What is the biggest mistake a comic shop can make?

Easy. OVER ORDERING PERIODICALS...

Periodicals? What's that? - you might be asking yourself...Periodicals in comic talk refers to single issue comics. You know as in regular comics. T It's easy to over order for several reasons.

1- Chances are that most comic readers are either subscribing at their LCS (local comic shop) or picking their comics up as they are released off the extra issues their store orders. This is especially true for the classically popular titles. I might have sold one or two issues of Spiderman/Amazing Spiderman the whole time I have sold online.

2- Personal Bias - I might see an indie comic with an interesting story or I might see a really cool Batman variant cover or series from a favorite author. I proceed to order 10-20 copies of this cool comic and then no one buys it.

3- Lack of sales data - Over time you can use sales data to determine what is popular with your particular audience. To assume that you will have a generic comic book audience is a big mistake. Your store's product mix, the way you do business, and what platforms you use for marketing are going to create a special little subset of comic readers who are drawn to do business with you. HOWEVER, it takes sometime to make enough sales to begin to recognize trends from sales data.

What I have learned is to...

* I always review my order before submitting to my distributor. I just scroll down and ask myself something like, Will I really sell 15 copies of Harley Quinn? How many issues have I sold over the last month?" Then Maybe I order 10 instead. If I ever run out of an issue quicker than expected, I make note of it.

* Track sales data and figure out what is most popular. I'm still operating at a loss, so take this observation with a grain of salt, but a lot of my sales come from ordering things that regular shops are probably either not ordering or not ordering enough of. I have sold a fair amount of Catwoman and Harley Quinn issues. Most comic shops are owned are run by men. Do I presume that a personal bias prevents these issues from being ordered in a high enough quantity maybe? Some children's comics based off of cartoons have done well. I might have sold more issues of that category that anything else. The profit is lower for those issues as they usually sell for a lower price point, but I know that many comic shops don't sell them because they also don't sell well.

* Frequent forums and social media to see what comic fans are excited about and what they are not excited about in regards to new issues and products. This can help you temper the pull of your personal tastes when ordering.

Trade paper backs, (often abbreviated to as TPB) Omnibuses, Manga, and graphic novels can also be over-ordered but these tend to be evergreen in a way, because readers, especially new readers of a series will seek them out.

Anyway friends, let me know if you find these kind of observations helpful. I have wanted to open several different businesses and I rarely find useful advice or insights that are specific. If this kind of thing is appreciated I can publish more insights scattered in between comic news/reviews and progress to opening a physical shop. let me know in the comments or via the contact page.