What does B&N and Borders do with their unsold magazines?

[lildreamer316]

Just wondering. Anyone know? I do collages from time to time, and could use them.

[NewWaveChick1981]

1. If I'm not mistaken, there are vending companies that provide them

for chains, newsstands, etc., and those vendors take back the unsold copies for credit. At least that's the way it used to be. :) I have a bunch of women's magazines (like Lucky and Allure) that you can have if you want them. :hi:

[lildreamer316]

2. ...and, hey...

no shipping costs!!
Thanks, really.

[NewWaveChick1981]

3. Exactly.

:hi: I always hate getting rid of them but never go back and read the old issues. And since I cashed in some frequent flier miles on several of those subscriptions, it's not like I have a cash investment in them. :) I'll save 'em for ya...

[sofa king]

4. Where I worked...

...We just ripped the covers off and sent those back for credit. The magazines themselves (theoretically) went into the dumpster.

However, everyone's an a-hole about giving such things away for free, except of course for the wage slave whose job it is to throw them away. So here's what you do: go to a bookstore and ask around for the "receiver." The receiver is the person in charge of taking in books and sending them back when they don't sell. Sometimes there's one for books, one for magazines, one for music, et cetera. Say you're doing a school project on magazine sales, or some BS like that.

Then, feed that receiver some candy. Free magazines for life.

I'm pretty sure I worked for candy back then. At least, I can't remember actually being paid.

[lildreamer316]

5. Candy???

Only if he's a cute corruptible young man....or woman....oh dear.:blush:
Bet ya i'm gonna have to pay them...hopefully not much, though.

[sofa king]

8. Yeah, it's gotta be candy.

Most of them figure out how to snag free coffee, and they're probably worn out from looking at all the porno mags (I took my pornography quality control duties very seriously). They obviously don't care about money or they'd find better jobs. You don't want to pay for that crap, anyway--it might get both of you in trouble.

So I think candy is your best bet. Maybe candy and oral sex--but don't be offended if they pick up a copy of Leg Show while you're doing it.

Come to think of it, maybe I should go back into the book business.

[lildreamer316]

9. LOL

I'm sure the latter would be taken over the former.

[Richardo]

6. Send them back to the publishers...

...as required.

Used to be covers only, and the body of the magazine was discarded. Now, B&N stores return the entire magazine back to a central location where the covers are removed and sent to the publisher for credit, and the body of the magazine is recycled. MUCH less waste going to landfills.

B&N proves it's possible to be a retail behemoth and also a great blue, progressive company :thumbsup:

[lildreamer316]

7. Cool, but

damn.
I guess it's dumpster diving (the recyclable ones!) and second-hand store shopping for me....

[Whoa_Nelly]

10. Here's what I do sometimes

When at the doc or dentist, or any other place where there's a waiting room, I ask if I can take some magazines (used to do this to get magazines for my students...reading and for art projexts.) You'd be surprised how many they'll give you since so many of the ones they have are really old. And you don't have to wait until you have a visit to doc, etc., just stop by and ask. :hi:

[Wcross]

11. Go to your local recycling site.

Around here there are recycling dumpsters around town. One bin is for magazines and you will be able to find all you need in there. I have looked in them before while discarding stuff, plenty of magazines in there. LOTS of porn too so be careful! (you couldn't pay me enough to touch a "used" porn magazine!)

[Zomby Woof]

12. I worked at B&N in the mid-90's

Our periodicals supe ripped the covers off and sent them back to the distributors. The number of covers returned would influence how many copies were sent next time, so that either the title would be pared down, or replaced by something else. I got lots of free magazines that way. :-)

[LostinVA]

13. Strip 'em, send back the covers for credit, toss the manges

If you call, they may save some for you. It's all according what their polices are.

[LSK]

14. what do they do about books that go unsold?

:shrug:

[LA lady]

15. Returned or tossed

Hard cover books are sent back, the majority of paperbacks are cover stripped and tossed out. look inside a paperback; it will say "If you purchased this book without a cover, yada, yada, yada".

The Hardcovers are resold as "remainders" by bulk bid to the major bookstores. That is where the "Bargain Books" usually come from.

I worked for Borders for years!