Part 5/12:
The complexity of accurately tracking comic sales is compounded by tactics such as stores buying back copies to inflate sales figures or strategic participation in bestseller lists like the New York Times. Such methods distort true demand, making it challenging for creators and publishers to gauge genuine popularity.
With the digital shift, many stores and publishers Gaming and manipulative strategies have become more sophisticated, especially given the partial migration away from traditional distribution channels like Diamond. In this context, the reliance on small samples or non-random surveys for sales metrics becomes problematic, often painting an overly rosy or misleading picture of industry health.