Skip Week

I have to admit that I am kind of looking forward to a week without new books. There is a lot of work getting ready for the new shipment, from updating pull lists to moving the shelves to make new spaces for new titles and moving the new tags. Now, it is mostly routine for me now. Tuesday at 4pm, make the holes and move the shelves. 6pm start moving the new tags. But it is still a good bit of work that I have been doing every week for, gah! 165 straight weeks. So a week off is a bit of a break. Oh and the chaos that is New Comic Day. A week off of that will be nice too. I will be nice just to have a big ale. And it gives everybody a chance to get caught up on their reading.

Now don't get me wrong; I need new books every week to stay afloat. As of Saturday morning, over half of my sales for December were new comics. This is a trend the past few months. For the longest time New Comics were in the 40-45% range.

New comics are probably the hardest part of my business. Ordering correctly is a bit of a bear. Anticipating drop-offs or growth. Figuring out which new books are going to be hits and which are stinkers. I am doing the December order right now and it tough as well because for some DC books, the most recent data I have is for Blackest Night tie-ins. Will they sell at their higher level because of the cross-over or will they drop back down to their prior level? Or will it be somewhere in between. I guess somewhere in between and hope I'm not too far off. And Marvel now has all of the Siege tie-in issues. How much will this affect books like New Avengers and Thor? I'm sure there are some "Event" people who will pick them up because of Siege, but how many. They are (or were in the case of Thor. How do you NOT expect a drop-off when you title an issue Giant-Sized Finale? Kind of like yelling "Everybody Off!!!")

It is fun to read the comments on The Beat's Sales Chart analysis and see people commenting about retailers don't know how to order and that is the reason for the large drops in titles sales. I always laugh and want to reply, but I know it would be screaming into the wind. There are 2 Black Widow mini-series out right now. Exactly what sales data should I use in figuring out how to order them? I took a wild guess. Then you have the fun where one sells well and the other not at all. How do you plan for that?

Well, this went off on a bit of a tangent. All in all, next week should be a little more low key for me and I am looking forward to it.

Stress

I am ready and prepared for the stress of the holidays. Do I have the right product in the store? Will people come? Even the family stress. Will she like it? Will it come in time? The stress I was not prepared for was the "Not Being in the Store" stress.

I have to go to my Sister-in-Law's wedding in Texas this weekend. I did everything I could to get out of it, but family harmony prevailed. The stress comes from the fact that it is 3 weeks before X-Mas and I will not be in the store to: 1) let customers know that their special orders have come in, 2) let people know that I have something they are looking for coming, 3) make recommendations that go along with what they are buying and 4) various other things that only I can do. I am not the be all and end of comic retailing, but in my store, I am the only one who knows what is going on. There is no way I could leave notes that would make any sense.

"This guy, who likes Buffy books, asked about the Buffy lead figures that came out. If he comes in, show it to him. No, I don't know his name, but I'd recognize him if he came in."

So, my fear is how much am I going to lose in sales by being gone this weekend? I fear that it is a lot, especially in the unquantifiable way. No one who will be working here will have access to the Diamond site to see if something is available (I'm not giving anyone access to my account. That could be very very bad).

It is such a crucial time of year. And no one understands my concerns.

Gah. Hopefully it will all be ok.

Publishers, Why Do You Hate Yourselves?

This weeks shipment is a massive one. About double the number of titles shipping as usual. Now the months are usually heavy at the end. In order to not be late, the books must ship sometime during the calendar month, so the end of the month is normally heavier than the rest. This one just happens to be exceptionally heavy. The problem I have with this practice is that, while I can expect it, it really hurts the smaller titles.

Lets look at Marvel. Along with big books like X-Force, Hulk, Fantastic Four, New Avengers, Punisher and Secret Warriors, they are also shipping a bunch of their mid-level titles, like Nova, Incredible Hercules, Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers Initiative. And throw in 2 Dark Reign List one-shots (sure wouldn't want to space those out weekly...) 3 Wolverine books and the kick -off of the next X-Men storyline (X Necrosha). Plus 2 of the 3 Ultimate Comics titles. Then they think that the small titles like Spider-Man Clone Wars, Anti-Venom Models Inc and Marvel Holiday Spectacular will have a chance. Even the most devout Marvelite isn't going to be able to pick up all of their books this week. So what get dropped? Its easy to say people will just pick the books they can't this week during a slower week, but it doesn't work out that way. People will make a decision this week to stop getting certain books. Its going to be those books that they really aren't enjoying. Or that are in a storyline that they don't care about. Where they would normally keep getting it out of habit, Marvel has helped them make the decision to stop getting it. So, how does this help anyone involved? The head of Marvel sales, when confronted with this problem, continuously states that the schedule is set evenly, but some books get behind. Since it happens just about every month, you'd think they could adjust for that.

DC is no better, shipping both Blackest Night and Green Lantern the same week. The main story is going through 3 books. There is really no reason for 2 of them to come out the same week. Plus we are getting Detective, Batman and Superman all the same week. I remember back when I was getting ready to open and DC would schedule Superman, Action, Detective and Batman for separate weeks. 3 in one week is crazy. Space them out over the month, please.

The other thing that frustrates me from all of the publishers is late books. The last issue of Kick Ass was so late that people have given up. I sold 17 less copies of #7 than I did of #6. How can I plan for that? Had the book shipped on a regular schedule, that wouldn't have happened. And to make things more fun, Marvel has manipulated the system so that these books are not technically late, so I don't have the ability to return unsold books. DC, while playing with the same system, still makes late books returnable.

But late books really hurt the small publishers. I realize that they need the money and have to get the books out as soon as they are done, but I really wish that they would have all of the issues of a small series done before starting to ship. And this isn't necessarily just small guys. Image is notorious for late stuff. Bad Dog was at least 6 months late. I have no idea where Four Eyes is, but I doubt anyone that was reading it will care when the next issue comes out.

My only real requirement for telling if a book is good is "Do I want to read the next one?" Unfortunately, out of sight out of mind. I might be loving a book, but if I forget about it, I am less likely to grab the next issue when it comes out. And if it were to come out on a week like this one, it really wouldn't stand a chance. "Do I want to get the next (insert big event tie-in) or get this book that I think I liked but its been so long I really don't remember what is going on in it?" So they kill their own sales and wonder why the market won't support them. And for every small company title that gets abandoned and never finished, the entire industry loses the trust of a customer and store in ordering small company stuff. That is wasted time and money for all involved.

So, please, don't ship all of you books at once. And if you can't hit some sort of schedule, please wait until you have most of the work done before sending it out.

Your readers and buyers will thank you.

Buying Comics

While my main goal is to sell comics, another part of my business is buying comics. And I buy a lot of them. Many are attic finds, or from the basement of a relative. Many are just thinning a collection. Far too many are people looking to cash out of their vast fortune of early Image and late Valiant comics. "But I have 6 copies of Spawn #1?" To which I answer "And if I buy these I will now have 258." But lately I have gotten some very nice collections. And it is reassuring. For all the crap I have taken in, it is nice to finally get some stuff I can put up on the wall. And with the recent expansion, it is also nice to have a place to put these books out for sale.

So, here is a quick lesson on how I buy books. One of my favorite questions I get on the phone is what percentage of book do I pay. Not all books are created equal. In the card (sports and non-sports) there are many card that are just called commons. Nothing exciting and minimal value. Most comics fall into this category. While the price guide my list these at cover price or a little above, that is more a factor of the guide not wanting to show that a comic is ever worth less than cover price. At worst, it will say "Cover price or less". But, sadly, during the overproduction (and poor quality) of books in the early 90's to early 2000s, many books can easily be found in Quarter or Dollar boxes. For these books, I typically pay $20 a longbox and hope I can turn them at a quarter each. While I may profit on them, the goal is more to make them go away. It puts books into peoples hands, but not a real profit maker.

Getting back to the "What percentage of book to I pay?" question, even if you have great books, I don't think you'll like the answer. I am buying books at wholesale and hoping to sell them for a profit. At some time. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, maybe in ten years. Asking me to pay you $20 for a book that guides at $40 isn't going to happen. I sell most of my back issues when they are on sale. So buying a book for $20 that I am more likely than not to sell for $20 doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And if it doesn't sell for several years, I am really out. So unless it is a book I know I can sell right away, my offer is going to be less. I just took in a nice collection of Thor, but it may take me 10 years to sell all of those books, so my offer was much less than book value.

This all brings me to a situation that happened this week. I bought a large (19 box) collection of books that ranged from commons (a lot of them) to really really nice books. My problem was this. The commons aren't worth a lot. The really nice books may be too nice in that they are very valuable, but because of that I don't know when or if I will be able to sell them. And all of those concerns were factored into the buying decision.

Now is it all as easy as this. No. Each case is different. but the overriding thing that I have learned is that I am not going to pay too much for books. If the customer takes my offer, great. If not, oh well. Most people that refuse my offer are for books that I didn't want in the first place. If you really want good money for your books, sell them yourself. Put them on eBay or get a table at a flea market. I'm not here to help you get rich off of your books. I am buying them in the hopes of being able to resell them. Given that back issues are a very small part of my business, I am not going to overpay for anything. It just doesn't make sense.

And Away We Go!!!

Dear Brave Followers and people who have stumbled across this,

Since the beginning, my goal was to have a daily blog. How hard could it be, really? Something interesting or exciting had to happen daily. Right?

Well, maybe not. But I am sure that I can put something up here every day. At least more often than my semi-monthly dispersals of info.

So check back every couple days. Hopefully I will have put something up.

Almost Done

The "Mom/Girlfriend Waiting Area"
The big hole
Back of the old side
View from the counter
Much more open now.
From the back towards the front
The small opening in the back, into the new side
From the new side looking into the old side



I just took these Saturday. I will post more when everything is neat and tidy.

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Well, there certainly have been a lot of changes going on in the comic world in the last week. Disney bought Marvel Comics. DC Comics corporate owner, Warner Brothers, decided that they needed to shake things up, make the properties more marketable and in the process their publisher, Paul Levitz left.

What does this all mean for comics? I don't know. And that scares me. I just signed a new 5 year lease for my expanded store. Will anything on comics be the same in 5 years. I don't know. They are the same as they were 3 years ago when I started. But, now? I don't know where they are going.

It has always been comics people in charge. But now its movie people in charge. Will it be for the better? Maybe. Maybe we need to shake things up. A lot of things do seem to comfortable. The end of every storyline always seems to be the beginning of something else rather than giving closure to the story. Maybe that will change.

I would love to see more stories about the story, rather than just continuing a story forever. Read Incredible Hulk 601 and tell me you would have any idea what was going on without reading the last couple of years of books. I love Daredevil dearly, but I don't even know where to tell someone to start reading. A customer came in asking about Superman. How do I help them make headway of that one? While I don't think they need to be dumbed down, making them more accessible would be great. How about some one-shots or two-parters? How about and Avengers book with actual Avengers in it. Or a Justice League with a regular Justice Leaguer?

This is my frustrating part about comics. I love them and I love selling them. But they don't make it easy to bring more people in. Selling trades of older stuff is great, but the new books are getting tough. And here is where the movie people come in.

Iron Man - Movie did great, in comics he was the most hated man in comics. Now, I will give them major props for starting the new book at the same time.
Batman - Movie did great, customers coming in were in the middle of the RIP storyine.
Green Lantern DVD - Not the best of time to try to jump in on Green Lantern.
Wolverine - Lots of interest, but in the middle of the Old Man Logan never-ending saga. Starting the new book at the same time was good, but not great, as there are already too many Wolverine books.
Maybe the movie people will help coordinate accessible comics when there is a movie coming.

But on the other hand, it is fun putting out the Whiteout book, so people see the new movie was a comic first. Same with Surrogates.

The thing that lead me to write this was on a comic retailer site, a comic news reporter was surprised that there was not much discussion about the DC shakeup. There had been a lot of commentary about the Disney/Marvel deal. What I wanted to say was this:

"The Marvel thing was a left hook to the body. Didn't see it coming. It could be good or bad. But even if it was bad, we could roll with it. DC is strong and steady. The DC thing was the right cross to the jaw. Didn't see it coming. It could be good or bad. But even if it was bad, we could roll with it. Except that Marvel is not the partner that DC is (or was). Paul Levitz was always concerned about us, the direct market. Marvel seems to see us as a necessary evil to get their books in the hands of their customers. We no longer have a rudder in DC. If both companies do things that are not in our (comic book stores) best interest, we could be gone. The basic business of comic retailing is the same as it was 3 years ago when I opened. I just signed a new five year lease. It's scary not knowing what things are going to be like in 6 months. Or a year. Or two years. Let alone 5 years. I'm not talking about storylines, I mean actual business. Will both of these parent companies decide to get rid of comics? Will they accidentally make decision (Heroes World) that will have major unexpected consequences on my ability to do business. What if Disney stores become the only outlet for Marvel Comics? And Warner Brothers follows suit? I can think of dozens of bad things. But not many good ones. I think most retailers are just sitting here hoping for the best."

So right now, I will go to the store and do the best job I can to make my business as strong as I can. maybe now would be a good time to get more into the gaming business....

Expansion!!!

Wow, I haven't done this in a while and there is a lot to say.

After getting the news of the rent increase, I started looking around. I missed out on one spot that would have been really good. Too good, so I knew I was too late. Then I kept looking all around the area. Nothing was as cheap as what I am paying now, even with the rent increase. My neighbor was already on the fence about renewing, so with the increase, she decided to move. This lead to an opportunity for me, to take over her space as well.

They broke through the wall today. They are making a 6 foot opening and a 3 foot opening between the 2 stores. This was limited because they had to put a beam up to support the ceiling. But it is just as well, because I need as much wall space as I can get. I don't know exactly what I am putting where on the other side, mostly because I didn't know exactly where the holes were going to be. There is a big difference between what I can fit in 5 feet of space and 6 feet.

Here is a picture of my new hole.

The store is a disaster right now because of having to move things quickly to make space for the hole (right in the middle of my new comic wall.

Here are the rest of the pictures of the work in progress.

I will post more pictures as soon as I can figure out how to format them better

Rent, Leases & Landlords

Lots going on, mind swirling, emotions in full rage and stomach flip-flopping.

My lease is up the end of August. For the last few months, I have been including a note with my rent, asking to talk about renewing my lease. So, it really wasn't a mystery that I wanted to stay. I thought that would be appreciated by my landlord, especially in this economy. I can't imagine that there are that many people looking to open new businesses right now.

So, when I get home Wednesday, there is a package in my mailbox from an attorney. "What did I do?", I wondered. Well, I opened it up to find a cover letter about signing and returning my new lease. As I look it over I see my base rent is going up $1 a sq ft. Not unexpected. But wait. Base rent? I was just paying rent. So I keep reading. They are now adding a "Common Area Maintenance and Taxes Fee" to my rent. And adding this to the increase in my base rent increases my total rent by 50% over what I have been paying. That is quite a hike, in my (and every one of my customers that I have told about this's) opinion.

I understand the concept of Common Area Maintenance fee. But this is not a shopping center. It is three stores in one building. About 4000 sq feet total. There are about 10 parking spaces and a little strip of grass. I don't understand what maintaining this area could be. For the first 2 years, she had someone weedwack the weeds every couple of months. There is usually a large hole in the middle of the parking lot that people have to drive around. The hole has been filled for a bit and they have actually been cutting the grass every other week or so since the spring. But I am not paying thousands of dollars for that. Property taxes are there problem. That is what I am paying rent for. For them to pay the mortgage and taxes on the building. Why make me pay for their property taxes AND also pay more in rent. That's like getting the best of both worlds. "We don't have to pay taxes or maintenance anymore. Lets raise their base rent to so we can make even more profit."

So, after not sleeping all night, I give them a call when I get to the store. Lo and behold, they are on vacation until today. Seriously, you drop a bomb like this on your tenants and then are unavailable? Not cool. If anything could have made me more angry, that was it.

Wednesday night I had emailed some of the big commercial places that had spaces available. I know that most are out of my price range, but you never know. Many have been open for a long time. On the way into the store Thursday, I drove around the area writing down numbers of available properties. I planned on using my typically slow Thursday morning to call around and maybe go see some when my help arrived. There was a specific place I new about. A boring 1500 sq ft rectangle, but not a bad location. In the building next door there was a 3000 sq ft space available. Way more than I could ever afford, but I wrote the number down anyway. "What the heck, it couldn't hurt to call, right?" I called both the numbers and arranged to see both places around 4:00. Luckily, the day was much busier than a normal Thursday. I talked with my customers about the potential move somewhere. Everyone was shocked by the 50% rent increase.

So, I finally sneak out of the store to go see the 2 places. Both are on a main road here. My current place is 1 block off the main road, but on a still busy road and right across from an entrance to a big shopping center. I am peering through the windows at the 3000 sq ft place. Hmmm, lots of windows and doorways. Not good for me. I need lots of walls for comic racks and bookshelves. There is also a big wall with what were changing areas for the dress store that used to be here. It looked like a lot of work to get it ready. And the fact that it is 3 times the space that I have now. I can't afford to triple my rent, and being on the main road, the rent per sq ft would probably be even more than I am paying now, so it is probabaly way out of my price range. The landlord, gary, gets there and we go in. Well, its may not be too many windows because there are a bunch of mirrors I thought were windows. The dressing area could easily come down. Not structural. There are a couple of extra rooms that I don't need, but may be able to do something with. OK, this could work. But how much? While it is more than doubling what I am paying now, it is only $900 more than what I will be paying under my new lease. $900 for better location and 3 times the space. That could work.

I leave and go look at the other place. A 1500 sq ft rectangle. I really don't like the space and the price is way too high for what it is. Only $250 less than the 3000 ft place. So my wife is out and about with the kids. She wants to see the big place. So we go look. I brainstorm some ideas about what I would put where. We both like it, but we are worried about the increased rent. I am comfortable with what I am paying now. More than doubling that is scary. Will I do enough extra business in the new place to cover that increase? I don't know, but at least I was able to sleep.

After talking it over that night and morning, we agree to go for it. The space is too good to pass up. I am completely out of room where I am and I need the extra room. This is far more than I would have looked for, but it is too good to pass up. So, I call Gary and tell him I'll take it. He had mentioned before that he was waiting for a guy to sign a lease on it, but he was still getting his numbers together. He is planning on gutting it and putting $25,000 into it to remodel it. I will take it as is. He said he was giving the guy this weekend to get back to him. He called him Friday and his business was closed for the holiday.

So, I should find out today what is going on. He is telling this guy he needs to sign now because he has another another guy (me) who wants the place. What will this unknown guy do? I don't know. My fate is kind of in his hands. Gary wants to rent the place. Its been open for a while and he could use the income. So I don't think he'll let this guy play him for long. I hope not.

My tummy is all flip-floppy. I am excited about the prospect of taking care of my sudden rent problem quickly. I love the idea of more space. I am doing my best not to think about what I would do in the new space so I won't be too disappointed if the other guy signs. But I am also scared of the new rent amount. Its not like I have that extra amount just laying around at the end of each month. I am also concerned about what all will be required to actually move the store. A bit of a logistical nightmare. It has to be done all at once. Close Saturday at the old place, reopen Tuesday at the new place. Coordinating the phone and all that stuff. So I am excited and scared at the same time. Kind of like when I signed my first lease.

I am 90% sure I am not going to get it, that the other guy will sign and I will have to continue my search. I am a firm believer in fate and what was meant to be will be. If I don't get it, I wasn't meant to. I have been needing more space for the last year, but I was willing to resign at my current place for convenience. I am looking at this whole thing as fate's way of saying I need more space and its time to move. So it may or may not work for this space. Hopefully I will know something in the next few hours. Then I'll be able to eat.

The End of Another Great May

Another May has come and gone, leaving in its wake my best month ever. You'd think that Christmas time would be my best time of year, but instead, its May. Last year, May became my best month ever. And I blew past that number this year. The only explanation I can come up with is people are getting their tax returns.

So thanks to everybody who helped me raise the bar. Now to keep it going all summer.

If you've been by the store lately, you've seen the changes I made on Tuesday. 3 more bookshelves (Thanks, Ikea!) and new display shelves for some of the statues. I think at this point, I am pretty tapped on on what I can do with my floor space. I do have one more idea, but it would result in losing all of my in store storage, so I am not really excited. But it may get there.

This summer is going to be a huge sidewalk sale for me. I need room, so I am going to be moving stuff out. I lost room for the toys, so I am blowing them all out - 1/2 price. As soon as most of them are gone, I will be bringing 24 boxes I have at home in the basement. I brought them home to sort and bag one weekend while my wife was away and I never got them back to the store. 24 boxes is the exact number that I can fit on the 2 8-ft tables outside. So I am going to bring them in and sell them all for a buck a piece. Lots of good stuff. I just don't have the room for them even if I price them.

This week I am getting in several hundred trades and hardcovers that are all going to be half off or more. If you are looking for some good summer reading, now is the time. How I am going to display them, I have no idea.

I am also going to be getting stuff up on eBay, so any out-of-towners can help thin my inventory as well.

So, I have a very full plate ahead of me this summer. But I can't complain, because it is all fun.

Back To Normal

Well, Free Comic Book Day has passed once again. What a great and joyous experience! Lots of new faces. Lots of new kid faces. A great day of sales (possibly the 2nd best day ever). And a whole lot of fun.

I was lucky enough to have Dave Hawksworth, an outside sales rep for Diamond Comic Distributors in the store both Friday and Saturday. His primary job is to make sure we are aware of lots of good, award winning trades and other products. He also usually takes pictures of the store and does a little profile on the Diamond site for other retailers. He didn't take any photos on Friday and I think I impressed him by having all but one of the books he was promoting. I had sold the other one, but had not reordered it. I even sold him 2 books so he could promote them at other stores on his voyage.

Dave came back on Saturday to take pictures during the Free Comic Book Day festivities. Luckily he was there at about the busiest point of the day, with lots of kids in the store. I was waaaay too busy on the register to talk to him, but I could hear customers talking me and the store up to him, and I really appreciated it.

Dave gave me lots of compliments and heaped praise on me and the store and how I am running the store. Now I do see this 2 ways. 1st, I doubt he ever tells anyone they are doing a crappy job. But, 2nd, he sees a lot of stores in his travels. So he knows good and bad, and I really do think he thinks I am doing a good job.

I am not the biggest store in the area, either in sales volume or in store size. But I do try to carry a very diverse stock. It was nice to have almost all of the books he was recommending. Its also fun to surprise people by having the oddball books they are looking for.

So I guess I will keep doing what I am doing. Hopefully, I'll keep getting better at it. And thanks to everybody that came down this past weekend. And thinks to everybody that shows up every week or month. I couldn't do it without you.

Diamond and the Small Press Situation

The more I think about the whole Diamond restructuring order minimums thing, the more I think it will help me in the long run. Instead of just blindly ordering from the publishers in the Diamond previews catalog, I am going to have to look on the web for more information about the different companies. I am already getting set up with a small press distributor and there is another that I need to look at more closely.

Now will it hurt these publishers, at least initially. Sure. They are going to lose a large chunk of the people who may order their books. But I know there a lot of stores that don’t even bother with back of the Previews stuff anyway. I love that stuff. It’s what makes me different from the grocery store.

The thought of having to keep track of multiple orders from multiple distributors at first seems like a big hassle, but hopefully it will end up making me more organized. (And hopefully my new POS system will do some of the work for me as well)

The funny part, for me, is that Diamond had this ginormous “monopoly”. (I don’t think it is legally a monopoly, under the true definition) There was literally no reason to get your books anywhere else. They had the big companies (Marvel, DC) and you could get all of the rest there. But recently, stores have been going through book distributors to get graphic novels that Diamond was spotty about keeping in stock. Or at a better discount than Diamond was offering. And I have recently had to go direct through the publishers to get some books that Diamond was not restocking, or stocking at all in the case of hack Slash. I am opening an account with Haven Distribution. They have some books in stock that I have had on back order with Diamond for a long time. Now, their list of publishers is pretty small right now, but I sure expect that to grow in the near future.

I realize that Diamond was losing money on some of these publishers. I just question the 70% jump from in publisher order requirements. Seems awful big all at once. But maybe this is the kick in the butt those publishers needed to make changes to improve themselves and the industry as a whole. Who knows, maybe this will even help the entire distribution chain in the long run.

It is definitely making for interesting times.

Perspective

My wife found out yesterday that one of her friends from Chicago has suffered an unbelievable loss. One of her twins was murdered by a day care worker. Had his head slammed into the concrete floor, fracturing his skull. The one thing the report does not say is that the child is a twin. I just cannot imaging the loss or how you deal with this sort of thing.

It kind of puts the whole Obama Spidey controversy in perspective.

Looking at a New POS System

My current POS system is just that, a Piece of Shit. Comtrac. Supposedly the industry leader in comic book store POS systems. Sadly, they were never able to get me what I ordered and paid for. They started me out on a DOS version while the Windows version was in beta testing. This was in 2006. Windows has been around for a few years before this, right? This should have been a sign, but I was young and didn't know better. So I limped along my first year and a half on the decrepit DOS version. Sadly, when DOS was out, I was using my Apple IIe, so I didn't know the fancy lingo to get it to do stuff. Like working without a mouse. How quaint.

But the promises of the new system doing what I expected and being right around the corner kept me going. Well, finally in December 2007 I got the Windows program and had it all installed and ready to go for January. And it worked OK in January. Lots of bugs and things that were quite annoying, but, hey, I finally had it.

Well, that was great until about 2 days into February, when it had a fatal error. Contacted the company and many downloads and patches later I was told, by the IT guy who was looking at my monitor that I could not be getting the error message that was coming up. I pointed out to him that it was right there, but since it couldn't be happening, there was nothing he could do.

So, I went back to the DOS version and have been limping along on 1982 technology since. The day I was told that the system I paid $2000 for won't work anymore, I signed up for Diamond Comic Distributor's fancy new POS program based on Microsoft RMS. This kind of made me happy only because Diamond is the main company that I deal with for product and Microsoft hopefully has support people who won't tell me that there is nothing they can do to help me. Everything seemed like a good fit.

Except I have now been waiting 49 weeks for the product. I'm not greedy. I know they said it would be a slow roll out to make sure that everything was working properly. But, there are only about 3000 stores in the country. And I doubt all of them are getting the product. Maybe 10%. I certainly should have had it by now. Getting impatient. I really would have liked to have had the new system to start the year so that everything would have been in one place. But then again, that didn't work so well last time.

So, on a comic retailer forum, there was a discussion about doing the monthly order. The conversation quickly turned to how does your POS system help you do this. (Mine does not, in case you were wondering. They didn't do monthly orders back in the 40s when my system was created). And people who have this other system, called Moby , are giving their product rave reviews. I had poked around at this a while back, but was holding out for the Microsoft system due to support issues. But some of the people who have gotten the new Diamond system are commenting that it doesn't work as efficiently as they had hoped. Moby was designed by store owners for making things easier. RMS is a generic program that is being modified for comic books stores, but apparently is not a flexible as it could be and the stores have to adapt to it instead of the other way around.

So I ask a couple people I know who have it and the reviews are glowing. So I am probably going to go with it. I am going to talk to the Ben at Bitter End on Thursday and make sure I am ready for it and then we'll go forward.

I will keep you updated.