The logRates checked October 2026
Rate-check change log
Every figure on this site carries a "rates checked" stamp, and this page is what the stamp points to: a dated log of what was retrieved, what changed, and what failed to retrieve. Stale data dressed as current is the quiet fraud of the cost-guide genre; the log is our answer to it.
2026-10-24
- Reader's Digest 2024 media kit (dated October 2023) re-read from its archived copy: full page 4C $63,330, half page $39,580, rate base 2,000,000, RD Large Print circulation 235,000. Trend series, rate-base change (30%) and CPM comparison ($31.67 on both kits) recomputed across the site.
- USPS EDDM Retail re-checked at $0.26 per piece (Marketing Mail flats to 3.3 oz).
2026-07-31
- Desk opened. Initial ledger assembled: 22 source documents registered with retrieval dates.
- Reader's Digest 2026 media kit retrieved and archived: full page 4C $44,331, half page $27,710, rate base 1,400,000; RD Large Print half page $11,700 on 175,000 circulation. The 2024 kit held on file for the trend series.
- Mediabids model verified: per-inquiry terms set per campaign, no public rate card; site copy corrected away from the 'published minimums' folklore.
- MNI rebrand confirmed: mni.com now 301-redirects into people.inc following the August 2025 People Inc rebrand; seller profile written to the new structure.
- USPS EDDM Retail price verified at $0.26 per piece (Marketing Mail flats to 3.3 oz) for the direct-mail comparisons.
- Texas Monthly media kit retrieval attempted and failed (HTTP 403 behind a sales gate); title profile shipped quote-only per the desk's rules.
- Conde Nast, Hearst, Dotdash Meredith, Valpak and Vericast checked: no public rate cards found; all flagged quote-only.
Standing re-check cadence
- Published rate cards (currently the TMB kits): re-checked when publishers issue annual kits, typically each autumn, and at minimum every six months.
- Quote-only seller flags: re-verified quarterly; a seller that starts publishing rates graduates into the ledger with figures.
- Reference prices (USPS EDDM): re-checked at each documented USPS price change.
- Gated kits (Texas Monthly and peers): retrieval re-attempted each cycle; success moves the title from quote-only to published status.