Sometimes you can bargain without doing a thing

Several months ago, I decided to let some of my magazine subscriptions expire, since I was receiving three computer magazines, four aviation magazines, National Geographic, Air&Space, Popular Science, and some others. As you might recall, paying the newsstand price for a magazine over time can get expensive when the magazine retails on the rack for $6 a month. You don't think about it, but at that rate, you are paying $72/year for 12 issues, plus tax. When you subscribe, you often obtain substantial savings, and the same magazine might go for $20/year. But then you get caught up in the "that's too expensive for a subscription" mindset, when you think paying $20 is too much for one year, when in reality it would cost nearly $100 through newsstand purchases. That is what happened to me. I was going to drop one of the computer magazines I get. I tried to decide which one, and ultimately I felt that paying $24/year for a monthly magazine was too much. Too much! Are you serious? $2 a month? Yeah, I did...Anyway, when I didn't renew, the company sent me a second, third, and fourth renewal form, and I didn't bite. So then they send me a "we miss you, please come back" form for $14. Hmmm...nope, I didn't bite. Then I received a couple more notices asking for either $20, or $24, and back to $14 for one year. Nope. This went on for two months. Finally, last week I get a mailing from the company asking me to come back for $12 for a one-year subscription. What the heck, and I filled out the form. Just as I was getting ready to cut a check for twelve bucks, I see the fine print that says double the offer for $24. So...by showing a little patience, and not doing anything but waiting, I am now getting a two-year subscription for the price of one year (realistically, the equivalent of two years for the cost of a six-moth subscription). Or, in other words, I'm paying something in the area of only 10% of the newsstand price.

If you want an interesting read, click on the link above to read about a conspiracy theory involving the quick retirement of the F-117.