We received twelve copies of Younger You magazine on Friday. This is a new title from Independent Digital Media which is owned by IPMG, the people who own NDD.
I looked through the magazine and looked at sales of similar titles and decided to give it one pocket. To allocate this pocket I had to reduce the space allocated to another title. Had I not early returned some stock I would have eight copies sitting in a drawer or on a shelf.
Publishers of new titles need to take more of the risk themselves rather than sending what they think we may sell or what they hope we will sell. With so many publishers using newsagents as their bank and warehouse it is no wonder newsagents get angry about their treatment.
Had I been given the courtesy of deciding if I wanted to try this title I would have said yes. Had I been asked how many copies I would take I would have gone for four. Selling out of four copies is better than being overloaded.
Isn’t this product delayed bill?
Mark I am a small newsagent and received 15 copies of this magazine. If this isn’t blatant abuse what is.Like you I had a look at similar titles and based on this I should expect to receive 2-3 copies.These are also full returns.
DM, yes, I shouuld have noted the full copy returns impost. Not only are we the banker and warehouse to this publisher but we also pay business costs which should be theirs. It is most frustrating.
Come on guys.If you were a publisher with a new title,would you print the minimum copies or saturate the market to gain exposure.That’s the print publishing business folks,always has been.(hopefully always will be)
Peter,
Your right, that is most many publishers the strategy they use. But its a poor model that has a limited shelf life, especially as newsagents numbers shrink and others become more business savvy. Retailers wont continue to be stepped on by their suppliers forever and as more fight back that market saturation model falls apart.
Jarryd, I would hate to see publishers refrain from developing new magazines.Don’t give them an excuse for accelerating their move to a digital only platform.
No matter how savvy newsagents get circulation product is their heart and soul.
Peter….(hopefully always will be????) maybe that has always been the case but that needs to change. Maybe if YOUR money was being spent for you with you having no say about it you would change that attitude!