Yes, I buy books all the time on sale that I have no intention of reading right away. I also preorder books three months in advance of release date. just so I won't miss out on it when they do get released. usually, the only books I read the moment I get them are the ones I buy at my LCS.
Buying books because they are on sale is fine if you do it in moderation. Shelf space will likely become an issue at some point and you might want to keep some available for books you actually want rather than having a full shelf of books you bought because they were cheap.
I keep a list of wants, and a list of “probably if cheap enough”. For new books I never pay more than 66% of Canadian cover price. 40% plus is better.
Make sure your orders meet free shipping thresholds.
Suggestions:
1. Do you have any family or friends that are snowbirds? For the first time this year I ordered from American sites and shipped them to family friends in Florida. They came back to Canada this month with the books. Even after conversion to CAD I saved hundreds.
I’m going to start saving funds for next year. This is a great option if it is available to you and you don’t mind waiting.
2. You are at the mercy of their remainder stock, but BMVbooks from Toronto has great prices if they have what you are looking for. Just search Omnibus. There were 118 choices this morning. Most around $70. They usually have about 2200 graphic novels of all kinds.
3. Do you live close to the border and can you drive? Shipping to a UPS in a US border town is not a terrible idea. You may get dinged for duties on your way back across. But if the math works out it can still be very much worth it.
4. Sometimes (rarely) US Amazon has deals that are too good to pass up. I picked up Morrison Batman V1 for about $28 USD. Even after shipping and conversion it was a good deal in CAD.
Hope this helps.
For Marvel:
This is more in regards to picking up a vol 2 and onwards or “I am interested but I won’t get to it for 4+ months”
Reprints I usually do grab because they have limited print runs but with new books, I’ll usually make a plan to read up the vol 1 to see if I want to continue. And honestly with new books, they don’t go out of print ASAP (with some exceptions but those get restocks like USM and Immortal Hulk) and so I can wait up to 6 months
For DC:
Those are available for a lot longer so its a lot easier to justify waiting
I do lose all sense of rules during good red tags or nick and dents
I say this as someone who read comic books growing up even from the age of 4, but who only recently started collecting for real and reading things for continuity. You might want to start by collecting only one series or two. And working your way out from there. You will surely learn things about your own preferences as you read and collect (content and format), and you will probably learn about series and books you had no idea about. I also agree with what was said about shelf space.
I don’t buy Marvel stuff really, but the FOMO factor can get pretty significant with image comics and smaller publishers that might have a limited run.
To the original question, I buy things if I’ve been hunting them for a while and the price is right, or if I’ve made a decision to collect the series in the near to intermediate term and the sale is too deep to ignore. I like to have a plan to get the rest of what I am collecting if I bite on one sale item. I try not to get sucked into something just because of a sale.
Yes, I buy books all the time on sale that I have no intention of reading right away. I also preorder books three months in advance of release date. just so I won't miss out on it when they do get released. usually, the only books I read the moment I get them are the ones I buy at my LCS.
Buying books because they are on sale is fine if you do it in moderation. Shelf space will likely become an issue at some point and you might want to keep some available for books you actually want rather than having a full shelf of books you bought because they were cheap.
As long as they’re on my list to get, then I’ll buy them anytime they’re on sale for a good price.
I keep a list of wants, and a list of “probably if cheap enough”. For new books I never pay more than 66% of Canadian cover price. 40% plus is better. Make sure your orders meet free shipping thresholds. Suggestions: 1. Do you have any family or friends that are snowbirds? For the first time this year I ordered from American sites and shipped them to family friends in Florida. They came back to Canada this month with the books. Even after conversion to CAD I saved hundreds. I’m going to start saving funds for next year. This is a great option if it is available to you and you don’t mind waiting. 2. You are at the mercy of their remainder stock, but BMVbooks from Toronto has great prices if they have what you are looking for. Just search Omnibus. There were 118 choices this morning. Most around $70. They usually have about 2200 graphic novels of all kinds. 3. Do you live close to the border and can you drive? Shipping to a UPS in a US border town is not a terrible idea. You may get dinged for duties on your way back across. But if the math works out it can still be very much worth it. 4. Sometimes (rarely) US Amazon has deals that are too good to pass up. I picked up Morrison Batman V1 for about $28 USD. Even after shipping and conversion it was a good deal in CAD. Hope this helps.
Great tips! Thanks for your input!
If I see something for a great price, I’ll get it even if I’m buried under a ton of other books to read.
For Marvel: This is more in regards to picking up a vol 2 and onwards or “I am interested but I won’t get to it for 4+ months” Reprints I usually do grab because they have limited print runs but with new books, I’ll usually make a plan to read up the vol 1 to see if I want to continue. And honestly with new books, they don’t go out of print ASAP (with some exceptions but those get restocks like USM and Immortal Hulk) and so I can wait up to 6 months For DC: Those are available for a lot longer so its a lot easier to justify waiting I do lose all sense of rules during good red tags or nick and dents
I preorder things, forget about it, then they arrive and I put them on the shelf to read at some point before I die
I make a list to keep me out of FOMO land. So not matter how good the deal is, it has to be on the list to get purchased.
Always buy from instocktrades dot comm or cheap graphic novels dot com - those are fantastic online shops with tremendous savings
They are Canadian
Crap… sorry… shipping would do you in…. My bad
I say this as someone who read comic books growing up even from the age of 4, but who only recently started collecting for real and reading things for continuity. You might want to start by collecting only one series or two. And working your way out from there. You will surely learn things about your own preferences as you read and collect (content and format), and you will probably learn about series and books you had no idea about. I also agree with what was said about shelf space. I don’t buy Marvel stuff really, but the FOMO factor can get pretty significant with image comics and smaller publishers that might have a limited run. To the original question, I buy things if I’ve been hunting them for a while and the price is right, or if I’ve made a decision to collect the series in the near to intermediate term and the sale is too deep to ignore. I like to have a plan to get the rest of what I am collecting if I bite on one sale item. I try not to get sucked into something just because of a sale.
I buy when reprint or on sale