Guide to Madman Winter Sale 2020

Like many others, I was disappointed at this year's winter sales compared to the previous mega sales that occur during Summer (at Jan-Feb) and the usual winter sale around this year. This year's winter sale's maximum discount is up to 70%, which is comparatively lower to previous sales (80% in this year's Summer Sale, 85% in last year's Winter sale and 75% in last year's summer sale). However, there is one major difference compared to previous sales. In previous sales, a particular discount will apply to all volumes of a specific series (other than the newly released volumes). However, the discounting is all over the place for this year's winter sale, and this was very disappointing. I doubt it's a glitch in the system, but it doesn't really make sense to have different discounts for volumes of a specific series, especially if you are not trying to clear out stock for a specific series. 

If you are looking to buy manga, the maximum discount for manga is 60%, so if you are a frugal buyer of manga, I recommend holding off as better prices have been observed from Madman before. Generally, the current offered prices are about 10-20% away from the lowest price Madman has ever offered. However, these is a perilous and unpredictable period and Madman is one of the only sellers that can deliver manga relatively fast to Australians at a comparatively low price when you compare it to other sellers. 

If you are looking to buy anime, the maximum discount is 70%. I'm not really the type to buy blu-ray/DVD copies of an anime since I rather just subscribe to AnimeLab/Crunchyroll or view through other means to watch a series. Therefore, I can't really comment on the price trend.

If you are looking to buy anime figures, the maximum discount is 50%. There are some decent discounts if you are looking to buy anime figures/merch. If it's 50% off, I would buy it since I usually never see more than 50% discount on an anime figure (unless it is stock that they want to get rid of asap). 

Overall, this winter sale is disappointing when you compare to previous sales, and I'm sure many other "seasoned veterans of Madman sales" would hold the same sentiment. However, you have to factor in the impact of COVID-19 on businesses. Perhaps it's worth it for you.