Newsagents are understandably confused about Inside Fitness magazine and Inside Fitness Australia magazines. Despite the different names, prices and distributors, they are essentially the same magazine.
Click on the photo and see a page from each of the magazines next to each other.
Inside Fitness Australia is distributed by Network Services and sells for $7.95. Inside Fitness (a US publication) is distributed by Gordon & Gotch and sells for $14.95. But the content is more or less the same. It looks like an Australian publisher has purchased the content from the US publisher. In such a case the distribution of the US title needs to be sorted out to avoid shoppers complaining to newsagents that they are ripping them off with the more expensive title.
I am grateful to a colleague newsagent for drawing this to my attention.
Came across a worse case of a rip-of magazine today called “Aussie Pools”. Turns out for $7.95 you get a 130 page ad for a company called “Narellan Pools” and as the customer who had paid their $7.95 pointed out they don’t even operate here in WA. Companies printing their own glorified product brochures and passing them of as lifestyle magazines possible a new low in publishing.
Needless to say I removed all remaining stock from the shelves immediately but as it was just after 1pm EST on the 31/8 (close of time for G&G returns) I have the privilege of owning this crap for another month.
Well guess what I got in today’s G&G delivery “Aussie Pools Reissue” and it is exactly the same rip-off mag as last year.
On another issue is anyone else finding that Bauer have started ignoring mag cancellation they have approved. On the 14/11/12 I went through and cancelled a number of 0 sale titles, since then I have had to twice ring customer service to have magazines which still show as cancelled online but after a issue or 2 break turn up again. TV Soap in January and EVO today. A quick look at the puzzle mags section turned up Sudoku Monthly which was also cancelled. If Bauer going to completely ignore its trading terms what hope have we got.
Correction it was Sudoku Magic not Monthly which I cancelled and are still receiving.
Glad to see I’m not the only one that’s having that problem Steve. Titles that I’ve adjusted either downwards in quantity or cancelled have reappeared again over the last few weeks and I’ve noticed the general quantites of what I’m receiving have increased for no apparent reason.
I’m currently monitoring numbers , times of the month the increases seem most severe (ie around end of month) and what is coming after cancellations and keeping an accurate record from advice I’ve had. If it looks like definate loading then it’s a call to Fair Trading followed by the ACCC.
I don’t think its just us Paul. When I rang them about TV Soap in early January the CSO wouldn’t believe it and insisted I hadn’t been invoiced for it as it must be a stock picking era, she changed her tune when I gave her the Doc No of the delivery docket. Today when I rang about EVO it seemed like this had become a common complaint and was fixed without delay or comment.
Ive never had a problem with cancelled mag before, however I’ve just about given up trying to adjust base allocations with Bauer/Network as they routinely ignore them. Classic example I have 1 put away for British Football Weekly and have sold 2 extra copies in the 16 months I have owned the store. At the start of 2012 my base allocation was 5, I went on line and changed the base to 2(I would of changed it to 1 but this is Net online and as usual it wouldn’t let me) this was CSO approved for 9 issues. 4 weeks in I was back to 5 issues,went and checked on line and it said “2 copies CSO approved for 9 issues 4 issues completed” and they wonder why we think they’re a joke. Anyway I still only sell 1 copy but my base has risen from 5 to 6 to 7 to 8 over the last year for absolutely no reason. Anyway today when I was talking to the CSO I got them to change BFW to a base of 1. I’m willing to take bets it wont last at that for more than 6 weeks(I’ll be surprised if it happens at all).
we used to spend alot of time changing allocations via fax and then online. without any success.
it was like banging your head against a wall
I received nearly 100% more Marie Claire
this month compared with last month.
Last month I had 6 returns so there was ABSOLUTELY NO REASON FOR THE INCREMENT.
It is this grab for our cash which is causing so much angst in our industry and
so far Bauer haven’t addressed the issue.
I spent a week recently altering all my supplies (in every spare moment of the week) and it has not been worth the effort so far. I hope I am wrong because I am downsizing my shop and will have nowhere to put the amount of stock I used to get.
Hopefully this week might see a change?????????????
You can count on network to prove your worst assumptions about them right. I received 2 copies of British Football Weekly today (see #5 above). My allocation change says 1 copy CSO approved for 9 issues 3 remaining. That means this is the sixth issue and I was right it didn’t last at 1 till the sixth issue. Obviously no one took up my offer of a wager, we all know how pathetic Networks system is.