MagMall - The Monster of All Magazine Online Shopping Retailers
Written: Aug 05 '02
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My name is Kristina, and I am a gluten for punishment. As you can tell by lots of these reviews I'm posting, 90% of my shopping occurs online. I rationalize doing this for the following reasons:
1) I can browse without being harassed by a salesperson.
2) I can easily comparison shop.
3) I *usually* do not make impulsive shopping choices. I say usually, because you know, we all have our weak moments.
One of the things that I always purchase every year is magazines either for myself or for friends/family. They make great birthday and Christmas gifts, especially if you can locate the magazines that are hard to find in your local retail store.
My first interaction with MagMall was last Christmas. I received a coupon for 15% off any online order. That was a good enough incentive to pull me into the web site. I surely couldn't lose by visiting it. P.S. If you visit it today, they offer via a pop-up window, the same discount on your first purchase.
Who MagMall Is
MagMall has been in the business of supplying magazines to consumers, professionals, and businesses since 1984. Only recently, about a year ago, have they ventured out into the internet retail business. Since then, they have received numerous awards for their ordering process and their affiliate programs.
There are a couple of differences which make MagMall different from other magazine retailers. First, you can renew your current subscriptions through them. I've done this in three cases and have never experienced a stop in service. Second, you can order single issues from them. This is especially nice if you're interested in some particular content but do not want to subscribe to the entire magazine. And last, but not least, MagMall (which operates out of Los Angeles, California) has been deemed “Family Friendly”. There are no adult themes, sexually explicit text, images, or photographs.
They carry more than 1,000 titles, split up into 56 different categories, and you can get savings up to 85% off the retail price.
About Their Web Site
MagMall’s web site is just a little too busy for me. The nice thing about it is that at the very top, you can type in free form text to find your magazine and you get to skip out on all of this busy-ness. If you don’t mind spending time on the home page, there is a TON of information for you. They list the top magazine titles by category, their top FAQ’s, finding magazines at certain prices, and gosh – so many other things.
Even though it is busy, if you are serious about using them as your online magazine retailer, I do urge you to take the time to read through the things on the front page. Once you click on just about anything, navigation to what your specific question or magazine is, is very easy and what’s nice is that the pages become less cluttered.
Let’s say you want to select a magazine to look at. You’re taken to a page with a picture of the magazine, a detailed description of what to expect within your issues, the price, where delivery is available (like international?), and other magazines in this genre you might enjoy.
If you choose to add this particular magazine to your cart, there’s this nice radio button for you to click and off to the shopping cart it goes.
Almost every page allows for you to see what’s in your shopping cart. This is handy if you’re trying to keep any eye on your budget.
About Purchasing
To purchase, you need to create an account. You know, blah blah blah, all of those demographic information pieces. Payment methods include American Express, Mastercard, Visa, Discover, and personal check. How can you pay by check you ask? They call it more of a bill me later feature. You’re sent a bill in the mail and then you remit with your check.
VERY IMPORTANT! If you choose the check method – you’re magazine subscription is not processed until they receive your payment.
Remember how I indicated that you could either renew your current subscription or start a new one? It’s when you’re checking out that you indicate whether or not this is a new or renewal subscription. Although they don’t ask for anything off of your label, I’ve always included every single type of account number thing in the free form text area. I have no clue if that’s what is responsible for my non-stop service or if they have some sort of genie that magically figures these things out.
When can you expect your magazine? It depends on how often it comes out. Monthly magazines usually arrive between 6-12 weeks. My experience has been all over the map. It really seems to depend on the actual publication and less on MagMall.
If you happen to purchase single copies, your package will arrive via UPS ground anywhere from 2-5 business days after purchase. Every single issue I have ordered from them has always arrived in pristine condition.
About Their Service
Some times when you read these online reviews, you must be saying to yourself, Sounds like a decent store, but what sets is apart from other online magazine retailers? I can answer that one.
First, not every online magazine store can renew your current subscription. For me, this saves the hassle of trying to figure out if I’ve mailed that silly postcard back with payment. Second, this is the only place where I’ve been able to order single issues of a magazine. There are times when I want a magazine to be in pristine shape (for whatever reason) and if I try to get it from a brick and mortar store, chances are, someone has messed with the cover or bent the pages to hell. Third and most importantly, their customer service is practically untouchable. I had two separate situations where I contacted customer service.
In the first case, I was looking for a single issue of a magazine that I could not find anywhere. I wrote customer service and in two days they wrote back and said that they could procure that from their supplier and send it right to me. And they did! In the second case, I was looking for this really rare magazine that of course, only my grandmother knew about. It took them about four days, but they came back and told me that the magazine had stopped publishing and THEN they gave me some recommendations on what other magazines were close in content. People, it is rare to get this kind of non-form like customer service and when I find it, I don’t let go!
If you ever have a problem with a missing issue or some sort of other delivery problem, you don’t need to contact the publisher. Write to customer service at MagMall and they’ll take good care of you.
Join Their Affiliate Program
Interested in making 20% off of every referral you send their way? Then join their referral program!
You can be an individual, business, or a student organization and be part of the affiliate program. Don’t want to keep the money for yourself? They suggest that you choose to donate the commission to community-based charities, non-profit agencies, and various educational foundations. Perhaps our EA walkers might want to look into this for their October benefit.
The End
I struggled with how to rate this retailer because product and customer service wise, they are a solid five star. Their web site busy-ness bother me because I think that it can discourage some people from going in and actually making a purchase, thus, I'm going to give them four stars.
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Member: Kristina Frazier-Henry
Location: Indiana
Reviews written: 1345
Trusted by: 1155 members
About Me: Cannot breathe. Missing Barbara.
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