Whenever I criticise magazines bagged with old issues here I am usually contacted by a publisher or two who say that these bagged issues sell well. I have been tracking this for a few months now and see no evidence of this. Take the issue of Auto Salon which went off sale yesterday. It was bagged with two old issues and did not sell any extra copies. All it did was take up more space, frustrate browsers and frustrate me. So, until I see evidence, I don’t think magazines bagged with old issues sell any better than if they were not bagged at all.
If any of the titles we cop sell at all, it’s definitely not on the basis of bagged presentation. And it’s most definitely not on a regular basis.
It’s actually offputting, and customers know that many of these copies are stockpiled for periods of years.
Love bags sell well + add ons ,More the better
I couldn’t agree more. In particular, project-type magazines such as those in the crafts and tattoos section need to be browsed, as people buy them for particular items rather than to be read cover to cover. Because the bagged tattoo magazines I get are all cover-only returns, I always remove the bag from one copy, which has positive results.
The bonus mags they include can be silly too, such as recent issues of the same magazine (insulting regular buyers), or really old ones. A customer pointed out to me that the free mag with International Kickboxer is the Best of Blitz 1994, which he thought ridiculous.
4WD Action is the most annoying bagged magazine because of all its off shoots. Sooner or later I’m expecting to see a magazine titled “Wiper Blades for your 4WD”!
hi publishers,
ALL BAGGED MAGS DON’T SELL!
+1
bagged magazines look terrible and dont sell, hard/bulky to display.
Bagged magazines sell more. That is a fact. One issue of one magazine may not sell many more copies in a single store, but multiply that by all retailers and publishers see a return on their investment. The results of these promotions are tracked and would simply not continue if they were not showing a benefit to revenue or circulation.
There is a danger in this of course, and that is the creation of value-driven categories that have no brand strength or reader loyalty. Production costs are lowered and content is far from a priority, with retail category domination the main aim. It’s obvious on the shelves which categories this applies to and it’s not pretty.
The key is to balance the positive economics of promoted magazines with reader loyalty and quality publishing.
I find it retards sales in my store.
If bagged magazines sell more show us the data that backs this up. I think the only reason you think they sell more is because we get loaded up with these titles.
Before becoming a newsagent I bought a bagged copy of a Sports Motorcycle mag (1 free bike mag included!!!).
The free mag was “Scooter” ….doh.
Just see me in my leathers on a scooter hooking over the Burringbar Range…lol.
Never bought a bagged mag after that.
How is this working for other newsagents with the Top Gear bagged offer?
I have taken the extra magazines out for at least the last 17 years
the bagged magazines don’t sell at all for us.
speaking from a consumer point of view….i want to be able to at least browse and see bits of the magazine’s content before i buy it.
therefore bagged magazine=bad
Wendy Wehave sold out
Been in publishing for 20 years. As a rule bagged magazines don’t sell well. Bagging a couple of old mags give you shelf space and may take it away from a compeitor. Any sales are a bonus. Its the same stratergy as a publisher producing over priced rehashed one shots.
If one magazine is new telling advertisers you are doing a 2 for one gets you exta advertising revenue. Everyone put the publisher loses.