![]() I began my monthly decoding of the charts in September 1996, and have been working to gather the information needed to figure out earlier months.Īdditional resources known to be dependable have become available in some circumstances, and those further advise the estimates.Ī: Before February 2003, Diamond was reporting preorders, and in that era, the margin of error was higher. ![]() Q: How does Comichron derive the actual number of copies sold to retailers?Ī: For most of the distributor tables on Comichron, we've employed the same method everyone else has for years: with reports from one or more publishers on what they actually sold to distributors, the entire chart can be unlocked. Also, in the days when there were multiple distributors, the distributors themselves did not want to reveal their competitive strengths and weaknesses. Q: Why did distributors mess with order index numbers? Why not print the actual sales figures?Ī: Comics distributors are the sales representatives of publishers and are obliged not to give up too much information. If the average retailer is ordering 50 copies of a title for every 100 copies of Batman and you're only ordering 10 copies for every 100 copies of Batman, you are probably missing out on demand that exists for the title. Q: Why did distributors begin using the order index numbers?Ī: It's important to remember that while the distributor sales charts in the internet age are available to the general public, they were first intended solely for the use of retailers in figuring out what their relative order levels should be. The first Capital City chart with order index numbers, from October 1984, can be seen at right. Diamond Comic Distributors, which began running rankings in the late 1980s, later adopted the order index procedure, which it continues to use today in its reports. Capital was also the first to introduce the "order index number," reporting what the sales of all titles were relative to a single benchmark title, usually one of the best-sellers. Q: When did comic-book distributors first start releasing sales charts?Ī: Capital City Distribution began releasing rankings in its "Internal Correspondence" newsletter in the early 1980s. Here's some background on them and guidance on what they should and shouldn't be used for: If you're visiting Comichron for the first time, odds are you were brought here by a link to the monthly comics shop order data that has been part of this site since the beginning - and which I began generating monthly estimates for back in 1996. Tells us about comics circulation history ![]() Distributor Sales Charts What a tool created as an aid for comics shops ![]()
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