Fortnightly title Vehicle Mania is gaining newsagent and consumer attention in Queensland as it fills part of the void left by the closure of the Trading Post. backed by a good website and an promotion, it is local publications like this which stand a chance of working where the Trading Post failed.
Here in Victoria, the Melbourne Trader which is incorporated in thre Melbourne Observer is going well. The latest issue of the weekly boasts 36 pages of free ads.
Vehicle Mania is a poor replacement for the trading post. The barcode wont scan but that doesnt matter as we havent sold any.
(Somewhere in the printing process they must scan the barcode as it has a moire pattern.
There’s a reason whythe Trading Post became extinct and that’s because a few years ago it used to be an inch and a half thick and when it died it was reduced to a half inch thick.
The fact is the average Joe Blow just wasn’t advertising/buying the papers in anywhere near the numbers as what they were in their hey day. While i can’t speak for everyone i’m actually not overly upset that it’s gone because our sales here literally went down to about only 5 a week, it was more trouble to top and return the unsolds as it was to stock the paper in the end. It used to be such a good reliable seller in years gone by but for us it became a liablility in the end. For that reason we haven’t replaced it with anything comparable mentioned here and only stuck with the publications we already had like Just cars and Just parts etc and the place that the Trading Post previously occupied is now taken by something that is more financially viable than what the TP has benn for many years.
It is interesting that there is such a poor attitude toward this publication from the minority, Some newsagents that are pro active in the sales of Vehicle Mania have sold up to 30 copies consistantly over 5 issues and have been very pleased with the result along with the motor dealers who have recieved it with great form including new car dealerships who don’t just throw money away, they know where to put their money to get a good response. Customers who have advertised in the paper have had a great response and have openly noted that it is a refreshing change. Maybe if those agents that aren’t selling any could put them out in the open for the public to see instead of being negative from the get go, they might get a decent response themselves.
Just a review on the barcode problem, the barcode is from GS1 and has an error, not the fault of Vehicle Mania, howver should be fixed by the next issue.
This vehicle mania/suburban trader is rubbish! I worked for for about 10 weeks and am still waiting to be paid! He doesn’t return calls. I was told when I started that the newsagents were selling heaps blah blah but soon found out they weren’t selling anywhere near the amount told to us, the agents would laugh about this ‘paper’ I mean $3 for 16 pages that are the same every issue with most ads not even having phone numbers but I guess without them the paper would be what 10 pages. Time after time I was told the pages will be more next issue but never was. This paper will never be successful EVER! and I will be doing everything I can to get my money that is owed to me!
While Fairfax were handling this publication, there were no issues with returns or supply – and if any were to arise, there was provision for resolution.
However, as soon as they started self-supplying, it all turned to custard.
After a few weeks, and until then, no info re margin, returns procedures (even where to send them!), or payment arrangements, we suddenly get a letter from Mr Winston, regaling us with his excitement at the prospect of working with us, and how good his rag is. And how he anticipates a fab working relationship with all agents handling this paper.
Too little, too late. We stopped carrying it then and there, and duly mailed back the mastheads we’d accumulated (and found a home for)over those weeks. It’s one thing to give products a go in our stores, but to cop this kind of ‘professional’ disrespect at his leisure, was just not on.
The supply transition from Fairfax to Winston was a smidge too seamless for our liking. Assumptions that we’d continue without so much as a squeak for weeks on end were grossly pre-emptive to say the least.
We told them so when we finally got his letter, and we have had no acknowledgement since. Thank god the non-contact also meant we weren’t billed, so returns were not requiring credits.
Even so, admin time costs. No publisher has ever paid us for admin time and resources, which they seem to think we’re happy to do for free, cos we’re already at work.