Many customers would come in with a spouse or friends who would not look at comics.  With over 5,000 trades now in stock on the bookshelves, we find that the spouses and friends began to browse, and many comic fans that had stopped buying comics and do not know where to start, love trade paperbacks.

With trades, many former customers have started enjoying comics again without fear of missing that next issue.  Many manga titles are hard to order so I buy the #1 and the newest issue on books that have put out 10 volumes or more.  Customers can ask for the other issues that we do not have in stock or start at # 1, and as long as the costumer and I feel confident of reorders, sales can be made on a 10-issue run for 10% cost.  Let me explain: with 10 volumes at $9.99 retail, I buy issues 1 and 10 at $9.99 each with 50% discount.  My cost is $9.99 but potential sale of 1-10 is $99.99.  For me this is a good leverage tool.  If at One Stop Comics we start selling a lot of a title, than I stock all the issues in between.

There still are customers who believe trades are reprints and stay away, but many customers wait and prefer the trades.  We have sold more Fables trades than regular comics because our Vertigo customers prefer stories with a beginning, middle and end all in one volume.

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