Late pricing

["Rollo Turner" <rollo.turner@onet.co.uk>]

Apologies for cross posting

ASA LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN ON LATE PRICING

There has been a marked tendency in recent years for many publishers to
price their journals and information services very much later than
previously, sometimes as late as October for the following year's
subscriptions. The ASA has always suggested that publishers should
announce their prices by the end of July if possible and in any event no
later than the end of August. This is in publishers' interests as well as
those of the subscriber and the agent for the following reasons.

� Late pricing means agents are loading prices onto their systems at their
busiest time of the year. Trying to hurry such price file maintenance may
cause errors which will mean incorrect payments later.

� Subscribers cannot take informed decisions about subscribing to
electronic only, print only or combination subscriptions without adequate
and timely price information. Given that the pricing models for electronic
journals vary so greatly, librarians too need more, not less time to
consider their decisions.

� If prices are late, then the decision making process on which journals
to renew, cancel etc will also be late and this will lead to late ordering
and late payment. This in turn causes problems of availability and leads
to unnecessary claims. Very late pricing risks the agent having to invoice
clients at the previous years rate, and paying the publisher the wrong
amount. This in turn causes costly and administratively complex
supplementary invoicing and payments.

� In many cases it is simply impossible for libraries to make any
supplementary payments, and this causes reduced revenues for publishers,
reduced margins for agents and/or cancelled subscriptions.

� For all these reasons late pricing may lead to subscription breakdowns,
lapsed subscriptions or cancellations - which is in nobody's interest.

For this reason the ASA is calling on all publishers and their
representative bodies to do their utmost to ensure the publication of
their price lists by the end of July each year. Where publishers have a
few journals whose prices cannot be fixed by these dates, the other
journals prices should be announced anyway to ensure that the majority can
be processed properly and in time. Further information from: Rollo Turner,
Secretary General, ASA at the address below or rollo.turner@onet.co.uk

Rollo Turner
Secretary General
Association of Subscription Agents and Intermediaries
10 Lime Avenue
High Wycombe
Bucks HP11 1DP
UK
Tel +44 (0)1494 534778
www.subscription-agents.org
Email rollo.turner@onet.co.uk