Ad desk, step 2
How to read a rate card
A rate card is a menu written to make the expensive path look default. Read it in the right order and it becomes a map of the discounts.
A rate card states the paper’s open rate (the no-commitment price per column inch), its contract tiers (discounts for committed spend or frequency), and its surcharges (color, position, Sunday). Read the tiers before the open rate: on the WSJ’s 2026 card, the only published national example, contract tiers run 5 to 35 percent below open.
Source: WSJ 2026 General Advertising Rate Card, Issue #92, effective Jan 1 2026, retrieved Jul 31, 2026.
The three rates on every card
| Card says | It means | Who pays it |
|---|---|---|
| Open rate | One-off price, no commitment | First-timers who don't ask |
| Contract rate | Discounted price for committed volume or frequency over a term | Anyone who asks and commits |
| Earned rate | The rate your actual usage earned; short-billed or rebated at term end | Contract advertisers whose volume beat the tier they signed |
The mechanics: sign a 26-week contract at a tier, and every insertion bills at that tier’s rate. Run more than you signed for and you earn a lower rate retroactively; run less and the desk short-rates you, rebilling the difference at the tier you actually earned. Short-rate clauses are fair but must be read before signing, because an ambitious contract with a shortfall can cost more than a modest one kept.
The surcharge column
Color: stated as a percentage or flat fee; the WSJ card prices B&W 20 percent below color ($1,437.98 vs $1,150.38 per national column inch). Position: guaranteed pages and section fronts carry premiums. Day: Sunday and special sections price above weekday at papers that split by day. Agency commission: gross rates on cards traditionally include a 15 percent agency commission (the WSJ card states it); a direct buyer can ask whether a net rate exists, which is the same question as asking for 15 percent off.
Source: WSJ 2026 General Advertising Rate Card, Issue #92, effective Jan 1 2026, retrieved Jul 31, 2026. Color gap and 15% commission per the card; surcharge structures vary at quote-only papers.
The quote-only problem
Getting a card from a paper that hides it
Most US papers no longer post cards publicly (the rate table marks who does). They still have them internally: pricing has to live somewhere. The email that works: “Planning a print schedule for [month]; please send the current retail rate card and deadlines for [section].” Specific, businesslike, no invitation to a discovery call. If the desk insists on a call, take it, and end it with “email me the rates we discussed” so the numbers exist in writing for the negotiation.