Desperate times, as they say, call for desperate measures. Fairfax, the publisher of The Age newspaper, has engaged with the livingsocial deals site to offer twenty weeks of The Age on Saturday and Sunday for just $29. that’s a 70% discount. This is nuts – a premium home delivery service for a fraction of the over the counter price. Talk about undercutting the retail channel and devaluing the premium home delivery service.
As of this morning, 1,268 people have signed up for this deal.
What happened to The Age being a quality product. Discounting it by 70% makes the purchase about price more than content. And what about the premium home delivery service. At $29 for twenty weeks this is loss making for the publisher, and some distribution newsagents I suspect.
This feels to me like a desperate move. It’s disappointing to see.
If they can offer these rates to the consumer, then the distributor and retailer should also get such discounts. Perhaps 70% for a distributor and 40-50% for a retailer.
This is where if newsagent associations cannot negotiate real contracts, it should be taken from them by the likes of newsXpress, Nextra, Lucky Charm, Newspower to negotiate on behalf of their member’s.
Just a thought, but 25% for magazines and newspapers is ridiculous.
Kyle it’s happening. newsXpress has recently negotiated a strategic partnership with pacific magazines and preferred supplier agreements with ACP magazines, Lovatts and Universal Magazines. Plus preferred supplier agreements with 130 gift, stationery and other suppliers.