Keith

I'm not the Editor of Model Boats but I have been in the model trade for a while and thus believe I'm fairly qualified to reply. Paul Freshney will probably have his own take and will, no doubt, be more diplomatic than me!

Your complaint seems to revolve around "fairness" but do you really imagine that all businesses are run by rich and indulgent philanthropists? MyTimeMedia is not exactly Bloomsbury Publishers either ("Harry Potter" etc etc).

Establishing a selling price is always a headache and comes down eventually to a compromise between several cost factors and how much can reasonably be expected from the customer for the product – in this case the cover price.

The cover price is printed on the cover and is what the customer is asked to pay for the magazine over the counter. The costs of actually getting both him and his copy of the magazine to the same point are not material to the transaction, as is the case in practically every normal retail event on the High Street. If instead the customer chooses to order his copy in advance of publication then he must accept that there is an identifiable additional cost associated with getting his copy to him which, of course, hasn't been taken into consideration when establishing the cover price. In the absense of a reasonable alternative this cost comes down to Royal Mail's charges. As you say these have skyrocketed in the last year or so, to the extent that in asking to have your copy post-free you are expecting what amounts to a 40% discount on the cover price for the priviledge of receiving your own personal copy a week or so in advance of Smith's customers etc. Your answer to this is to load the shelf price to compensate. How fair is that??

The choice of whether or not to order in advance is yours and yours alone, taken in the light of all of the other possible choices and factors. Turn the mirror and ask yourself why the bloke who pays his bus fare or drives his car to the local model shop or WHS should be penalised by paying an increased price because you wanted your copy in advance and weren't prepared to pay for the priviledge?

We have a saying around here – "Fair do's, m'duck!". In other words if you want special treatment then be prepared to put your hand in your pocket.

No offence intended here.

Dave M

Edited By Dave Milbourn on 26/06/2013 20:08:34

Keith, it seems to me, as an unbiased observer, that your gripe is with the British postal service rather than the magazine publisher. Dave and Colin have answered your question from the publisher's pont of view so, as Colin said, your choice is clear, pay the postage to be sure you obtain a copy, or risk your local W.H. Smith's store having some.

Living, as I do, in Australia, I also have 2 choices, pay the international postage and be sure of receiving a copy soon after publication, or take a chance that a newsagent near us may have some in about 2 month's time. I made my choice and mine is ordered. If previous specials are anything to go by, I won't be disappointed in the final product.

Peter.

Edited By Peter Fitness on 27/06/2013 00:11:29

Paul

I have a sneaking suspicion that the publication in question is actually called "World of Model Boating". If this is the case then I think you will be receiving a complimentary copy of the forthcoming issue. Check out the Homepage of this website.

Dave M

Further more considering the number of contributers one would not have though all and sundry would be dished out a complimentary considering the cost and time sorting addresses etc for a mag.

My nearest large WHS is Kingston, £3.40 return on bus on 40 min cycle. then there is the time taken to collect this, the added expense of coffe and additional purchases inevitable when making such a trip. i have tried other WHS in the past but it is a bit hit n mis.

So, teh additional cost of postage is actually cost efficient ( to return to original post).

Ashley

Contributors who have been commissioned to provide material normally receive a complimentary copy from the Editorial allocation as will happen with this issue. Also it is the usual practice to send copies to organisations who may have facilitated the preparation of an article, in this case the RM Submarine Museum will get a copy as they kindly let me tour the place and showed me behind the scenes.

So Ashley will be able to read two separate articles simultaneously and then either pass one copy on to the Lad as and example of fatherly fame or mount it in a gilt frame to be displayed above his fireplace.

Colin

I was only replying on the original post regarding cost of pre ordering magazines…just in case it was thought I am THAT tight.

We have tadpoles in our pond now. I never have much success with them, they only last a month or two and dissappear?

Yes it will join the others over the fireplace

Ashley

Not quite, Paul. MyHobbyStore is now MyTimeMedia. Do keep up at the back, there!

Hobbyzone appears to be part of a group of companies which went into administration just yesterday. If you can be bothered here's the link **LINK** Quite why it should be sending out E-Mails pp MyTimeMedia is anyone's guess. Maybe a typo?

Dave M

Hello who are at the palace gates ….some fair comments made by all Dve for PM he gets my vote

and Colin the diplomate , as for model boat content it covers all aspects of the hobby…

where you purchase the mag is your chioce me it is W H smiths , ……

give me chance to browse the other mags that catch my eye , and to make another purchase..

the staff allso are quite helpfull , the other popular mag covering the hobby .

is not as good MB resricted model items and to much items wich you get on any web page…. so well done all , who put the mag together,…………..

But there you go you can not please every body………..keep the red flag flying high …

comrad Larry..

Ian

It's chicken-and-egg time here, I'm afraid. The model shops would say that Internet shopping is the cause of their lack of business, while the customers say they have to buy on-line because they can't find what they need at their local model shop. We have two pretty decent model shops in Nottingham but neither is exactly well stocked with model boat stuff. They might say it's because local model boaters are tight-fisted and never know what they want! All I can add is that I worked in two local model shops in the 70's and the situation viz a viz stocking model boats was exactly the same then.
At least we can obtain most of what we want (if not all) without having to order it from the other side of the world. I feel sorry for the guys in Oz, the USA, Canada and NZ who have no "native" boat suppliers of any description.

Dave M

**LINK**

Philately will get you nowhere.

Lol………………

Edited By Dave Milbourn on 27/06/2013 19:10:11