While stories about scammers who fleece cash from unsuspecting folk is everyday fodder for the TV current affairs shows, an equally costly cash scam goes unnoticed. I am talking about the magazine supply model and, in particular, very long shelf life titles with a track record for poor sales performance – sales which leave more than 50% of product unsold. This situation is costing Australian newsagents millions each year.
Take the Country Collections 2009 Diary which arrived in newsagencies yesterday. Last year we received 17 at or newsXpress Forest Hill store and sold less than half. This year, by the miracle of the magazine supply model which we are told works well for newsagents, we received 34 copies. This product has a shelf life of six months. By the time we will receive a credit for returned stock we will have been out of pocket for six months.
To the suppliers who wonder why newsagents act as they do sometimes, try and put yourself in the position of dealing with this situation created by Universal Magazines. Multiply that across many other smaller publishers who abuse the system in the same way. This financial abuse is stopping newsagents focusing on other more commercial opportunbities.
While Universal Magazines will have their reason for what they do and Network Services, the distributor abetting the Universal model, will have their reasons, they do not matter. What matters is that it is an abuse of newsagents to expect us to carry a product for six months, pay for the real estate and pay for theft and pay for stock well before it is sold – and do all of this for an unsatisfactory margin.
It is titles like this Country Collections 2009 Diary which hurt sales at the top end. Maybe one day other magazine publishers will understand this and join newsagents in their fight.
We don’t have a lot of area to hold a large volume of magazines that are basically crap and won’t sell.
If we recieve a lot of stock that we think we can sell we keep what we estimate will sell and then send back the rest as early returns. This has worked well for us in the past and present.
Distributers must think we have all the space in the world and because we own a business must think we have heaps of cash to burn.
It is an area within my business i have been passionate about for 3 years Mark. As you know i used to write letters to the publishers about this behaviour. I would also send a copy of that letter to The ANF and one to VANA. Where has it got us? Knowhere!
The publishers get their back up because they think they are being unfairly targeted, everytime! It is usually the same publishers, everytime!
The only ones that can change the current distribution model are newsagents, they need to stand up and be counted. History shows this will never happen.
It is clear that the publishers and distributors will do nothing, and why should they? They are making a bucket load of cash by getting paid on copies distributed, not copies sold.
In the instance of oversupply, we are all about early returns. The early returns credit which comes next month is better than the unsolds credit which comes 6 months down the track.
It is unrealistic of publishers and suppliers to expect anything less. After all, we are running a business here.
Usually I go to the websites for Network and NDD to adjust the supply I get.
NDD is still a culprit by not abiding to my requests.So I do early returns.
Network is a little better.
With Gotch, I have yet to fully test their standing order function. There are a lot of mags that don’t sell, so in time I’ll wind them down.
This will aso declutter my display space as I cannot place all on full facings.
Bario .. there web sites are good for cutting back stock but it is not a permanant cut back you will find that after a few issues it all starts up again . NDD ande Network are the worse by far they do not listen to anything . It is always the same story it will last for a few issues then back to square one .Just keep up with the early returns because i am sure they hate it as there is more paper work for them and less money in the bank for them ..If anyone from Network services is reading this i am still waiting on that return phone call from my latest complaint about over supply but i am sure that phone call will not get returned .
Also does anyone else have problems with NDD and there returns ,i get knocked back on something just about every month from them on my returns and i am sick of trying to prove that i have not over returned .
Shaun,
If you are in Victoria i would contact Bernie Houston direct and get him involved. i have always found him to be accomodating.
No north queensland
Shaun,
do you do your NDD returns online?
we do and they have been working alright for us as we still need to do a printout and include them in physical returns for them to audit.
yes i do them through exchange it .Example FLORAL NOTEPAD they are trying to tell me that it was a firm sale . Since when do we get magazines that are firm sale ?My paper work has a recall date on it but still i cannot get a credit for them .Does anyone remember getting in these note pads and if they got a credit for them .
The latest AWW cook books are marked 12/20 return date ! 12 years time, VTAC 2009 is marked week 53, when do we have a week 53
As far as early returns for NDD, I never do them because I never get the credit.
i just went through all my paper work and found my invoice it says firm sale yet the one they faxed me has a recall on it what is the go with this .
i did call them , yes there is wk 53 ( we have 29 days last feb.)
I’m surprised to hear so many of you having issues with NDD early return credits. We are yet to have even one claim queried (touch wood) by them. Network, on the other hand, have been sending queries about over-claims more frequently. One particular query was enclosed in a heavy-handed letter, warning they could invoke any number of penalties, including contract cancellation, if over-claims continued.
The problem is the returns they are calling over-claims are not!
Wen,
Check that the issue you are scanning is defaulting to the correct issue in thte returns. It appears that has caused a couple of problems for me.
That is one of my problems going to fast and not selecting the correct issue when it is the same title that has comeout more than once . Even though this may be the case it does not make me a thief . Why can’t they make a phone call and fix the problem instead of presuming that you are trying to make an overclaim .Iam sure that while they are doing the audit they don’t consider the extra mags in the box that are not accounted for .
I daresay you are right, Graeme. The thing is, if they were conducting a proper audit, they would be pulling the magazines from the boxes I return and checking them, and not just relying on the returned paperwork. Otherwise, what is the point of returning the physical mags with the forms???
when ndd does a second distribution of a title they only recognise the last supply
they have a program problem & won’t admit it