Why are there always so many newsagents and Australian Post franchises for sale?

You have been able to buy a lotto ticket online for a long time now. Most people don't do small transactions online either.

 

Writing on the wall…… which reminds me …. Remember video stores???

 

Of course.

 

Could lock downs have anything to do with this???. I wonder

location….. location….

less/no traffic/wfh

Not too many happy chappies/chapetts….. would want a business’ today.

High risk of losing shirt or end up a statistic.

Hard to offload a business in current environment of endless lockdowns

 

Exactly why I think it's a good time to be looking around at different businesses for sale.

 

Would you want to be in business in current environment of lockdowns????

 

Yes I would if i could buy a great business for a really great price.

 

online lotteries have been around for years now, so any damage they could have caused would have already occurred

out of curiosity, where are these profits coming from?
newspapers are dying, magazines are dying, lottery tickets seem to be healthy but you might as well buy a lottery agency/newsagent with lottery attached

I cannot see any upsides for buying a newsagency

 

I actually went into a newsagent the other day as I was trying to find a particular battery that no-one else had. Anyway, this place seemed to have so many cards -ie birthday, anniversary, grandma and grandpa, sympathy etc type of cards. I swear they had a whole aisle full of some type of card. Plus, some magazines- but not many. A few toys, heaps of models, pens etc - ie stationary and bags of lollies, sweets etc. a handful of newspapers and off course heaps of lottery type of stuff. With the exception of the lottery stuff, and maybe the models, I would say everything else could have also been purchased at a post office.

so the gist is, if you can buy a news agency that doubles as a post office (and maybe close proximity to several retirement villages) then you may have a business that may scrape by for a few years. The post office portion or license is important I think. I see the only people that are using news agencies now are the elderly - or the ones looking for hard to find batteries. Apart from those people, I don’t think younger generations have much of a need for a news agency.

BTW they didn’t have the battery I was looking for either.

 

Yeah I reckon the batteries would've been old anyway. Even Coles is selling much wider range of batteries these days - I got some replacements for the car remotes which surprised me (size I'd never heard of before), glad I didn't have to go back to the dealer for those.

I'd agree newsagents are dying - everything they sell can be bought somewhere else, mainly the supermarket. As above - oldies & lotteries are supporting the newsagents.

I can't even remember the last time I bought a newspaper! I will pick up the free one when I spend $20+ at the IGA sometimes (end of month or quarter, I guess when circ figures needs a boost).

 

Meanwhile parcels, home delivery, Amazon etc all UP

 

There are quite a few businesses out there for sale for all sorts of reasons. It's a good time to look and assess we think.

 

There has always been a lot for sale but I imagine that recently many have sold due to the pandemic. A lot of them make money from lotto sales and some of that has been shifting online. A large factor in the increase in businesses being sold could be due to our aging population. The baby boomers are nearing retirement and I imagine most will want to cash out of their business. There are probably a million other reasons though.

11 Common Reasons Owners Sell Their Business

 

Newsagencies are under threat from retail supermarkets. Coles and woolies sell newspapers, flowers, chocies and many mags and so do service stations which are also now operated for the supermarkets. Soon these retailers will also be agents for lottery tickets. Then there is the online move away from counter sales. Newsagencies are notoriously expensive as they have a geographical non-competion arrangement but that now eroded to be valueless and the consumer can arrange a cheap deal online which leaves it to that local shop to deliver each day for little money. Its chickenfeed. Nobody really buys mags either. Except oldies and most of the big titles are sold in supermarkets right at the register. Newsagents and aussie post have become like $2 shops to make some revenue. The hours to stay open at typically 7:30 - 7:30 7 days a week. Thats a 84 hour week unless you employ someone. And in a mainstream retail complex its costly rent on top. Newsagents have brached into token income efforts like sendle and being a DHL pickup etc to make a few dollars.

Retail supermarkets are also hoping to claw their way into competition with pharmacies and also optical. Like they have overseas. Abuse of codeine and other painkillers etc has limited this and exposed a risk if this was to occur and the TGA has supported the Pharmacy Guild.

Both aussie post and newsagents have always been attractive to migrants who can struggle to find jobs and they see these as self employment.

 

I'm actually looking to buy a post office in my area and was considering a newsagency originally as they are easier to get into compared with Australian Post and looks like they earn more. Though the hours are crazy. Some are open for 7 days a week from 7am to 7pm but Aus Post is only 9 to 5pm with an option to open for half a day on Sat. But the risk is that OTR stations have lotteries now so you're basically sharing the market with them.

Now, just looking for a post office.
And I agree with you Paul, this business is actually for my husband who can't find a job. I've seen a few financials of a few on sale and they are making around $100k to $150k pa.

Australian Post has strict criteria on getting a license.
I guess if you can get the license, this is a really good business in the long term especially if more members of the family will be working in the business.

Australia Post pays commissions on everything you do. You are getting paid for anything you do for a customer even if it's free - paying a bill, picking up a parcel, etc.

There's an economic analysis from Deloitte about the future of Australian Post and it's a positive one.

Anyone here bought or own a post office would like to share their opinions?

 

Interesting.
I looked hard at a few that were for sale in my area.
Some of the newsagents that are also post offices in good sized regional towns seem to be doing very well. I was looking to help my son get a start but he ultimately moved in a different direction.

Lots of people on here will have negative views about the prospects available in this retail sector. Ignore most of them. It's also one of the few opportunities now that are not franchised I believe.