We received four copies of this title. It’s not a magazine yet some bright spark working for a magazine distributor thought we should carry it. Why not – it’s not his/her cash at risk. $19.95 is the cover price. Our GP if it sells is 25% – $4.98. This odd size publication should never have been distributed to newsagents yet it has been. Some will sell and some will be stolen. The problem is that the publisher and distributor have compliant newsagents who take the title, pay for it, carry it for a few months and, some time later, return unsold stock. In the meantime, newsagents lose shelf space and cash. It is a flaw of the magazine distribution system that a title like this gets through and wastes my money and shelf space.
This item and my earlier blog entry from today are but two of many from yesterday’s magazines deliveries which I could complain about. The magazine supply model is sick. Many titles get through and take cash and newsagent attention from the top performing titles. This disadvantages newsagents. The long tail is killing us.
We received a ton of these calendars from a magazine distributor yesterday. RRP – $9.95. Wholesale – 40% off. The trouble is that we already have stock direct from the calendar company. Wholesale – 60% off. Magazine distributors have enough trouble getting magazine supply right – they ought to not rip cash-flow out of the newsagent channel through flawed calendar scale out. The calendar company gives me longer to pay than the magazine disgtributor. The magazine distributor gives me 30 days.
Hi,
I need help & advice on an idea I have for a calendar.
The idea will take a full year to compile and not be ready until the 2008 market.
Advice on printing and distribution (ie where I start)would be most appreciated.
Regards,
Dave.
Dave,
You need to talk to the calendar publisgher experts. You could talk with Bartel, Brown Trout or any of the other players.
Mark