Subscriptions. Do you?

[Mark T Jones]

No doubt the subscription model is growing stratosphericaly.

I'll admit to a deep rooted reluctance to enter into any type of subscription, largely based on my early career selling the consumer credit minnset of 'less than your daily pint of milk/pack of fags'.

A friend who is very financially astute (some might say tight) subscribes to a printer ink contract and a weekly veg box which he says are good value.

I looked at a well-known shaving subscripton and their pricing was so obscure it put me right off.

Last week I succumbed to a beer box. The first box was just £5 (for postage). In fairness it turned up promptly and the beer was good (I've only tasted one). On the other hand, the box came with no fewer than 4 other subscription offers and they have already sent 4 emails.

I went to cancel - it involved 5 stages culminating in a phone call.

TBH, my cynicism towards subscriptions is intact.

 

[fisicx]

We have a veg, beer and chocolate. We can have a subscription holiday, change the order and so on without any problems. so it's working for us.

I tried a shaving thing but didn't like the razors. So I've grown a beard instead.

 

[HostOX]

Absolutely nothing yet, personally I prefer to look at products or items I am buying before I buy them, then I know what I am getting.

Most of my online orders for products that turn up are terrible!

However the idea of things like the Amazon button they use to have or maybe still do? For stuff like wash powder, toilet roll, etc is pretty neat and I could see myself using something like that so I don't forget like I usually do!

 

[Clinton]

It's so annoying that with a lot of stuff if you want to buy it you have to sign up for a sub!

I make sure I use Paypal rather than a CC. Then, immediately after I've placed the order, I go back into Paypal and cancel the sub.

 

[lesliedocherty]

We have one with Tails for dog food, we never run out so it works a treat.
Amazon for coffee beans, never run out, so again works well.
Tried fresh, the food thingey, was good, except when you do the maths and it wasn't tthat good value, so cancelled.

 

[Mr D]

Used to subscribe to Amazon subscription. Was pretty good, certain things I only need every few weeks.

These days I subscribe to very few things. A couple of annual subscriptions and an Xbox subscription for games on the laptop.

 

[STDFR33]

Netflix, Spotify are both worthwhile subscriptions for me.

I’ve done a few subscriptions such as Waldo (contact lenses), simply cook (spices), flavoured (beer) all for a bargain on the first order and cancelled straight after without problem.

Subscription models rely on people being lazy and forgetting to cancel.

There’s some that are worthy of a regular subscription, others only worthy of the free / cheap first order.

You just need to be on the ball ensuring that you are not tied in for x many months or cancelling when it’s no longer worth it.

 

[Marbman]

I have kept my Amazon prime subscription going for a while now which is handy for quick deliveries plus they occasionally have carte blanche on premier league games which interests me.

Otherwise im usually against the idea no matter how tempting the offer is.

 

[alan1302]

Amazon Prime subscription - will order a few things a month and watch TV/Films to makes it worthwhile. And a SMOL laundry detergent one.

 

[Opinion87]

Aside from the usual bits... Pasta Evangelists, AllPlants, Kiwi Crate and TasteSmiths.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I tried the shaving subscription and it was crap

It's not all about saving money and convenience
It's about quality and it's only the best for me . It is just better to buy the best

Now Apple music .Amazon Prime and Netflix I can't buy in the shop

 

[Ian J]

I joined a gin club and received a bottle of obscure gin every other month plus other bits & pieces but I didn't like two of the four gins that I received which made it a very expensive gin club so cancelled

 

[Mark T Jones]

Netflix, Spotify are both worthwhile subscriptions for me.

.

I must admit to cheating a bit as the other half has subscriptions to Netflix - which we use loads, and Amazon Prime - which I try to pursuade her to cancel.

I totally get the take the offer and cancel bit - it's what I've done with the beer box. Incidentally, the strawberry beer was dire - we poured it down the sink (I seldom throw beer away!) - which makes the other 7 cans very expensive!

 

[Ian J]

I must admit to cheating a bit as the other half has subscriptions to Netflix - which we use loads, and Amazon Prime - which I try to pursuade her to cancel.

I also have both. Netflix is quite good as they update films / series quite often but Amazon rarely seem to update their TV offerings and once you have watched everything that you like it becomes a struggle to find anything fresh to watch.

I'm not sure that the next day delivery is worth that much as it's obviously loaded into the price and often the delivery doesn't come until 7pm which is a problem if it was something that you needed earlier

 

[Newchodge]

I had an Amazon subscripotion for contact lens solution. Initially it was very good value and convenient, however about the 4th time it was due the price was £14 when the same item without the subscription was £10. So I cancelled, 1 click. I do have printer ink, which is worth it for me and Private Eye, which I ought to cancel as I rarely read it all.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I also have both. Netflix is quite good as they update films / series quite often but Amazon rarely seem to update their TV offerings and once you have watched everything that you like it becomes a struggle to find anything fresh to watch.

I'm not sure that the next day delivery is worth that much as it's obviously loaded into the price and often the delivery doesn't come until 7pm which is a problem if it was something that you needed earlier

In my view, next day delivery is a non-benefit that has been extremely well sold. It's also questionable whether it helps or damages the courier industry!

 

[Darren_Ssc]

I'm not sure that the next day delivery is worth that much as it's obviously loaded into the price and often the delivery doesn't come until 7pm which is a problem if it was something that you needed earlier

Cancel your Prime membership and see how long it takes for stuff to be delivered

Re the availability of new stuff to watch, I think they are rather clever since there is always something if you are willing to pay the extra. The number of additional subscription channels within Prime Video itself also seems to increase by the week.

Re delivery time, I have stuff delivered to a nearby locker whenever possible, not that the time of delivery is that important but it can be a distraction waiting for the bell to ring, especially at work. The estimated times given can be a bit useless like between 10am and 3 pm.

 

[STDFR33]

I got Prime free for 12 months and only pay £3.99 per month so it’s not worth cancelling.

 

[KM-Tiger]

I think they are rather clever since there is always something if you are willing to pay the extra.

True, I'm watching a series that I've had to pay extra for.

My wife had a prime account in the USA which she used to buy stuff for her father who lived there. It's quite different in the USA. They don't do next day and and delivery charges are high so it's a no brainer to subscribe if you are ordering a few items each month.

We used to use that prime account for video but Amazon did get confused by Americans apparently watching video in the UK. Some things were marked not available but then we found we could watch on a laptop but not on our TV using the Amazon app. Go figure.

 

[bodgitt&scarperLTD]

My missus has a nasty habit of doing 'subscribe and then cancel'. She's finally coming round to my way of thinking however- that it's not worth your time.

The last one was 'Hello Fresh'. It failed on all levels. With the amount of extra packaging, any claim of saving the planet due to 'less food wastage'- can be thrown out off the bat. We were both appalled at the amount of individually wrapped portions of ingredients. Whats really daft is that my missus is the sort who will keep leaves and chicken bones for stock- we don't waste food full stop!

The quality was appaling. I get better chicken in the local kebab shop. The pepper was mouldy.

Despite their claims of 'cheaper than the grocery store', their prices per portion were, as expected, wildly optomistic, no doubt with all sorts of 'balancing costs for food wastage' and the like thrown in. Anyone with half a brain could tell you that buying just enough for a pre-planned meal, individually wrapped and mailed to you (with plastic insulation that has to be binned!!), is going to work out considerably more expensive than popping to Tescos. Not to mention that we normally buy in bulk at cash and carry.

So in summary, Hello Fresh is all marketing, aimed at City types who can't cook and want to pretend they can. Just like I said to her in the first place

But as I said, she's coming round to my way of thinking. It was the packaging that really swung it for her. She's easily swung on environmental issues, and if she ever starts to moan about me burning packaging etc in the stove, I can always point out that it's better there than a river in India, and that her carbon footprint (20+ flights) dwarfs mine (1 flight to France)

 

[Mark T Jones]

I got Prime free for 12 months and only pay £3.99 per month so it’s not worth cancelling.

I did that!

Fortunately I have a free access to Plex, which enables me to access pretty much anything

 

[STDFR33]

I did that!

Fortunately I have a free access to Plex, which enables me to access pretty much anything

I bought IPTV so that I could watch all the Leeds games in the championship (otherwise you couldn’t watch it). I still have it as it’s only £50 per year and you get everything.

 

[Jeff FV]

Ease of unsubscribing is key to me, when I sign up for anything.

For example, I’m learning Spanish. I signed up for a service that provided new weekly content in spoken Spanish, with transcripts etc. It was (is) very good and for a few months I used it a lot. But then my circumstances changed a little and I no longer had the time to access it regularly and so I decided to cancel.

The cancelling process was so quick and simple I know I will go renew my subscription when time allows.

Compare that with cancelling my gym membership (I had kept it open during lockdown 1, but when it re-opened I didn’t feel comfortable going back (yet)). Cancelling that took time, and I had to pay a lengthy notice period. I shan’t renew my gym membership.

 

[Financial-Modeller]

I totally get the commercial advantages of having customers subscribe to your product or service and would push towards that model if my business could benefit from it.

But on a personal level I generally prefer having the choice and flexibility to buy what I want, when I want, rather than having something automatically delivered.

An example is Microsoft Office, which I buy outright every few years, rather than using (the inferior for my purpose) O365 and paying for it forever. In the same way, I buy the car I want and change when I want rather than lease one for the term of the lease.

Personally though, I couldn't live without Amazon Prime, and have replaced several print magazine subscriptions with a Readly subscription on the iPad.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I totally get the commercial advantages of having customers subscribe to your product or service and would push towards that model if my business could benefit from it.

But on a personal level I generally prefer having the choice and flexibility to buy what I want, when I want, rather than having something automatically delivered.

An example is Microsoft Office, which I buy outright every few years, rather than using (the inferior for my purpose) O365 and paying for it forever. In the same way, I buy the car I want and change when I want rather than lease one for the term of the lease.

Personally though, I couldn't live without Amazon Prime, and have replaced several print magazine subscriptions with a Readly subscription on the iPad.

I think understanding is what makes me wary! The hand in the pocket is a great revenue generator!

Though you have just added 365 to the subscription that I (my business) do have - mostly because It integrates with my partners' systems.

 

[bodgitt&scarperLTD]

An example is Microsoft Office, which I buy outright every few years, rather than using (the inferior for my purpose) O365 and paying for it forever. In the same way, I buy the car I want and change when I want rather than lease one for the term of the lease.
.

Microsoft are doing away with that. It's rent Office 365 only from here on.

You might be surprised how good LibreOffice is.

 

[Darren_Ssc]

Microsoft are doing away with that. It's rent Office 365 only from here on.

They are still selling it although, I agree, I don't think it will be updated beyond the current version. But , since Google docs is good enough for a cloud-based option I don't see the point in paying for 365 outside a corporate environment?

Should add I intend to be free of all things Google by the end of the year though, so what else is there?

You might be surprised how good LibreOffice is.

Not for me thanks. Can't do with it.

 

[Phil Sproson Photography]

Brilliant thread, I best cancel Canva... always forget until it has gone out again! I will do that now.
Amazon Prime for some subscriptions, bulk bags of dog food and also dishwasher tablets are incredibly cheap doing it that way. Can't drop Spotify, it accompanies me while I work.

As a photographer I am stuck with monthly subscriptions for Adobe CC, pro wetransfer and proofing gallery is on a sub, but it is perfect and does the job as it should.

I am looking to charge a subscription for access to content for my other business which is tourism/outdoors related, but, back-burnered for the moment.

 

[simon field]

A slight diversion - but years ago a mate of mine took on a Sky box for a month’s free trial from a rather pushy salesman. The proper full package - movies, sport, the lot.

8 years later he had never paid a single penny! They eventually contacted him and he told them that somebody had already been and collected the box ages ago.

I think it was about another 4 years he got out of it before he moved house & it wouldn’t work after that.

Excellent value!

 

[Mr D]

Cancel your Prime membership and see how long it takes for stuff to be delivered

Re the availability of new stuff to watch, I think they are rather clever since there is always something if you are willing to pay the extra. The number of additional subscription channels within Prime Video itself also seems to increase by the week.

Re delivery time, I have stuff delivered to a nearby locker whenever possible, not that the time of delivery is that important but it can be a distraction waiting for the bell to ring, especially at work. The estimated times given can be a bit useless like between 10am and 3 pm.

It's not so much the delivery of Amazon it's the order processing.
Many times I have ordered with a supplier and got delivery less than 36 hours later without any Amazon involvement. Most recently a wholesale supplier, emailed them late last Thursday night, delivery 10am Saturday morning.

Have ordered with others who take a week before they even bother to send the item.

 

[AllUpHere]

I used to own a subscription based business selling access to an online resource. The people who subscribed for a month or 2 and then cancelled were disappointing, but not as disappointing as the people who subscribed, payed month after month after month, and never even logged in. The information I was selling was genuinely useful and I put a hell of a lot of effort into producing it; the least they could do was read it.

 

[Scottishgifts4u]

We’ve got Amazon Prime which has more than paid for itself in free postage plus Amazon video has some good stuff on.
Since I retired I’ve cut down on any unused stuff. The tv licence has gone as we never watched it anyway. We use next doors Netflix.
The only other subscription I can think of is my Practical Sportsbike magazine.

Anything else if we need it we just buy it as a one off.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Netflix which we get great use of and VIZ magazine as one of my Xmas presents.

For business, I have a couple that I keep going as attempted cancellation has reduced, in one case, the monthly fee from £39 to $4

 

[japancool]

I have been considering a subscription to a number of men's interest sites.

 

[japancool]

In all seriousness, I have seen a number of e-commerce strategy sites or guides that recommend some kind of subscription model as an income stream, but I struggle to see how that would be applied to my business.

 

[Financial-Modeller]

Interesting article about subscription businesses and lifestyles in today's Times:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...ription-economy-an-adrenaline-boost-qh9fb0mtz

ironically, you may need a subscription to the Times to read it!

 

[fisicx]

Amazon Prime for some subscriptions, bulk bags of dog food and also dishwasher tablets are incredibly cheap doing it that way. Can't drop Spotify, it accompanies me while I work.

Or you cold use Amazon Music which you get for free with prime.

 

[MikeJ]

I think the music you get with Prime is a bit less than Amazon music?

I have Netflix, which several other people also use on my behalf. My wife has music, so our Echo devices are set up in her name. Moving to Prime instead of Amazon Music would make a lot of sense, as we listen to pretty boring stuff.

 

[Darren_Ssc]

Or you cold use Amazon Music which you get for free with prime.

You get limited choice with the free version which, admittedly, was good enough for me. Then I made the mistake of doing a trial upgrade for full access. And, guess what, it seems impossible to go back to the free version so I am now paying another subscription for that too.

Even with the paid option you still get nagged to upgrade to an even better hi-fi quality option, I won't be falling for that one though.

 

[Ian J]

I think the music you get with Prime is a bit less than Amazon music?

You are correct that whilst there is a considerable amount of music available free on Amazon Prime there is much more on Amazon Music which will cost you extra.

There is a halfway house for Amazon Music costs as it's only an extra £3.99 per month to have access to the full monty on just one device which is what I have done.

The big drawback with the Echo devices is that they cannot access the music on my computer so I use Sonos in my main listening area which can access my music library and echo variants in all of the other rooms