I have been contacted by several newsagents about the Street Machine Mystery Triple Pack – received from Bauer this week. Between them, they were unhappy that it is thick – more expensive to display, discounted – challenging the premium magazine offer and a mystery – likely to lead to being opened in-store.
This is the kind of package Bauer should ask newsagents if they want to carry it. It’s our retail space, our labour and our money for the stock at risk. This mystery pack is outside the usual and therefore should be approached differently.
The Bauer (Network) accounts department has a reputation for being the toughest and rudest in the newsagency channel. I’d agree with that. Often, despite having a security bond covering debt, they chase newsagents aggressively – hurting people who felt helpless in controlling magazine supply. It is unfair, in my view, that they do not provide newsagents with reasonable mechanisms with which to better manage our level of indebtedness, better controls for stopping a title like Street Machine Mystery Triple Pack before it is sent to us.
Several publishers have had out of the ordinary packs, titles and offers over the last few months that they have put to newsagents on an opt-in basis. This is what I prefer for such opportunities.
To the Bauer folks saying that I have a vendetta against them, I don’t. I had no control over the allocation of this title to newsagents. This post has been written on behalf of newsagents who wanted the issue aired.
We early return ours after opening one up to have a look. It was just old Hot Rod mags.
its early in the month, i will leave it on the shelf til the end of the month or i need the space for another title. only received 3 so not a big deal really. dont expect it to sell, but does add a bit of variety
Rick for us it’s space. It’s a challenge fitting two copies in a pocket. Retail real estate in shopping centre businesses is expensive.
Wow what a bargain these are for the customers.
Street Machine Fords return date W23 2009, Street Machine Commodores return date W15 2010 and
Street Machine Hot Rod (we returned 2/3rds of the original supply)
Not a hope in hell of us selling us rubbish so it will be returned immediately.
These mags do not belong on our shelves when there are so many other publishers deserving of shelf space!!!!!!!!
Good to see good green recycling. Simply topping all returns except Part Works stops this.
My daughter likened it to something you get in an Easter show bag, and we all know where that stuff ends up!
Early return aggressively but wisely is the best action to take.
Fully agree with mark comment 3. I have no space for the width of these mags as well as many others that have FREE bargains. My only option is to return the tops. Which one should I return? Again what a waste of resources for the publisher, the distributor and the newsagent. Hopefully Coles have been sent some to???
Wally, I just returned the packaging they arrived in, after all not one was a current issue. I hope the distributors take some notice of the mood of the meetong on this thread.
Wally, Coles will only have been sent stock if Bauer is paying for a pocket in which to place it from what I understand. They certainly can’t add a ‘title’ like happens to us from many publishers.
After reading this blog post I decided to rip open a bag to see what was inside……wasnt expecting it to be that bad. 3 Old mags but even worse was the stickers on them. On one mag the sticker was an early return label and on another was the Network returns label sticky taped to it. Trying to resell old issues as something special is bad enough but to not at least try and present them better is something else entirely.
There is a couple of extra concerns here…
should we blaming the distributor? Wouldnt the publishers have bagged these for resale?
I showed this to my staff members who were horrified as well with one saying “if my boyfriend had spent his money on this and got it home to find OLD mags in it he would have been very very cranky”. Who do the publishers or distributors think he would have been cranky with? I bet I know !!!
If publishers are going to offer this sort of product then they should inform the distributor whats in it and the distributor needs to tell us. This type of product could make us look very bad indeed. I have a lot of car mag buyers but am willing to bet a mint condition GT HO Phase 3 that NONE of them would pay money to buy old bagged crap!!
I urge everybody to take this junk off the shelves, it will only make our channel look bad.
Allan, they’re all ACP magz so effectively publisher and distributor are the same entity.
Brendan, my bad mate…..was too cranky to think of that…LOL!!!
Probably more reason to take off our shelves then. If a publisher cant repect us then what hope anybody else?
Allen, I’ve been blewing with network over missing AFL cards for a few weeks and finally won the point today. This sort of abuse just makes me argue all the stronger so they got both barrels today. They think might is right but actually right is might if we persist.
They went staight into early returns, as does all redistributed titles. Stop wasting our time. We should all immediately return this rubbish.
All thats changed at ACP is the name. It’s the same ACP people now working for Bauer who shaft us with muck like this. They take us out to dinner and pay for our booze and then they send us junk. I’m getting jack of this. My mag sales are down 17% this year and they keep sending me too much junk. I call a mate at ACP and they say they have no control over network. They must think I came down in the last shower.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say again. Bauer are the publishing arm, Network are the distribution arm. BAUER/ACP circ handle their OWN allocations. Network provide the warehousing, trucks, delivery and billing and aren’t responsible for the qty you get! For other non Bauer publications they do control the qty’s along with the third party publisher.. So Keith the ‘MATE’ you call from ACP is clearly ignorant to the process.. You are right to question their actions, but lets be fair in our assessments.. & no I don’t work for a distributor but have had many dealings historically in my previous life..