The importance of newsagents and the Australian newsagency channel to the launch of Alpha magazine by News Ltd three years ago is clear in a promotional document I found at the Australia Post website.
The document praises newsagents including our compliance with the demands of News Ltd: Three weeks after launch, ALPHA magazine was still positioned with the newspapers in over 88% of retailers nationally. Yes, we did that.
Newsagents are a key reason Alpha has been such a success. Thanks to our efforts we have made it a sought-after title among consumers and other retailers. In hindsight, we were too generous with our commitment.
Rather than sharing the rewards of the success of Alpha, News Ltd is doing the un-Australian thing, they are doing a runner on a mate after the mate helped them. This is appalling behaviour.
It is no surprise to me that newsagents are angry. Check out the comments at my original post on this topic and the follow up post. I know of newsagents who will write to NDD saying they do not want the title. I know from my past experience that NDD will not permit newsagents that right. I suspect that for some newsagents, this will be the issue which drives them to cloes their NDD account.
We all know what happens when a mate does the dirty on a mate. No more favours.
Popular Science has now replaced Alpha’s
prime position. (Also in no less than six locations).
I’m dumbfounded on hearing NDD has cut 600 locations. Are they winding down their business or what.
Michael, NDD’s explanation to us (via telephone with the National Retail Manager) was that we cost them money. So, yes, I reckon they are winding down their business, because I’d be staggered to find that they’d survive and thrive on supermarkets and mega-agencies alone. They’re the ones with the real power, so all it would take is for them to arc up, and it’d be all over, red rover.
Never mind that working with them cost us money, time, space and labour as well. If they were more competent, their and our costs could have been minimised significantly.
I don’t know that it would be appropriate to reproduce our response to IPMG in this forum, but suffice to say that most of you would be suffering from the same crap we had outlined in that 4-page document. Never mind that they could disallow cancellation of titles that were simply dead wood in our shops. Oh the arrogance! These reasons alone were enough to tempt us to sever ties. Sadly it took their heavy-handedness to push it to fruition.
I suspect Alpha will be one of those titles that will show “Rejected” on the title change history page on their website! I’d probably put money on that, if wagers were my thing…
Y&G, I know your response …. …
I don’t understand how you cost them money when they then told you to be a sub agent to another newsagency????
I try to visit at least one newsagent that I haven’t been to before each week and see the oversupply they do to newsagents.
In these times I can see a lot of us cracking with them, either closing accounts or starting early returns just to become more financially liquid.
Yesterday I saw a stack of Australian Aboriginal Art, 40 high, worth $790. This was in a very small newsagency in a small country town. I felt sorry for them.
Well i will not be loosing any sleep when they cut me from NDD i have not heard anything yet but looking at my bill last month i sent back that much crap that i am sure i will have a credit with them now .
Does anyone know the cut-off amount you need to have before NDD cuts you off? My bill is generally between $500 and $1,000 per month.
While most of their titles are crap and I would not miss them, but would welcome the improvement in my cashflow, there are a few like Winning Post that we don’t want to lose.
Dean, I don’t know but I need the Winning Post too.
Do you have a sub-agent account with them?
$1500 per month average nett.
If the limit is $1500 per month I am in trouble. That means they will lose me and my subagents, so HWT won’t be selling any Alpha’s in my territory.
Again of subject, I am interested why if it is true that 600 NDD accounts are getting closed.
I am more interested on why the owner of this blog has not posted a post about this. This makes me suspicious as every other wrong in the industry gets a mention, this is big news and is not worthy of a mention???
WELL JUST GOT MY BILL FROM THEM AND I AM IN CREDIT FOR $147.32 maybe they should cut me best for the both of us .i sent back 1700 dollars worth of rubbish and it cost me an extra $30 to send it back + the time spent sifting through the rubbish mags .I can’t wait to get cut back .
Dean, Does that include your subs? I sell $1100-$1600 per month and I’m unfortunately still a sub.
Derek, It’s still heresay. If it’s proven I’m sure we’ll read a post about it.
LMAO
I suspect the sub-agent thing was an attempt at softening the blow, perhaps.
Like, “I’m breaking up with you. But we can still be friends”. LOL
So no, Michael, I don’t understand it either.
But I’d like to hear from IPMG for clarification one of these days. Oh the arrogance!
Shaun, I’m in the middle of clearing our shelves of their stuff. I’m actually enjoying myself, visualising what other things will occupy those spaces. I also look forward to a big fat credit, once they can get back to me about the things wrong with the return form.
What else makes me laugh is that the for they’ve sent us is their “shop closure only” form, which assumes without them, we go bust. They can’t even bother to change a template so it reads something more appropriate, like
“Supplementary Return Form (Given the Flick Only)”
Michael,
That does include my sub’s. We have a small shop and rely on our territory. I only have 1 subbie who takes many magazines, and they don’t want the crap from NDD.
If they would take it, then I think my monthly bill would be about $1000 more per month, but at the expense of Network and Gotch, so I would be no better off.
Technically they are not closing the 600 accounts, just reducing the titles being delivered to Big League, Best Bets, Winning Post, Aust Football Week and Trading Post in some areas, these titles have delivery is funded by the publisher. Which means nothing on a Wednesday. It will be interesting to see which day Alpha is scheduled for, seeing how it is the same publisher as Big League, and this letter is dated much earlier than the Alpha change of distributor announcement.
As a bigger store could I please be cut back to just the titles you mentioned David. I could then focus on titles which sell. I find it interesting that its NDD who are being heavy handed. From where I sit they need us more than we need them. Maybe we should talk to the publishers of the magazines we wish to keep, ask them to move and then shut down our NDD accounts.
No one has a contract with NDD so surely
it is within your rights to say you don’t
want their product (if you don’t want it
at all that is).
NDD would have to be on a shoestring and
their product (the good stuff?????) would
be picked up by Network and GG and it
would be one less cashflow problem for newsagents not having to fund the account each month.
Ithink what newsagents need to do is to form their own distributer maybe the Anf, Vana Nana and all should buy a major share in Ndd and then
Paul,
Associations have failed at owning and operating commercail operations. If we are to own anything it should be through GNS as the commercail structure is already setup.
It is good to see someone standing up for newsagents. I will still sell Alpha but from one pocket in the sports section. I have been treated badly by News one too many times.