Definition of newsstand sales

periodical copies sold through newsstand outlets. The newsstand sales represent the difference between newsstand draw and newsstand returns. There is a great variance in the degree to which any one periodical depends for its revenue upon newsstand copy sales versus subscription copy sales (and advertising space revenue). Certain publications such as American Heritage derive more revenue from subscription sales, because the magazines are targeted to special interests and contain information of a nature that people like to receive regularly or save for reference or display in complete sets. Newsstand publications sold primarily, or entirely, on newsstands, such as Woman's Day, are purchased by many consumers on an irregular basis, depending upon the buyer's interest in an article or item featured on the cover. Publishers maintain statistics on newsstand sales rates by cover subject and experiment with various covers to increase sales. Different covers are sometimes used on newsstand copies from those used on subscription copies to test reaction to them or because the cover subject will generate higher newsstand sales but is not as appealing to subscribers.