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Third-Party Sales Guidelines - U.S. Newspapers (Effective April 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010)

DEFINITION

A ‘third-party sale’ is defined as copies and/or subscriptions intended for free distribution to individuals, not intended for resale:

  • Purchased in quantities of 11 or more by a single entity to promote its professional or business interests. If a single purchaser buys a total of 10 or less in an audit period, the copies may be claimed as single-copy sales.

  • Purchased by the following establishments (regardless of volume)
    • Hotels for guests
    • Restaurants for patrons
    • Airlines for guests
    • Rental cars for guests
    • Hospitals for patients
    • Nursing homes for residents
These copies will be reported under paid circulation as “Third-Party Sales” on ABC reports provided the purchaser pays a qualifying rate for the newspapers, net of all considerations (See C 1.1 Paid Circulation Defined), and executes the program in compliance with all of the third-party sale guidelines.

For more details, see:
Pricing
Considerations
Reporting

Copies Intended for Resale

Copies intended for resale cannot be claimed as third-party sales at any time.

Copies purchased with the intent of resale to consumers are considered single-copy sales for reporting as well as qualification. Therefore, the transaction must comply with all rules and guidelines applicable to single-copy sales. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

  • Payment by the final consumer must represent a qualifying price
  • Exclusion of all unsold copies (returns) from paid circulation




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