NC magazine prices already sneaking up in cost...

[coolbreeze]

Not a huge deal, but an interesting indicator...Maxim was $1 per month a few days ago, now it's $1.25 per month.

Just sayin' a trend is a comin'...

No surprise but a bit concerning come 3-5 years from now...

[usr_hi]

I hear you man. I hope one day we see deals on e-mags that mirror what we see now on paper mags. Like $10 for 2 years. Now that would be great!

[waffleman]

I think alot of e-magazine prices are too high. Heck, alot of them are twice what print mags are. If everyone stops buying the mags, they will drop their prices .

[harryzee]

The temporary way around this (unless you require each and every issue of something) is to purchase single copies on an "as need" basis.

You are correct in that the prices are ridiculous when compared to the hardcopy subscription rates.

If the publishers were smart, they would offer digital access along with a paper subscription (at a resonable upcharge) and then give you the option of cancelling the hardcopy thus saving both trees and maintaining the Oxygen level.

Also, this falls under the "what is B&N thinking" regarding the pricing of many of their new books.

This is precisely what could drive me to learning how to use Mobidedrm and Calibre in conjunction to get a lower priced Kindle version and then strip the DRM and convert the "mobi" file to an "ebook" file.

Since I would already have paid fair market value at Amazon and am not doing this for ongoing distribution other than reading on my NC, my conscience would be crystal clear.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by harryzee

...
Since I would already have paid fair market value at Amazon and am not doing this for ongoing distribution other than reading on my NC, my conscience would be crystal clear.

I'm not losing any sleep over it.

[swallman]

A lot of people complain about the magazine subscription prices, but one thing I realized today is that you can cancel your sub at any time (and you only get billed monthly). So there's really no long-term commitment.

Most print magazine subscriptions require you to purchase a minimum of a year in advance. You can probably cancel early but I'm not sure how easy it is to get a refund.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by harryzee

The temporary way around this (unless you require each and every issue of something) is to purchase single copies on an "as need" basis.

This method is how I control cost. I have one magazine subscription that is delivered weekly. Everything else I purchase on an as-need basis. While I would love to have more issues, I find that realistically I just don't have time to read them all. When you purchase on an as-need basis, then you can switch it up which magazines you are purchasing at any given time too for variety. Using this method, I only pay for what I want when I need it. It comes out cheaper over time for me than having multiple subscriptions.

I take the same approach to newspapers. I have one subscription. For everything else, I buy an issue when needed. Or, I also like calibre's Fetch News and Instapaper's Read Later and sideload to the NC.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by harryzee

You are correct in that the prices are ridiculous when compared to the hardcopy subscription rates.

Paper magazines are very heavily subsidised by advertising revenue. I wonder if perhaps the e-mags aren't attracting the same volume of advertisers, and hence the price needs to be higher for that reason?

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Paper magazines are very heavily subsidised by advertising revenue. I wonder if perhaps the e-mags aren't attracting the same volume of advertisers, and hence the price needs to be higher for that reason?

Good point. I wonder how the publishers handle advertising differently. The B&N magazines for the NOOKcolor look just like the paper version. As if you had scanned in every page and compiled it into a PDF is the best analogy. There certainly is no lack of advertisements within them. Just flipped through a few different ones. There are ads for brands like Coca-Cola, Waterford, Infiniti autos, Bose, Reebok, Vaseline, Twinings tea, Sprint Wireless, Chase Bank. The B&N magazines are different than the ones I've bought for my Sony or Kindle which seem to be simplified content articles.

[aagstn]

Even a dollar an issue for Maxim was too high. I thought about signing up for a magazine, but just don't feel the cost for a digital version worth it. For most mags the digital cost is 2-3 times higher than a regular mail subscrition and I'm just not going to pay that much for magazines.

[drv]

Originally Posted by harryzee

The temporary way around this (unless you require each and every issue of something) is to purchase single copies on an "as need" basis.

But how do you know when you need to purchase an issue? How do you preview it before buying?

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by drv

But how do you know when you need to purchase an issue? How do you preview it before buying?

Often a magazine has a website where you can preview the latest articles for that issue. "Need" for me is usually how much time do I have this month and what kind of subject do I feel like reading at the moment. Or, am I planning any trips where I would feel like reading magazines rather than books?

[tubemonkey]

What hasn't been explained is why emags bought from B&N cost more than the same emags bought from other sources like Zinio.

[geertm]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

What hasn't been explained is why emags bought from B&N cost more than the same emags bought from other sources like Zinio.

The magazine publishers set the price for the magazines, not B&N.
I assume that the publishers think that Nook Color users are prepared to pay more for magazines than Zinio users.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by geertm

The magazine publishers set the price for the magazines, not B&N.
I assume that the publishers think that Nook Color users are prepared to pay more for magazines than Zinio users.

I know.

This NC user won't comply.