Rules & Resources
Newspaper Support Center

Home-Delivery Promotions Guidebook—U.S. Newspapers

Gift Subscriptions

A gift subscription is defined as a subscription purchased by an individual for another individual as a normal expression of friendship. The same individual may purchase gift subscriptions up to a quantity of 50.

Quantities of 50 gift subscriptions or more, purchased by a single individual, shall be considered third-party sales. Subscriptions purchased by a business entity to promote their professional or business interests, at any quantity, shall not be considered gift subscriptions. Rather, these sales would be considered third-party sales. See the guidelines for third-party sales.

Pricing

If a single gift subscription is purchased, then the subscription must be paid for at no less than 25 percent of basic home-delivery prices, net of all considerations.

Solicitations where a single individual is purchasing more than one subscription to the same newspaper are governed by C 5.3 Combination Sales, section (b)(4).

This rule stipulates that a qualifying price for the sale of two subscriptions to the same newspaper by a single individual, regardless if the delivery addresses are different, is:

  • 100 percent of the subscription with the highest basic home-delivery price, plus
  • 25 percent of the basic price for each additional subscription.

Promotional Material

All promotional material must:

  • Identify the number of subscriptions in the sale.
  • State the term and frequency of each subscription.
  • State the purchase price.
  • Reflect a qualifying price.
  • Exclude any reference to any of the subscriptions as being free, no additional cost, bonus, or other synonymous language.

Example—Gift Subscriptions

Reporting

Circulation generated from the sale of gift subscriptions is reflected in Paragraphs 1A and 2 of the ABC Publisher’s Statement.

In Paragraph 1A, the circulation is classified as Home Delivery under Paid for by Individual Recipients. For individually paid circulation, ABC requires a newspaper to delineate between circulation sold at 50 percent or more of basic prices and circulation sold at less than 50 percent, but at least 25 percent of basic prices.

When only a single gift subscription is purchased, the subscription copies are included in the appropriate price category based on the price the consumer actually paid.

When more than one subscription to the same newspaper is purchased by a single individual, all the subscription copies associated with the sale are included as sold at 50 percent or more of basic prices, provided a qualifying price is paid for the sale.

In Paragraph 2, the circulation is classified as Home Delivery, based on the specific ABC zone where the sale to the consumer occurred.

See also multiple subscriptions to the same newspaper.


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