Non-Sport Update magazine

Just Say No….To Dumping

Original “Dumped” illustration by Jay Lynch We all know there are times in our lives we make statements we do not keep. However, we at Non-Sport Update have tried to stay true to one our earliest statements. This is in regard to the matter of.

By Jun 11,2013  10

Dump Illustration

Original “Dumped” illustration by Jay Lynch

We all know there are times in our lives we make statements we do not keep. However, we at Non-Sport Update have tried to stay true to one our earliest statements. This is in regard to the matter of dumping products.

In Volume 3, No. 3 of Non-Sport Update (Jul-Sep 1992), we stated “just as the world would be a better place to live in if it were free of pollution, the non-sport hobby would be a better place if it were free of dumped product.”

We followed this up in Volume 3, No. 4 (Oct-Dec 1992). In our editorial column, we wrote “we are aware of more than 40 titles which have been dumped on the market lately and are available at very low prices.” Please note we have not made adjustments to the price guide but have added an asterisk to show which items have been dumped. There is no way to tell how quickly specific sets may be absorbed by the market.

In the early days, dumped boxes from manufacturers had a black “x” on the lids or no lids at all. Closeout boxes do not exist today but we still see dealers opening boxes solely to search for high value cards and dumping the base sets. We have witnessed base card sets selling at shows for $1 to $3.

In terms of Non-Sport Update, customers buy our issues to strip out promotional cards and do not read any part of the magazine itself. In essence, they dump the magazine. We see the promos on the internet at a higher price than the original magazine sells for!

We cannot put a number on it but the question is: How many true collectors have left the hobby because they realize some of their collection is no longer valuable? It is not a healthy sign for the hobby.

After all that has been said, you may be wondering what we are trying to say. Since the beginning, we have offered back issues for sale. For the most part, individuals have purchased the magazine for its contents; however we know some copies are sold strictly for the promos. We liken this to the phenomenon of a manufacturer spending loads of time on developing base cards only to have the product stripped for a few chase cards.

Storing upwards of 75-plus back issues costs money and is no longer cost effective. Therefore, we have decided to destroy all back issues prior to Vol. 23 (2012). It is true we could have had a one-time sale to sell them off cheaply. We would in essence be selling the old promo cards and perhaps doing so in large quantities to resellers. We value our subscribers and know they would feel we “dumped” the magazines. We would not have kept our word and we would be as guilty as some of the people who felt it was OK to dump product into the marketplace.

We will maintain a few copies for our archives and a very limited quantity for upcoming shows.

 

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10 Comments

  • Ted Dastick Jr. June 11, 2013 Reply

    I’m headed to the landfill right now!!

    1

    • Bill Zeralsky June 15, 2013 Reply

      Last one in is a rotten egg! LOL

      2

  • Jon June 11, 2013 Reply

    That’s sad for new collectors. l know when I got into collecting Star Wars cards i bought all the back issues that featured SW on the cover.

    3

  • Dough Boy June 11, 2013 Reply

    Hopefully by “destroy” you mean recycle.

    Surely there was a better way to do this…how about stripping out the promos from the magazine? Set some limit to where when a magazine is 1 year old you will destroy all copies over say 25, 2 years old all copies over 15, 3 years old 5, and then just keep the 5 until they are sold out. Sell the promos outright after say a year…give the promos away, do a contest, etc.

    Maybe see if someone wants to do all of this for you? Maybe someone has a business “selling” things and they could add your inventory and manage the shipping process…

    Food for thought…

    4

  • David June 11, 2013 Reply

    How about selling them on eBay? You could take advantage of 50 free listings per month and by doing this, you could get new customers and put a flyer with every order with subscription offers. I know 50 is slow, but it is a new market to try to sell your magazines for free. When they sell, obviously there is some cost.

    5

  • Jake June 11, 2013 Reply

    Take the promos, put them into lots and send them as thank you’s to subscribers when they renew or start a new subscription?

    6

  • Jay Lynch June 11, 2013 Reply

    The cards come in a separate envelope, right? So just remove the cards, Bind the old mags in one year volumes when possible, and sell ’em as books. This wouldn’t work perfectly because of the issues that have sold out. However it is a good alternative for years that you have a large-quantity
    full run of extra issues for.

    7

  • Jason June 11, 2013 Reply

    I’m glad you are saving at least a couple of issues for shows. I am a pretty new collector. I passed on a couple of back issues at this past PNSCS because I over spent and figured I’d be able to pick them up in the fall. Looks like I might regret that decision though.

    8

  • Bill Zeralsky June 12, 2013 Reply

    Hey Roxanne, Marlin & Harris… I’d be happy to autograph some back issues with my Skelly Oil space cards article if it would raise money to pay for the rising storage costs?

    In retrospect, I should have bought up all your copies of that issue. They will probably be worth a fortune sometime soon (especially the signed copies) Just sayin’…

    One day soon those will be worth a fortune!

    9

  • Pablo August 29, 2013 Reply

    Boy, I am so disappointed in you guys. I really wanted to READ and BUY some back issues, and you guys went ahead and threw them all away! Worst of all, you threw them away without warning. You didn’t even try to have a big fire sale to try to sell them all! I guess I won’t be buying any more past issues from you guys anymore. And if it weren’t for future issues of your magazine, I would not continue to support and buy your magazine.

    10

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