>>89208608The thinking is, most retailers are ordering to what sells, so no shelf copies. Marvel is thinking sending free extra copies means copies on the shelf for a potential buyer to see and maybe buy. I get the logic, you can't sell a copy of Nova to someone wandering in looking around and there are none on the shelf.
Most customers don't ask either. They walk in, look around. Don't have it? They just walk out without saying a word.
As for Marvel "manipulating the sales charts", nobody cares about those except some people on here. Retailers don't care as those numbers mean nothing, just their store sales do. And the numbers are in no way accurate, they are just U.S. Diamond accounts, and all numbers are extrapolated based on surveys to a few retailers to guess the total orders. All Diamond gives out is a percentage of sales against that month's Detective Comics (or Batman, I forget which).
Yes, numbers are fascinating and it's nice to know how well your favorite books are doing, but it is not indicative of everything. Some books are filling a niche or perceived need, like all the female lead books Marvel is trying to push. Creative team costs vary per book. I'm sure Jim Lee's art costs more than Erica Henderson's.
