Dan Veltre of Dewey's Comic City in Madison, New Jersey sent us this comment on comic retailers and digital comics.

As comic specialty retailer--and with the upcoming launch of the new DC Universe and its digital "day & date" component--I've been thinking quite a bit about how all this will affect my store and just how much I'm willing to participate in some of the initiatives being offered.

Both DC and comiXology (and even I-verse via their Diamond Comic digital program to a certain extent), are offering comic retailers participation in sales that are generated by customers referred to their site.  In the case of DC and comiXology, I'm being asked to install a component on my website that will direct buyers to a site that will allow them to make purchases (the I-verse/Diamond effort is different, but will still collect email addresses I believe).

As f as I can tell (and there is reald information on this to date), I'll receive a portion of any sales generated through MY website.  What I won't receive is participation when one of my customers makes a purchase directly from their site (rather than going through my site).  Any time one of my customers chooses to go directly to comiXology and not purchase via my website, I lose a potential sale.  When my customer is contacted by a digital service with a special offer or solicitation--and that customer makes a direct purchase--I'll receive nothing.

Something here doesn't seem right does it?  It's like I'm driving my customers to one of nearby competitors.

Despite what I consider the sincere effort of DC, Diamond and others to expand the marketplace via these initiatives, digital delivery is really just another form of competition.  I've dealt with competition before and I'm not afraid of it.  In my 20 years of comic retailing I've had to deal with competition from mail-order services, Amazon, chain book stores, eBay, Internet providers and more.  All supposedly were going to eventually wind up putting me (and all comic shops) out of business.  And yet we continue to plug away.

The solution to this is fairly obvious I would think.  I believe that ANY time a purchase is made by an email address I've referred to a digital service I should receive some form of participation in that sale.

Respectfully, I ask that DC, comiXology, Diamond and others address the issue of fair compensation and assure comic retailers that their customer base is secure and being protected by providing appropriate participation for ALL sales.  Other wise, if a digital service wants to make my customers their customers they'll have to do it the same way I did--work for it.

I'm coming to the conclusion (and believe it or not, I'm actually not quite there yet) that unless I receive some kind of protection/participation for sales generated from my customer base, I'm going to have to pass on getting involved in any digital programs as they are currently being offered.

Now quickly, before I end this note, I'd like to take a moment to apologize to any ICv2 readers who may think that by my comments here that I consider customers to be nameless, faceless property to be bartered, protected and secured--and not individuals.  That's certainly not the case.  I (and I know most of my fellow retailers) think nothing of the sort.  Our customers are valued friends and fellow fans who share our affection and devotion to this hobby--and we will continue to treat them as such (and if you're not feeling that way when you shop at your comic shop--find another shop).  We simply wish to protect and grow our stores, our businesses, our employees, our livelihoods and this medium we all care so much about.

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