Does anyone know about manga?

[seether]

What's the going rate for a volume (new ones and old ones)?

How much should I be paying for a paperback or a digital copy?

Where do you get your stuff from?

[Cartagia]

Rather than investing in Manga you should really consider putting that money in the stock market.  I hear it can be a quite lucrative and sound investment.

[hoshichiri]

Depends on your publisher- most new books are around the ten dollar mark, but smaller boutique/collectors prints will be more costly. Usually not over $20 though.

Used manga varies from 'not worth the cost of the paper' to $100 or more a book depending on the rarity, same as anything else (although manga tends towards the cheaper side.) Later volumes are typically worth more than early ones as they have a lower print run. Shojo is usually worth more than Shonen. Check lot prices- sometimes it's cheaper to rebuy a full run than a pricey last couple of books.

I recommend buying from Amazon, Rightstuf, or Robert's Anime Corner Store for quality/authenticity. Both of the latter have Amazon storefronts as well for low or used stock, so that's worth looking for if you're after something obscure (Rightstuf, if I remember right, uses the name 'Shawnek' on Amazon.)

This is all based on physical media & US relevant stuff. The situation can be quite different in Europe/Asia depending on licensing deals.

[seether]

Depends on your publisher- most new books are around the ten dollar mark, but smaller boutique/collectors prints will be more costly. Usually not over $20 though.

Used manga varies from 'not worth the cost of the paper' to $100 or more a book depending on the rarity, same as anything else (although manga tends towards the cheaper side.) Later volumes are typically worth more than early ones as they have a lower print run. Shojo is usually worth more than Shonen. Check lot prices- sometimes it's cheaper to rebuy a full run than a pricey last couple of books.

I recommend buying from Amazon, Rightstuf, or Robert's Anime Corner Store for quality/authenticity. Both of the latter have Amazon storefronts as well for low or used stock, so that's worth looking for if you're after something obscure (Rightstuf, if I remember right, uses the name 'Shawnek' on Amazon.)

This is all based on physical media & US relevant stuff. The situation can be quite different in Europe/Asia depending on licensing deals.

eBay has volumes of bleach for literally £2 delivered

I guess old and used can be had for next to nothing.

Volumes of new stuff like Dr. Stone paperback volumes are £6.99 or $9.99 retail however. Which would add up over time.

The Shonen Jump app is charging £6.99 for Dr. Stone as a digital volume.

[bikingjahuty]

Manga is one of my biggest interests other than video games. New single volume Manga sells for $10 to $16 typically depending on publisher. Omnibus or hardcover Manga typically goes for $20 or more. Regarding used Manga, 95% of it is worth under $5 so it is easy to collect, probably why I have so much of it. The other 5% of used Manga is highly sought after, typically because it is out of print an still has a large enough fandom to keep demand high. I've seen used manga volumes in this category range from around $10 all the way up to the hundreds.


But overall Manga is fairly inexpensive and the more popular series like Inuyasha or DBZ can be found very cheap used.


I've never bought digital manga so I can't provide any info there.

[seether]

Manga is one of my biggest interests other than video games. New single volume Manga sells for $10 to $16 typically depending on publisher. Omnibus or hardcover Manga typically goes for $20 or more. Regarding used Manga, 95% of it is worth under $5 so it is easy to collect, probably why I have so much of it. The other 5% of used Manga is highly sought after, typically because it is out of print an still has a large enough fandom to keep demand high. I've seen used manga volumes in this category range from around $10 all the way up to the hundreds.


But overall Manga is fairly inexpensive and the more popular series like Inuyasha or DBZ can be found very cheap used.


I've never bought digital manga so I can't provide any info there.

Where do you buy your manga from?

I was thinking about picking up something used and cheap once a month just to read on my commutes to work.

[kypherion]

Rather than investing in Manga you should really consider putting that money in the stock market.  I hear it can be a quite lucrative and sound investment.

That just made my day

[pizzasafari]

The going rate for manga is about 20,000 - 50,000 Mesopotamian Shekels, depending on the nick.

For a paperback you should be paying about 25 Aztec Dollars, but you can actually get them for free if you can manage to convince the seller the volume's been possessed by the devil. This is more effective in places like the far east though, I wouldn't try that with American or West European traders.

I have a well built in my back garden called the Konnichi Well, every day I kidnap a small child and throw him in and say the passphrase "kawaii akachan ageru desu" and when I wake up the next morning I find a new manga volume under my pillow.

[98dgreen]

I know they are Japanese and that the pages are backwards.  Thats about it.

[bikingjahuty]

Manga is one of my biggest interests other than video games. New single volume Manga sells for $10 to $16 typically depending on publisher. Omnibus or hardcover Manga typically goes for $20 or more. Regarding used Manga, 95% of it is worth under $5 so it is easy to collect, probably why I have so much of it. The other 5% of used Manga is highly sought after, typically because it is out of print an still has a large enough fandom to keep demand high. I've seen used manga volumes in this category range from around $10 all the way up to the hundreds.


But overall Manga is fairly inexpensive and the more popular series like Inuyasha or DBZ can be found very cheap used.


I've never bought digital manga so I can't provide any info there.

Where do you buy your manga from?

I was thinking about picking up something used and cheap once a month just to read on my commutes to work.

Pretty much anywhere that sells new or used books, including thrift stores.

[hoshichiri]

Manga is one of my biggest interests other than video games. New single volume Manga sells for $10 to $16 typically depending on publisher. Omnibus or hardcover Manga typically goes for $20 or more. Regarding used Manga, 95% of it is worth under $5 so it is easy to collect, probably why I have so much of it. The other 5% of used Manga is highly sought after, typically because it is out of print an still has a large enough fandom to keep demand high. I've seen used manga volumes in this category range from around $10 all the way up to the hundreds.

Yep- I've been paring down my collection lately. Some series blew out the door, some I literally had to give away to get rid of. I had one guy ask me if I might be getting rid of Sugar Sugar Rune, which I do own... but given the cost of the last couple volumes, I'm not willing to part with it yet becuase I don't want to buy it back if I regret it!

Where do you buy your manga from?

I was thinking about picking up something used and cheap once a month just to read on my commutes to work.

Pretty much anywhere that sells new or used books, including thrift stores.

Check your local library too- manga is a popular way to get teens in, so most have a good selection. Free is cheapest of all!

[seether]

The other 5% of used Manga is highly sought after, typically because it is out of print an still has a large enough fandom to keep demand high. I've seen used manga volumes in this category range from around $10 all the way up to the hundreds.

What are examples of sought after/out of print/rare/whatever manga volumes?

[medisto]

No.

[bikingjahuty]

The other 5% of used Manga is highly sought after, typically because it is out of print an still has a large enough fandom to keep demand high. I've seen used manga volumes in this category range from around $10 all the way up to the hundreds.

What are examples of sought after/out of print/rare/whatever manga volumes?

There is a series I love called Flowers of Evil that was released several years ago. It's only 11 volumes, but a few are worth serious money. Volume 10 has been infamously hard for me to get because it goes for $70-$80 often. Other series that have stupid, expensive volumes in them are Red River, From Far Away, and Battle Royal. There are probably many others, but those come to mind.

[hoshichiri]

What are examples of sought after/out of print/rare/whatever manga volumes?

It can be hard to pinpoint, as series popularity can wax & wane, and titles do get republished. the baselines for finding rare stuff:

-last volumes cost more than first
-Shojo costs more than Shonen
-The newest version, if the title's been rereleased, is more expensive.

I've seen the last two volumes of Sugar Sugar Rune regularly hit the $80 mark, that's the priciest I personally have come across. Random volumes of Bastard! can run $30-50 (that whole series is out of print, so prices flux a lot). Sometimes long-running series like Hunter X Hunter can see random volumes spike in price if stock runs out... these don't last since a reprint is usually not far off.

I will say this much- don't buy anime or manga speculatively. The market is volatile. Popularity rotates quickly, the abundance of free/cheap streams and downloads (legal or otherwise) makes it hard to see what's popular and what's profitable, and titles can go in and out of print too fast for one to capitalize on. I remember years ago Rightstuf did a bulk blowout where you could get 25 DVDs from a specific list for $100. One of the series in it was Princess Tutu, but only volumes 2-6. Worked great for me, I got volume 1 for Christmas. People threw it in as order filler, watched what they had, and discovered a surprisingly dark fairy tale under that cutesy name. End result? Prices for volume 1 spiked to well over $100 as people clamored to finish their set. Within a week of the price spike, the company announced a complete set re-release coming in a month. Prices stayed high for a little bit (no idea if any sold though), then it all crashed down after the re-release. I was paying attention for a friend interested in the series... if that hadn't been the case, Id've missed the whole thing. At this point, the popularity window is long passed and you can get the whole series under $20 easily enough- which is less per disc than the big blowout sale that started this lil' rollercoaster.