Pull and Hold.

My pull and hold subscription service for my comic customers has always been a bit of a mixed blessing.

I have a hardcore nucleus of customers for whom I pull new comics as they arrive, and hold for them. For instance, if they want Amazing Spider-man every month, I order for them and put them aside. So even if I sell out on the floor, they still have the comic.

This was a huge part of the business when I bought the store. In some ways, you could say I bought Pegasus Books because of the subscription list -- these were customers who I knew were interested, and who I felt were being underserved.

Back then, most customers were eager to make sure the new comics they wanted were added to their lists. Mostly because, back then you couldn't get reorders very easily and if you missed them, you were out of luck. And because, there was a relatively few number of comics, you could add comics without it breaking the bank. Not to mention, the average cost was about .60 back then.

The downside is, I'm paying for these comics more or less when they arrive, whereas the customer can more or less take their time coming in. I've never been able to really crack down on the laggards too much, because many of them quit and I never get them back. I've never felt I had enough of a surplus of customers that I could weed out the bad from the good.

The few times this might have been possible, were the few times I had competitors in town who would quickly take my customers if I tried to crack down. I've read of stores in other towns who are very strict, who ask for credit card information up front, but this would pretty much be a disaster around here.

The second downside is, that it is more or less traditional to give a small percentage off. My discount is 10% off if you make it within the month and clear your shelf. As I've mentioned before, 10% is nearly 25% if my profits. It's crazy to give 10% off when you're ADDING a service, but every time I've tried to eliminate the discount, a competitor has come along and offered an even bigger discount.

The third downside is that I'm ordering way in advance, so I'm committed to buying from my wholesaler, whereas my customers can disappear at any time. (And they do...they do....)

The upsides are: I have a good foundation that I know I will sell most of, and which get me to certain levels of discounts. I use it as a platform to decide how many new titles to add, and often make the decision for my customers. This is optional but works more often than not. (The days when customers eagerly add to their lists is long gone.)

Anyway, I quit pushing the shelves years ago -- the customers are interested enough, we'll both know it's time to get a shelf.

The numbers of subscribers has dropped faster than the sale of comics, which is a good result, I guess, since it means more people are buying -- full price -- off the floor. More sales of graphic novels.

So I've been letting attrition take place, and biting the bullet.

There was a time when I was really at the mercy of advance orders -- I was committed to buying X amount of stuff no matter what sales where doing. By adding books and games and graphic novels, I'm able to order "on time" and in the quantities I want that week -- not months in advance.

I'm really seeing the benefits of that; even as the subscribers lists continue to decline. It's kind of painful to watch, but I know in the end it will probably be good for me.