Here is photo showing how another newsagent is trying to make money from magazines bagged with titles that have been returned.
This ‘display’ looks dreadful and does the newsagency no favours. The sign does nothing to promote the offer. Product is jammed in. A couple of minutes effort could make the display more appealing and shopper friendly if you really wanted to sell this type of trash.
While bundled magazines frustrate me because of the expensive cost to newsagents of freighting returns, it is unethical to remove old issues and put those on the shop floor for $2 as is being done here. We should behave better than this.
Selling magazines for $2 makes customers think that what magazines are worth, and to pay any more than $2 is too much.
its the same as news and fairfax giving away newspaper in different situations. consumers will soon think that all newspapers are free.
Im not a wastefull person, and it pains me to throw away (into recycling) magazines that are full and in tact like these.
but it is wrong, on a few levels
if you are considering this…… ask yourself if it is worth the risk
I was told by a rep that we are not allowed to do this,they said something in the contracts makes it illegal.I couldn’t find the details.
I have never done this nor will I but an agent near me does it all the time.I find it embarrassing and think it sends the totally wrong message.
While I do not do this, what is the difference between what this newsagent is doing and what the publisher does by backwashing old issues? The publisher is trying to make money off outdated issues that it cannot sell at full price.
We sell no more mags that have older issues as giveaways as customers are not interested in what went on in 2010 but we have to wear the cost of storage then disposal of these mags once the returns are done.
Yes the display looks bad and $2 damages the brand but businesses need to make ends meet by hook or by crook. Is retail not all about cutting cost at present to preserve margin and not increasing sell price, just look at super retail and JB HIFI, they are increasing profits without selling more by cutting as much cost out of the business as they can as this is the new retail enviroment we live in.
We don’t do it but why is it unethical surely its just an opportunity in grabbing another sale I agree the display could be alot better
I will be totally honest and admit that I did try this.
I found that once a certain publisher went to top returns for their bagged magazines that I was all of a sudden being oversupplied, not only the titles that I was normally supplied but also on numerous titles that I did not even have the room to display.
I all of a sudden found returns were taking me 2 – 3 times longer to process (a lot easier to rip a cover off than open bags to get at cover, make sure bar code same for cover as on bag etc) and filling my bins before the week was out. I felt I should earn some compensation for this so the bargain bin was started.
I also admit that they were selling pretty well – but at what cost?
From the get-go I noticed a drop in my normal mag sales. I found shoppers who might normally buy a current mag on whim were now picking up a $2 mag instead. Within a month my normal mag sales had dropped over 25%.
So even though I felt justified in doing this to cover cost’s I very quickly realised it was not a very clever business decision and removed the bargain mags from sale.
So to any that are doing this or considering this, just beware of what influence this may have on your business and that of Mag retailers in general.
I am with Luke on this. The publisher is doing exactly what the retailer is doing by bagging old mags. Best way to stop it is to stop offering bagged freebies which leaves more room on our shelves for good mags.
A little off topic but how do you deal with the recycler’s before the recyclers clear the bin. We have a communal recycle bin and we have to try to do our recycle run just before its emptied or under other material to try and stop the free loaders looking for what they can take. One got quite upset when I suggested they are actually stealing our business.
Richard – bucket of water into the bin straight after you put them into it ,easy fix
Is anyone getting magazines that you are not being charged for. This seems to be on the increase with us. Sometimes we extend the shelf life of these freebies for another 30 days by having a nicely done”remaindered” display area. We just put a few magazines out every couple of days. Actually it seems to work quite well, we sell a few more pieces and introduce customers to new titles. There seems to be no effect on sales of “normal” magazines.
not sure what you meen about “not charged for”
azeem,what do you mean.I sometimes get other agents mags wrongly delivered to me which I give back to the courier to redeliver.I also occasionally come across a stock picking era in my delivery which I report to customer service otherwise your left with a title which doesn’t match the invoice and can’t be returned.No mag distributors ever given me something for nothing.
They’re titles which aren’t ordered by us and aren’t on the invoice or packing slip. We used to contact customer service about them, but they only ever said they’d call us back, and never called. So that’s become a bit pointless.
If we ever receive other agents’ magazines (very rare) we contact the call centre and leave them in our dock for collection by the carrier.
Azeem i get what you are saying with the packing errors ,this happens from time to time and yes it is normally a waste of time telling them about and plus who wants to spend 5 min on hold when it is ot your problem anyway . On the other hand if it is another agents mags i will call them straight away which happens a few times a month and it is a good way of keeping intouch with yopur fellow agents and they will do the same when it happpens to you .
You go into a newsagency knowing this is happening. Also, two wrongs don’t make a right.
Ive only had one instance of an extra mag turning up in a delivery. All my other picking error’s have been a case of the delivery docket say’s mag A but I’ve been delivered mag B, in which case you have to call customer service other wise come returns time Ive been invoiced for mag A but have mag B which I can’t return. End result I’m out of pocket.
We do this for around six months in a year & they sell thru 🙂
We display them nicely in a dead spot at $2. We have customers buying five at a time.
Our ave margin per paid mag is $1.40!
I do agree though that devalues other magazines.
So what about partworks that are not collected and we cannot return? We sell these at most 50% of RRP
I am not involved in the newsagent industry but have been buying magazines regularly for many years; and visited many newsagents in the process. I can see how one might fear cheaper magazines devaluing their image. However I have discovered many magazines, that I would not normally have shelled out for, thanks to discounts. It can encourage a customer, like myself, to take a ‘chance’ on a magazine and maybe even become a regular purchaser at full price. Even more so if I have missed an issue and face importing it at considerable cost. It can sometimes work similar to part-works with their ‘introductory’ cost luring in customers and retaining them when the price increases. Well that is my 2c (more like $2).
There are no “cheap magazines”. There
are “STOLEN MAGAZINES”.
Search your conscience fellow agents.
I know of one or two newsagent that still has great cooking mags from many years ago – Vogue Entertaining (still brand new looking) and Gourmet Traveller cookbooks not the magazines.
I love all the comments here. Sadly my local newsagent is just as bad putting out alot of last Issue mags in a 1/2 price stand. Big name Fashion like Marie Claire or inported ones, and House & Garden. Customers can now pay $4 for April Issue. But he does not have many. only two or three, whatever is leftover from sales.
I also think it is bad that some Newsagents are selling mags that have their cover torn off and trying to make another $1 or $2. I as a customer would never buy a mag without it’s cover. So ugly.
SERIOUSLY NO COVER ON IT ?
Over Easter I was out of town and while walking through another newsagency ‘as you do’ came across a dump bin full of all the add on’s from kid’s mag’s cello wrapped for $2. It looked like a hard sell and they had a lot.
On the other hand I do sell Hot Wheels cars in my toy section so I know what I’ll be doing if there are any of the K-Zone mag’s with the “hot Wheel’s” add on left at the end.
All of the add on toys from magazines get donated to schools for their fetes ,we do it and another newsgagent down the road does it as well .the schools love it and it saves my kids taking all the junk home .
The only reasonable reason for selling old mags cheap is if the have missed return deadlines for some reason, perhaps uncollected put aways and such. Mags with covers missing are undoubtedly a case of theft. The add ons for the kids mags are given to young children when they are well behaved or simply so cute that the staff can’t resist, oh and that is always with the parents permission. Good PR for the business.
Hey is it illegal to sell the magazines or news items that should have been returned? Recently i visit the news agency who got the old stock of magazines and they are been selling for the full price