Supporting the industry!

[myskaros]

NISA games I get direct from their store. The bonuses are best and I can build points for future discounts.

Most other games I get off of Amazon.

Amazon is good for anime and manga, but I usually go through Right Stuf. Pick up the membership, it pays for itself and then some.

Unless you can buy direct from the publisher, there really isn't a "best" place to buy from. Just good places and not-good places.

This was mostly what I was doing in the first place, but was just curious if, say, online retailers pay fewer royalties back or something strange that I didn't know about.

RE: Barnes & Noble, it's the only retail bookstore in town (that I know of, aside from like Half-Price Books), so that's why I mentioned it. When Bakuman got translated, I got into a habit of buying the newest volume from them, but stopped when I lost my job. I'll probably just get it direct from VIZ's site, since they seem to be using the Amazon engine (even have the 4-for-3 promotion!).

[stealth20k]

No offense but a dufus, calls someone a dufus when they are wrong about the current state of a company

isnt that what we were talking about? How they are doing right now?

Sales of all there business units are up. There gross profit is up.Gross profit in 2011 was 1.81B. Last year was 1.68B. The year before was 1.58B. Theres companies in alot worse shape out there.

In my town they just owned a second "super store". Its enormous. What they need to do is better organize the stores

[Daverost]

This was mostly what I was doing in the first place, but was just curious if, say, online retailers pay fewer royalties back or something strange that I didn't know about.

I can't say for sure, but I would assume that since they get a bigger consumer base (what with being available to everyone everywhere), online stores offer cheaper prices because they can take the per-unit profit hit by selling in bulk. I would think publishers get a similar cut either way.

I'm no businessman, though.

[SaturnineTenshi]

@stealth: Might want to learn to read there, buddy.

@myskaros: The online theory is one I would entertain if I knew what's going on below-deck. How exactly the online retailers are getting the lower prices and what that means to publishers. I used to buy from NISA because it was direct, convenient and there is extra content. Unfortunately, the shipping/shipping time to Canada means it isn't worth it any longer.

[stealth20k]

^ I would say the same thing.


Now lets talk about barnes and noble and how it effects the game industry. What ive been noticing is there guide section has gotten alot smaller

and they dont replace anything. I can still get an ff 9 guide there if I want.

[Sheleigha]

Anime is much harder to get retail, mostly just because I'm unfamiliar with where it would be carried, but also the places I know (pretty much just Best Buy) have a piss-poor selection at a price that seems way too high to be justifiable. $25 for a 4-5 episode DVD just doesn't seem like a good investment, especially when I can find BD box sets for $30-40 on (again) Amazon, or I'll be looking for a BD but can only find DVD (Baccano!).

As mentioned before, Rightstuf is THE best place to buy anime and manga. Honestly, it's more rare for Amazon to have the better price, compared to them! The thing is, Rightstuf also develops anime through their localizing company Nozomi. So, buying their Nozomi titles is buying direct, the sales on stuff are AMAZING (as are regular prices, ALWAYS under MSRP), and is probably the number 1 site to judge best sales numbers off.

[stealth20k]

what is rightstuf?

[Sheleigha]

Google it. Don't be lazy.

[SaturnineTenshi]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Right_ ... ernational

And the Better Business Bureau website: http://www.bbb.org/iowa/business-review ... ia-5005457

[stealth20k]

Google it. Don't be lazy.

I am in a lazy mood right now...............I respect that site for having an adult section along with everything else.


I seriously never heard of them before now

I would buy all manga on amazon.

[myskaros]

Well, the simplest explanation for cheaper prices online is that you don't need a store front, only need warehouses and employees who manage those warehouses. All the costs for rent, fixtures, parking, maintenance, cleaning, etc., are gone. Selling online-only also means you get 100% of the advantage of bulk buying and selling- you don't need to "stock" product at locations, you only maintain a single list of "do I have it or not?"

RE: RightStuf, I've bought stuff from them before, their sales are pretty enticing, but Amazon's free shipping makes a pretty big difference as well. I definitely know when I bought FMP + Fumoffu BD, I compared prices and Amazon came out cheaper. No sales or Gold Box or anything, just regular price. Could just be that one occurrence, though.

[SaturnineTenshi]

Yeah, myskaros. That's what I was getting at in my initial post. But you just cannot factor in everything without knowing yourself how the products are acquired and what prices they're acquired for. Do most of the localization companies for anime not have their own websites with links for purchase at the very least?

[Sheleigha]

RE: RightStuf, I've bought stuff from them before, their sales are pretty enticing, but Amazon's free shipping makes a pretty big difference as well. I definitely know when I bought FMP + Fumoffu BD, I compared prices and Amazon came out cheaper. No sales or Gold Box or anything, just regular price. Could just be that one occurrence, though.

Yeah there is the odd time when Amazon is cheaper. Rightstuf does have free shipping too for $50, which I don't mind. There's always stuff I want to buy and thing to top the cart with (now they also have the $1, $5 etc blind box deals, which I've heard are good quality stuff) or preorder, so I just do mass purchases every now and then to get to the price point. Preordering being the easiest, of course :p Don't have to worry about paying for it right away...

Do most of the localization companies for anime not have their own websites with links for purchase at the very least?

Most of the companies just link to Amazon or Rightstuf.

[SaturnineTenshi]

Best bet is likely what they link, then. Or you could e-mail that company and ask if there are multiple sources.

[myskaros]

Do most of the localization companies for anime not have their own websites with links for purchase at the very least?

Most of the companies just link to Amazon or Rightstuf.

For anime, I've only recently looked at NISA's stuff, which obviously they have an online store. I'm not sure what titles I'm going to pursue, the ones I want either aren't licensed (Bakemonogatari), are out of print (Kara no Kyoukaik, Baccano! BD), or are apparently stalled indefinitely (Index).