The Rate Card: Volume Discounts
Some newspapers will give an advertiser a discount simply based on the total volume they agree to run over a certain amount of time, usually a year. Take a look at our sample volume discount rate card. Most newspapers measure this in column-inches but some just care about the total money spent. So, while a newspaper might charge an advertiser $50 for a column-inch if they only run a total of 12 column-inches for the entire year, that same newspaper might charge an advertiser who is willing to commit to running more, say 100 column-inches sometime during the next year, a discounted column-inch rate of $38.50 instead of $50.

Under this arrangement, the advertiser signs a contract agreeing to run 100 column-inches over the next year, and the newspaper doesn't care what size or how frequently the advertiser actually runs over the course of the year, just as long as the total column inches add up to 100 at the end of the contract year. You might want to take a look at the contract reports we suggested you get your hands on. It should tell you who signed contracts for discounts, when they signed it, and how much they committed to. You might find advertisers who agreed a while ago to run a certain amount for the year, but haven't advertised much so far. In these cases, you might want to see if you can get them running again.

But back to the rate card. So depending on how much they commit to, one advertiser might get a rate of $50 on a 2x6 and spend $600 per ad, while a contract advertiser might get a rate of $38.50 and only spend $462 on a 2x6. So now we have two rates, one for people who don't want to commit to a higher volume of column- inches over a year and another for those willing to make a commitment. Except the newspaper doesn't want to stop there. The newspaper wants to encourage people to commit to as much advertising as possible, so they work in a number of different discount levels, and the more the advertiser agrees to run, the cheaper the rate will be.

So maybe running 12 column-inches a year will cost $50 per column-inch, committing to 100 column-inches might get them a $38.50 col inch rate, committing to 700 column inches a year might get them a $37 rate, and committing to 5,000 inches a year might earn the advertiser a $35.45 rate. This way, no matter how much the advertiser might already be thinking about spending, you can always make a case why if they commit to a little more advertising this year, they'll get a better per inch rate and a lower per ad cost.

With multiple discounts like this, the rates in the rate card might seem confusing, but it's a great selling tool and as you'll probably find, most newspapers want you to get as many advertisers signed up for contracts as possible so that you're not constantly trying to resell your advertisers. So in our example on this page, first find the contract level they're on (or willing to commit to) along the left hand column, and then find the rate next to it. It's pretty simple once you try it a few times.

Sample volume discount rate structure