Sell-through refers to the
percentage
In mathematics, a percentage (from la, per centum, "by a hundred") is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. It is often denoted using the percent sign, "%", although the abbreviations "pct.", "pct" and sometimes "pc" are also ...
of a product that is sold by a retailer after being shipped by its supplier, typically expressed as a percentage.
essentially refers to the same thing, in absolute numbers. Sell-through is calculated during a period (usually 1 month).
Sell through refers to sales made directly (Direct sales).
Sell in, on the other hand, refers to sales made through a channel.
Example
Before the rise of the
direct market
The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of:
* four major comic distributors:
** Lunar ...
, American
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...
s were sold to
News agents through distributors in anticipation that a significant portion of the print run would eventually be unsold, then returned to the distributors who invalidated each returned copy by deliberately damaging the cover for return to the publisher for refunds where the material was pulped. Thus the business goal of the publisher would be to attempt to minimise those returns to maximise their income. By that measure, a sell-through percentage of a print run of roughly 50% was considered break-even by the standard fiscal measures of the comic book market.
When
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...
came to prominence under
Stan Lee
Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which w ...
's new artistic direction in the early 1960s, his publishing line by title quantity was highly restricted because their distributor was
Independent News, owned by
National Periodical Publications (Now
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...
). However, although Marvel's titles could not compete with National in absolute volume of sales due to that restriction, the company's sell-through percentage soon caught National's attention in a way it could not ignore: Marvel's print runs were selling-through at 70% while National's were much closer to 50%. That meant that while Marvel's product might not have sold as much as National's in simple numbers, Marvel had to refund the distributors significantly less money for unsold product and thus was becoming much more profitable.
See also
*
Electronic sell-through
References
Publishing
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