Thanks for the response frenchpress (sorry, I can'...

2008-07-15T06:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the response frenchpress (sorry, I can't remember your name). We had another problem with this same guy. He showed up on the corner of Broad & High st, which is RIGHT downtown in the middle of everything. And it has only been like 3 or 4 days since we saw him last.

The good thing is that he was spotted and approached by another vendor, who scared him away.

So, now what do we do? I'm about ready to call the police.

Supposedly, we are the 15th largest city and estimates I have read range from 750k-1.25 million people in Columbus. So, that's a rough size.

In 5 months we've had about 40 vendors come through the training. No steady sellers, but about 3 or 4 people that have really latched on to the paper as a source of hope and purpose. Any big seller we get they generally stop selling after a couple weeks for some reason. We've had people sell around 300 papers in a few weeks, so we know it works. We print 1,000 and get rid of about 800 of them, 500 of which are used for marketing mainly.

Best,
Brandon

Yikes. I know this would really affect me, too. We...

2008-07-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

Yikes. I know this would really affect me, too. We've got our own vendor problems here.

Do you start with temporary badges?
That helps us a LOT. We start with 2-week dated badges and, if someone stays with it, upgrade them to a perm badge. MOST never return.

Now, we recently had a police officer ask us to even date the permanent badges. So, we've started putting an expiry date on them for a year from the time they receive it.

That should help you in the future, that you know a lapsed vendor cannot keep on his scheme indefinitely.

It may be cold comfort, but I don't believe he'll keep this on very long. I bet you may have scared him enough to stop now.

Of course, if he shows up to buy papers, cut off his supply if you choose to. I think the longer he's on the street, the greater chance he loses or ruins his badge and whatever bunk, expired papers he's fronting with won't hold up long.

I'm sorry. I'm learning week to week that these type things are par for the course.

Out of curiosity, if you don't mind:

• Population of Columbus?
• How many dedicated vendors to you have?
• What's your circulation per issue?

I'm just asking since we've been around about the same amount of time.

Chin up, Brandon.

Comments on NASNA Member Blog: Question with a vendor problem...

Thanks for the response frenchpress (sorry, I can'...

Yikes. I know this would really affect me, too. We...