Reptiles Australasia Issue 3...

[Pythoninfinite]

The chances of getting a partial refund, I would say, are slim (let's say emaciated...) to nil. Considering the warnings I had from many people, and with the benefit of hindsight, I was stupid to have ever become involved in this project. Knowing what I know now, it was never going to go even a full year. The entire thing was built on quicksand and surrounded by such massive and deceptive hype... and I believed it all... for a while.

I apologise to those who ordered the product in good faith, given the endorsements it received from me last year.

I could make several large omelettes from the amount of egg I've scraped off my face !

Jamie

 

[Snowman]

I wouldnt worry about it Jamie. I'm one of the people who did there $ on a subscription and I hold no ill will. It's the risk we take when subscribing to a new venture. It's sad you had to go through what you did with the magazine and I'm sure everyone understands that the end result has had nothing to do with you. You win some and you lose some.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Thanks Trent. It's just frustrating that my b.u.l.l.s.h.i.t detector was faulty for so long. I took everything at face value for months... not usual for someone as old and cynical as I am !

Jamie

 

[william_blakers]

What annoys me about this whole thing is that when Reptiles Australasia first appeared I saw a lot of flak about the magazine itself and its quality on the forums. I received a bit of it when I wrote a post on what I liked about it. A lot of this flak appeared to be coming from Scales and Tails supporters who seemed (to me at least) to oppose the magazine on petty matters that I think were really disguised attempts at just bad mouthing an opposing magazine. At no stage did I see any posts that would have indicated that they knew "something" about the people running it that would indicate that all was not right. Now i dont know how concerned I should be about the fact that the owner has apparently been raided by police, as i understand it virtually all the old hands at one stage or another were committing illegal acts due to the draconian laws(coming from WA I know what they felt).If Neil has done something dodgy with reptiles then he is silly for allowing it to interfere with the mag ,he should have kept the mag and his hobby entirely separate. On the matter of late issues, well i'll hand it to the S&T team they have always delivered on time, even the old Reptiles Australia would be late on more than one occasion. As for refunds I lodged an appeal with Paypal(as this was the method I payed) they got in touch with Neil and he has since offered to give me a refund if I wish, but stated he still has every intention of trying to get more issues out. So my question to all subscribers out there is this, Have any of you asked for a refund and not received one?<br>
<br><br>

 

[Bluetongue1]

…. A lot of this flak appeared to be coming from Scales and Tails supporters who seemed (to me at least) to oppose the magazine on petty matters that I think were really disguised attempts at just bad mouthing an opposing magazine.…

The new magazine incorporated a lot stories based on overseas material. As I recall, the main complaint, from those who voiced their disappointment, was in respect of that. Irrespective, you are drawing a long bow to arrive at the above conclusions. For example, how do you know these comments did not come from Reptiles Australia readers who were hoping for the magazine to be resurrected?

It would be better if stuck with the facts and left tenuous opinions based on personal perceptions out of it.

In reference to the comments made by Cement and Ramsayi , they might have a couple of hundred dollars to throw away but I certainly don’t. It would seem they are comfortable with subscriptions being taken for some time after the police raid and the string of broken promises as to the production and availability of issues that has gone of for months. As for “well-meaning businesses” that go down, they stop trading once they recognise they are insolvent. But to continue to trade once you know you are in trouble is both immoral and illegal.


A few petty thoughts from a petty reptile person.
Blue

 

[TheCheshireCat]

It would be great if there was a little more competition in the Australian market, I really enjoyed reading Reptiles Australia and the photos alone made Reptiles Australasia a good buy.
I'm not having a dig here but I can't say I am a fan the only Australian magazine left, I feel my $11 is better spent on overseas magazines which have 10 times the content with half the ads.

 

[Troy K.]

It would be great if there was a little more competition in the Australian market, I really enjoyed reading Reptiles Australia and the photos alone made Reptiles Australasia a good buy.
I'm not having a dig here but I can't say I am a fan the only Australian magazine left, I feel my $11 is better spent on overseas magazines which have 10 times the content with half the ads.

No hard feelings taken on that point Tumbleweed as long as you understand that while there are people out there that would rather support the overseas magazines we will have to keep the amount of ads that we've got in S&T Aust. to keep it running for the Australian hobby. Hope that makes sense and I'm not having a dig either as I also get some of the OS mags but given a choice I always buy Australian products first when I can.

 

[Colin]

It would be great if there was a little more competition in the Australian market, I really enjoyed reading Reptiles Australia and the photos alone made Reptiles Australasia a good buy.
I'm not having a dig here but I can't say I am a fan the only Australian magazine left, I feel my $11 is better spent on overseas magazines which have 10 times the content with half the ads.

I buy Scales & Tails from the newsagent in the city near where I work and have the complete set from issue 1. The overseas magazines they also have there are interesting but in my opinion have way more advertisements and are not as good a quality in general both in content or manufacture as Scales & Tails. and most of the articles in the overseas magazines are very general and not that informative in my view. I used to buy these overseas magazines all the time many years ago when they were all that was available for the reptile enthusiast but dont find them value for money these days or that interesting. Just my opinion.

I personally dont find Scales & Tails has over the top advertisements and the quality of the articles that are topical to keeping and breeding reptiles in Australia are excellent quality.

besides $10-11 every two months is nothing these days for people with a passion about their hobby.

 

[GeckoJosh]

I agree with you Colin, the overseas mags I have found are riddled with adds and the print quality dismal at best

 

[Pythoninfinite]

I've been pretty close to the action with RA since its inception, so some may view my opinions as somewhat subjective... However, RA was launched facing a cliff with the engine running, in gear but with a foot on the clutch... instead of changing into reverse and backing away from the cliff, the clutch was dropped at Issue 1, and by the time Issue 2 came out, it was at maximum revs and in top gear... and over it went! I smile ironically when I think of this - it reminds me of Thelma & Louise ... a relentless but absolutely inevitable rush to the abyss . I was in the passenger seat, hated the driving, so jumped out just in time... got a few scratches and bruises, but I'm sure I'll survive lol.

I think there's value in any authoritative publication, regardless of origin, but S&T fills a very important niche for keepers in this country, and you can rely on it to be on time every issue.

Jamie

 

[Ramsayi]

In reference to the comments made by Cement and Ramsayi , they might have a couple of hundred dollars to throw away but I certainly don’t. It would seem they are comfortable with subscriptions being taken for some time after the police raid and the string of broken promises as to the production and availability of issues that has gone of for months.A few petty thoughts from a petty reptile person.Blue

Bluetongue1,I don't know how you came to that conclusion.My comment was towards certain people making out they were victims in the whole episode then banging on incessantly about being hard done by as you probably already know anyway,so don't try and twist what I wrote.The entire episode is pretty pathetic from all directly involved.

 

[FAY]

I love the personal aspect of S&T. Nice to see some people in contributing to articles that you do actually know.

 

[solar 17]

Bluetongue1,I don't know how you came to that conclusion.My comment was towards certain people making out they were victims in the whole episode then banging on incessantly about being hard done by,as you probably already know anyway,so don't try and twist what I wrote.The entire episode is pretty pathetic from all directly involved.

First time in ages l can sit back with a cup of coffee and not have to squint to read LOL......solar17 (baden)

 

[SamNabz]

Whilst S&T is a good read and definitely better than a lot of the O/S magazines available in most newsagents, it is still not great and in my opinion is only considered the best magazine for Australia because, well, it is the only magazine in Australia at present..

What does it say about S&T magazine when RA only had 2 issues and was already getting regarded as the best reptile magazine in Australia by many keepers, both new and old..?

Regardless of what has happened to the person(s) running the magazine, this had no effect on the content and quality of both issues which was made obvious by keepers' reactions/thoughts on the mag. Yes a lot of people complained about too much exotic content etc. but it's just common sense to assume that a magazine which was titled "Reptiles Australasia" was not going to contain images, articles and ads that were 100% Australian, as it was aimed at an international market as opposed to an Australian only market...

I purchase a S&T magazine every now and then, and whilst it is a good read, I am still yet to be persuaded to subscribe - whereas I was ready and willing to subscribe to RA after the 1st issue... If RA didn't go down as quickly as it did, then S&T would have been in big trouble by a magazine that was to be delivered only 4 times a year. And judging by the many posts made by S&T during the time of RA's apparent demise (more posts in that week than they had in a few months or so...), one could only assume they felt this as well and were threatened.

P.S I am in absolutely no way affiliated with any of the magazines mentioned, so the above is an extremely unbiased opinion.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Regardless of the relative qualities of both magazines, effective promotion of RA was almost non-existent, and subscriptions were dismal - not surprising when you consider RA Issue 2 was almost 4 months late. You can't blame people for being skeptical.

I don't believe there was any threat to S&T - the respective markets were very different. RA was not going to go be a husbandry magazine by any measure. Subscription to one or the other was very unlikely to become an either/or situation.

I think I just became a "certain person" !

Jamie

 

[SamNabz]

Late or not Jamie, the point I was making is that there was a lot of talk going around that RA was the best herp magazine to hit Australian shelves in a long time after just 2 issues (even though issue #2 was late..) by many keepers of all ages and experiences - which to me, says something about S&T magazine.

As for being skeptical about the magazine after an extremely late issue, subscribers were definitely within their right to be. But had that issue, and every other thereafter, come out on time, then it would have been a totally different scenario and I do believe it could & would have put a dent in S&T..

Yes S&T and RA's content were different, I completely agree that their respective markets were different and reach out to different levels/genre of keepers, but given the choice between S&T which is issued monthly(?) compared to RA being issued only 4 times a year (on time), even though their subscription price is of higher value for less issues, I would pick RA without hesitation and know many others who would go the same way.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Late or not Jamie, the point I was making is that there was a lot of talk going around that RA was the best herp magazine to hit Australian shelves in a long time after just 2 issues (even though issue #2 was late..) by many keepers of all ages and experiences - which to me, says something about S&T magazine.

As for being skeptical about the magazine after an extremely late issue, subscribers were definitely within their right to be. But had that issue, and every other thereafter, come out on time, then it would have been a totally different scenario and I do believe it could & would have put a dent in S&T..

Yes S&T and RA's content were different, I completely agree that their respective markets were different and reach out to different levels/genre of keepers, but given the choice between S&T which is issued monthly(?) compared to RA being issued only 4 times a year (on time), even though their subscription price is of higher value for less issues, I would pick RA without hesitation and know many others who would go the same way.

I know what you're saying Sam, but for me it was a matter of different strokes for different folks really. I agree totally that the quality of the first two issues of RA was fantastic, but the costs associated with maintaining that quality meant that there was a huge imperative to get circulation numbers up to cover the outlay for that quality. There seemed to be a belief that the magazine would just sell itself from day one, but largely the only significant promotion of RA was done right here on APS and very little anywhere else. It was hoped that the product would automatically sell itself overseas in large numbers as well, but of course to do this it needed focused promotion in a range of markets, and this never happened. Added to this was the conscious decision made by the owner that it not be sold off the shelf in newsagents etc, to maintain some sort of exclusivity. This was also a fatal error - if people had been able to pick it up and have a look at it across the country and OS, the subscription/cashflow story might have been very different.

Jamie

 

[SamNabz]

The promotion and advertisement of RA might have been minimal, but there were bound to be some flaws as with any new company regardless of who's running it.

As you mentioned, they tried to maintain some sort of exclusivity which could well be a reason for the lack of advertisement. In which case it might not have necessarily been a bad thing to try out right from the start. Advertising it on the forums was obviously a way to get hobbyists involved and for us to know it is out there before placing it on a newsagents shelf for anyone to pick up.

If more issues were in the works and they felt they needed more subscribers in order to maintain the quality of the magazine, they could have then chosen to put more effort into advertising the company and magazine more in order to do so..

 

[Wild~Touch]

Beleive me ... Reptiles Australasia was made available to many prominent Herpetologists and Wildlife Organisations, as well as other interested folk

(without cost to them and by courtesy of the owner) and received EXCELLENT comment. Not one negative remark came back.

It was marketed in a different way I beleive.

Cheers
Sandee

 

[Pythoninfinite]

The promotion and advertisement of RA might have been minimal, but there were bound to be some flaws as with any new company regardless of who's running it.

As you mentioned, they tried to maintain some sort of exclusivity which could well be a reason for the lack of advertisement. In which case it might not have necessarily been a bad thing to try out right from the start. Advertising it on the forums was obviously a way to get hobbyists involved and for us to know it is out there before placing it on a newsagents shelf for anyone to pick up.

If more issues were in the works and they felt they needed more subscribers in order to maintain the quality of the magazine, they could have then chosen to put more effort into advertising the company and magazine more in order to do so..

Sam, the past is littered with "what ifs," "could haves" & "should haves" but ultimately, the magazine had no future from day one. It was really only a concept that, with some luck and quite a bit of pushing, made it to two issues. There simply was not the infrastructure or the management skill to keep it going, outgoings were potentially huge, and income wasn't anywhere near what it may have been if things were done differently. But that's all water under the bridge now...

Our lives, no doubt, could be very different with the benefit of hindsight.

Jamie