ACP magazines does not want newsagents to return magazines early – earlier than they (ACP) want. Their reasoning is that they know from research and data the optimum shelf life of a title.
For weeklies and monthlies this is fine, in with the new and out with the old. It is the one-shots and less frequent titles where newsagents face challenges.
Take the Ultimate Trivia Book under the TV Week banner. It was released on January 7, 2008 and is supposed to stay on sale for fourteen weeks. We have sold three copies between January 7 and today. This title is a dud in my newsagency. I have no choice but to return it early yet I have to jump through time consuming hoops to have the right to do this – even though every day it is on my shelves the title is losing my money sinc I have paid for all stock supplied.
This is where the ACP policy of no early returns is unfair on newsagents. I’d prefer to see one shots paid for based on scanned sales and not up front for all supplied stock as happens today. Right now I am a partner with ACP in the trivia title and I wasn’t even asked. If they won’t let me pay based on scanned sales then they must let me early return.
I should note that I am happy for there to be some rules around early returns, business rules. The current approach is not business-like and this is why it does not attract business-like attention from newsagents.
While ACP is not alone with their view, they enforce it more than others and this enforcement increases costs for newsagents often without revenue to balance the cost.
We have regular trouble with network and early returns but have found that if you early return before the 10th day of the month then you get credit the same month. Whilst this is a pain it is certainly better then eating up our money on the shelf.
With regards to Network, their Netonline web site now has a supplementary return function as you are aware which we were waiting to be introduced and when it was finally commissioned we were itching to use it because the old system(s) were unreliable and not Newsagent friendly.
Frustrating is this Netonline supplemtary system because Network decides by a colour coding what magazines can be returned early, the long shelf items are usually colour coded in Red which indicates not allowed to return early. Magazines like this one and many more if you take a look. I must say you can return them “early” once Network are just about to recall them, please correct me if i am wrong.
The point is though it is unfair and leaving Newsagents cash poor, whilst distributors hold or use Newsagents money and encouraging publishers for one shot crap publications to increase their bottom line.
Does any other people have any comments about this situation?
Let me see if I can summarise the situation for us all;
– We get allocated products in quantities and descriptions we do no say in,
– we get told what price and margin to get,
– we get told how long to hold it for,
– and when we send it back we get charged for it anyway if we are early or late.
Sounds more than equitable to me! A great business model! I’m selling up and becoming a distributor!!
Im off to the ACCC website now to look up the word unconscionable