The Basic Idea (Comic Shop, feel free to steal this)

[captain_slinky]

Since DC is offering "Day One Digital" copies of their stuff, and Marvel is offerign their digital tuff for free at Starbucks...

Is there any reason why you couldn't do in-house scanning and offer a free digital copy of each comic purchased?

Make it a service for box subscribers, issue each customer a thumb drive with the store logo on it. Offer them two options - in store upload at time of purchase, or pay on-line to get the files e-mailed to them and they can stop by the shop any time they like to pick up their physical copies.

Bet of all (imho), thi isn't going to be too helpful to the HUGE comic book shop that don't need the help, but will be a HUGE BOON to smaller shops with the time and the devoted clientele to make it happen. Don't advertise this, just let it be word of mouth. Make it a secret club for just you and your subscribers, an added bonus service you offer your customers.

Thoughts?

Comments

[aurora77]

As soon as Marvel and/or DC find out, they could put the entire shop at risk. I think it would be a wonderful service, but I think it's only going to work on a wider scale if the publishers decide to get behind such a program. If Marvel or DC have suggestion boxes, write up something about how this could work and how it may help increase sales and send it in.

[symphonic-rp.livejournal.com]

To do something like that you have to cut some kind of licencing deal with the comic companies. It's not unheard of. The Columbia Record Club is a licencing operation. But in this day and age you can't expect companies to be reasonable. Plus it might be in conflict with their agreement with Diamond Distributors or others who might have exclusive distribution rights.

But, you know, if comics go digital, and owning a solid copy goes the way of CD's, that's not going to be much help to comic shops.

From my own experiece in comic shops lately, they're just not stocking much that I'd want to collect, let alone read. The place is full of new comics that are of no interest to me at all. I can't imagine who they think they're going to sell all those unappealing books to.

Meanwhile, I look and look for something to buy. And finally I see an advertisment for a Furry graphic novel series on the back of some comic. I show it to the man behind the counter and ask, "Do you stock this?" He answers "Of course not." This leaves me nothing to buy but my bi-monthly Rescue Rangers comic. And these guys think they're Baltimore's best comic shop.

This all just has me wondering if the reason comic shops are in trouble isn't entirely their own unwillingness to realize they need to be tollerating a wider audience, rather than just forcing on people what they want them to like.