Newsagents offered $1.00 for each extra copy of The Age sold
Fairfax wrote to Victorian newsagents yesterday offering a bonus payment of $1.00 for each copy of The Saturday Age and The Sunday Age sold by beyond the retail sales target for the newsagent. This is an extraordinary and unprecedented offer by an Australian newspaper publisher, a generous offer for newsagents – $1.00 for every copy of the newspaper above the sales target and on the weekend of the Royal Wedding.
It is a pity that some distribution newsagents will not pass the offer on to their retail newsagents. I heard that one newsagent said yesterday that it is not for sub agents. Well, no, that is not true. Fairfax has made it clear that the distribution newsagent will be paid based on all sales they achieve – through their own store and general retailers (sub agents). Read the letter.
Entrepreneurial newsagents will share the benefits of the bonus with sub agents to mamximise sales, delivering a classic win win.
Petty dinosaur newsagents who don’t understand or hate sub agents will refuse to share the bonus opportunity. Sales of the Age will reflect this, delivering a classic and ignorant lose lose.
Fairfax should contact sub agents and find out if they were refused the opportunity. I am sure that snubbed sub agents would dob in newsagents who refused to engage. I would be happy to.
Kudos to Fairfax for making the offer. Now, if only they could make sure that all retail only newsagents could access this and show what could really be achieved.
Click on the image for a larger copy of the letter from Fairfax to newsagents.