Sunday, September 23, 2007

The Joy of Comics

Here's an example of why comics are hard to deal with, well Diamond at least. I just got emailed an invoice with one item, a trade paperback that must have been automatically back-ordered a month or two ago. Being that the company is oh so advanced (and the system mindless), it automatically ships this crap out without anyone wondering if, perhaps, they may want to call me and see if I want a UPS shipment with a single book in it. Even Alliance does that.

INVOICE
ITEM-----------RETAIL--COST

Diamond Comics--14.99--7.05
Diamond Comics UPS-----5.00
___________ ___________
TOTALS----------14.99-12.05 # USD


So my $14.99 book cost me $12.05. Sigh. It could have been worse. Many smaller press books have a 35% margin instead of a 55% margin like this one. One of those books at the same retail price would have cost $14.75! With the stamp required to pay for it, I would lose seventeen cents.

At least the electronic invoices have the billing address, unlike their print variety. You would think they would use the same form?

2 comments:

  1. Companies that keep back orders without asking bother me. Companies that send them out without checking first make me want to kill. We systematically refuse to let any of our vendors do this to us anymore. Except Pressman, the bastards, who think that hailing from New Jersey gives them some special case.

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  2. Yes, Jersey is another planet it seems.

    At the Game Expo I was excited to see Pressman. I stood there for half an hour filling out an order form for about $500 worth of games, usually a couple copies of each.

    Then I learned they only do case quantities. The concept of ordering cases of Tri-ominoes (often a case is 12!) turns my stomach. That might be a 3-4 year supply. If they could break down cases, I would be all over them.

    Let me know if you ever want to split an order. It sounds like you don't need to.

    I talked with my ACD rep, and managed to get them to talk with Pressman about working together. No dice.

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