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05-05-2007, 09:41 PM
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#26 | |
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Quote:
There are no rules for Free Comic Book Day. I do not know where people are getting the idea that there is some obligation on the retailer part to give one of each book to everyone who asks. They charge us a fee just to participate. Then we pay for the books and shipping costs. Once the books are in our hands there are no rules as to what we do with the books. I am more than generous with the books that I pay for. I donated over 1000 books to our local library so they could participate. I donated books to a school that asked for some. They books are sold to us to help promote the reading of comics. If you knew what some of the books cost us from the smaller publishers, you would be amazed that we even order them. People need to understand that Free Comic Book Day is a promotion paid for mostly by the retailers. It is to promote the reading of comic books. Not a day when you try to get as much free stuff as possible. For my own store, which has been in business since 1993, I did not have one complaint about the way we handled things. Everyone was more than appreciative to receive something free. |
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05-05-2007, 09:45 PM
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#27 |
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I had a good time at the local shop I am a patron of, Gateway Comics Etc in East Wareham, Massachusetts.
On Free Comic Book Day, I go down to the shop and work for the major portion day. I was there from 9:30 until 3pm today. While the owner deals with various issues of the day and the sales portion of the day, I go into Super Free Comic Day Promoter Guy Mode. The store allows for one copy of each title, age appropriate of course. The young kids got their goodie bag and then picked the comics they wanted. I was sure to fully push the Amelia Rules book as it is invariably always my favorite of the FCBD books. The owner up ordered on that book this year and we were still out by 2pm. I got the books that I was interested in reading, plus my regular weekly stash. The kid level comics I'll read and then send to my niece in Georgia. The issues I picked up because they were interesting, if I don't like them I'll bag and board them and include them as special bonuses in comic eBay auctions that get mailed out. I had a great time and look forward to doing it all again next year! |
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05-05-2007, 09:57 PM
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#28 |
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To end the discussion of what a retailer was required to do, I take this right from the Free Comic Book website.
Question: How many comics do I get? Answer: That will depend on a lot of factors: How many comics does the store have to give away? How many people visit that day? How many people get there before you? The answer to this question will depend on which store you visit and when. No where on the website does it say how many books the retailer has to give to each customer. The website is: www.freecomicbookday.com |
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05-05-2007, 10:00 PM
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#29 |
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Im very thankful to be able to enjoy my FCBD at a store thats profitable enough to not limit the number of titles so I dont have to engage in the endless debate over whats the appropriate number of titles to give out
To say FCBD is exclusively for new readers lacks sense...without the regulars coming in and taking advantage of special sales that day FCBD would be even less profitable for retailers |
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05-05-2007, 10:40 PM
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#30 |
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Newengland Comics Brocton
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05-05-2007, 10:54 PM
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#31 |
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I see there's a lot of debate going on back and forth about what retailers should or shouldn't do. All I'll add is that I hope that my fellow comic book readers (who are not exactly the target audience of Free Comic Book Day) didn't just go to their LCS today to pick up only the free comics. I know I always try to make a point of spending at least a little extra money.
Also, when you are done with your free comics and don't care about holding onto at least some of them, hand them out to friends or co-workers who don't currently read/buy comics. Every year, I give some of them away. I have friends at work who are Simpsons fans, so I'll be giving them the Bongo and Family Guy comics from this year (I'm not a fan of any of that stuff, so it does me no good to hold onto them). Not to be bossy, but I encourage everyone here to do something similiar. If all we do is just go to the stores every year and pick up our free comics, leave, and that's it, we're not helping to accomplish what FCBD is all about. |
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05-06-2007, 12:04 AM
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#32 |
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I was very disappointed by my local store (in Tampa, near USF ... won't mention the name). The store looked the same, there weren't any prominent signs promoting the event, and the one clerk they had was too busy stuffing comic books in bags ... guy didn't even say hi to my or my little daughter. He also didn't even say, "hey feel free to grab one (or many) of the free comics on the table".
I think this is also an opportunity to get little kids excited about comics, I had just taken my girls to see Spider-Man the day before, but again nothing going on at the store besides little bits of candy here and there. I really wish we had a store like the one shown in this article. I'm jealous. |
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05-06-2007, 01:13 AM
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#33 |
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My final Statement on this matter.
John Gavin said "You are not the market we are after with Free Comic Book Day. You are already reading comics. Free Comic Book Day was founded to get the non reading general public into our stores."
and "here are no rules for Free Comic Book Day. I do not know where people are getting the idea that there is some obligation on the retailer part to give one of each book to everyone who asks. They charge us a fee just to participate. Then we pay for the books and shipping costs. Once the books are in our hands there are no rules as to what we do with the books. " WOW. I buy 3-4 titles (regularly) at my comic store... Maybe just maybe I might buy other titles. ( giving the comic store MORE BUISINESS and $$$$$) but I was denied a chance to get those free comics to determined that for myself I guess . So Your saying you'd rather loose and existing customer over a potential new one? and by your later statement by your logic that means you can charge 4.99 for a regular 2.99 title that comes out? Would you buy an item in a department store that the manufacture tag has $9.99 but the store is charging $11.99 You forgot the 2 rules of any retail Business. 1. The Customer IS ALWAYS RIGHT 2.) If the Customer is not right, Go to rule #1 I worked in the retail industry for years....I know. Good Treated Customers will come back , Angry/Disappointed customers WILL NOT You May have a good Buisiness or not i don't know, but I've been to 2 comic stores that had this problem....and 1 was going to charge me for them ( which I e-mail the Free comic book website and they responded that FCBD comic are "NOT TO BE CHARGED TO THE CUSTOMER WHATSOEVER" and wanted the name of that comic shop. Clearly some of these store have a misconception of the meaning of FCBD to new and old customers alike. With that all being said .t today, and last year as well; was ruined for what should have been a FUN occassion ( the main purpose of FCBD and not about How much $$$$ is involved) So I will no longer participate in it. Simple as that. How is my spelling now ...rufusTfirefly ...My Cerebal Palsey calmed down............... AuburnTiger ...im' just voicing my opinion. I'm sorry you don't agree or like it .. thats ok don't read it.......but be thankful I'm not spewing obscene and perverted stuff like other message boards and forums have... Last edited by car2nst : 05-06-2007 at 01:16 AM. |
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05-06-2007, 01:47 AM
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#34 |
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The LCS' around here were great. They alowed 2-3 titles apiece until after the afternoon rush was over, then you could have one of everything apropriate. This way there was stuff left over.
Two of the local stores did good things to get in kids this year. One shop donated comics to my class at school (you would have thought I gave them the moon - they loved getting Little Archie) and the other storehad a BBQ supporting two school's libraries. They also gave me a table next to the creators doing sketches. I had a lot of the stuff I have collected for the site on display for people to flip through and order from the store if they were interested. Chatted up a lot of interested parents, librarians, teachers. My wife brought the kids up later in the morning. My son (4 months) had on a SpiderMan tshirt on. My Daughter (2 1/2 yrs) had on a full Supergirl suit (from the 70's movie) that my sister got for her in Metropolis Illinois. I got sketches from Dano Leblanc - He does "Acadie Man" a comic and cartoon - sort of a southpark quality, without being like SP at all. Nick Bradshaw was there al day as well. He is a terrific artist. He did really detailed sketches for anyone that wanted to wait. At the end of the day I got him to do a Deadshot as a gift for a friend and he did a scketch of my daughter as Supergirl, my son as Batman and my wife...sort of like a Superwoman type character. VERY nice. Nick's girlfriend did a very nice SuperGIRL (meant to be my daughter). All three were very nice and everyone had a blast. All three are localish. Good day. All three stores in the area were pleased with their crowds. (I know I posted some of this message in the Talk@ fcbd thread, but there isn't much fcbd chatter going on tonight. Thought there would be more - i want to hear more about the cool things stores did) |
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05-06-2007, 01:52 AM
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#35 |
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i actually ended up with all the free comics. me and my brother went an i grabbed the ones i actually wanted and he grabbed the rest. i agree with the thing about being a comic book reader and pickin up free comics. its meesed up if u go in get free stuff and leave without buying something else. yet i kinda also agree with the thing about the limits on how many you should get. i mean 1 frigiin comic, thats just really bad business, jusy like car2nst said. bu yeah good fcbd this year.
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05-06-2007, 01:59 AM
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#36 | ||
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Quote:
EDIT: Quote:
Last edited by CitC : 05-06-2007 at 08:34 AM. |
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05-06-2007, 02:12 AM
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#37 | |
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wut i meant was if you already buy comics dont just go in for the freebies. FCBD is meant for non comic readers and i agree with wut ur sayin. i just think that if u already read comics u should probably be buying something, not just goin for the free stuff. |
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05-06-2007, 02:21 AM
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#38 |
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Heroes aren't Hard to find does indeed look like an awesome store. I'll have to make my way down there sometime.
I made it to my LCS and they were limiting three per customer. I would have liked to grab more but they did the same thing last year so no suprises or anything. Picked up the TwoMorrows, KeenSpot, and Bongo books. I was interested in Kirkman's book and a few others but whatever. I don't really see anything wrong with regular comic buyers just picking up the free books. I mean you regularly buy comics from that shop anyway. I didn't do that, but I don't think we owe th comic shop anything. We're the ones keeping them in business. My shop had a pretty kick ass sale going on so I picked up 1602 Hardcover, Transmet Vol. 0, & Scott Pilgrim Vol. 3 along with the previous wednesday's books. |
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05-06-2007, 02:30 AM
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#39 |
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I went to the local comic shop to see what they were doing for FCBD because I wanted to see if it was worth bringing my nephew later.
I was a bit disappointed to tell you the truth. They had Star Wars characters (two stormtroopers and two others), but no one dressed up as a super hero. I was hoping there was going to be a Spider-Man, especially w/ the movie out. They were giving out one comic per person, which I can understand, but they don't get the kind of traffic I see in articles here and elsewhere on the Web. I don't take one because I know what's out there. But for someone who's just starting out, I think it's advantageous to give a comic out to them, or maybe let them view each offering in the store. Because nine times out of ten, the customer you already have will buy even more product with a favorable preview than relying on getting a completely new customer. I think the day is for both, new and old customer alike & should be viewed as such by all retailers. I wish the shop had the kind of sales people mention. You get a free comic and that's it. I think they miss out on the opportunity to make the day more profitable, as it seems to be the case elsewhere. Dollar bins? Half off? I've never seen this at any time. I bought three comics I wanted to get. But I'm quite jealous to read articles about shops having these great sales. Maybe if the shop had something to entice me, I'd shop there more. |
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05-06-2007, 04:01 AM
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#40 | |
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Quote:
So a business must acquiesce to any customers demand, no matter how outlandish? Furthermore, comic stores aren't a retail business. They're aftermarket dealers. By your logic, when Captain America #25 came out, every store should have sold it for cover? Should a copy of Action Comics #1 be sold for 10 cents? |
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05-06-2007, 04:16 AM
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#41 | |
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Quote:
Actually, the real rules of retail business (or most businesses in general) is the 80/20 rule. 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers. Those are the people a business will bend backwards for (and rightfully so). As far as the 'customer always being right' ... that works in application when: a) the business itself screwed up b) the business did not represent the situation clearly (which kind of goes back to item a). There are times when a business can and rightfully should decide that a given customer is more trouble than they are worth. In that sense I mean the customer has unrealistic expectations and ends up costing the business significantly more than they are getting in return business. Obviously one has to factor in the 'word of mouth' aspect when 'firing' a customer ... but there are still times when it really makes more sense to cut the ties and move forward. And that is especially true if that customer is not one in the 80% scale (understand though that a well-run business does not make such decisions lightly --- when/if a well-run business decides to 'fire' a customer, it is because there is a very clear understanding that it absolutely makes sense to do so --- one does not make the decision on a whim). As far as how FCBD works ... I don't even go into my local shop on the day. I don't see FCBD as being for me. It is to grow the industy, which I wholely support. The more people we can bring in, the better we all are. I know we've all had comics we've thoroughly enjoyed that didn't make their benchmarks and got cancelled. The more people we have reading comics in general, the more opportunity we have for those borderline books to hold enough sales to continue forward. I spend a good amount of money each month. I don't feel the need to collect any free titles. I'd rather see those going to people who are not regulars that might be enticed to become return readers. That is what the day was conceived as originally (as I understand) and what it should really be about. Ah yes ... and car2nst ... as a person who states they are buying 3 to 4 books a month, I don't think I have to tell you that you're not in the 80% range. That doesn't mean you couldn't become one of those individuals. And certainly your local shop should be trying to make you one of those persons (if it is economically feasible for you). They can certainly suggest things for you and try to steer you in the direction of certain titles based on the 3 or 4 books you regularly buy. Ultimately though, it is the publishers who will grab hold of you. I don't know what kind of effort (if any) the people of your local shop make in terms of trying to suggest things they believe you might find interesting (based on your reading habits --- not by what helps their profit point) ... but you could certainly help them (if you have not already done so) by speaking with them about what you like about the books you are already reading and why they appeal to you. If your shop has quality people working there, they should pick up the ball and run with it from there. If they don't have those people ... you've always got the people here on newsarama to point out things and sometimes suggest. Also, you could check out the MZS APA. We would certainly be glad to introduce you to a great many of the titles we sample (or most often read on a regular basis) and enjoy. Last edited by skullduggery : 05-06-2007 at 04:25 AM. |
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05-06-2007, 07:28 AM
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#42 |
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They should change it to 25 or 50 cents comic day, with maybe a few freebies.
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05-06-2007, 10:26 AM
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#43 | |
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It's not like it makes you evil if all you do is come in for the free comics that day. I just think it's the right thing to do, to plunk down a few extra bucks. Yesterday, I only picked up a couple of extra comics (just because I've spent a lot of money this week on other things), but in years past I've bought a trade paperback or two. The first year of FCBD, a friend of mine and I brought his daughter for her first trip ever to the comic book store, and we both spoiled her rotten, buying her comics and other stuff. |
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05-06-2007, 10:35 AM
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#44 |
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My LCS limited the number of free books you could pick up as well, but that doesn't bother me. FCBD is about getting new faces in the store, and not giving me free stuff. There's a real sense of "Well, I shop there all the time, so I'm ENTITLED" in some of the posts on here, & I find that to be more than a little self-centered.
My shop also already runs customer appreciation days every once in a while, plus they do cool stuff like movie premieres, Heroes watching parties at a local theatre, & outreach stuff w/ kids. When Wendy's runs their "Free Frosty" promotion, does everybody bitch & moan that they only get one Frosty? No, because it's a business move done to 1) get folks to try out Wendy's & 2) do a little good PR. I don't go to Wendy's expecting to get 8 or 9 friggin' Frosty's just because "the customer is always right." Seems to me like a lot of people are missing the spirit behind FCBD. |
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05-06-2007, 10:49 AM
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#45 |
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After reading this thread, I sort of feel like a dick for grabbing about 10 free books from my LCS yesterday. But, seeing that I spend $30-40 a week there, maybe I shouldn't.
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05-06-2007, 11:25 AM
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#46 |
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I went to my LCS in Ottawa with my wife today, and we could take as many comics as we want. They were a lot of people there and everybody seems to be having a good time! They were also giving Heroclix (Batman) and old Transformers Comics. I'm a relatively new comic reader, but i was glad to be able to grab everyhting, because i like to read as much as i can and discover new comics. I also started a pull list today and the owner was pleased to take some time with me even if the store was full! My wife, who doesn't really like comics except some Franco-Belge stuff, was very pleased with the family guy and simpsons stuff. She might even buy some for her someday! So i think it's a good think for the store!
I was wondering if someone got two copies of the FCBD Last Blood, the Vampires/Zombies comic. I really want to get this one to eventually put it on my pull list but my LCS didn't get any! So if you got a spare copy and are nice enough to send me one : askforska@hotmail.com. I don't know what i can give in exchange, but i hope there's is someone really nice outhere! PS - The customer is not always right...he is right until you can still make money. PPS - sorry for my grammar/spelling, english is not my first language! |
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05-06-2007, 11:44 AM
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#47 |
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I'll say one thing about Free Comic Book day. It hurts my wallet. =]
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05-06-2007, 12:40 PM
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#48 |
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There are three stores in my local area and I went to all three of them yesterday. I started at the second oldest store (He's been around 5 years or more). I hardly ever go there because its a longer drive. He limited customer's to two books. I took the two books I wanted most (Astounding Wolfman and Gumby) and spent about $7.50 on various back issues and overstock comics. I felt like I should spend money there because I am not a new reader and the event will not keep me coming back to his store. My friend, who gets his comics reserved at this store was allowed to take three books. I was totally OK with that because I looked at it like he was rewarding a loyal customer.
After that I went to my regular store where I spend a little over $40 bucks a month. They have been around over 20 years and are the best known store in the area. They limited everyone to 5 books and 2 books from past years (3 old ones for me...long time customer bonus). I felt NO obligation to spend extra money at my regular store. I don't think they had an issue with it either. They KNOW they will get my money. Finally we went to the newest store in the area which has been open for about a year. This was the first time I had ever been there. He allowed me to take one of everything he had. I took what I was interested in, ignoring what I already had and what I didn't care for. It was a total of about 5 more books. I absolutely felt like I was taking advantage of this guy so I spent about 9 bucks on recent issues. So what points can I take from my experience yesterday? 1) If I am not your regular customer and you give me free stuff I feel obligated to drop a few bucks at your store. 2) If small local businesses which typically do not fare so well financially want to limit the number of comics that can be taken in order to spread them around to the widest possible audience of potential new readers, I do not have a problem with that, especially if I am not a new reader. 3) In addition to luring potential new readers into stores there is definitely an undercurrent of customer appreciation day to the FCBD event. If I spend close to $500 bucks at your store each year (I know this is nothing compared to some collectors) I feel no guilt in taking your free comics without spending money. If you want to dish me a few extra books while you are at it I appreciate it and will remember it. 4) I am such a nerd that I will drive to three different stores for free comic books! |
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05-06-2007, 12:56 PM
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#49 | |
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Quote:
That's an awful grumpy attitude to have, not to mention plain wrong. I've been to your store, and wasn't too impressed. Now Carol and John's in Cleveland has a great store, and knows how to run a FCBD. They had a "midnight showing" on Thursday night that was invitation only for customers with pull lists, although they wouldn't (and didn't - lots of wandering customers came in and bought some stuff)have kept out any customer off the street. They had a nice sale consisting of 20% off all trades and 50% off all back issues. I'm not sure what line was longer, the line to get in or the line to purchase stuff and check out, but both were consistently 50-60 deep for the at least the first hour or more. And not only could we get a copy of any free comic we wanted, but there were free posters of Spidey 3, Silver Surfer, FF2 to be had, Batman and Stormtrooper hero clix, AND there was free beer, snacks, and a dj. It was quite a celebration, Charlie Murphy, and C&J's sold a LOT of comics, which is "the market" any comics business should be after. They still had plenty of free comics to still give away on Saturday. |
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05-06-2007, 01:04 PM
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#50 |
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Also, FCBD isn't just to lure in new customers, it's to get existing customers to try books they normally wouldn't purchase. It always works on me, because I end up loving a book that I got to sample for free. This year it was the Wolfman book - I added it to my pull list the next day.
The "Unseen Peanuts" book was maybe the best book from this year, though. Damn, that thing was gold - they could have charged $5 for that book, and most peanut fans would have been happy to buy it. The Jimenez art on the Spidey book was incredible, too. I'll list that book as the second best, with the Wolfman book at number three. |
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