# newsstands dont have last month's issue!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsstands-dont-have-last-months-issue/81584>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 14, 2001, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsstands-dont-have-last-months-issue/81584 "2001-09-14T13:56:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![justinh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@justinh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justinh)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsstands-dont-have-last-months-issue/81584/1 "2001-09-14T13:56:31Z")

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why don’t newsstands keep the old issues on their shelves? I dont mean the one where space is a problem. I mean the huge superstores that have every magazine in the world but dont keep last months or previous. When the new issue comes in they trash to the old one?

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**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsstands-dont-have-last-months-issue/81584/2 "2001-09-14T14:12:32Z")

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They do not trash them; they return them to the distributor (sometimes the whole issue, sometimes just the covers) for credit for unsold issues.

Given that they are “periodicals,” it does not make sense for newsstands to keep outdated material on the shelf for the very small portion of the market who would purchase them. Most people who want to read back issues will either find them at the library, or contact the circulation department of the publisher and purchase them directly.

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**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsstands-dont-have-last-months-issue/81584/3 "2001-09-14T14:13:32Z")

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From my experience working in a grocery store, they are sent back to the publisher for credit. Same with unsold newspapers.

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**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsstands-dont-have-last-months-issue/81584/4 "2001-09-14T14:19:12Z")

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Old issues are then sent to doctors’ offices throughout the country, making sure they have a constant supply of old news on their magazine tables. The blander and more boring a waiting room is, the older the periodicals they need to order from the OPCH (Old Periodicals Clearing House).

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**Author:** ![Rosebud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rosebud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rosebud)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsstands-dont-have-last-months-issue/81584/5 "2001-09-14T14:22:09Z")

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Some newstands in New York will sell back issues for $1 or so each, out of boxes you can sift through. I don’t know how widespread it is, though.

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**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsstands-dont-have-last-months-issue/81584/6 "2001-09-15T19:51:22Z")

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At a grocery store near here, they sell old magazines for 50 cents. They go back to the early 1990’s.

The dentist’s office lets me keep any old magazines that I want when I go there.