boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (07/24/84)
> When I was young, many years ago, there were several used-book > stores which commonly carried recent but out-dated magazines, > which had the top strip of the cover torn off, for 3/$1.00 or > suchlike. I haven't seen this situation for years. > > there certainly is > demand for these at 50 cents or less each, as opposed to the > currently-overpriced cover prices on most magazines. So why is no > one filling this need? Where is free enterprise when we need it? > > Let us know what is going on here... > > Will Martin What is going on is that the law is finally cracking down on criminals. It is against the law to sell magazines that way. To quote the indicia of one maga- zine: "This periodical may not be sold except by authorized dealers and is sold subject to the connditions that it shall not be sold or distributed with any part of its cover or markings removed, nor in mutilated condition." What happens is this: Publishers sell the magazines to the distributors, who in turn sell them to the newstands. When new issues come out, the old ones are returned by the newstands to the distributors, who, in theory, return them to the publisher for a refund. Instead of sending the complete magazines (or books) back, because of the shipping costs, the distributors send back only the front covers or the title strips to prove that those copies were unsold. The publishers go along with this because they are the ones who would pay the shipping costs, but they do it with the understanding that the coverless copies will be destroyed. Instead, the sleazy distributors get their refund for the unsold maga- zines, then turn around and sell the mutilated copies to the local smoke shop or whatever. Thus, they're getting the money for "unsold" magazines that end up be- ing sold after all. The sleazier distributors don't even bother distributing some magazines to the stores, but just sit on them for a month and send back the covers for credit, then sell the coverless copies. Part of the reason for the "overpriced" magazines is because the pub- lishers have to pass on their losses from such rip-offs to the consumer. One of the reasons comic book publishers are so supportive of the new specialized comic shops is because with the special distribution arrangements with such shops, no returns of unsold copies are allowed, eliminating this type of rip-off. In re- turn, the shops get a better purchase price on the comics, and many shops then offer a discount to their customers. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA