Friday, March 12, 2010

Amazon Price Glitch Update - Final Tally

Friday - Today the final packages arrived that were ordered during the Amazon Price Glitch of 2010.  Among them was one omnibus. 

Tally stats are updated and final 'glitch' discount was 59.7%.

Was it all worth it?  Honestly, the discount was pretty decent, but it wasn't earth-shattering.  60% off brand new hardcovers is great, but it's not an insane 90% once-in-a-lifetime deal.  I bought some great books and will have reading material for at least six months so I'm overall happy with the experience.  Maybe some people got better deals than me, but I wanted to run the numbers and show one perspective on the 'glitch' sale. 

Oh yeah, then there's the $25 coupon compensation for being involved.  I don't think Amazon owes me anything, but will gladly accept it anyway.  I'd love to spend it on an omnibus of some sort, but Amazon continues to keep their sales offerings of involved titles down.  It could be a sold-out scenario  or they're waiting until the Diamond 'glitch' is fixed for good.  Regardless, DC is making out with uninterrupted sales (thanks to being distributed by Random House). 

Overall Amazon's margin was probably hit due to the 'glitch', but it may not be as drastic or devastating in the end.  If the common experience is a 60% markdown and their cost is only 20-40% (based on volume purchases/buying power) we're might see positives (not including shipping or overhead).  A temporary margin hit is better than a lasting one. 

The real question is what about Diamond Distributors?  They seem to have been the cause of the price catastrophe at not one, but two online retailers.  They're the largest comic publishing distributor and are probably being held accountable in some way for the error.  We'll see if the 'glitch' has any lasting impact on comic/graphic novel distribution.

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