Are Dark Horse tpb versions over-priced?

[MajorHoy]

I guess I'm spoiled by DC's New 52 stuff, where the typical tpb version is currently priced at $14.99 and often includes at least five issues worth of material, sometimes even 7 or 8 issues worth. Worst case, 5 issues worth at $14.99 = about $2.99 per an issue, which is the same as the cover price of the individual issues when new.

I just bought a Dark Horse tpb today (Angel & Faith, Season 9, Vol. 1), which it says reprints issues 1 - 5 of that run.
The cover price is $17.99 (but I got it at $12.95), so that is roughly $3.60 per an issue of a comic that had a cover price of $2.99 per a single issue.

What's up with that?

[DonC]

Eh. They've been been doing that for years. And pretty much all comics are over-priced to some degree.

[MRP]

Not sure when they switched, but aren't most new DH comics cover priced $3.50 now not $2.99. All the recent DH stuff I have gotten (Conan, Agent of Empire, Massive) have had $3.50 cover price. That puts the $17.99 more in line with what the current issue prices are.Still overpriced but probably in line with their line wide pricing structure.

-M

[MajorHoy]

Eh. They've been been doing that for years. And pretty much all comics are over-priced to some degree.

I won't disagree that individual issues are a tad expensive (especially many Marvel titles), I do think the tpb collections should at least average out to no more than the cover price of the original material if that original comic book isn't that old.

But that's just my feelings.

[MajorHoy]

Not sure when they switched, but aren't most new DH comics cover priced $3.50 now not $2.99. All the recent DH stuff I have gotten (Conan, Agent of Empire, Massive) have had $3.50 cover price. That puts the $17.99 more in line with what the current issue prices are.Still overpriced but probably in line with their line wide pricing structure.

-M

The Buffy books are still cover priced at $2.99 each as per November solicitations.

[Michael24]

I haven't bought any regular TPBs from Dark Horse, only a few of the Omnibus editions. I think those are overpriced, especially considering they are smaller in size than regular TPBs. I was shocked to see the Indiana Jones ones were $24.95. Of course, I still bought them (had to get them one at a time) because I'm an Indy fan and had never read them, but I think think they're about $5 to $10 too high. I also had plans to get several Star Wars, Alien and Predator Omnibuses, but after seeing the prices I decided not to.

[DonC]

I won't disagree that individual issues are a tad expensive (especially many Marvel titles), I do think the tpb collections should at least average out to no more than the cover price of the original material if that original comic book isn't that old.

But that's just my feelings.

Like I said, Dark Horse has been pricing books above the cost of single issues for years. The Hellboy: Seed of Destruction trade has always been $17.99US for four $2.50 issues and that was first published in 1994.

[thwhtGuardian]

I don't know if there is any truth to it but it was always my understanding that Dark Horse's collected editions were more than the cover price in order to turn a profit on their books because the single issue sales tend to be low. It makes sense to me, and I don't mind paying a slight premium if it keeps books I enjoy in publication.

[MajorHoy]

I don't know if there is any truth to it but it was always my understanding that Dark Horse's collected editions were more than the cover price in order to turn a profit on their books because the single issue sales tend to be low. It makes sense to me, and I don't mind paying a slight premium if it keeps books I enjoy in publication.

The problem with this reasoning is that if it's more expensive to buy the tpb than the individual issues, I might be more likely to see if it's cheaper to buy back issues than the tpb. And if that happens, Dark Horse doesn't make any money off of me, since back issues have already been bought and paid for by the comic book shop. (Whether the comic book shop increases future orders of Dark Horse if more back issues sell is anybody's guess.)

[thwhtGuardian]

I don't know if that's something many people do these days though, most would seem to want the collected editions rather than the floppies so I don't think they lose much business that way and with the low print runs that DH's books generally have it's often pretty hard to find back issues at a reasonable rate even if you choose to go that rout.

[Michael24]

I've been known to buy back issues instead of TPBs. This summer, I purchased back issues of DH's first three Alien mini-series rather than the collections, but that was more because I wanted the original first printings instead of the reprints, which contained altered text and recoloring.

[UnravThreads]

DH tend to have higher-quality trades than DC, I think that's important to note. I think their HCs tend to be better quality too. And, as a Brit, this is especially true as UK-distributed DC trades are from Titan Books tend to be even lower quality still.

I do think DH trades can be a little expensive, but it's not too hard to shop around and get them at lower prices.

[Alton]

I won't disagree that individual issues are a tad expensive (especially many Marvel titles), I do think the tpb collections should at least average out to no more than the cover price of the original material if that original comic book isn't that old.

But that's just my feelings.

Actually I think TPs should run a little less.Everybody has already been paid the first time around all they have to do is reprint the stuff,but in the case of licensed material is this an additional hidden surcharge to offset the cost of Buffyverse/Star Wars etc.? You think this is bad? Have you seen the Arcana extended comics masquerading as GN's and TPB's in Previews lately? Talk about overpricing, who in heck actually buys those titles and they aren't the only indi doing it.Foreign or domestic, prices should be tied to page count.

[thwhtGuardian]

DH tend to have higher-quality trades than DC, I think that's important to note. I think their HCs tend to be better quality too. And, as a Brit, this is especially true as UK-distributed DC trades are from Titan Books tend to be even lower quality still.

I do think DH trades can be a little expensive, but it's not too hard to shop around and get them at lower prices.

Eh, I don't know about that. The binding in DH trades tend to be a little shoddy, especially some of the earlier Hellboy trades. To their credit though the people DH have acknowledged the issue and in some cases offered to replace certain trades so you won't hear me complain too much as that's excellent customer service.

[MadDog1981]

I think the Usagi Yojimbo trades are very overpriced. I think they should be $12, not $17. It's really a barrier to buying more of them.