Myth busted with woodworking mags

[Wally]

Hi all,

I'd like to bust a common myth among woodworking magazines...

It seems when a magazine subscription is about to expire, the publisher will send renewal notices. The first one is usually the most expensive and as you wait, second and third renewal notices get cheaper and cheaper.

Well, I tried testing out this myth with Wood Magazine. I got 3 renewal notices so far and kept them all. They're all at exactly the same price. At least this myth is busted with Wood Mag. Don't know about the others.

What are your stories so we know which one to wait 'till the last minute!

Wally

[Andy]

I haven't waited until the last minute, but here's a related experience... I just changed my address on my Pop Woodworking sub, and they sent me a letter to confirm my new address, and to offer a very special deal - if I extend my subscription now by an additional year, it's only $19.96! However, if you look on their website or Amazon, the regular price is $19.96, and on their website, you get a year free with your subscription at that price. Some special deal. Do your homework

- when I was looking for a woodworking magazine, a few had a year free or some kind of special offer.

[george]

Plus, sometimes on

there will be a magazine website offering really cheap subscriptions (like three photo magazines for a year for

[Jay Pique]

Try eBay. I got PopSci for something like 3 bucks a year for 3 years. (I think.) JP

[Doug Miller]

You just haven't waited long enough. See what you get when your subscription is one issue from expiring.

WoodWorker's Journal *definitely* does that.

[Dave Hinz]

Right. Also, you haven't followed proper mythbusters' methodology, I don't see _any_ mention of fire and/or explosions.

[Bruce]

On Fri, 1 Jul 2005 09:57:54 -0600, Andy wrote (in article ):

I've had good luck with MagMall.com. PWW is 14.99/year and they give you another $3 off if you order more than $20. They even do renewals.

Just a satisfied subscriber!

-Bruce

[Robert Allison]

Huh.

Here is another piece of info;

Being a contractor, I have subscriptions to all kinds of trade magazines (Builder, Remodeler, Tools of the Trade, etc.) About 6 years ago, I decided I didn't want to fill out the dang renewal page for Builder since I never read it anyway. I began to get the notices of impending doom (You need to renew, This is your LAST issue, etc.) I just threw them away. I am still getting the damn things. So I stopped filling out all of them and I am still getting them all.

[Mark & Juanita]

I have had the same experience as you have with Workbench, Fine Woodworking, Woodsmith, Shopnotes, This Old House, Fine Homebuilding, and [completely unrelated to woodworking] Aviation Week.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[Mark & Juanita]

Same thing happens with Engineering Mags (EE Times, DesignFax, etc) The only way I got them stopped was to move. Then they started calling me at work -- at which point, if it doesn't take more than two minutes to answer their questions, I let them send whatever. Never read them, but it keeps them from bothering me for a year at a time.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[Lew Hodgett]

Let your subscription for a few months.

The mags I subscribe to will usually swten the pot to get you back.

Lew

[Lee Gordon]

I tend to forget exactly when my subscriptions start and end (the magazines are counting on that) so when I started getting renewal notices for This Old House in what seemed like less than a year from when I first subscribed, I called the 800 number and asked the operator how long before my subscription really ended. She kindly informed me that among the gobbledygook printed on the address sticker, the last thing on the second line from the top shows the date and year the subscription expires. This isn't necessarily the case with all magazines but it is there for This Old House readers. I just threw away an offer they sent me last month offering me two bonus months if I subscribe now. My subscription runs through November '05. I'll wait.

Lee

[Mark & Juanita]

Seems like they start sending renewal notices about 6 months or more before the subscription runs out. I usually wait until the month or so before it expires.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[Rob V]

Most of the time you are better off getting a new subscription under say your wifes name. When my last mag ran out - my wife signed up online and get a free year for about $2 more than the renewal subscription.

YMMV

[Upscale]

I usually let my subscription run out. Buy it off the rack for one or two months and then buy a three year subscription again at the lower cost introductory rate.

[Upscale]

I usually let my subscription run out. Buy it off the rack for one or two months and then buy a three year subscription again at the lower cost introductory rate.

[Prometheus]

Those two nuts have got to have the best job on the planet. :)

[Brian Elfert]

I used to own an Internet business. We got up to a dozen free magazines in a week. We had a guest chair and side table up front and the pile of magazines got to be a foot high after a month.

We only asked for one of the magazines. The rest kept asking us to fill out surveys to continue getting the magazines. We never filled them out and kept getting them.

Brian Elfert