John Miller of Docking Bay 94 in Coconut, Florida writes in to share his experience after doing a field trip before placing his toy orders.  

Every comic shop owner should do this every month before ordering from the Previews catalog: take a field trip and visit Toys "R" Us, Target, any of the big mart stores, and don't forget about Walgreens and CVS.  Pay attention to what is on the shelves and the price.  You will be amazed how many toys and collectibles that are being solicited in your new Previews catalog that are already sitting on shelves across the country, months before we will ever receive  it.

I use to sell dozens of Marvel and DC bust banks, but this has slowed way down in the past year or so.  Could it be because Toys "R" Us sells the Marvel Bust Banks for only $9.99?  This is nothing new.  The big mart-type stores have always been cheaper on genre related merchandise , but when they sell bust banks at a price below what the same item costs me to restock it, something is wrong.

The Deadpool Bust Bank is $9.99 at Toys "R" Us… your store's cost to restock from Diamond is $10.19 plus shipping (w/ a Previews consumer price of $16.99).  A trip to a local CVS revealed that they now sell the electronic Doctor Who Screwdrivers (The 11th Doctor one), their price $19.99.  Our cost from Diamond is $20.99 (our cost!!!!).  Then there are the exclusive Marvel Legends figures only at Walmart.

There is some major disconnect going on here!  When the cost of any item that is being sold at other outlets is  at a price point below what our distributors sell it to us.  Why do we need to even stock it??

Good news is that I have many locations near me to pick up these items when I need to restock; just whip out the resale certificate and buy it cheaper than having it shipped from my distributor.  But then again who would buy it from me when it's cheaper everywhere else?

So good luck and adjust your orders accordingly.

The opinions expressed in this Talk Back are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.