Magazines From Amazon For May

Has anybody seen the offers from Amazon.com for magazine subscriptions this month? This is an amazing value for money subscription whichever way you look at it. Magazines are a fast way to get the latest news and happenings for your favorite topic, compared to books. Personally, I read a lot of magazines, and most of the magazines I read are published in the US. If you were to buy them where I live, the price in USD might be the same, the exchange rate will make a dent in your wallet.

What I normally do is to get magazines from local distributors, who I happen to know a few. But what I like to do most is to get back-copies from them. I flip through magazines, reading only topics that interest me, and I study their layout, writing styles, advertisements, etc. So getting back-copies work for me, and it costs a lot less.

For the month of May, if you order from Amazon.com, you will only be paying USD1.00 (depending on the magazine) per issue. The downside is these subscriptions on apply to the US. The good news for those in the US is the free shipping that is part of the subscription. The categories for magazines are on the left sidebar.

Why the drastic price cut?
Firstly, I do not know the subscription rate for the second year, you might end up paying the full price. The subscription rate for the first year might just be their cost of acquisition per customer. It is not unheard off to operate at a loss in order to get a subscriber. You could make it back over the course of customers lifetime purchases.

Secondly, with the explosion of on-line magazines and the incredible growth of the internet, the publishing industry is probably getting a lot tougher. The printing cost per issue of magazine is off-set by advertisement income,and if you can print the magazine outside the US, that reduces the printing costs even more. Again, over a customers lifetime, the initial loss can be covered by future business.

Thirdly, US magazines are exported world-wide, and Asia is the growth is right now. It could be that the exports can be sold at full price, even counting the additional cost of shipping and distributors margins.

Buying Smart
While brick and mortar stores are essential to the sustainability of any country's economy, there is really no excuses for not buying smart. If you find a better deal on the internet, that's where you should be buying.