Glen Soustek of Westlake Cards, Comics & Coins, Inc. in Roselle, Illinois read the recent Talk Back discussions relating to minimums for variants and promotions and had this to say:

Minimums are minimums and chasing after the latest variant or promotion will, in the long run, be about as profitable as chasing after foil embossed die-cut covers was nearly a generation ago.  I'm from the Chicagoland area, I order what I need and I see a lot of stacks of new-issue laying around at other stores for 50% off--all items that were ordered with the 1:100 variant in mind.  But don't take my word for it, check out eBay for the 100 count lots of Siege (or any other "hot" title for that matter) at prices that will net the dealer about 25% of his original cost after seller's fees.

In the long run, it's not whether or not you can meet the minimums, it's what all of these promotions are doing to give a false bottom to the market.  10% to 50% of the books "sold" through Diamond may actually be sitting around gathering dust on the shelves of dealers that can not be taught that ordering $400 worth of something to get the $25 premium doesn't work when most of the $400 doesn't get sold--or gets jettisoned for cost a week after release.  I have no doubt that some people can sell 100 pieces of anything at full boat.  I also know for a fact that most of the people in this industry don't, won't or can't.

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