What do stores do with unsold NewTypes?

[DeadlyMessiah]

My girlfriend picked up the Jan 2006 issue of NewType, and later realized she does not have the Dec 2005 issue. Does anyone know what retailers like Barnes and Nobles does with any lingering issues fromt eh previous months? How does ADV's back issues offer work?

[TheGreenMan]

I believe unsold magazines are sold back to the publishing companies.

[tstidm1]

Most Brick and morter stores return them to the publisher. Right Stuf has December's issue online to buy.

[MeggieMay]

My local Wal-Mart has been running late with getting up the current issue of NewType USA (they still had December as of last week), so if you have any Wal-Marts in the area I'd suggest hitting them ASAP to see if they might still have copies (however, not all Wal-Marts carry the magazine - however it is worth look IMO).

[rainking187]

It's worth looking at Borders if you have one near you, my Borders usually gets stuff a week or two after Barnes & Nobles does.

[Captain Impulse]

As a former head of the magazine section at Barnes and Noble, here's the (sad) truth of what happens to unsold magazines (all types): we rip the covers off, trash the remainder of the mags, and send the covers back to the publisher. Although if your manager is really nice (mine), you can take any of the "stripped" magazines home with you, provided you prove they have been stripped before you remove them from the store.

And no, they won't give out stripped mags to the public. Sorry. /images/graemlins/depresse.gif

[hobie]

[ QUOTE ]
Captain Impulse said:
As a former head of the magazine section at Barnes and Noble, here's the (sad) truth of what happens to unsold magazines (all types): we rip the covers off, trash the remainder of the mags, and send the covers back to the publisher.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which is the same thing that happens to paperback books from time to time. Technically your manager could get in big trouble for letting people take stripped periodicals home. It is done so publishers don't have to deal with big return hassles on 'stale' merchandise and makes the items unsalable. But employees often end up with some anyway. I got a book from a previous job like this years ago before I knew what it meant.

[stfram]

[ QUOTE ]
Hobie-wan said:
Which is the same thing that happens to paperback books from time to time. Technically your manager could get in big trouble for letting people take stripped periodicals home. It is done so publishers don't have to deal with big return hassles on 'stale' merchandise and makes the items unsalable. But employees often end up with some anyway. I got a book from a previous job like this years ago before I knew what it meant.


[/ QUOTE ]

I recall that White Wolf, the RPG publisher who also published fantasy novels, did not allow bookstores to do this, and specifically noted this in the copyright info page of each of their paperbacks.

My grocery store used to sell NewType. They didn't return unsold copies to NewType, they just kept them on the shelf. They'd have copies up there that were 4 months old! /images/graemlins/stunned0.gif

[Melazomah]

[ QUOTE ]
Captain Impulse said:
As a former head of the magazine section at Barnes and Noble, here's the (sad) truth of what happens to unsold magazines (all types): we rip the covers off, trash the remainder of the mags, and send the covers back to the publisher. Although if your manager is really nice (mine), you can take any of the "stripped" magazines home with you, provided you prove they have been stripped before you remove them from the store.

And no, they won't give out stripped mags to the public. Sorry. /images/graemlins/depresse.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
When I worked for a Blockbuster, the magazine back issues were all stacked in the back room and free for the taking. We never even bothered to strip the covers.

[DeadlyMessiah]

[ QUOTE ]
Captain Impulse said:
As a former head of the magazine section at Barnes and Noble, here's the (sad) truth of what happens to unsold magazines (all types): we rip the covers off, trash the remainder of the mags, and send the covers back to the publisher. Although if your manager is really nice (mine), you can take any of the "stripped" magazines home with you, provided you prove they have been stripped before you remove them from the store.

And no, they won't give out stripped mags to the public. Sorry. /images/graemlins/depresse.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow. Do you know how quickly they'd do that though? Is there a chance they wouldn't have done that yet since Dec just ended 3 days ago?

[mike.motaku]

[ QUOTE ]
When I worked for a Blockbuster, the magazine back issues were all stacked in the back room and free for the taking. We never even bothered to strip the covers.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which helps explain in part some of their financial difficulties. That and renters who think they never have to return anything ever and don't you dare charge them anything.

So much of the book and mag retail business is done on credit that it would be insane just to toss old stock without trying to get some money back for it. And coverless book and mags are *supposed* to be destroyed. Employees taking some home is not unusual. But reselling them to secondhand shops is seriously frowned upon, because they've already been reported officially as unsold and neither the publisher nor the author receives any money from the sale.

Me, I've always found that the surest way to get someone to stop making art of any kind is to stop giving them money for it. Makes them get boring desk jobs.

[Scaramanga]

[ QUOTE ]
Hobie-wan said:
[ QUOTE ]
Captain Impulse said:
As a former head of the magazine section at Barnes and Noble, here's the (sad) truth of what happens to unsold magazines (all types): we rip the covers off, trash the remainder of the mags, and send the covers back to the publisher.

[/ QUOTE ]
Which is the same thing that happens to paperback books from time to time. Technically your manager could get in big trouble for letting people take stripped periodicals home. It is done so publishers don't have to deal with big return hassles on 'stale' merchandise and makes the items unsalable. But employees often end up with some anyway. I got a book from a previous job like this years ago before I knew what it meant.

[/ QUOTE ]
Back in the day, when I used to work for ComputerCity (now defunct I believe) we used to do the same thing for computer 'zines. Sad to say I never really wanted the mags for reading; just the Wired for the Absolut ads and all the other mags for their free AOL discs (which could be formatted and reused - this is back in the days of 3.5" floppys for you 'kids' who don't know what I'm talking about.) /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

[Shiroi Hane]

Before he died (long before he dies actually), my Grandad used to drive a van for Menzies taking stuff to the tip and we'd get stripped paperbacks and (more importantly for me at the time) sticker books and entire boxes of stickers.

[Splitter]

When I worked at Suncoast, we ripped them in half and tossed them (VERY painful job for an otaku)... but we always saved the DVD inserts ^^