June Manga Web-a-thon = Bad Idea

I can't keep my mouth shut anymore. The direction that Digital Manga has taken in the recent months have been odd and nerve-wracking.

Their most recent announcement was the June Web-a-thon. (For info, go to Manga Blog.)The only thing is, the Web-a-thon isn't a pledge, it's a pre-payment system for something you may never see. Pre-payment is fine. However, when going through the site, there's no indication of when you will receive the product. Furthermore, it's going through Pay Pal so you are sending the money directly to them. Is there a hold on the payment? Pay Pal requires you to hold the payment before the product ships. And there's a time limit too.

The whole legality of this is questionable. When you purchase pre-orders, there's usually a hold of some sort. Occasionally, a deposit is required... maybe even re-stocking fees. None of these terms are outlined on their website. Or if it is, it's almost impossible to find.

Not only that, but there is no way to contact them regarding the complexities of this type of program. As the blog, Comics Worth Reading, mentioned, what happens if you change your mind or move? Well, you just need to contact them. But how? Who knows.

Do they even have a page where you can check what book you've ordered through their web-a-thon. I don't remember what I've ordered 2 weeks ago, let alone, remembering something I've bought several months ago. If there's no way to check, the best thing would be to print records yourself, or hope that paypal has detailed records.

The pre-order thing also makes me nervous as it reminds me of Drama Queen's Rush subscription. I can only see the same thing happening for DMI.

DMI needs to re-think how they implement things. The web-a-thon actually is an interesting idea and could be a great strategy for them, but at this point in time, it's being implemented hap-hazardly.

My advice to fans... Buyer Beware. If you can afford to lose $9 + shipping, go ahead.

DMI - please stop doing this! This new strategy sounds great, but I smell disaster coming and we need you to ride out the storm so we can ensure that we'll have great yaoi titles (and other titles) in the future.

~Meg