Monday, October 3, 2011

Comic Book Hyper-Inflation

I recently detailed my Gasoline-Comic Book Price Theory in which I identified a correlational relationship between gasoline prices and comic books. Building on this idea, let's look at the price of Amazing Spider-Man compared to the general rate of inflation.

Please note how much more comic books have gone up than gasoline. ASM now costs 3325% more than it did in 1963. That's quite a bit higher than the rate of inflation! Gasoline only went up 1250% in that same time period. Check out the graph below from http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18583 (remember - the 1977 ASM price increase happened in November). It shows what an issue of ASM should cost if it had only gone up by the rate of inflation since 1977 -
Year
Cover Price
Rate of Inflation
1977
0.30
0.30
1978
0.35
0.32
1979
0.40
0.34
1980
0.40
0.38
1981
0.50
0.43
1982
0.60
0.48
1983
0.60
0.51
1984
0.60
0.53
1985
0.60
0.55
1986
0.65
0.57
1987
0.75
0.58
1988
0.75
0.6
1989
1
0.62
1990
1
0.65
1991
1
0.69
1992
1
0.72
1993
1.25
0.74
1994
1.5
0.76
1995
1.5
0.78
1996
1.5
0.80
1997
1.5
0.83
1998
1.5
0.85
1999
1.75
0.86
2000
1.99
0.88
2001
2.25
0.91
2002
2.25
0.93
2003
2.25
0.95
2004
2.25
0.97
2005
2.25
1
2006
2.5
1.03
2007
2.99
1.06
2008
2.99
1.09
2009
3.99?
Yikes! I guess we're really getting ripped off paying $3.99 for a comic when, it should probably be about $1.25! Comic books aren't necessarily priced by how much it costs to make them but rather how much fans are willing to pay. "Special" issues with a higher price tag are often floated to see if fans will pay more for the same comic book and to also desensitize readers to a higher cost shock.
Everybody knows that the comic you bought for $4 today is generally going to be worth almost nothing next week. Don't believe me? Try to e-bay any old issue of ASM two months after it was released. Try it again in 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years. While there may be some special, highly desired issues, I guarantee you that your won't even make back the cover price you paid for a regular issue of ASM.

The actual value of a newly released comic book is much closer to the inflation-priced $1.25. So why are they so much more expensive on the rack the week they are released? BECAUSE WE BUY THEM! If fanboys (and fangirls) didn't flock to the comic book store week after week like junkies looking for a fix, I would be willing to bet that we'd see much lower comic book prices.

Remember basic economics? Price = supply and demand. New comic books certainly aren't limited in supply - hundreds of titles come out each month and the printer can literally print an unlimited number of copies. So it is only demand that keeps the prices unnaturally high.
This pricing "bubble" spells bad news for the comic book industry. Remember the tech and housing bubbles? Remember the comic book "investor" bubble of the 90's? When bubbles pop, the entire industry suffers.
How long is it going to be before fans wake up are realize that they're paying three or four times to much for their comic books?

How long is it going to be before industry insiders realize that they're stagnating the comic book field by pricing out younger readers and new readers?
I don't know how long it is going to be but I hope it is before the bottom falls out on comic books altogether.

2 comments:

  1. Scott,
    Adjusting prices based on inflation #'s is simplistic at best. Many factors go into the pricing of an product.An excellent example is electronics. The processing power of a $20.00 cell phone is equal to a $200,00 main frame computer from the 1965. A reduction of price of 99.99%. That is not including inflation.

    Brett Stoner

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  2. Hey, I understand. Certainly the business model of comic books has changed over the years - creators are paid more but also businesses expect to make more of a profit. Better paper and coloring is used. What I'm saying is that comics would be better off with cheaper paper and the "pixelized" coloring if it meant cheaper comics. The price is a large factor keeping new fans out of the industry - especially kids! If I try to sell a comic online two months after it came out for its cover price (even if I offered free shipping) I would be unable to. I've sold a ton of comics on eBay and I've found the average comic goes for around $1 whether it was published yesterday or twenty years ago. Sometimes I've sold an entire box of comics (such as Daredevil or X-Men) for 99 cents! Price guides such as Overstreet never lower the value of a comic below cover price but you and I know this is far from true.

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