Quote:
Originally Posted by unruhjonny
I signed up for POCI/Smoke Signals when Don posted here about it;
I had seen the magazine get MUCH better - and quite liked the magazine.
I have enjoyed many of the articles - and even after Don left the fold, it seemed like the publication was getting better.
I have posted this before, so I apologize if you are re-reading this;
As a Canadian, I fall under "foreign" subscriptions, a cost structure which had been explained to me as being based on mailing copies to Australia;
So I have nearly double the cost, for living a couple degrees north of the 49th parallel.
Then there's the fact that I would often get my magazine a month late;
So I'm paying nearly a 100% premium, and getting the magazine horribly late.
Not happy.
When I signed up, the Canadian rate wasn't so bad;
It looks like it was $37 vs $35, but has ballooned recently to $74 vs $45.
There really should be a "Canadian and Alaska subscription" fee - because I can understand a small increase in mailing costs - but not as big of a differential as I was paying;
If you were to guess that half of the American subscription cost is to cover the magazine and the remaining subscription cost if for mailing, that would mean that based on current subscription rates, I would have to pay about 230% more for shipping than an American subscription.
Can you see the absurdity?
For the last several years I had considered cancelling...
Last year I decided to go the cheap way out, and renewed with a "digital" subscription as a trial even though I don't like digital reading (forums aside).
I'm a pretty loyal guy, and I thought that when I joined that I read that there was a ten year pin - so I stuck it out, because I wanted that pin (darn-it!);
I thought I had passed the ten year mark... and recently noticed that the pins are now(?) only issued at 20 years... ugg, I guess I'm not getting a pin.
The web site (which was recently improved) sucked BAD for downloading magazines;
Migrating to the download page was convoluted, and the tablet I use for this sort of thing could rarely get an issue downloaded.
The refreshed website is worlds better than the old one... but I think I read two months worth of magazines when they were new, so my money was being wasted.
I don't do apps, and prefer printed magazines;
This last year confirmed to me that my subscription was a waste of money.
I am open to renewing (my membership expired January 31), but am dis-incline to have an online-only subscription and am tired of feeling screwed over for having Canadian "pesos" in my wallet.
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I do not work in the magazine business, but I do ship stuff to Canada on the regular. The rates are ridiculous just for crossing the border. I don't agree with charging everyone Australia's rates, but at the same time that is likely just easier because setting rates for each country would be a full time job for someone 4-6 weeks of the year, when they are likely over budget already.
A price increase would be the most likely choice, because honestly, the demographic is not likely to take to online usage. If the target was 20-30 years younger that would be brilliant. I am probably one of the youngest on the forum, but even I hate online reading. Imagine someone who didn't grow up with computers.