Pathfinder 6-month and 1-year subscriptions

[Scede]

Just wondering if they were going to be offered in the future?

[Vic Wertz]

Scede wrote:

Just wondering if they were going to be offered in the future?

We're currently planning to offer only ongoing month-to-month subscriptions.

[Ifreet]

I too, was wondering. It helps me keep track of my bank account more easily if I don't forget that the subscription comes out monthly. So I hope you will consider it further.

David

[Aubrey the Malformed]

This question has been asked before. The yearly subcriptions are a pain to administer, and Paizo have been adamant for a while that they will only do month-by-month. I suspect this will not change, so you might have to get used to the monthly fee. Frankly, it spreads the cost, so overall it is probably easier to budget for than a single, one-off payment once a year.

[Ungoded]

Vic Wertz in another thread wrote:

It's not the prepaying that we have a problem with—it's the effort associated with actually getting people to renew after their subscription period has lapsed. You'd be shocked at the percentage of a typical magazine's budget that's dedicated to renewals. Studies have shown—and our experiences have confirmed—that most people don't renew until they've been poked three or four times, using at least two different methods (such as e-mails, inserts mailed with the products, and letters mailed separately). And, of course, all of those costs have to be built into every subscription, so even if you're one of the attentive folks who renew after receiving a single e-mail, you're still paying for all of the effort it takes to get the other folks.

Further, when people fail to renew in time, and miss a volume or two, we end up with customer satisfaction problems, and nobody wants that.

[Kevin Greene]

What about the option to do 6,12, or N month subscriptions, but have them autorenew like monthly subscriptions?

Or, do month-to-month like now, but allow account balances so you can prepay into your account. Sometimes it's a lot easier to pay in one lump sum than it is to do it every month.

[Aubrey the Malformed]

Same problem - they have to keep records of when to cut off the subscription. I really don't think it is going to happen. And it isn't a big deal, IMHO.

[Vic Wertz]

Another problem is shipping charges. Since, with a prepaid sub, we wouldn't be able to charge you when we ship, that means you'd have to pay shipping in advance. With an ongoing month-to-month sub, you can choose *how* it's shipped—your cost is tailored to your address. So you can pay more to get it faster, if you like. Without having a giant table of subscription options, we couldn't do that for prepaid subs—you'd be locked in to the cheapest (and slowest) option. Similarly, people have been asking to combine their shipments with other products, which is something we're working hard on. Since you'd have prepaid for shipping, you would gain no savings from such combinations.

For another thing, the price for such a sub—let's face it—would not be attractive. If we set the annualized price at, say, $15/volume, and assumed $4 shipping per book for the US (which is actually too high for some locations, and too low for others), a 12-volume sub would cost you $228. And I promise you that if we had a button on our website that said "12-volume subscription—only $228!", people coming in for the first time wouldn't even *look* at the month-to-month concept, or at the fact that they're getting a 100-page book delivered to their doorstep every month—they'd just leave, perhaps stopping for a moment to complain to us that their subscription to Sports Illustrated is $39 for 56 issues and comes with a free football phone, so we must completely suck.

[Kevin Greene]

I agree that the large yearly price would put many people off (unless maybe there's an extra discount for up front charge, and some of us don't care if it takes longer, we just want the best deal :-) )

Still, I think the option to carry a balance might be feasible...everything would work the same except instead of charging your card, the system would first try to deduct it from your existing balance, otherwise it would charge it.

But it's true that I'd like the ability to combine shipping with other things I've ordered with that month's subscription.

[Fatespinner]

Vic Wertz wrote:

...they'd just leave, perhaps stopping for a moment to complain to us that their subscription to Sports Illustrated is $39 for 56 issues and comes with a free football phone, so we must completely suck.

Hey now! There's an idea! "The Ladies of Pathfinder 2008 Wall Calendar!" And a swimsuit edition! And... and... maybe a Starknife Phone! ZOMGPLZTAKEMYMONEY!!!!