I have an arrangement with Gordon and Gotch whereby I have a say on the quantity we receive of a new title. Based on support for AFL magazines I decided against taking any copies of Harves, the commemorative one-shot about St Kilda AFL legend Robert
While I am sure that some of my decisions to block titles and increase quantities for others have been right, the experience with Harves is proof of the risk in letting newsagents determine what they receive.
No, I am not saying that the distributors ought to have complete control. There are plenty of instances where they do not serve newsagents well in exercising control. What we need is a serious review which includes looking at the experience of newsagents who do have control through the Gotch arrangement – I would like to see how others perform compared to me in picking titles. I’d expect learnings from this to help navigate a revised model from what we have today – my experience with Harves notwithstanding.
I wish I was in Vic, this month will be great for Harves ending his career as a Norm Smith Medalist, carried of the ground buy his teammates holding up the cup.
Mark, you might need to order more.
First time poster here but read up a lot…
Mark Harvs is actually one of our best sellers in the last week. We promoted it heavily and gave the title its own stand which has sold 23 copies in the first week. I believe we should sell a lot more this week due to fathers day coming up and the Geelong vs St Kilda match
One thing about AFL legends, they will always sell (Harvey, Bucks, Hird, etc)
Fellow newsagent, check your margin on the “Harves” publication – the newsagent should have received at least a minimum of 35% – it was available at Dymocks, Eastland – also check with the publisher as mentioned in the publication and ask them why the discount differential between newsagent and bookshop. This is but one of a number of publications that the newsagent is being given the incorrect discount. The other items of interest are “4 Ingredients” and all the “Crossword and Suduko” books from Fairfax. To do something about it contact the respective companies.