Hearst : wholesalers asked us to remove U.S. cover price & keep higher Canadian

A major U.S. publisher is removing the U.S. pricing from their its covers and keeping the higher Canadian prices at the request of their Canadian wholesalers, according the a story in the Toronto Star. This confirms a posting here a month ago that some publishers were doing split runs to remove U.S. pricing and keeping the higher Canadian price.

Hearst Magazines, which publishes such popular titles as Cosmopolitan, The Oprah Magazine, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, Popular Mechanics and Esquire, confirmed yesterday it had changed its pricing policy for Canada.

"The reason we put a single price on our magazines in Canada was to eliminate any confusion in the marketplace," said a spokesperson for the New York-based publisher. "This was done at the request of Canadian wholesalers who have asked us to maintain our pricing."

Despite the fact that the Canadian dollar is at parity or nearly so, a Cosmopolitan magazine in the U.S. retails for $4.79 but $5.99 in Canada. Oprah sells for $4.50 in the U.S. but $5.75 here. Canadian pricing remains 25 to 30 per cent higher than U.S. pricing, the story says. Comment was not available from other U.S. publishers such as Condé Nast.