My Views on the Magazines Distribution in the Market today

Another frustrating day today, which makes me wonder if doing too much & too aggressive will really hurt the way somethings are being done.... Well for those blog followers who have been following my blog for a long time, you all mostly knew that if I write a long story means I have something to SAY. Those who buy magazines due to supplements may choose to skip this part..... I notice recently that a certain Chinese Magazine 女人我最大 have different versions selling on the market today....the Original Taiwan Version, the Taiwan Singapore Version, the Malaysia Version & the Taiwan with freebies version selling at various places and at different prices....for example Popular Singapore I heard only sells the Taiwan Singapore Version at $10 but other places including Kinokuniya is selling more than $12 though it is from the same distributor...and some places selling it with the free gifts at $13.90(Bishan)....and certain magazines also have Singapore and Overseas version etc selling at different prices and even some magazines which are the same version have Freebies and some do not have. Having received many emails enquiring about why this kinda things can happen in the market, I decided to use this post to answer all the questions. I will separate the post into English, Chinese (HK/TAIWAN/CHINA) & Japanese Magazines. English Magazines Most of the magazines distributed here are by authorized distributors with their contents and freebie supplements licensed to be sold in the country that imports it...For US Magazines, distribution is by Open concept so anyone can bring it in therefore it is common to find the same magazines with different prices in the market. For the Australia magazines, it is mostly distributed by an appointed agent and it is uncommon to find different prices for the same title. They normally come with the freebies if it is available in the Market. For UK titles, it is really a Idiotic Market where only appointed distributors can import the magazines here and all the freebies are normally not INCLUDED with the exception of "SHOUT" & "Mizz" that kinda or magazines and so we in SINGAPORE ARE MISSING OUT ON THE BENEFIT MASCARA & ALL THE BRANDED COSMETIC FREEBIES BAGS selling in the UK. And some of the SUPPLIERS are damn ?A^*Ho&* that if someone sells the domestic copies in Singapore, they will complain to the publisher in UK and stop the Item from SELLING IN SINGAPORE!...which is why Kinokuniya & other Bookstores are not bringing in the Magazines with the Freebies despite them working very hard for the customers.....only to be let down by selfish distributors who think nothing of the end-customers but only their $$$ Dollars, Cents and Profit Margins!!! and protecting their interest! Chinese Magazines TAIWAN Magazines - Based on my observations, most of the Taiwanese Magazines imported here are brought in through parallel import or via their own stores in Taiwan....(Doesn't take an idiot to find out where the source is from as Taiwan Magazines Website normally state which freebies go to where....E.G 7-11 receive item A, PageOne receive item B etc and so forth). The only local distributor for Taiwanese Magazines only brings in the more popular FHM, Mina & a few other titles which are slower than the release date in taiwan and NO FREEBIES...which to me is a major headache...by the way TAIWAN MAGAZINE is still an UNTAPPED Market so aspiring distributors can go to Taiwan and fight for the distribution..Vogue , Elle., Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan etc has no distributors here .if anyone do so please MAKE SURE GOT FREEBIES! China Magazines - Mostly the Versions selling here are via parallel import or distributed via Books Suppliers from China due to their low cost. I can fly over to China, buy 50 copies and sell firm to the Bookstores here and earn my plane ticket free....and cover my magazine cost. Most of the magazines comes with Freebies and it is SUPER DIRT CHEAP and sometimes, they give Good stuff from CHANEL and other brands also.....No appointed distribution channel in Singapore so anyone can bring in and sell....if the content is OK...... HongKong Magazines - I see many versions selling here especially the more popular ones like MILK, East Touch & ELLE, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan etc.....The Weeklies(Milk, East Touch) magazine are always LATE!!!! I mean very LATE even though they comes with the original freebies from HongKong in Kinokuniya....some Buzz Kiosk new stand sell the cheaper ones without freebies at an even later date...Monthly magazines such as ELLE are also quite late, estimated to be a week later or so....but they come with the freebies from HongKong at Kinokuniya... Other Bookstores are not so fortunate as they sell the magazine even later and has no Freebies.....HongKong Magazines has no appointed distributors and most of the items are parallel imported....so again, aspiring distributors can go HongKong fight for the rights....and PLEASE BRING IN THE FREEBIES ALSO. Lastly.....JAPANESE MAGAZINES APPOINTED DISTRIBUTORS from Japan distribute the magazines all around the world including Singapore are license to sell the magazines with the freebies so no issues here.... all magazines comes with the freebies if it is included in the domestic copies. So what do I think of the market situation???? Well I think the authorized distributionship is an over-rated term as in Singapore there is no law against parallel importing and especially if the item is even better than the ones brought in by the distributors and some more have freebies also....what's the use of having an appointed distributor is he does not do his job? it means providing a DIS_SERVICE to the retailers who in turn sells 3rd RATE Products to the customer!.... If I were to buy a magazine, I would insist that it be in the same condition and status as it would be when I buy from the country of origin....."NO CUT PAGES" , "SUPPLEMENTS INCLUDED" even if it is more expensive....SO THE SO-CALLED AUTHORISED DISTRIBUTORS, Please start to wake up DO YOUR JOBS AND GET THE FREEBIES IN!!!!!!