Newspaper Delivery Collective

[PaulSB]

Having known the previous shop owner for 15 years and the effort that went in to delivery I can understand why the new owners have made the decision.

Papers delivered 5.30-6.00am. Make up the rounds and then deliver to drop off points for paper boys to collect and make deliveries. This is a rural area and on some rounds the lads simply couldn’t carry the weight, especially on Saturday and Sunday. I think though it might have been more sensible to consider first increasing the delivery charge and gauging reaction.

I’m not moaning just interested to get some ideas on delivery collectives.

I’ll be popping in to the shop later to ask if I can have my Guardian subscription vouchers back. I’ve already paid till end of June!’ Thats going to be interesting.

 

[dodgy]

Is 1.25 miles from our house. Our annual paper bill including delivery is £650!

Just can't get my head around that

 

[Dave7]

Cant remember when I last bought a daily newspaper.......for a number of reasons.
Re' the OP I can only see problems if you go down that road.
As @Electric_Andy suggestes......buy your own and a few for those who just cannot get to the shop.
Maybe get together with a SMALL group and take turns to collect for just that group.

 

[Leaway2]

But who'll think of the children, thrown on the unemployment scrapheap at 13.

 

[Dave7]

But who'll think of the children, thrown on the unemployment scrapheap at 13.

Just for a moment I was tempted to answer that

 

[PaulSB]

Just can't get my head around that

Neither can I, neither can I. Guardian 7 day subscription at £11/week = £572. Delivery £6.50/month = £78. Total £650. I was very, very surprised.

The subscription is on DD and the vouchers arrive in the post. Never given it a thought.

 

[dodgy]

Haven't bought a newspaper for as long as I can remember, would rather get 'news' from places I can fact check, even if it's multiple places. And as for stuff like editorials (always biased), same there. I guess they're handy for starting a fire in your log burner :/

 

[roadrash]

I saw an advert in a local papershop window a few months ago , it read....news item delivery operatives required,.............. hmmm that will be paper boy/girl then

 

[Profpointy]

I get the Daily Mail delivered by a nice chap with oxblood DM's, a Fred Perry shirt, and an admirably short hair cut.

Not a button up proper shirt?
( in black, Sam Browne Belt and maybe an armband)

 

[Drago]

Not a button up proper shirt?
( in black, Sam Browne Belt and maybe an armband)

Indeed, very smartly turned out on a Sunday.

 

[NorthernDave]

I don't know how many papers a paper boy / girl is expected to deliver, but I was surprised to see a newsagent on the way to work advertising for someone offering £20/week for a paper round.
Which certainly beats the 1p a paper I was paid for delivering the weekly freesheet in the 80's - all 365 of them...

As others have said, I'd steer clear of the collective - these things often start off with lots of good intentions that "something must be done", which quickly descends into "something must be done by someone else".
Picking a paper up for an elderly neighbour is one thing - doing it for a few dozen more in all weathers is a very different thing.

 

[PaulSB]

[QUOTE 5223054, member: 259"]The whole thing sounds like a recipe for headaches and hassle to me. Personally I'd steer well clear.[/QUOTE]

I’ve no intention of getting involved as like you I think it will be a huge hassle.

I went in this afternoon and asked for my pre-payment vouchers back. I got these without a problem. The new owner asked if I realised he would still be selling papers? I told him I did but I wouldn’t necessarily be buying them from him as it meant a special trip and if I was heading in the opposite direction why would I go to his shop? There is parking for one car on a busy A road!!!

I then explained I’m not actually buying a newspaper but a service. That service being to deliver my paper. If the service no longer exists how can I buy it? The look on his face suggested this was a view he hadn’t considered.

The other point he didn’t know is local supermarket gives out a free paper and coffee at the weekend to anyone spending £10 or more!!

I suspect for us the outcome will be we only buy a paper on the days we happen to be near a newsagent. That won’t be many.

 

[Brains]

I think the OP has now realised why the new owners put a stop to the paper round
I cant imagine the effort was worth the cost

As to a community shop, they do exist, this is a very good one in Cornwall
Now on it's third year of operation, and partially managed by the OAP's of the village
https://www.sttudyshop.co.uk/

For a village to exist, it must have a church, a pub, a school and a shop.
(Loose descriptions, it could be a community centre, a cafe, a factory and nursery, but you get the idea)
If you loose one of the four pillars the rest will follow within a decade or so, and that is the end of the village, thereafter it just become a dormatory to a town.

 

[Pale Rider]

I suspect for us the outcome will be we only buy a paper on the days we happen to be near a newsagent. That won’t be many.

The other outcome for you may be the shop closes.

 

[PaulSB]

The other outcome for you may be the shop closes.

Yes I’ve thought about this and I agree it’s an important local resource. The new owner says he has plans for the shop. It’s a round trip walk of 2.5 miles, collecting the papers every day won’t be feasible, especially when I head out cycling three of those days. I think the owner has misjudged how people need the service people require.

Newspapers aside we don’t buy much there and I feel it needs updating. But that’s to sell to me, the previous owner has done well for 15 years on a range that didn’t fit our needs. The population hasn’t changed radically and if “plans” means upmarket I’m not sure that is positive for the community.