Magazine distributors IPS and Speedimpex have today announced they have formed an alliance that will see IPS manage distribution of titles from both companies. This move adds 1,000 titles to the IPS stable.
Newsagents will have access to Speedimpex titles at the IPS commission of 27% plus they will have online control over supply.
This is a welcome move.
1000 tittles not sure if i like the idea of having 3 big accounts now , and on top of that not being able to early return any new tittles that i will not have room for .
Any idea on what tittles they will distribute ,i had a look at their web site and it looks like everything from the other 2 suppliers
Shaun the difference with IPS is that you control what you get.
How Mark ? i understand after 3 issues i can control it , but what if i simply have no space or just simply do not want it ,i have to still take it .
eg the new heart beauty mag that came out a couple of months ago all customers that purchased it said it was no good but now i sold out of issue one i have to keep getting it because of sales history .
My understanding Shaun is that you control if you get a title in the first place.
Not the case Mark , i have never been asked if i wish to stock any magazine and i have requested this in the past to happen and i have just requested it again so lets see what happens .
Also another thing is if there is to be all these new tittles will there be a set delivery day instead of bits here and there mixed in with our newspaper deliverys .
Talk to them Shaun as I am sure you can handle it this way.
Shauns we phone IPS to cancel any title that isn’t selling, they always do as we ask.
I also have no problems getting titles cancelled or reduced if I don’t want them, just a simple phone call or email.
Having been hesitant to deal with yet another magazine distributor when IPS came into being, I have to say that their customer service is fantastic – extras ordered generally arrive within 1-2 days, changes be they increases, decreases or cancellations are always done over the phone with no drama.
Given some of the problems we have experienced with Speedinpex in the past, I look forward to their titles moving to IPS!
Are we seriously advocating managing titles by phone!?!? Why not carrier pigeon? Or perhaps smoke signals?
Supply should be able to be managed via a website or directly from a POS system.
Well here we go! 1000 more titles and no early return mechanism. If this is to happen we need absolute control over what titles are initially allocated or many of us will be busted by christmas. After my last sook on this forum about IPS I received a phone call from a lovely lady who took all my concerns on board, agreed with some strategies to help manage titles (initial allocation control, batching of qty change requests rather than one transaction per title) and since then….. nothing has changed. In my store IPS sell-through is a disaster, allocations increase for no reason, initial allocations of totally crap magazines are way too high. Happy to work with IPS & Speedimpex if they are fair, if they behave as they have in the past and don’t retire the carrier pigeons they’ll be having all their stock personally returned & all deliveries rejected at the door.
This is not hard to fix, improve the website, allow early returns & we have a great opportunity to grow sales together. Load us up with new titles under the current regime & we’re headed for a train-wreck.
May you control your supply this is why they say no early returns.
Mark, allowing agents to control supply (to a limited extent) is what IPS may be practicing at present but unless the contracts have changed their is nothing stopping them from changing this in the future. Just like newsagents should be wary of Hubbed contracts so too should they be wary of IPS contracts.
Except Jarryd that we have two years of IPS behaviour to go off.
The reason everyone say’s you can ring them up and they are great to deal with is because if you try to adjust supply online you are met with a bright red “This request is outside you IPS trading terms” even when it isn’t. This means you HAVE TO RING UP and sort it. Have mentioned this to customer service months ago and was told it was goung to be fixed,I’m still waiting.
IPS has the right to send me up to 6 unsolicited titles, I can’t early return are contractually required to display them for the full on sale period and have to carry them until the returns are finalised for the third issue. By now I have the forth issue on the shelf. Most of these titles are hard sell’s,anyone managed to move a copy of the “DPS Guide to retirement living” yet? Because I’ve got 3 I didn’t ask for can’t sell and can’t return,they’ve been here the long they remind me of a bad smell.
IPS accounts for just over 1% of my mag sales and if it wasn’t for customers wanting specific magazines which they carry I would drop them.
If IPS increases in size to much they will have to change the 6 title rule because publishers pay distributors to distribute not to leave mags in box’s in warehouses, this is why G&G keep sending use crap from the US & UK we can’t sell,If you send a container of mags half way around the globe (or worse airfreight it) you expect it to be on shelves not in warehouses.
I honestly believe with their restrictive trading term IPS getting a major foothold in the market would be a disaster. Be careful what you wish for.
Mark,
Past behavior does not necessarily predict future behavior. At the moment IPS still have a relatively small rage of titles. They need newsagents to support them more than newsagents need IPS to supply them. A shift in that power balance in the future could easily facilitate a change in behavior.
Contracts should protect us from any potential future actions of a supplier, not seek to predict what those actions might be.
Jarryd – sometimes using the old-fashioned telephone is the quickest way to get things done.
We do use the web site and/or email but sometimes good old-fashioned voice contact does wonders.
Disagree , good old fashion voice contact is a waste of my time , anything to do with mags or papers I like to get out of the way early in the morning way before any of the suppliers decide to get out of bed . When I am in the shop I am usually serving (or reading this blog)and I have no time to be on hold while on the phone .
IPS has proven to be reliable, easy to deal with and supporting the control I want to exert.
I disagree as well Jim. A well designed website (or even better – direct integration into the POS system) will always be faster than a phone call.
We avoid phone calls at all costs.
shauns, you can control the stock on the IPS web site it also gives you a view of all their mag titles. Never had an issue with them. On the odd occasion I have rang them the team has been great, in one instance they even pointed to a title I did not carry but another nearby agent carried the title and was having great sales. I now carry the title and it has been selling well.
Just hope with this merger things do not change
Gregg , I would hate to sound like a broken record but you cannot control your stock on their web site , fair enough I can if I ring them .
Their web site needs fixing eg it should show at least the last 3 on sales so you can make a decision on what to change it to instead of going back to your pos system and allow me to stop something for what ever reason I want to without having to make a phone call .
At the moment I can handle it but add a few hundred tittles to the mix and it will be a nightmare
Mark, re #13, specifically:
How do you control which titles you are allocated?
How do you control the quantity of same?
As far as I know I have no way of achieving control in these areas, happy to learn how others do it. We have been force-fed a selection of bogus titles (DPS Retirement Living, The Milk Mag etc) at very optimistic quantities and now we are stuck with them for 3 issues. I’m not super keen to individually case-manage titles either.
May through our contact with them. We get the titles we want and the quantities.
I love having an account with IPS. I have said before that they have been a delight to deal with. As a Retail only agent I love that signing with IPS gave me direct access to titles that I previously recieved from my supplying agent. This meant more commission and more say over my allocations. An example I could give is Winning Post, I now earn 27% for selling Winning Post instead of the usual subby rate. Whilst I sell the Sportsman aswell, Winning Post gets prime position over the Sportsman because of the difference in margin. This is just one example of many.
Now if I could get a few other publishers on board I could sell more of their publications too.
We have an arrangement with IPS. We do not receive any unsolicited titles. We have selected the titles we can sell and then check their website for any new titles. Easy, job done. Just ask for no auto deliveries.
I think we’ve identified the problem,IPS is 2 faced. Some of you are exempt from receiving unsolicited titles the rest have to wear it.
We have in the main only received titles that we requested. (a couple may have slipped through to us or we may have ordered and forgot that we did). They have been great to deal with so far and the red “this is outside our guidelines” has only occurred on two or three occasions.
Overall very pleased to deal with them and their customer service over the phone is excellent.
Can’t stand the IPS website, this is outside you blah blah blah.
Get so many magazines that won’t sell. Like 9 how to build a boat, are they serious. Really only want best bets and winning post but have to accept all the other stuff like magazines in French, big seller not
Not a fan of IPS just this week again more crap mags I do not want but still have to keep for 3 issues ,and no you cannot only get in magazines that you want I have tried this time and time again and the answer is no , I am with John all I want is my few copies of best bets and winning post
Did you get the watch magazine, got three copies, had to laugh when they turned up. Not if I had them for 3 years would I sell a copy
John
IPS are a joke but Ive found how to sort them out. In January I worked out I would receive 10 title I hadn’t ordered over the next month which is 4 more than they are allowed under their own terms. They also completely stuffed me around when they took over Vintage Caravan and increased supply of magazines I’d ordered and locked me out of adjusting it back. I got that wild at the bullshit you have to go through to get anything changed at IPS that I sat down and wrote a long and terse email demanding an explanation of why I was being treated so badly and why they were breaching their own trading terms. No one at IPS would touch the questions I’d put to them but what they did do is unlock my access to change supply and cancel all the unwanted magazines I’d listed. Ive got the original email and IPS’ response saved and if they revert to treating me in a way I find unacceptable again I’ll go back to them all guns blazing.
I know others on this blog including Mark will probably jump to IPS’ defense over this issue but I think they need to realise this is a real problem and just because IPS treats them in a certain way doesn’t mean they treat everyone like that. I’m sure if I was an industry leader with a popular blog IPS would treat me in a completely different way to what I’ve had to put up with.
Yeah I hear you. If they bothered to look at my returns they’d realise they just don’t sell in my area but they seem to guesstimate they will and increase supply. I’d be happy to sell their magazines but unfortunately the titles don’t move off the shelf. They should concentrate on where the sales of their products sell.Everyone keeps talking about the 27% profit, that’s great but you still have to sell a title to get it.
I`m sorry to hear you guys are having trouble with IPS. I have had nothing but positive experiences with them. Last friday i chased a magazine for a customer which was the current issue of Custom Tattooz. I hadnt had this mag since it moved from GG last june. Not only did IPS find me one it was delivered the very next day (saturday), the customer was blown away by such prompt service, which is a win/win for IPS and me. He is buying all his mags from only me from here on in.
again I`n sorry to hear you guys are having a bad time with them but I am really impressed with them.
Cheers
Al
jOHN, shauns,
I am now very happy with the service from IPS because for about the last 12 months I have only been getting what I want. Just Best Bets and the Winning Post, that’s it, no other titles. We phoned and asked the question after a host of unwanted titles.
Regrettably, too long ago to remember the contact details for you. It did take quite a number of phone calls to get onto the right person to put a fix in place though.
In order to become exempt from receiving unsolicited titles, I would recommend you keep calling until you reach a person who 1) has the authority to act and 2) will listen to you
Denis I have a few reply emails stating the IPS terms are that I have to accept everything and anything for the first 3 issues , I keep reminding them I do not want stock unless I have given the ok that I want to give it a go . The so called IPS contract (that I have never seen) could be very dangerous if they started getting a whole lot of new tittles , imagine if they took over all of GG tittles and you would have to keep all those overseas tittles that I would normally send back for 3 issues . DO NOT LIKE IT
If you could remember Dennis you’d be a bigger legend than Warney. That’s all I basically want is Winning Post and Best Bets. Can see me monthly bill from IPS going by by hundreds each month. Think it costs me more to send back returns than I actually make out of their titles and I’m not kidding.
I find them very helpful and keen to accommodate our requested titles and ranges. Perfect? Who is but they give us very little grief and phoning customer is always a pleasure (haven’t had to do that for some time now)
Put in my request today for just tittles I want ,see what happens if it’s a no I am thinking of just subbing from another agent
jOHN,
Warneys a big one. I’d be over the moon with the Mitchell J tag 🙂
After your legend comment, I tried a bit harder and found something in my emails from August 2011.
If you drop your email up on the site or ask Mark to pass it onto me, I will send you what I have. It does contain some aspects that might not be helpful if aired on an open forum.
Hopefully it will lead to a resolution of your very real issue that goes well beyond mere grizzling about a supplier. The costs in terms of Admin time as well as direct return expenses can really add up over the years. Yeah, I know you are not kidding.
Our business is now much better off, more efficient and profitable, because of IPS’s gracious co-operation.
If Mark could pass my email address onto you that would be great .
Yeah I’d appreciate my email being passed on to Dennis Robertson as well Mark.
Cheers
Done. I feel like a pimp.
Meaning you are a purveyor of sorts?!
🙂 Hoe bloody Hoe 🙂
I am now watching IPS supplies very carefully.
I am being inundated with Italian mags and my demographic is very unItalian.
I have cancelled but I note that tomorrow my cancellations have been neutralized because I am getting another lot of (previously not received) product and it
is once again, Italian.
We are treated very unfairly by these companies and with newsagencies shutting their doors the distributors are simply sending out the same product to less customers (us).
I do not know how the ANF has no sway with these people.
I think the only thing that newsagents can do is early return (not allowed by IPS) and take the credit off the current account.
If all newsagents did this they would have to either go broke or re-assess their trading terms.
Call them. I have found them to be good if you talk to them.
We have had no trouble at all with IPS from day one, and no trouble with the Speedimpex merge either. They are extremely helpful and accommodating, we are not at all oversupplied and when we need more of something it is forthcoming, unlike Gotch and Network who never seem to have extras of current issues any more. Do try phoning them again June.
JUST AN EXAMPLE FOR THOSE SAYING IPS DOES NOT OVER SUPPLY
4WD TOURING AUSTRALIA
2 0
2 2
4 3
4 4
4 3
4 3
4 4
4 4
4 3
latest tomorrow x6 wtf
could only cut it back to 5 because it is outside of its terms
In ten months I have sold 6 copies hardly worth having on the shelf but I have to..
sorry that was supply 2 return 0 etc
AUSTRALIAN PERFORMANCE HORSE
SUPPLY RETURN
4 0
15 13
15 14
13 11
13 09
13 12
13 09
13 12
NEXT ISSUE 10
WILL NOT LET ME CUT BACK ANY LESS THAN 10 last month I missed the returns date which I accept is my fault but also means for the next 12 months I make nothing on this magazine
So not sure if anyone is getting my point here but IPS are just as bad with over supply as GG and NDC only difference is I can early return from the other 2
Call them Shaun.
In the process of fixing the problem I emailed last week then I am on the path of calling (have the contacts now thanks ) I was just venting ,doing some reports and seeing what needs cutting back with all 3 suppliers
Thanks Mark for passing on email, thanks Dennis for the info and good luck Shaun, spoke to them today, wheels are in motion.
My pleasure John, Shaun,
Just sent a couple more emails John, I only put Shauns address in the ‘To box’.
The more interesting one has the subject title “Final set”.
I too get some mags from IPS that never sell, but if I phone them they fix it for me.
Same with standing order increases, always helpful.
I notice when a magazine isn’t selling nothing happens their end so we do need to contact them to supply fixed.
I would prefer not to phone, I actually like Jarryds suggestion of carrier pigeon, but at the end of the day making the call gets results so its not a big deal.
A bit off topic but does Network have a current calendar. Email this morning saying cut off for this month is Friday 29th March. At least G & G has a reasonable date Monday 31st. Network hidden in the email regarding Disney partwork. How many will be caught out?
I will do the bulk on Friday and try and push a few extra from mondays delivery , they sometimes make it through ,never had any real problems getting them through on the last day but there is a risk
why do we have to call them? this s$#@ts me, they have all the data at their disposal, if they supply me 6 mags and i return 6 mags, and this goes on month after month, at what point does the penny drop that the mag does not sell and they should stop sending it to me. this is crap and ips are no better than the other two.
i just wish they had the balls to admit that they need to over supply for their business model to work, if they only supplied as per sales data then the distributors would go broke. when publishers get sick of being ripped off them we can get together to work out a new model for magazine supply
rick,
If that is the case – that all distributor’s business model relies on oversupply to be profitable – then one of the only few long term viable alternatives I see is a distribution cooperative that is a) owned by newsagents and publishers, b) holds a monopoly on the market and c) takes advantage of larger economies of scale.
The current distributors aren’t growing so their economies of scale are naturally decreasing – this isn’t going to get better.
What we don’t want is a situation where there is only one of the two major distributors left once the market shrinks beyond its ability to support two players (if it hasn’t already – which I too suspect is the case).
Ips have been absolute hell for us, with early and late return. We found out that not all returns rtf files were excepted by ips.
Made lots of noise
Printed out sales reports vs returns reports
Ips has withheld far too much $$$ from us.
We are very upset with them and their attitude.
As for over supply again that happens more often. The best way is to email them list of titles that are over supplied, to either adjust to bear minimum ,say. From 10 to 3 or just cancel
They say , investigation are in progress . Still waiting
As a small independent magazine owner, ever since the merge between IPS and SpeedImpex we have been through hell.
The communication has been terrible and we also have money being withheld from us for editions they have distributed and been paid for.
Speedimpex seem quite happy to exploit small publishers like ours. Print is a hard enough industry and it’s a real shame that distribution companies make it even harder for us to survive.