Numbers in my head

[captain_slinky]

Past several weeks, numbers have been running in my head.

I'd need an average of 10 customers per day, each spending an average of $20.

That would be enough to pay for rent, new product and a VERY minimal profit.

Comments

[waygroovy.livejournal.com]

oh SHIT!
theres a leak in your head
stuff is pouring out onto your blog.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

GET ME SOME eSPACKLE!!!

[hallerlake.livejournal.com]

What are the profit margins on comics (which I presume is your product, instead of, say, smack)?

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Profit margins fluctuate wildly. Anywhere between 30% and 60%, depending on the size of that week's order.

As far as I know, this is the only industry that can get away with that...

[hallerlake.livejournal.com]

Can get away with what? 60% margins? Or differing discounts based on order size? Neither sounds outlandish from what I know.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Nah... getting away with not letting you know what type of discount you're gonna be getting till you've actually got the product in hand.

EXAMPLE: I tell the distributor that i want 20 copies of Amazing Spider-Man. They say "Cool! They'll ship three months from now, and you'll probably get a 55% discount on that order because you're also ordering Captain America, X-Men and Hulk which are scheduled to ship that week as well!"

Three months pass and the box shows up at my shop. "Bad news," they say "Captain America was delayed, X-Men got canceled and is re-starting with a new Issue #1 next month and Hulk was under-printed (you'll get them in your next shipment)... but here's your 20 copies of Amazing Spider-Man! Since the shipment was so small this week, you only qualify for a 30% discount... sorry!"

That's why most shops have to pad their inventory with RPG's, Toys, games and the likes. Gotta boost your total order in order to get a decent discount!

[dotgirl.livejournal.com]

Just a note - the price you pay for the comics ("wholesale", "price before markup", whatever you want to call it), and your profit margin are not the same thing.

For example, if you're paying shipping on the comics (which you will be), that will not impact your discount, but will impact your profit margin. As will returns, damages, boxes that people never pick up, etc.

[amberlorien.livejournal.com]

Oh god, it is ridiculous! The shop owner where I slave ordered stuff YEARS ago for Pirates 2 & 3, thinking they'd be hot. The shit is still coming in!

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

I KNOW! And then other stuff that COULD have been hot ends up never shipping, like 90% of the Mallrats merchandise that should have hit shops back when Kevin Smith was all that!

It's a difficult world to say the least...