Packing List

Included with Direct Ship orders, the Packing List is a computer-generated report listing any product in your shipment that is released from your Distribution Center before your weekly invoicing is completed. The Packing List allows you to verify the quantity of product you should receive, and the billing price. However, a Packing List does not override an Invoice, and will not reflect the final total due on your Weekly Invoice Recap (WIR), since the Packing List only indicates the specific items you have received at the time you receive the list. See also: Late Packing List.

Parent Code

Also known as the Parent Item Number (Alternate), the Parent Code is the first Diamond Item Code Number assigned to a product. For example, a title offered initially in November 2010 would carry a Parent Number beginning with NOV10, while subsequent relistings of that product in January and February 2011 would be assigned “Child Codes” beginning with JAN11 & FEB11. Child Codes are in most cases (but not always) Forced To Parent Codes within Diamond’s reorder system.

Pick-Up Time

A scheduled Release Time when you can pick up product from your Distribution Center or Drop Ship Point.

Plattsburgh Distribution Center
1560 Military Turnpike
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
Contact: Ed Briggs (25bred@diamondcomics.com)

Along with Diamond's Olive Branch Distribution Center, the Plattsburgh facility processes and ships product to Diamond customers in the U.S. and Canada.


Please Inquire (PI)

A consumer-oriented designation in PREVIEWS displayed when certain products’ prices are listed at a Net Cost in the PREVIEWS Retailer Order Form. This enables you to set your own retail price for a “PI” item based on the quantities you feel you can sell, and the item’s Net Cost. Any item with this designation will also appear on the Please Inquire List.

Point-of-Purchase (P.O.P.)

A term which describes your checkout area, the point where your customers will ultimately make their purchases prior to leaving the store. P.O.P. items are designed to showcase a current or upcoming title/product in a unique way. These items can take the form of free Promo items (such as vendor-created buttons or stickers) or retailing aids, such as posters, mobiles, and/or displays.

Point-of-Sale (POS)

A term describing computerized inventory control systems, such as Microsoft's Retail Management Hero (RMH), through which sales data is collected via a cash register terminal at the checkout counter (the point-of-sale to the customer). Diamond’s ComicSuite is one such system.
 

Point-of-Sale Subsidy Program

Qualifying retailers who purchase Diamond’s Point-of-Sale system can earn up to $6750 in free backlist merchandise through a program offered by Diamond and eight of the comic book specialty market’s leading suppliers. BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse Comics, Diamond Select Toys, Dynamite Entertainment, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, and Marvel Comics have all agreed to make a selection of in-stock graphic novels and merchandise available for free to participating retailers. Subsidies are available at the $6500 level for retailers purchasing a full software and hardware package, or $3375 for retailers purchasing just software.  For more information, please contact a POS Specialist.

POP List
A section of Diamond Daily and Diamond's Retailer Services Website that focuses on news and happenings related to films, TV shows, and other events based on, or related to, comic books and pop culture. You can use this information to build consumer awareness and sales of related products.

Poster Shipping Policy

Under this policy, which was first implemented in 2012, Diamond posters scheduled for release in a given month to customers on the second week of that month. The policy is designed to help customers significantly reduce the freight charges associated with multiple poster shipments by consolidating them into one regular monthly shipment.

Preferences

This page of Diamond’s Retailer Services Website enables you to View and edit your customer preferences and email addresses on file for the various types of emails sent by Diamond and/or its vendors. You may elect to receive HTML or Text versions of Diamond Daily, your weekly Invoice (in PDF, Text, or Data File formats) and UPS Tracking Numbers. Additionally, you may use this section to elect to receive weekly emails from Diamond’s Premier Vendors – Dark Horse Dispatch, IDW Insider, Image FOC List, and Marvel FOC List – as well as emails Diamond sends on behalf of other vendors. This section also allows you to add the email addresses of employees you wish to receive these mailings. Other useful features in this section include: the ability to receive your weekly Invoice by email only under Diamond’s “Go Green” option; the ability to set the number of items displayed in your Initial Order Editor to 10, 25, or 50 items; and options for searching and shipping preferences for Reorders.

Premier Publisher

A designation used in PREVIEWS to denote listings from BOOM! Studios, Dynamite Entertainment and Titan Comics.

Prepack

To expedite the processing and minimize handling of Reship orders at the Olive Branch Hub, these items are Prepacked and labeled for the retailer before being delivered to their local Distribution Center.

Prepayment

In the event it becomes necessary for Diamond to ask a prospective new Domestic customer for Prepayment, Diamond’s Credit Department will advise the customer that Prepayment is required for at least their first three PREVIEWS Retailer Order Forms. If the customer accepts these terms, they will be asked to submit their pre-totaled orders to Diamond, along with a certified check, cashier’s check or money order for the cost value of the order plus estimated freight costs of 7%. Diamond will enter the order and verify the amount. (If the Order Form has already been received, the Credit Department will contact the customer with the amount required to process the order). At the time of the fourth Order Form, the customer may request a review of his account to determine if better payment terms are warranted. If better terms are granted, any remaining Prepayment balance will be deducted from the customer’s future weekly invoicing until the balance is depleted.

PREVIEWS

The monthly, full-color product catalog from which retailers can order product from Diamond, and consumers can order product from retailers. This catalog is shipped out in the PREVIEWS Catalog Pack to all active customers who have an account with Diamond. It is also available for order so that retailers can have quantities on hand in their stores for sale or distribution to customers. Every catalog solicits hundreds of titles and products from a wide range of product categories, including: Premier Vendor comics from BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse Comics, Dynamite Entertainment and Image Comics; Comics & Graphic Novels from a variety of other publishers; Books & Magazines; Trading Cards, Apparel; Toys, Statues & Models; Import Toys & Models; Collectibles & Novelties; Games; and DVDs/Digital Media. Items listed in PREVIEWS are generally scheduled to ship two months after that issue’s corresponding PREVIEWS Retailer and Consumer Order Forms have been processed. (e.g., Items in the January PREVIEWSare scheduled to be released in March.) The catalog employs special designations – such as Gem of the Month, Certified Cool, and Staff Picks – to spotlight noteworthy, and also features themed sections to highlight solicited material from certain trends or genres, such as horror comics or works by popular creators. PREVIEWS also contains regular editorial features, including Splash Page News, Indie Edge, ToyChest, Staff Picks, and PREVIEWS Bestsellers. (These and other complementary features are also included online at PREVIEWSWorld.com.) PREVIEWSWorld.com also utilizes a robust search engine that allows users to search for Preorder Items (from the current PREVIEWS catalog), New Releases & Upcoming Items (just released or available within the next few weeks), Available Now Items (which may be currently available at comic shops or can be ordered by retailers from Diamond, where they are in stock), and Other Items (mainly older and other items that are not currently available from Diamond but may still be available at local comic shops).

PREVIEWS Abbreviations

A series of abbreviations used throughout PREVIEWS to designate the format of comic books or product solicited in the catalog. These abbreviations include, but are not limited to: b&w=Black & White, FC=Full Color, PC=Partial Color, HC=Hardcover, and SC=Softcover. Other abbreviations can be found in the PREVIEWS legend.

PREVIEWS Adult

A mini-catalog available that provides you and your customers with a source of up-to-date information, descriptive text, and art on Adult material containing sufficient artistic merit to warrant attention. (Non-descriptive text for Adult material, without art, is listed in the body of PREVIEWS and in the regular PREVIEWS Retailer and Consumer Order Forms.) The catalog contains a separate order form that enables consumers to order products from it apart from their regular PREVIEWS order. It does not list retailer-oriented or Net Cost items. PREVIEWS Adult can be downloaded as a PDF and as a text file via the Data Files page in the Downloads section of Diamond’s Retailer Services Website.

PREVIEWS Artwork FTP

If you maintain a website or publish a catalog featuring images from PREVIEWS, this service gives you access to catalog graphics of items offered each month in the PREVIEWS catalog using a convenient, easy-to-use download method via Hightail.com. For a monthly fee of $100, you’ll receive an email before PREVIEWS ships that allows you to download catalog graphics and more from that month’s issue of PREVIEWS. By signing up for the service, each month you’ll receive: images in both high-resolution and web-friendly JPEGs; images named by Diamond Item Code, matching it precisely to that month's PREVIEWS, making it easier to populate and use in databases/MYSQL; PREVIEWS catalog text files (database and MSWord documents); a PDF of the entire PREVIEWS catalog; and PDF files of the PREVIEWS Retailer and Customer Order Forms for the month. Files are available for download the Friday before PREVIEWS ships, giving you time to work with the images and have your websites/catalogs ready when PREVIEWS ships.

PREVIEWS Backlist Catalog

Providing “one-stop shopping” for comic shop retailers and consumers, this trade paperback-sized catalog showcases titles from all of Diamond’s Premier vendors, plus offerings from other comic and manga publishers, as well as book publishers. The catalog serves as an ideal archival resource for comic shop inquiries from fans looking to build their collections and fill their bookshelves with some of today’s most acclaimed volumes. It can be used as a complement to PREVIEWS Backlist Order Form and All In-Stock List that are available for download from the Data Files page of Diamond’s Retailer Services Website.

PREVIEWS Backlist Service

Originally called the Diamond Star System, this is Diamond’s reliable, state-of-the-art resource for graphic novels, trading cards and other perennial bestselling items. Complete inventory lists of backlist items – along with a PREVIEWS Backlist Order Form – are available to users of Diamond’s Retailer Services Website. New items – known as Stars of the Month – are added on a regular basis, with additions detailed each week in Diamond Daily’s “Backlist Items New to Diamond” columns. Customers in the Continental U.S. may choose Direct Shipping of backlist items to their store, or Remote Shipping (Reship) via their Diamond Distribution Center. Direct Ship Backlist orders placed before 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time ship from Diamond’s Olive Branch inventory hub the same day. Reship reorders placed via Diamond’s Plattsburgh Distribution Center by 5:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, or with Diamond’s Olive Branch Distribution Center by 6:00 p.m. ET on Thursday will arrive in shipments two weeks later. (e.g., If you placed a reship backlist reorder by the cutoff time on Thursday, August 4, you would receive it with your shipment on Wednesday, August 17.)

The U.K. counterpart to the PREVIEWS Backlist Service is separately maintained in the facilities of Diamond Comic Distributors, U.K. In addition to those backlist bestsellers from the U.S. PREVIEWS Backlist Service that sell well in the U.K. and Europe, this service also offers a variety of best-selling products available only in the U.K.

PREVIEWS Backlist Order Form

A monthly order form available for download in text and PDF formats from the Data Files page of Diamond’s Retailer Services Website that lists items available from the PREVIEWS Backlist Service. Items that are not currently in-stock are italicized; retailers can place orders for these items, which will be filled and shipped when stock becomes available.

PREVIEWS Catalog Pack

The ordering packet which you receive each month as a Diamond customer, containing PREVIEWS, Marvel Previews, the PREVIEWS Retailer Order Form and a pre-addressed, regular mail return envelope in which to return your Order Form to PREVIEWS Order Processing at Diamond’s Home Office. This packet may also contain numerous fliers, pamphlets, publications, and product samples from the vendors listed in PREVIEWS to give additional information about items being solicited. Diamond sends out these materials on the last week of the month prior to the month in which your Order Form is due.

PREVIEWS Caution Disclaimers

See Caution Codes.

PREVIEWS Consumer Order Form

A comic-book sized booklet that allows your customers to place orders for upcoming product listed in the corresponding month’s issue of PREVIEWS. You may order a free quantity of these Order Forms which is equal to, or less than, the quantity of PREVIEWS you order; additional copies may be ordered at a nominal charge.

PREVIEWS Exclusive (PX)

This term denotes a product that can be ordered exclusively from the PREVIEWS catalog. These items cannot be found anywhere else, which makes your store a focal point for collectors seeking them on a regular basis. Additionally, PREVIEWS Exclusive products are not sold to mass-market retailers, meaning that they cannot offer them at a lower price to consumers and negatively affect your profits.

PREVIEWS Exclusive Apparel

This section of the PREVIEWS catalog, located before the general Apparel section, represents Diamond's ongoing initiative to offer new product designs that consumers will find exclusively in their local comic shop or hobby stores. Carrying these exclusive items can help you differentiate your store from others in the marketplace and ensure that you are not forced to compete with the superhero and pop culture-themed apparel offered by mass market stores. In addition, you can earn an additional 5% net discount on your orders of eight or more units of an individual design placed by its Order Increase Cut-off Date listed in the PREVIEWS Order Form.

PREVIEWS Holiday Gift Guide

This full-color, comic-sized resource is regularly solicited in PREVIEWS every August and ships to stores in October in time to sell or give away as a way to generate holiday season sales. The PREVIEWS Holiday Gift Guide contains a wide range of graphic novels, trade paperbacks, and merchandise from a variety of vendors designed to attract consumers of all ages and tastes. It also contains a Short Order Form on the last page to give your customers an easy way to submit their holiday orders to you.

PREVIEWS Order Form Standardized Abbreviations

The following abbreviations are used throughout the PREVIEWS Retailer Order Form to help ensure that products are listed in a consistent manner from month to month. These abbreviations are as follows:

PREVIEWS Order Index (POI)

This ranking – used in conjunction with Diamond Daily’s monthly Top 100 Comics List – helps you gauge your orders against the “average comic shop’s order.” The POI is based on monthly sales of Spawn (a long-running Image Comics title which has relatively stable sales throughout the year), and compares those sales as a percentage of the sales on other titles in the Top 100. For example: If, in a given month, Dark Horse Comic's Hellboy has a POI of 80, and you normally order 50 copies of Spawn then you should order 40 copies of Hellboy (using the formula 50 x .80=40). Keep in mind that the POI is only meant for use as a guide; special issues, cover enhancements, and other factors that can alter a particular title’s sales from one month to the next should be taken into consideration when compiling your order.

PREVIEWS Prevues

PREVIEWS Prevues provide publishers and vendors the opportunity to upload a preview of their comic, graphic novel or book — even toys and merchandise — so retailers and consumers can review them before they make a purchase, or obtain a better understanding of a new item. When available, PREVIEWS Prevue icons -- orange for Consumer, green for Retailer -- are located on a title or product’s Item Detail Page.

Please Note: Retailer PREVIEWS Prevues are intended for retailer use only, and are not to be distributed or shared in any manner, as they often contain information that is not intended to be released to consumers, such as the revelation of a character, plot development or other information that can affect sales potential. As a security measure, each Retailer PREVIEWS Prevue download is conspicuously watermarked with the retailer's Diamond account number. Retailers who are found to be sharing their downloads will be subject to penalties that include — but may not be limited to — loss of access to all PREVIEWS Prevues.

PREVIEWS Retailer Order Form

The form is supplied by Diamond to record Initial Orders you wish to place for product listed in the accompanying edition of PREVIEWS. Each item line on the Order Form includes a space to indicate the quantity you wish to order, the product’s title, its Discount Code, Estimated Ship Date, Final Order Cut-Off or Order Increase Cut-Off Date, where applicable, price, and a space in which to calculate your total cost for each item, which enables you to total your Order Form and determine your operating budget and Discount Plateau. Where applicable, each item listing also contains an icon to remind you if it has received a special designation in the catalog, such as a Spotlight On, Gem of the Month, Featured Item, etc.

The Retailer Order Form also lists retailer-specific items which are not found in the body of the catalog, such as incentive items (i.e., premiums offered to retailers who meet a vendor’s ordering requirements) and Point-of-Purchase (P.O.P.) materials. Prices for Net Cost items – which are listed as Please Inquire (PI) items in the body of the catalog – are also given in this edition of the Order Form.

The PREVIEWS Retailer Order Form is a handy reference for preparing your Initial Order each month, even if you utilize convenient ordering options like Online Order Entry on Diamond’s Retailer Services Website. One copy of the Order Form is included in the PREVIEWS Catalog Pack. You may mail the Order Form to PREVIEWS Order Processing at Diamond’s Home Office (the address for which is pre-printed on an envelope that comes with your PREVIEWS Catalog Pack) by the fourth Monday of every month, or place an Initial Order online by the fourth Thursday of each month. Spaces on page 9 of the form allow you to list all the pertinent information about your account – including an Authorized Signature – so that your Order Form can be processed.

PREVIEWS U.K.

A companion publication to PREVIEWS, available exclusively to customers in the United Kingdom, which provides comprehensive listings of the best products available from U.K. vendors. This catalog supplement includes a special Order Form for the items listed which U.K. customers should return along with their regular PREVIEWS Retailer Order Form to the Diamond U.K. Distribution Center by the published due date each month.

PREVIEWSWorld.com

Diamond’s destination website for consumers seeking the latest news, product updates, shipping changes, and other information relevant to titles and products offered each month in PREVIEWS. The site mirrors the PREVIEWS catalog in that it offers information and special features on items solicited by Premier vendors, as well as those offered in Comics & Graphic Novels, Books & Magazines, Trading Cards, Apparel, Toys & Models, Designer Toy Collectibles, Import Toys, Collectibles & Novelties, Games, and DVDs & Digital Media. PREVIEWSWorld.com provides valuable information on newly arrived and upcoming titles & products with links to lists of New Releases for that week, Upcoming Releases for the following week, New Printings and Variants to watch for, Cancellations, Shipping Updates, Product Changes, and more. Users will also find content such as exclusive previews of upcoming titles, creator interviews, breaking industry-related news, and more. The site also features a Final Orders Due - FOC Page showcasing weekly Final Order Cut-off (FOC) items and other final orders due merchandise to comic shop customers.

Price Changes

A file available for download from Data Files page of Diamond's Retailer Services Website that notes when the price of a product has changed from that which has been listed in PREVIEWS. Whenever possible, the reason for the price change is also noted in the column.

Privacy View Bags

These durable 6.75” x 10” polypropylene bags are designed specifically for displaying mature and/or adult comics in a discreet manner. They are completely opaque, except for a three-inch space at the top that allows customers to see the enclosed book’s title logo. This enables you to rack mature and/or adult comics in your stores without the risk of exposing underage customers to potentially objectionable cover material.

PRO Number
Diamond customers who receive Less Than Truckload (LTL) shipments each week can elect to receive the unique PRO Number for each shipment that helps customers track the progress of that shipment. When sent to customers, the unique numbers created by Diamond for each box in a weekly LTL shipment appear as NU (Not UPS) numbers, followed by the PRO Number, shown in boldface in this example:
NUSCG000000000,00.0,Plattsburgh,665-955043

The format of the PRO Number may vary depending on the trucking company that transports the LTL shipment.

Retailers may elect to receive PRO Numbers by logging on to Diamond’s Retailer Services Website and selecting the Preferences page from the My Account section. At the bottom of the Preferences page, in the Email Preferences section, customers need only check the box beside “Shipment Tracking Numbers”, enter their email address, and select the format in which they wish to receive their information -- as HTML or Text. Please Note: PRO Numbers are available for weekly, regular LTL shipments only. They are not available for Direct Ship reorders at this time.


Product Changes

A column available for download from Data Files page of Diamond's Retailer Services Website that details any changes in the content, pricing or shipping status of products solicited in PREVIEWS. Such changes may, at Diamond’s discretion, cause a product to become returnable.

Promo

Short for “promotional material.” Any item produced by a vendor to help support retail sales of its product, including posters, fliers, sample trading cards, advance copies of comics, etc. Many of these items are included each month in the PREVIEWS Catalog Pack or are sent with your weekly shipments. Diamond assigns Item Codes to these items when they are distributed with shipments to ensure that they are being efficiently distributed to all customers. Other Promo items may be incentive-based, tied in to your orders for specific products. The Item Codes for these are listed in the PREVIEWS Retailer Order Form. Retailers may opt in to receive Promo material by placing a “1” in the appropriate quantity blank of the line listing for that item.

Proof of Performance

Any documentation or physical proof verifying that you participated in a Co-Op Advertising campaign, such as tear sheets from the print media in which your ad was listed; broadcast affidavits from radio or television stations that aired your commercial; samples of merchandise bags, fliers, etc. that you printed; or photos of store signs, billboards, etc. This documentation must be sent along with the proper co-op claim forms to Diamond’s Home Office Retailer Promotions Coordinator in order for a Co-Op Credit Memo to be issued.

Protective Packaging

When it comes to posters, prints and high-end collectible items offered in PREVIEWS, Diamond employs a number of special procedures for picking, pulling and packing boxes that require special handling. These guidelines assure that all products, from comic books to expensive and fragile merchandise, are delivered to you as safely as possible.

Diamond Distribution Centers receive comic books from publishers throughout the week and most locations perform several “picks” weekly. Boxes from an early pick that contain fewer than 100 comics are held open until they can be “married up” with comics from subsequent picks. Boxes containing 100 or more comics in the initial pick are sealed for shipment.

Individual action figures are boxed separately to prevent Damage. Action figures purchased by the case are sent together in their original case quantities.

If a poster or print ships from a vendor to Diamond flat (not rolled in a tube) and is not a promotional item, it is shrink-wrapped against a sturdy cardboard backing and then packaged into a specially designed, durable, UPS-tested box to prevent Damage during delivery to the retailer.

Each item requiring special packaging is weighed, so that Diamond can verify the shipment’s weight (and, consequently, the presence of a product within a shipment) in the event of a Shortage.

Publisher Market Share Report

A feature contained in the “Industry Stats” section of Diamond Daily that charts the Dollar and Unit Market Shares of its Top 20 Comics & Magazine vendors based on total sales of comics, graphic novels and magazines to comic book specialty stores. As with other Diamond sales charts, data for the market shares are compiled by Diamond from a universe of over 3,500 accounts, comprised of comic book specialty shops and other merchant stores and buyers. The shops are primarily located in North America, with a percentage of sales also to international stores and buyers located throughout the world. The account base includes not only brick-and-mortar comic book specialty shops, but also Internet stores, chain stores, and other specialty stores. Unit and Retail Dollar sales are calculated based upon orders invoiced and shipped to Diamond accounts during any given month, which comprises initial pre-orders, advance reorders, and reorders, minus any copies that are received back from a title marked as returnable.

Purchase Order Number

A number created and assigned by you to orders placed with Diamond, whether via the PREVIEWS Retailer Order Form, Reorders Online, ComicSuite, or traditional reorder. This number appears beside every item that appears on an Invoice. See also Order Number.

PVC

Abbreviation for polyvinyl chloride, a substance that covers or makes up many brands of collectible plastic figures.