Dumbo Feather is the kind of title I like to carry as an example of the point of difference between my newsagency and other magazine outlets like supermarkets and the like. It appeals to a certain cconsumer, one which is hard to attract and maintain in this marketplace. I like the title a lot.
The challenge for the title is the long on-sale. For a niche title not easily displayed and located, this is a big challenge indeed.If the publisher wants Dumbo Feather to remain on the maybe they could consider delayed billing and/or funding newsagent costs – but they’re a small operation and unlikely to be able to afford this.
Magazine distributors would know that to continue to distribute a long shelf-life and expensive title which achieves a sub-50% sell through rate to newsagents is unfair because they are guaranteed to be loss making. As newsagents become smarter at identifying these loss making titles, Dumbo Feather and similar titles will be under more pressure.
Hi Mark,
firstly, thanks for recognising what makes Dumbo feather special (we hope) and for wanting to support it. That said, if it’s not financially viable for you, then you shouldn’t keep stocking it… Unless there’s some way we can work to get better sales for you.
Despite it having a very high sell-through rate (60-70% across the board) we dislike returns as much as you do. It’s just a waste frankly. In the past I’ve done the allocations to newsagents and have tried to make them as realistic as possible. With this issue (no. 10) however NDD did them. Do you feel they’ve given you way too many? Dumbo feather does have ‘issues’ in newsagents – it’s short and it’s hard to categorise, but it does have an incredibly loyal, growing following. Let me know if there’s anything you think we could be doing to help you sell more!
The allocations to us, while small, were off. But that’s not uncommon with niche titles through NDD. I’d love to find a way to make the title work in a suburban store like mine – I think it needs more than a single issue on the shelf. Somehow we need to be able to tell a store which is relevant at the time.
I know that sounds like I am rambling, I don’t mean to.
Let me sleep on it and get back to you with some thoughts.
Thanks Mark,
Would Love to know thoughts… We do have entire back catalogue still available which, given the nature of the content, don’t date… They’re available through our website and sell extremely well. Perhaps there’s something we can do there?