Dragon UK - A potential solution

[DDK]

Outsourcing. At least that's what I think they call it. Republishing maybe?

Basically the idea is that another publisher handles the printing and distribution of a magazine in their country of origin.

This solves a LOT of problems and has very few pitfalls, IMO. In addition to creating an additional revenue stream (from seperate advertising contracts) it also lowers the costs of the magazine in that country due to the excising of the middle-men, ie. the government (import taxes) and shipping costs. In addition, subscription rates no longer require additional costs due to international shipping charges and so subscriptions would potentially increase.

Paizo would get a percentage of profits and since profits would include the additional revenue stream created through country specific advertising and potentially increased sales through cheaper retail costs and drastically reduced subscription costs, it is still profitable for both entities.

Of course, whoever was to do this would need substantial startup capital, however due to the already established entity that is Dragon and Dungeon/Polyhedron, sales would be, at the very least, stable and therefore returns would be predictable at a minimum level which in turn would mean a return on investment within one to two issues...

Just a thought...

 

[Ranger REG]

But then there will be two different Dragon issues per month. When we come here to discuss the magazine's articles (since Paizo does not have a messageboard yet), we don't know what you UK readers are talking about and vice versa, because of different content.

I'm trying so hard to understand this Euro privacy laws. I mean does UK receive any magazines printed in the US? If so, why are those magazines going through the channels and not Dragon?

 

[DDK]

No, I don't think you understand. The content remains exactly the same (with the exception of potentially different advertisements) and is controlled entirely by Paizo. The company in the UK simply receives a copy of the material and prints and distributes it IN the UK.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Outsourcing. At least that's what I think they call it. Republishing maybe?

Basically the idea is that another publisher handles the printing and distribution of a magazine in their country of origin.

This solves a LOT of problems and has very few pitfalls, IMO. In addition to creating an additional revenue stream (from seperate advertising contracts) it also lowers the costs of the magazine in that country due to the excising of the middle-men, ie. the government (import taxes) and shipping costs. In addition, subscription rates no longer require additional costs due to international shipping charges and so subscriptions would potentially increase.

Paizo would get a percentage of profits and since profits would include the additional revenue stream created through country specific advertising and potentially increased sales through cheaper retail costs and drastically reduced subscription costs, it is still profitable for both entities.

Of course, whoever was to do this would need substantial startup capital, however due to the already established entity that is Dragon and Dungeon/Polyhedron, sales would be, at the very least, stable and therefore returns would be predictable at a minimum level which in turn would mean a return on investment within one to two issues...

Fourecks, I think this is basically what they're trying to do now (sans ad differences), and it's what causes all the problems. European subscribers can order copies from the US and they arrive without problems, but that's expensive. The companies that Hasbro "outsourced" to can't collaborate due to EU privacy regulations, so the subscribers can't get magazines or refunds.

 

[Merlin]

As I already mentioned somewhere else, it's not mainly a privacy problem. It's mainly a problem about money and internal contracts they have.

So for me the question is not how such a thing can be avoided, but more why did such a thing happen in the first place? Who of all the parties involved has gotten the money and now doesn't want to hand it over...

Another question is, why does Paizo not look for another distributor to handle the subscriptions for Europe. I understand that the new distributor would not be able to get to our address, but at least we in Europe could start a new Europe subscription and would not have to pay for the US shipping.

 

[Alzrius]

Judging from the news on the main page, whatever they should or shouldn't be doing, it seems like they're throwing in the towel on this issue. That's pretty obvious from Johnny's email to that poor subscriber, saying that they have no possible way of sending the magazines to anyone in Europe, and they're now trying to return people's subscription money.

That's a shame.

 

[Ranger REG]

They may not be throwing in the towel. I think they want to terminate the business relationship with that other company. (Hasbro UK?) Then build it from the ground up to provide better service in the UK.

At least according to that other thread.

 

[DDK]

Re: Re: Dragon UK - A potential solution

Fourecks, I think this is basically what they're trying to do now (sans ad differences), and it's what causes all the problems. European subscribers can order copies from the US and they arrive without problems, but that's expensive. The companies that Hasbro "outsourced" to can't collaborate due to EU privacy regulations, so the subscribers can't get magazines or refunds.

Well, as I understand it, what is causing all the problems is that there are three companies involved, all of whom don't want to cooperate.

My proposed solution would have one company, for all intents and purposes the publisher of the magazine in that country, handle everything as a licensee of Paizo. Alternatively, Paizo could set up a UK office to handle everything locally.

As for the other matters, it seems to me that Paizo is the one getting burnt here and is the one doing it's best to rectify the situation whereas the others are just... companies being companies.