[Michlib-l] Magazine subscriptions through Amazon?

[Paul McCann]

Hi Dana,

I am not a fan of Amazon's billing for our corporate account.  We use 
them as a secondary for books, A/V, requests, miscellaneous items, etc.  
I think their monthly statement could be streamlined. They have also 
stopped including any backup documentation with shipments.

Amazon has some very eye catching magazine prices, but these seem to be 
introductory offers that would generate a full bill after three months 
or so.  One that stood out to me was "The Economist."  It looks like a 
great deal at $12, but this is a 3 month initial subscription with 
auto-renew.  Their standard year is $152 with auto renew and that is $25 
higher than our rate through our regular vendor.  Prices fluctuate from 
magazine to magazine.  Marie Claire seems to be almost free.  Harper's 
is double our jobber's price. Midwest Living is 1/3 the price.  I would 
be wary of unexpected price increases through auto-renew.

It would be interesting to know how Amazon handles claims for missed 
issues.  The standard magazine jobbers are pretty good at getting 
replacements or getting the subscription extended when issues fail to 
show up.

Over the years, we have switched between Faxon (defunct), Ebsco, WT Cox, 
Ebsco and we're now with Rivistas.  We haven't used Popular. All offered 
competitive pricing, especially to lure new business. They also offer a 
different level of service targeted to libraries. If these are ephemeral 
items in your collection and it doesn't matter if they arrive or come 
back, Amazon might work.  I am skeptical that Amazon would provide the 
same level of service as a subscription manager.  You may find you are 
managing all your subscriptions individually with the publishers, which 
would create more work for staff unless the collection is considered 
disposable.

I would recommend putting your package of titles together and shopping 
it to all the jobbers that service libraries.  None will be able to 
match some of Amazon's prices, but the comparison will give you the best 
reasonable prices, the annual opportunity to see price increases and 
cancel subscriptions as necessary.  Hope that helps some.

Paul


Paul McCann				Dexter District Library
Library Director			3255 Alpine St.
Phone: 734-426-4477			Dexter, MI 48130
Fax: 734-426-1217			www.dexter.lib.mi.us

On 2/12/2019 12:58 PM, Dana Allen via Michlib-l wrote:
> Hi all,
> We are evaluating our magazine collection which is rather extensive 
> and we will probably be downsizing based on data we are currently 
> collecting.  We have been using an out-of-state subscription service 
> but have had some issues. We are thinking of switching to Amazon next 
> year. If you've been ordering from them, what are your feelings?  
> Thank you in advance for your input.
>
> -- 
> Dana Allen
> Administrative Clerk
> Howell Carnegie District Library
> Howell, Michigan
>
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