The VizManga.com site has been rolling out a lot of content for awhile at pretty much half off of what the print editions cost while also doing a lot of sales along the way. Now, come October first, they’re raising their prices a bit as the $4.99 titles are shifting to $6.99 each, a $2 increase per title. These will be $3 below print titles. The manga pricing has been a lot better than what we’ve seen from more mainstream comic book publishers that have gone digital as they keep print and digital pricing in parity for their new single issues. Changing at this stage, with the reasons given below, does cause some wonder as to whether the service is performing well enough to maintain profitability or that it is doing well enough and they can increase profits a bit here and bring more materials out through it. Increasing prices is always dicey in general, but with the way the economics of business goes, it’s usually what happens in some form.
Dear Reader,
Starting October 1, 2013, our regular digital manga volumes will be offered at a new price of $6.99* (US/CAN).
Our regular print manga prices will remain unchanged at a list price of $9.99 (US/CAN).This was a difficult decision, but one we need to make to keep up with the cost of gathering great digital manga. Manga purchases by fans worldwide help support hundreds of artists, writers, editors, producers and now engineers who bring you this great content in digital form. These contributors pour their hearts and minds into bringing this content to you, and your purchases allow us to compensate them fairly.
Over the last few years, VIZ has made a lot of investments to bring you digital manga in a variety of formats. Today you can access VIZManga on the web, and iOS, Android and Kindle apps. The same great content is also available on Nook and Kobo devices. In the next few weeks we will be expanding to two new platforms to give you even more options. These investments would not have been possible without your help. Thank you!
We hope you will join us in supporting creators who bring us our favorite stories. In turn, VIZ will work tirelessly to bring your favorite manga to you anytime, anywhere.
In the meantime, please take advantage of our ongoing 20% off sale over the next few days. Our prices for regular manga will also return to the low price of $4.99 from September 3rd through the end of the month. So if you have been holding out buying volumes of your favorite series, buy now!
Kind regards,
Your friends at VIZ* VIZBIG and other select manga titles currently not priced reguarly at $4.99 (US/CAN) will also change accordingly.
[Source: Crunchyroll]
