Rules & ResourcesConsumer Magazine Support Center
Net of All Considerations – Guidelines
Overriding Consideration: the amount paid by the sponsor / purchaser must be sufficient to meet the definition of paid circulation - after considering all/any other ‘inducements’
Analogy: much like qualification standards for premium usage, the sponsor must be ‘out of pocket’ a qualifying amount for the subscriptions
Fees paid by a publisher to an agent are not considered in the qualification formula
It is not necessary for the money to flow to the publisher – the agent can retain the subscription amount paid by the sponsor
Fees / rebates / refunds / other credits provided to the sponsor by either the agent or the publisher will be considered ‘offsetting dollars’ in determining qualification of sale
Examples:
Publisher pays agent $4.00 per subscription for sponsored names
Agent collects $1.00 per subscription from sponsor
Qualification formula:
| Amount paid by purchaser | $1.00 |
| Amount rebated to purchaser | 0 |
| Net amount paid by purchaser | $1.00 |
| Qualifies as ‘paid’ | Yes |
Publisher pays agent $4.00 per subscription for sponsored names
Agent collects $1.00 per name from sponsor
Publisher or agent reimburses sponsor $2.00 per name for development of list
Qualification Formula
| Amount paid by purchaser | $1.00 |
| Amount reimbursed to purchaser | (2.00) |
| Net amount paid by purchaser | ($1.00) |
| Qualifies as ‘paid’ | No |
In all cases, the auditor will net any dollars ‘cycled’ back to the purchaser – for any reason – in determining if the sale qualifies as paid circulation – the same standard that is applied to individually paid circulation will be applied to sponsored sales.