We have received twenty-five copies of The Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book from Bauer (ACP). Their own data shows we have stock on hand. They also have our sales for the last year. This data, had it been checked, would indicate that supplying additional stock was unnecessary. Further, our history with the AWW cookbooks would indicate to them that we will order stock when needed. We did not need twenty-five copies and how have to pay to send this stock back.
This does look like an unjustified cash grab.
We are early returning fifteen copies. Yes, I should return all of them … many would.
It is this type of unjustified oversupply by Bauer that gets newsagents to early return out of frustration. They see this and strike out at the publisher and or distributor, impacting other publishers. Yes, I know this should not happen. At least here is a live example of why it happens.
The allocations team at Bauer ought to be better than this. They would not do this to any channel other than newsagents.
Magazine publishers who complain about early returns could help newsagents by asking their distributor about this scenario, supply of a title where copies are still in stock. Newsagents could use your help on this.
I know there will be people at Bauer saying this blog post is unfair. I bet newsagents don’t think it is unfair. I don’t think its unfair … I wrote it.
If we have stock of a title like this cookbook there is no need to send more. You expect newsagents to pay their bills on time and are known to threaten them and bully them into meeting your trading terms – yet you do not meet fair and basic business requirements. I’d have trouble believing that this supply is a mistake, it happens too often.
I want a fair and just magazine supply model where newsagents are treated equally with other retailers. We need to be given the ability to control our indebtedness.
15 HERE AND ALL going back on the last day of returns simple as that ..
Yes Mark, these are the same thoughts we had. We have returned the same qty of the older stock and kept the newer ones. As they have the data – USE IT.
The exact magazine in my post yesterday asking your advice Mark – I just wasn’t sure if others were affected. I sent all of mine back, as I suspect will many Newsagents. What a waste of their and our time when they have the data to manage the issue responsibly.
last time i recieved this magazine they sent 6 i early returned 3 so far sold 2 and one on the shelf still .From these figures they worked out i need 15 more , yep they really know how to read sales history .
I have sold out of this magazine everytime it has come in I was going to re order after I sold out of christmas baking, our history shows we got 6 – sold out, 7 – sold out, 6 – sold out, 9 – sold out, we were delivered 3… how can they over supply to people that dont want them and under supply to people to do?
We also got 15, and didn’t need any either.
1 on shelf, 14 sitting on almost empty Darrell Lea stand waiting to go straight back.
An email sent to newsgents reminding them about this tittle and an order form to email back should be the way tittles like this should work .i would have orderd 2 or 3 ,you always want this in stock but not to be over stocked .for me to pay for this tittle in a month but not make all the money back for six months is not good business .
Great post! I could not agree more with your comment that the ACP allocations team should do better. Please add this publisher to your list of those who don’t think your post is unfair.
Until September ACP distributed our magazine and each month their proposed allocations bore no relationship to actual sales nor to the number of newsagents in a large number of areas that ACP proposed to supply. Our instructions for change (i.e. improvement) were initially met with amusement which rapidly descended to hostility, leaving us with no option other than to terminate our contract. In October IPS commenced distributing our magazine.
Changing distributors is not something a publisher does lightly. It causes disruption to continuity of supply which is confusing for both newsagents and their customers. For publishers it means a few months’ loss of sales and answering phone calls from long-standing newsagent customers wanting to know which newsagency in their area now stocks the magazine.
One final point. While dealing with ACP it was noticeable how few newsagents utilised the Standing Order facility. Perhaps this is a tool more newsagents could use to control the supply of some titles they receive?
Every time you adjust your standing order or cancel a tiltle, you seem to get a heap of new titles or supply on other magazines increases. Happens almost everytime.
Thank you AFTC for chaging to IPS, whom we can interact with and remain in control of quantities.
Like Jess, re the AWW Children’s vintage cookook, I only had one on the shelf and they have sent me 2 more, I can’t complain. I can’t justify holding more than three of any AWW cookbook title, I order extras oneline in ones and twos as they sell, it’s a monthly job to check but easy with Tower reports
Aus Family Connections. With regard setting standing orders by Newsagents there is little point in changing them as Network or Gotch will do as they wish. They have SBR and they should use it properly.
My Best Experience with SBR was Top Gear. A year or two ago I got 4 Top Gear and early returned two. If I sold one I was doing very well (South Western Country NSW and never had any real Interest shown for Top Gear by customers). SBR though insisted on sending me another two. So I topped them and returned them. Lo and Behold the Miracle of SBR I got another two. By the way I sold none of the issue concerned.
funny you mentioned that Peter the same thing happened to me about 6 months ago , they sent them, i sent them back they sent again and back they went and just for fun they arrived again .
We’re in the same boat as Jessie, we got 1, which sold to the first customer I mentioned it to.
Don’t forget about us subbies who are crying out for ANY supply, let alone an OVERsupply!
@ Aus Family Connections, Every time you try to use the standing order facility with ACP it is rejected because the system says the proposed change is outside your average sale. They recommend a figure that is always several copies to many or not enough, the recommended figure is never anything close to our average sale.
The number of newsagents contacting me today about this indicates that something has happened – either systemic failure or a decision to supply without need.
AFTC: In regards to the tip to use standing orders, this is simply non effective. The Distcos blatantly disregard the input.
In regards to your discussions with ACP (Network?) this is a classic progression. All discussions with their staff, where there is a point of difference, degenerate into their staff becoming highhanded, rude, arrogant and generally hostile. The core of the problem with the magazine business is the terrible management culture in the Distcos. Hopefully the Bauer ownership will change it. German managers are tough but very logical and rational.
Mark Did you do your early return during the arrival procedure , or after the mags have been gone onto the shelves. Did you early return all or part of the allocation?
Good case in question for the ACCC Mark ?
You are right Allan – this appears to be an obvious case for the ACCC. It is also the reason I opted out of the ANF. They do nothing about this sort of abuse to newsagents. We have a contract with G&G relative to their matrix of supply but it is constantly ignored. This is newsagents biggest problem as I see it. We are constantly paying NDC and G&G more for our monthly account than we are selling. When the ANF deem this problem is worthwhile pursuing I will rejoin. Unfortunately the bond between the ANF, News Ltd and the magazine companies is too strong with a ‘stuff them’ attitude towards us.
Mark @ 14 and Ricky @ 16 – thank you for sharing your experiences. It explains why far less newsagents placed standing orders with Network, compared with our previous distributor. It also explains why our constant request for sales based supply was ignored.
June @ 10 – yes, the IPS method where newsagents retain supply control is how all distributors should operate. After all, only the newsagent knows whether there is, in fact, an interest in a title in his or her area and how many they can sell!
I don’t think it’s as simple as taking it to the ACCC. It would be useful to have channel-wide data.
Ricky we early returned 15. We don’t early return anything the day it comes out as it’s something I personally like to be involved in.
Today we received “Your Local Wedding Guide Toowoomba.
Somebody at Gotch should look on a map before doing allocation to us in Cairns which is approx. 2000km away from Toowoomba.!!!
Ian,
I am in far north NSW. We used to get a magazine something like ” Weekend 4wd tours from Melbourne” . For some reason I never sold a copy.
Or Caravanning in NZ……LOL!
You are a brave man Mark to complain about ACP. You’ll be on the watch list from their accounts people.
talking of accounts , I find that they are way better to deal with these days , i still get a phone call or a letter but latley they are more human which is a positive .
Shaun too often I see bullying from the network accounts office. It disgusts me and it denies the claims by Network that they consider newsagents to be partners.
latley i have been dealing with someone different , not sure of the name , but i find if you give them a call let them know you will be late and give them a date you will pay they seem happy with this . I remember GG about 6 or so months ago i needed just one more day to pay it and they would not have a bar of it and they put the account on hold . Not that it made any difference because the packers didn’t read there paper work and sent the mags anyway 🙂
Funny how the company which demands a bond and is therefore actually in debt to us is the one that treats us like criminals if we dare be 1 day late paying them.
Shaun S you’ve probably just put someone out of a job !
Now that Network knows that they’ve obviously erroniously employed someone with personality, understanding and people skills they’ll hunt them down and root them out ! 😉
Speaking of “rooting out”, does anyone else have the Wellbeing Organic Gardening title keep resprouting like a weed no matter how many times they return extras ?
I have been in business for over 35 years and have dealt on a daily basis with the all types of suppliers. Every aspect of Network’s behaviour towards us is typical of a supplier who no longer wants to be in the relationship.
These types of allocations are all too coomon place, and the ANF are weak in their response. Two years ago I received 49 Brides diaries, ie 7 ctns. I sold 22 and returned 27. Last year I received 25 and returned 2. Then I received a redistibution of 25 which I sold only 2. This year I was down for 50. I rang Network and told them not to bother sending them, I saw this in advance thru EDI, as I was willing to return all of them if the allocation was not mor reflective of sales. I didn’t receive any and when I tried to order 25 they were available on their system but none have been delivered. I am convinced NDC use a dart board to do the allocations, you may get 20, 1 or 5 or they may miss you all together. They are a joke unfortunately at our expense.
we recently had an issue where only our early returns were being accepted through network due to a “computer gremlin” (their words,) on their side and we only noticed when the account was double what it normally is, the result was that we had to pay the account and apply to network to have the additional returns credited onto the next months account. Needless to say we had difficulty in getting the account finalised on time and then received threatening phone calls to put our account on stop
Seems like it’s quite a problem, funny that not a single person thought to call their local newsagency federation about this. No surprises…
Jack I don’t see what any association can do other than complain.
I am yet to receive a response from the publisher – they controlled the allocation for this title, not the distributor.
Depending on their answer, this is an issue worthy of bringing to the attention of the ACCC. however, if I do that alone it will go nowhere.
Jack, I have phoned ANF previously about this and got such a poor response I wouldnt waste my time or money (cost of call) to bother again. That is why I am no longer a member.