Retail Sales (Firm Sale) - Consumer Magazines
Retail Sales (Firm Sale) [Print/Digital]
A copy sold to a retailer, on a firm sale basis, intended for resale as a single copy to a consumer.
Principles
1. Single copy made available for purchase by the consumer from the retailer
3. Cover price must be published on or inside front or back cover of the publication
4. The price paid for the publication by the consumer must be clear and conspicuous
5. The retailers’ ability to vary supply must not be unduly restricted
6. If the final rate classification is not known then estimates must be made
7. Reported by rate, comparing price paid by the consumer with the Basic Cover Price
Requirements
1. Single copy made available for purchase by the consumer from the retailer
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Contractual arrangement with the retailer must make clear that copies are for resale to the consumer.
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The purchase by the consumer may be in cash or by other means agreed by ABC in writing.
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The consumer must pay at least minimum legal tender per copy
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Multipacked (or banded) magazines:A magazine is defined for ABC purposes as being sold as part of a Multipack (i.e. where it is packaged or banded together as a unit with other issues or publications) only if two or more publications in that pack are included in an ABC circulation claim.
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Only one publication claimed:
If only one publication that is sold as part of a package is to be included in an ABC circulation claim, (‘the lead title’) then the sale of the pack will be treated for ABC purposes as the sale of just that publication. Note:
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It must be clear from the pack itself which publication is the lead title (i.e. the one which can be included in an ABC claim).
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The lead title cannot be a back issue or promoted as ‘free’.
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- Two or more publications claimed
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Sales of Multipacks must be separately and clearly identified on newstrade reports and documentation
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If a magazine in the pack is a back issue or is at all promoted as ‘free’ then it cannot be claimed as a sold copy for ABC purposes
Note:
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If the publisher has removed the normal cover price from a publication (to prevent resale for example) or reduced the cover price for that issue the Basic Cover Price must still be applied for this purpose.
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For ABC rate classification purposes the Multipack price must be allocated to each magazine included in an ABC circulation claim on a pro-rata basis using their individual Basic Cover Prices.
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A free publication (or one promoted as free) included in the multipack may be eligible to be claimed under Monitored Free Distribution or Sample Free Distribution. Please refer to those sections for requirements and reporting. If a publication is claimed as a free copy within a retail multipack it must be detailed on the multipack breakout for the paid publication.
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You cannot claim back issue sales to the retailer.
2. Copies are purchased from the publisher by the retailer, on a firm sale basis, either direct or via the distribution chain (typically distributor and/or wholesaler)
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‘Firm sale’ means that unsold copies are not returned or reported for credit.
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You must account for sales on an issue by issue basis.
3. Cover price must be published on or inside front or back cover of the publication
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Where a publication is sold as part of a Multipack:
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The cover price of the individual publication need not be published on or in the publication.
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The price of the multipack must be published on the Multipack.
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4. The price paid for the publication by the consumer must be clear and conspicuous
- If a voucher from a publisher controlled promotion is used the amount paid by the consumer is deemed to be the total of the cash paid to the retailer and any cash they paid for the voucher.
- The value (or perceived value) of gifts or cover mounts to the consumer have no effect on the price paid for ABC purposes. Cash reimbursements to the consumer must be taken into account.
- You must retain details of promotional or special offers during the reporting period.
5. The retailers’ ability to vary supply must not be unduly restricted
No additional requirements
6. If the final rate classification is not known then estimates must be made
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If at the time you submit your circulation claim you are running a promotional scheme where the final position (e.g. the number of discounted sales via redeemed vouchers) is not known you must make an estimate of the final classification. In this case you must adjust your claim in the following period to reflect any difference between the estimated classification and the actual classification.
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In relation to promotional schemes utilising voucher redemption: The effect of not making an estimate is judged to be unlikely to affect the figures claimed by more than 2% of the total average circulation then you can account for the vouchers on a wash through basis (i.e. as they are redeemed).
7. Reported by rate, comparing price paid by the consumer with the Basic Cover Price
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Copies sold to the retailer can be claimed as sales at the cover price unless there is evidence to the contrary, in which case claims should be adjusted as follows:
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The retailer distributes copies free to the consumer (these should be removed from claim)
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The retailer sells copies at less than the Basic Cover Price (these may be claimed in the appropriate rate band).
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The consumer makes part payment using a voucher from a publisher controlled promotion (these may be claimed in the appropriate rate band unless acceptance and redemption of vouchers is explicitly not allowed in the agreement between the publisher and the retailer in which case the voucher can be ignored),
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The consumer makes full payment using a voucher from a publisher controlled promotion (these should be removed from the claim).
For the avoidance of doubt: copies disposed of by the retailer (not provided to a consumer) do not need to be deducted.
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The default position is to use the UK Basic Cover Price. However you may opt to report other countries copies against the relevant local cover price.
Note: If you’re claiming digital copies, please also refer to the additional requirements in the Digital Copies section.
Reporting
You will report retail sales as follows, which will be broken out on the ABC Certificate (note: the term Full Rate will replace full or Basic Cover Price for reporting purposes):
1. By geographical type:
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United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland;
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Other Countries
2. By rate band:
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At Full Rate
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20% - 99% of Full Rate
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Below 20% of Full Rate
3. By total average retail sale over the period.
4. The issues that include copies sold as a part of a multipack must be reported, identifying the other publication(s) included in the multipack (only those that are themselves included in an ABC circulation claim - which could be as Retail Sale or Monitored/Sample Free) and the quantity and the percentage of each issue’s Paid Single Copies figure (total of retail sales and single copy sales) that is sold as part of a multipack.
Guidance
G1. Single copy made available for purchase by the consumer from the retailer
- Cash means legal tender notes and coins, cheque, credit/debit card, wireless payment systems.
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This doesn’t preclude a retailer selling more than one copy to a single purchaser (without the publisher’s knowledge).
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Multipacks
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Identification of lead title could be achieved by:
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The promotion identifying the lead title as the publication that is purchased and that the other publications in the pack are free. For example: ’Buy X get Y free’, where X would be the lead title; or
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The lead title’s greater prominence. For example the publication whose front page is visible at the front of the pack.
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Sales of multipacks being separately and clearly identified on newstrade reports and documentation could be achieved by:
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Making the external packaging/band of the multipack carry a price as well as a unique barcode (that is different from the barcode carried on any of the constituent publications).
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Not printing the multipack barcode and price on any of the constituent publications (to avoid sales of individual publications being incorrectly recorded as multipack sales).
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One magazine claimed examples:
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ABC News (cover price £1) and ABC Celebrity (cover price £2) are packaged together, sold for £1 and promoted as ‘Buy ABC News and get ABC Celebrity free’. In this case ABC News can be claimed (at the pack price of £1) because ABC Celebrity has been promoted as free.
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ABC News (cover price £1) and ABC Celebrity (cover price £2) are packaged together, sold for £1 and promoted as ‘2 for 1’. If ABC Celebrity has its cover facing out of the front of the pack and the front cover of ABC News is not visible from the outside of the pack then only ABC Celebrity can be included in an ABC circulation claim and for ABC purposes each copy of the pack sold will count as a copy of ABC Celebrity sold for £1.
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Two magazine multipack examples
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ABC News (cover price £1) and ABC Celebrity (cover price £2) are packaged together and sold for £2.20 with the package having its own unique barcode. Copies of each magazine sold in the package can be claimed as retail sales, with ABC News being treated as sold at 73p and ABC Celebrity as £1.47 (package price pro-rated 1/3 and 2/3 respectively).
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If ABC Celebrity was multipacked with a back issue of ABC News for £2.20, then the copies of ABC News could not be claimed as sales for ABC purposes (because multipacked back issues are disallowed) and the copies of ABC Celebrity could be claimed as sales for the price of £2.20
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If ABC Celebrity was multipacked with an issue of ABC News for a pack price of £2.20, and ABC News is being promoted as being free, then: the copies of ABC News could not be claimed as sales for ABC purposes because they are promoted as free and the copies of ABC Celebrity could be claimed as sales for the price of £2.20
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G2. Copies are purchased from the publisher by the retailer, on a firm sale basis, either direct or via the distribution chain (typically distributor and/or wholesaler)
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You will need to ensure all records required to support the retail sale claim are available for audit. This will include:
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Full issue by issue details of all financial records and contracts with distributors, wholesalers and retailers, with specific regard to normal and recognised trade terms. These must be reconcilable to the distribution records on an issue specific basis and to the average retail sale claim.
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Details of any change in trading terms from firm sale (if allowed) to sale or return (either temporarily or permanently) or vice versa.
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Details of discounts or special offers.
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G4. The price paid for the publication by the consumer must be clear and conspicuous
- As the price paid may be affected by promotional schemes you should keep details of purchases and promotional spends so you can demonstrate copies are purchased and that sales under incentives/offers are classified correctly, or disallowed as necessary.
You can contact ABC for confidential advice, supplying copies of the promotional material and offer wording.
The information kept may include:
- Title/s involved
- Issues involved
- Duration of promotion
- Retail outlets involved
- Wording of the promotion displayed at the retail outlet/s
- How the resultant copies are claimed
- How the promotion will be paid for
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Treatment of bundle/package promotions
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As each case can vary we recommend you contact us for advice before carrying out your promotion.
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How the price of the publication is presented to the consumer will affect how or whether the copy may be claimed for ABC purposes.
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If the price of the publication appears in the promotional material and it is legible (taking into account its presentation and prominence (including the size of the font used) and assuming a reasonable speed of reading) then the price is likely to be considered clear and conspicuous.
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Stating the publication’s price in relation to the promotion/bundle in the main wording of the offer will provide most clarity.
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The further away from the main offer wording and/or less prominent in the promotion the price of the publication becomes, the more likely it will not be considered clear and conspicuous.
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If the price of the publication is linked to the main offer wording with, say, an asterisk - this would make it more conspicuous.
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Merely stating the price of the publication without reference to the bundle/package could just be a statement about the normal price of the publication and so will not necessarily render the price clear and conspicuous.
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If there is conflicting information about the price, then the lowest price assessment would be taken for ABC purposes (which might mean it is free).
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The absence of a clear and conspicuous price would render the copies as free, as would explicit wording stating the publication is free.
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Promotion “Buy the publication and a bottle of water for £x”. The price of the publication is not clear and conspicuous.
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Promotion “Buy the publication and a bottle of water for £x” which is accompanied by the statement “The price of the publication in this promotion is £y”. The price of the publication is likely to be considered clear and conspicuous if the accompanying statement is either within the main body of the promotion, or is in a footnote that is asterisked to the main body and is legible.
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Promotion “Buy the publication and bottle of water for £x.” Elsewhere in promotion “Publication is £y Monday to Friday and £z on Saturdays”. The price of the publication is not in the promotion and is unlikely to be considered clear and conspicuous as this statement appears to be the normal price of the publication.
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Promotion: If a publication ‘ABC News’ is promoted as ‘Buy ABC News for £x and get a free bottle of water’ then the bottle of water is treated as a free gift and it is clear the price paid is solely for the purchase of the publication.
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Promotion: If the promotion is ‘Buy a bottle of water and get a free copy of ABC News’ then the publication will be treated as free for ABC purposes.
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Per section 4b: “The discount or cash reimbursement must be taken into account. Examples:
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Promotion: “Buy publication and spend £5 and you get £1 off your publication”. The publication is discounted by £1.
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Promotion: “Buy publication, spend £5 and get £1 off your shopping basket”. The publication is discounted as it is part of the shopping basket, but it is difficult to determine how much it is discounted and will be considered on a case by case basis. In this example, using the minimum spend requirement of the offer gives a 20% discount and would seem a reasonable treatment.
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Promotion: “Buy publication and get £1 off a jar of coffee”. Or “Buy publication and get the money off the rest of your shopping”. The publication is full price, provided that the publication is sold at full price and the reimbursement does not exceed the cost of the items being discounted.
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G6. If the final rate classification is not known then estimates must be made
- In relation to promotional schemes utilising voucher redemption a wash through basis means vouchers are accounted for as they are redeemed. The specific point at which they are treated as redeemed is not prescribed but you should use a reasonable and consistent basis.