RodMaker in Canada

Dear Rodmaker,

I do not think it is fair that  rod builders in Canada have to pay half again as much for your magazine as rod builders in the U.S. Why don’t you lower your price and get more Canadian subscribers? Until you do I will pass on a subscription.

Name Withheld

Fair enough. This is a common question received here at the magazine. Let me start by stating that I don’t sell subscriptions outside of the U.S., therefore any subscription offer you have received there in Canada came from a reseller, not me. They, not me, determine the price they choose to sell the magazine for.

Why do they charge so much? Well, maybe it’s not as much as you think.  There is no wholesale price for RodMaker. The standard subscription price is less than a dollar above my actual cost to prepare, publish, print and mail it. So the reseller is not getting any sort of discount. He or she is buying the magazine at the same price you would have to pay if you purchased it direct.

Then, the reseller must have someone reship the magazine/s to them in their country. This can run several dollars per magazine depending on the quantity they’ve bought and had shipped. All told, the reseller may already invested 50% more than a standard U.S. subscription just in getting the magazines to the point where he can resell and reship to you! And obviously, the reseller isn’t doing all this just for fun – he’d like to make a couple or three dollars on a yearly subscription as well.

Why don’t I offer foreign subscriptions to RodMaker direct? Simple, read the earlier blog entry from August 17, 2010 titled, “Foreign Subscriptions” for some facts I doubt you’ve considered.

Finally, I believe that CustomTackle.com in Canada resells RodMaker for just $39.95 per year. Way back in 1998 and 1999 when I was offering RodMaker in Canada, I was charging $49.95. So this isn’t a bad deal at all. You have consider the cost of moving these magazines outside the U.S. – magazines are heavy!

Tom Kirkman

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