Jul
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Written by:
John Jackson Miller
7/3/2008 12:56 PM
There is some discussion online about what is included in the estimates here and elsewhere of what is in the Diamond monthly reports. For reference, here's what copies are NOT included in the monthly sales reports you see here:
1) Diamond's sales to the U.K. These tend to be in the 10% range when it comes to units. Diamond sold approximately $36.8 million in comics, trades, and magazines in May 2008 in North America; my best guess on UK sales is another $3.8 million.
2) Newsstand sales, if the publisher has them, as well as any sales through other distributors, direct sales, or subscriptions — again, if the publisher has them.
3) Any reorder activity outside the calendar period being reported.
Before 2003, we could safely say that the charts ALSO underestimated sales on all comics because they only reported preorders. Since 2003 and Diamond's move to final order reporting, we also get reorders that ship within the same calendar month. This benefits Week 1 books more than any on the list, as a consequence. (And this is one of the places where month-to-month comparisons get tricky, if a book ships at different times in the months being compared. It's this, not just the issue number, that causes the decline you usually see when multiple issues of a weekly ship in the same month. It's not necessarily that sales are trailing off — just that the earlier issues have had more weeks in which to gather reorders.)
Given the standard errors most people have been able to achieve since the 2003 change, I'm reasonably sure the Comichron and ICV2 tables, as well as some others I could name, reflect what we each say they're estimating; Diamond's North American orders in the calendar month, and only Diamond's North American orders in the calendar month. The important thing is always to spell that out, which isn't always easy in a discussion. There's a lot of boilerplate small print we have to include in writing about this stuff, but it's there for a reason.
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6 comments so far...
Re: A comics sales chart refresher
In addition to UK sales, we also need to consider worldwide sales (excluding US and UK). Comic book stores all over the world sell US comic books in addition to comics in their own languages.
My guess is that it amounts to approximately another 10%.
By Odino1 on
7/16/2008 7:43 AM
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Re: A comics sales chart refresher
My understanding is that Diamond's UK operation is still the seller of those books into the continental market — so the European sales are in the UK count. Presumably, anyway...
By John Jackson Miller on
7/16/2008 2:04 PM
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Re: A comics sales chart refresher
I think there are also limitations within the lines when it comes to American comics being distributed elsewhere. For example, Dark Horse is not the Lucasfilm licensee for France -- Delcourt is -- so I don't know if the Star Wars and Indy comics get over there any other way. So it may not be that we can just scale the U.S. sales upward across the board.
By John Jackson Miller on
7/16/2008 2:08 PM
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Re: A comics sales chart refresher
Those are good observations.
However, I think the license agreements you mention refer to translated material.
I lived in Italy until 2000. Most of Marvel and DC (and Dark Horse, etc.) comic books read there are the Italian versions/translations (published by European publishers for the most part). However, many comic book stores also sell original US comic books (they sell less but still they sell)... I was referring to that "niche" market in my previous post.
BTW, since this is the first time I post here, I want to thank you for the great service you're providing us with your site!
By Odino1 on
7/16/2008 7:08 PM
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Re: A comics sales chart refresher
You're welcome!
No, I was referring to the American English-language versions, not the translations. I don't question that they are sold into the European market, the question is who is selling them. My understanding is that those comics are sourcing from Diamond UK (the former Titan Distribution), and as such are counted in the Diamond UK calculation I have. If there are other distributors for those American books overseas, then those would certainly be copies we're not counting.
By John Jackson Miller on
7/16/2008 8:10 PM
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Re: A comics sales chart refresher
Thanks for the clarification.
By Odino1 on
7/16/2008 9:07 PM
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