Buying at a Newsstand versus Paying for a Subscription



It is surprising how many people buy newspapers from newsstands instead of paying for an actual subscription. When buying from newsstands, smoke shops, convenience stores or newspaper boxes, the price can be as high as a dollar or more for each newspaper. If you were to buy each newspaper individually for a month, you would be paying about twice as much as a newspaper subscription. Even if you only buy a newspaper on weekdays, you're still paying more than a subscription.

Not only would you be saving money with a subscription, but you would also be gaining convenience. Your newspapers would be delivered right to your door every morning. You wouldn't have to go out of your way to buy a newspaper somewhere else. Plus there would be no need to scrounge up your change each day.

Subscribing Long Term to Save Money

Almost all newspapers offer a discount to subscribers who commit to longer periods of time. If you only subscribe for a year or less, you could be paying substantially more per year. Usually the longer you commit to subscribe, the cheaper it will cost each year. It can be intimidating subscribing for longer periods. Really what is going to change next year to make you not want to read the news though? Unless you are going to move out of the delivery area, you will still want to continue your subscription.

Subscribing as a New Customer versus Re-Subscribing

Contrary to rules of good customer service, most newspapers actually offer better deals to new subscribers. You would think newspaper companies would also want to keep current subscribers happy too. They are more concerned with attaining new customers instead. These companies assume that current subscribers won't even see new subscriber promotions.

There is usually a way to qualify for these new subscriber rates even if you are already subscribed. If you are married, you can try subscribing in your spouse's name as a new customer. If you're not married, a roommate might let you put the newspaper subscription in their name too. Sometimes changing your address slightly works too. For example, you could switch street to st. or any other small changes like that. If none of those options work, you can probably cancel your subscription temporarily and then subscribe again.

Subscribing Through a 3rd Party Company

Certain companies can offer newspaper subscriptions at a discounted rate. These rates are usually much lower than the rates offered directly from the newspaper publisher. Those companies essentially work for the newspaper publisher by reselling subscriptions purchased at a bulk rate. Often times the discounted newspaper subscription rates are half the price you would pay otherwise.

Conclusion

Saving money on a newspaper subscription can be quite easy. You just have to know where to get your newspaper from. Shop around and you'll find that the newspaper publisher won't even give you the lowest price.