PaulJ
>☹ Is it me or am the only one who thinks we are getting seriously ripped off when it comes to buying magazines like : Metal Hammer /Kerrang /Guitarworld /Rock etc.... How do they justify selling the magazines at such an exorbitant price? Metal Hammer in the UK costs £3.99, when converted is about R58.00, I understand they have shipping costs to bring them in, but how do you justify this:
Metal Hammer in December = R110.00 (it's still expensive, double the price already)
Metal Hammer in Jan = R159.00 (?????????????????????)
When I asked the manager how they justify such a huge price increase, all he could say to me was " Don't buy the magazine then"!!!!
Maybe it's just me, but excuse me while I go put my R159.00 magazine back into it's plastic cover and seal it in the vault to one day pass on to my offspring. :'(
AlanRatcliffe
CNA work on a minimum 50% profit margin. For an imported mag there is no sale or return for them, so they run the risk of ending up with a bunch of near worthless paper at the end of every month. Buying in bulk, they save on delivery (which you are liable for if you get it from the UK yourself), but they have overheads too.
Most mags let you subscribe directly - I do this with a number of mags and savings can be substantial.
Neps
subscribe, subscribe, subscribe!!!
SOS at Exclusive costs R100 (99,99 to be exact), but when I started subscribing I ended up paying R500 per year instead of R1200. That R500 as one big chunk hurts as a once off for magazines.. jip, friends ripped me off, but in the long run well worth it.
Manfred-Klose
I've got a solution to your problem.
Go to Paperweight, the magazines may be 2 months or older, but hey its R20!!!! if your lucky you'll get a CD with(If it has ben stolen by then)
Find out where all the paperweight shops is in your area and go nuts.
I have found a sound on sound mag still with its old price of R120, and bought ot for R40 from paperweight, it was about a month outdated.
NorioDS
Paperweight? Do they have a site?
Ray
When I started up a little while back, there was also some talk about the cost of mags and subscription and so forth. A little down the road and a bt of the zeal and fervour has subsided and I find that I am a bit selective in what mags I buy. I take a look at the TOC and the cover to evaluate whether it is worth my while. For instance I wont buy one with a Yngwe thing in it because that is just not my taste in lunacy. Also the equipment reviews sometimes grab my fancy. Only problem there is that so often we cant get the stuff here. Yes, and the 2nd hand mags are always worth a look. I pop into the Rosebank shop from time to time. Just a point, often when you look at equipment prices, and multiply by the going exchange rate, you dont come up with the price sold at in SA. There are forces that are beyond my comprehension at work. Why do we pay such high taxes? Because there are so few of us paying taxes. Why do we pay so much for guitars? Because there are so few of us buyng guitars. Just a thought. Does it make any sense. So get your tjommies to buy guitars.
Manfred-Klose
Paperweight? Do they have a site?
Dont think so, they buy all the old stock from CNA and some are improted mags from other countries, PS: they are not second hand, just a few months old.
In cape town we have a shop in tygervalley and brackenfell, they may be more.
Here is contact details for the one in tygervalley:
http://www.tygervalley.co.za/shop.htm?shopMGID=5247
You can maby ask them if they have shops in joburg?
NorioDS
Thanks ?
Neps
I dont think Joburg and Pretoria has a Paperweight.. As far as I remember I only encountered them in CPTN. :'(
Paperweight was my FRIEND!! awesome mags for dirt cheap..!
Heath
there used to be one in rosebank , and one at hillfox , if they still there i don't know
Squonk
Hillfox paperweight is gone. I really miss it.
Werner-Carstens
Here's a genuine case study. I used to pay R140 each month for the Guitarist magazine (at a CNA) and decided to try the subscription-delivered-directly-to-my-post box option as a christmas present to myself. It actually works well and my cost dropped to R87 per issue. That is an almost 40% saving and you get an extra 13th issue that only subscribers get. So it works out to R80 per issue then. Sweet.
Wizard
There's a Paperweight in Kenilworth Centre.
Used to be one in Access Park.
(Cape Town)
Squonk
Werner Carstens wrote
Here's a genuine case study. I used to pay R140 each month for the Guitarist magazine (at a CNA) and decided to try the subscription-delivered-directly-to-my-post box option as a christmas present to myself. It actually works well and my cost dropped to R87 per issue. That is an almost 40% saving and you get an extra 13th issue that only subscribers get. So it works out to R80 per issue then. Sweet.
@ Werner, does it get delivered to your door? Nothing to do with the south african Post Office? I am a bit wary of our postal services.
Werner-Carstens
Hi Squonk, it actually gets delivered to my post box because that is the postal address that I provided. I was concerned about the effeciency of the SA postal service (especially the condition of the included cd) but thus far I have had no problems. Anything can happen though.
If it can reach a postal box in Wellington I am sure that it will reach anywhere.
AlanRatcliffe
I've been subscribed to three mags consistently for the last three years (Guitarist, Guitar Player and Sound On Sound) - and I have never had a single issue go missing or even a cover CD (guitarist always has a CD with lessons and clips of reviewed gear).
Mr-M
I've always read Guitarist UK, but stopped buying when they disappeared from my local CNA. Probably should subscribe.
I've been reading Premier Guitar for about a year now. Great Online Mag and it's free!
www.premierguitar.com
PJH
If you don't mind looking at SOS articles that are 8 months behind, you can go through all of their magazines on line. The restriction of course is that the magazine only becomes available once it's 8 months old.
Very useful to go through back issues though.
Cheers,
Peter.
bENDER
☹ I don't even look at the mags in CNA anymore.......I just don't have the bucks, but about a while ago I whent to Davenport Centre (Glenmore - Durban). There's a little bookshop there that sells back dated magazines of all sorts, I just had a quick look and found the Aug '08 issue of KERRANG! for #@$!*^& :roflmao: R5..........Buwhahahhahhaaaa!!! Hopefully they will get more!!!
Manfred-Klose
YEah same here, the paperweight in tygervalley cape town had a christmas special where all the mags in the shop where marked off at R10!!!!!!!
Well i went nuts and bought a few mags.
