Schiffer Publishing Launches New LTD Imprint

Schiffer Publishing Ltd. announces Minimum Advertised Pricing for new Schiffer LTD® imprint

Atglen, PA February 9, 2010 – Citing the desire to maintain the integrity of specialty books and support their retailers, Schiffer Publishing Ltd. today announced that they will introduce Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP) for their newly created Schiffer LTD® imprint.

For a select group of titles in the Schiffer Publishing list MAP pricing is being adopted. This means that a retailer understands that these books will be advertised at the bar-coded suggested price or higher. Three new titles in Schiffer’s new Spring 2010 Catalog bear the Schiffer LTD® imprint, with several more scheduled to take part in the program in the fall. All other Schiffer titles will continue with the traditional pricing structure. Schiffer publishes nearly 300 new books each year and has over 4000 books in print.

The MAP structure is prevalent and fully accepted in many other industries, where it is used to foster brand integrity and price stability for retailers. Until now, it has not been used in the book industry, leading to the massive discounting of books both in the physical store and online. This has placed great pressure on independent booksellers and specialty retailers, who are reluctant to stock unique books when deep discounting has become the expected practice, discounts they cannot match and maintain a rational margin of profit. It is widely believed that this discounting is a contributing factor in the decline of the independent bookseller.

“The MAP program is structured to maintain equality in advertised pricing,” said Schiffer Publishing President Pete Schiffer. “By establishing a Minimum Advertised Price in all sales channels, retailers can compete on an even playing field. By taking the price factor out of the equation, their knowledge, customer service, and availability will again become important as customers make their buying decisions." Schiffer believes that MAP will once again encourage retailers to stock books suitable to the unique interests of their customers, without fear of being undersold.

The MAP policy is only applicable for the titles under the Schiffer LTD® imprint; all other Schiffer Publishing titles and those of its imprints are not included in the program. In a nutshell, the policy states that any advertisements of Schiffer LTD® titles must not be below the price listed on the barcode located on the back cover of the book. Advertisements covered in the policy include, but are not limited to: television, radio, billboards, newspapers, flyers, print ads, window banners, telemarketing, coupons, broadcast emails, magazines, websites and other electronic media (including auction sites), direct mail or posters. In-store programs, customer cards, and all other discounting are at the discretion of the retailer.

The process is fairly simple. When a retailer places an order for Schiffer LTD® titles, Schiffer Publishing or their representatives will provide them the participation form for the Schiffer LTD® program. When the completed participation form is returned, the Schiffer LTD® titles will be made available to the customer. If the terms of the policy are disregarded by the reseller there is no recourse other than the books no longer being available to that retailer.

Schiffer Publishing Ltd. has been an independent, family owned and operated, specialty publishing company located in Southeastern Pennsylvania for 36 years. They publish widely across various areas of special interest. For more information, please visit their website at www.schifferbooks.com.

Due to increases in our shipping costs over the past year, effective June 1, 2008, all discounted and promotional U.S. individual orders will include a flat shipping fee of $5.00 for the first two books ordered, and $2.00 for each additional book. This flat shipping charge will only be applied on our 3 book special discount, bargain book discount, and email order confirmation coupon codes. For more information please refer to our ordering page.

PA residents add 6% Sales Tax.