Wish my Japanese was better so that I could join you. I personally do not feel scanlator tranlations are so inferior. Yes there are often more issues with grammar, typesetting, and even translation but they are generally good enough. Besides, you can find just as many people if not more complaining about unfaithful, poorly edited, and censored translations for licensed titles as scanlations; regardless of whether they came from Viz, Tokyopop, CMX or any of the big companies.

What makes them superior to licensed print is the fact that scanlations tend to be far more up to date than licensed titles, entire libraries can be stored on a tablet, laptop, e-reader or even smart phones, and censorship isn't an issue. Physical media is dying. Manga will die with it if it doesn't go digital and learn to compete with scanlations the way anime did with fansubs.

When I think, "OH! I really love Skip Beat and it's here at the bookstore. I should buy a whole bunch!" then I remember that I don't have 300$ lying around. If it only would cost me 150$, I could definitely do it in sections and buy 10 volumes at a time. But 300$ is way out of my range for being fiscally responsible.

That's why I buy my favourite mangas, as long as they are released in English and less than 10 volumes long.

Anyways, I picked "I would but significantly more volumes". Basically, I would buy even the longer mangas like Skip Beat, but there is no way that you'll ever find copies of Gantz in my room. XD

I wish the shipping fee is cheaper, since not all countries has the luxury of free shipping and with EMS (and like) as an only option it can be quite ridiculous.

But back to the poll question, if manga were cheaper, I'd probably go back to experimenting again. I used to buy unknown stuff now and than, sometimes with a terrible result, so now I try to get a reliable feedback before buying.
However, if the manga is cheaper I could treat some of them as I buy magazines for example - just for quick reading before recycling, if I don't like or want them anymore.

And as some already mentioned, not only the price, but the fact that many titles are not available at all is quite a problem.

For me, what it boils down is this: space.

I have three bookshelves full of manga, and even then I have to stack some on top/over crowd the shelf... whatever. Point is, if I had a physical copy of everything I've read, I'd need a storage unit or a second house.

I could sell the junk I've already read to free some space, but then I'd hate it if I couldn't reread a manga when I'm discussing something, so that's out.

I mean, look, I ain't no cheapskate; I'll always buy if it's an option. I genuinely love manga and wish to contribute. I just wish for companies to see my problem, or rather, the world's problem: the convenience of digital, space-less files vs. books - or the combination of both. Hey, don't get me wrong. I like my books, but I seriously can't afford the space to grab everything I might want to read.

Viz seems to get it... somewhat. I have their app on my phone and buy junk from them if I have to, but if other companies refuse to conform, obviously I'm gonna grab the scanlation.

Conform or die, English manga companies.

I had this sense of intimidation when I wanted to start Skip Beat! a couple years ago ago (I think it was up to v17 or 18 here at the time, and I knew it was still going in Japan). So I found the series at my library, and read a ton of it there, but I picked up a few volumes here and there at my bookstore when I was too impatient to wait for library copies. After catching up, I've since worked on filling in the gaps, and one source that helped me was RightStuf, which fairly regularly offers sales like "All Viz books 33% off!" (or Kodansha, or Vertical, or Yen Press...) I have a membership at the site (because I found I couldn't stop buying during such sales) which gives me an additional 10% off. And through Skip v17 or so, the prices are $8.99 instead of $9.99, so 40% off (sale + membership discount) brings a book to just $5.39.

Also, Viz just released a collection of v1-3 for $15 (which, hey, is half the price of 3 individual volumes!). They usually release three collections this way (through v9 of a series), so it's a good way to start your collection!

(still, Skip Beat! and Kaze Hikaru are rather exceptional in my collection—most of my series are on the shorter side. I don't have energy to keep up with never-ending shounen manga)

I agree with lys. Since several of my senpai have graduated and become manga translators in the industry, I can tell you first hand that they are just as big of fans if not bigger than many scanlators. If there is any discrepancy, in which scanlations are better than the official releases, I am certain beyond a doubt that this is a matter of the licenseholder (ie, the people in charge of the english publishing company) making official decisions based on how much they are willing to spend for hours of work on the part of the translators/editors etc, and according to that give them (or don't give them) enough time on each series to do a thorough job; not the choices of the staff themselves.

Define "hypothetical situation" for me.

Also, this poll may not have any experimental purpose per se, yet it does have both recreational and informative values. So, you can't accurately call it "useless".

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ミレニアム・マ スター１８

My problem is that most of the manga I read are only in Japanese. I can't read Japanese, so it is pointless for me to buy them. I do read Blood Alone, and I buy it WHEN they get around to translating and publishing it. I'm almost glad that I don't read a lot of manga that are published in English because the releases are so damn slow.

The price of Blood Alone doesn't bother me. It might be $10...not much honestly. I guess if I was buying a lot of manga at one time, I would like cheaper prices, but if it's just one, it's fine with me.

If the mangas I read are liscensed in English then I would definitely buy them. I just love reading on paper as opposed to on a screen. It's better for my eyes and I love the feel and smell and overall experience of a book. Call me a book otaku

Wow! That's really cool. Thanks for the info. I'll probably look into it. I always just look through Amazon and sadface at the prices then completely forget that there are other ways to buy manga. *facepalm*

there is a time when paper mangas published in my country were around 40% cheaper than they are now... that is b4 the global economic crisis, when the national currency is stronger...
yet compare to that time, the amount of mangas that i buy nowadays are higher..
i don't think price tag would effect my decision to buy mangas much (if not at all)

ps: if u're lucky you might find a big set manga with a huge discount (50%) in the book store here (usually old titles).. that's how i complete my aria-aqua set.

Yay, glad to help I used to buy from Amazon too, but once I discovered RightStuf and its sales, Amazon's "Buy 3, get the 4th free" offers didn't seem that special anymore. (I still buy a few titles from my bookstore, because it's a cool independent one and I want to support it, but I follow so many series that I really appreciate opportunities to get stuff on sale!)

Assuming price is the only change, I'd use the money I'd save to buy more manga (and shelves). Simple as that.

I visited Waterstones a few months ago and happened upon an entire stand of Berserk volumes selling for £2 (approx. $3/4).