Newspapers

[andrewlee]

Whenever I see people selecting a newspaper to buy, they nearly always lift the paper at the top of the pile and take the next one down.   I've seen this done at the supermarket, newsagent and convenience store, by both men and women, young and old.  I just cannot understand why!   Any suggestions?

[cassimer]

I do that every weekend with the telegraph, because the ones underneath have not been touched and so all the supplements are still there. So many times i get home to find bits missing. Also its all nice and uncreased!

[Morrisonker]

i do the same!  Same as I never take the first book/cd/dvd on the shelp.  The first one has always been handled the most and are all messy, especially books.  After a few people have flicked through them the spine is all cracked. 

[smudge]

As with all goods, I always take the one/s at the back or underneath. Unthumbed & nice & clean!

[magicdice]

in case the front one's out of date, because they always put the fresh milk in behind... after all, you don't want your indie going off before you finish it, do you?

[IndieSinger]

magicdice - you're welcome to finish me before I go off.

[andy hughes]

Quite often, newspapers are bundled in stacks of, say. twenty or so, and they are kept together by being wrapped in one edition, and this can sometimes be put at the top of the pile, so the top copy may be smudged, or torn, or dirty, or all three. Otherwise, people want a pristine copy that hasn't been thumbed through by people who stand reading it in the shop because they are too tight to buy a copy!

Oh, and yes, I always take the second, or lower copy when I buy a paper.

[smudge]

You're right Andy - they're hard to read if they've been smudged!

[5029]

I would do that because i would rather have one that hasnt been thumbed through (i dont thumb through first though!)

[ursula62]

Its not just self service where this happens...

Every morning the man at the kiosk where I buy my daily newspaper hands me the paper underneath the one on the top of the pile - without me asking him to!

[THFCUK]

in a pickle, the daily mail has that ink where it does not come off on your hands.

i also take one near the bottom, for the reasons of, top on being damaged, peices missing.

[kaktus]

I always take number two in a stack so I'll get a nice copy of whatever I'm buying. I used to work in a bookstore and some publishers would send "thumb trough" editions. I don't know if this made people take the top one though :-)