There's a fun and I think -- as far as I can ever tell with these things -- public discussion on Facebook instigated by Study Group publisher Zack Soto on the recent rate hikes in International mail and how this would seem to have a big effect on those small-press publishers that sell material overseas. The converse is also true, of course: that fans of North American comics not in North America that like to order stuff directly from publishers will also feel the impact of these significant price increases. The interesting parts are 1) that Soto was taken by surprise after soliciting orders just how severe those increases are, and 2) there may not be any good way around just charging more money or adding more material to orders and hope that people are still interested.
In a way, this sort of reminds me of the continuing high costs of travel in the post-9/11 world and how this may be the only thing keeping the system of festivals and cons from being a constant, ongoing option for capital-light cartoonists. As is the case with the travel costs, it's not like this has kept those cons and festivals from thriving, and I'm not sure that postal rate increases will damage anyone's business to the point of no return. But it is a factor, and it puts on display the sometimes delicate web of ways that comics get sold.
In a way, this sort of reminds me of the continuing high costs of travel in the post-9/11 world and how this may be the only thing keeping the system of festivals and cons from being a constant, ongoing option for capital-light cartoonists. As is the case with the travel costs, it's not like this has kept those cons and festivals from thriving, and I'm not sure that postal rate increases will damage anyone's business to the point of no return. But it is a factor, and it puts on display the sometimes delicate web of ways that comics get sold.