I think he may have been confused by looking at the NYT online store [1]. They will sell you back issues for $7 for a weekday paper, or $12 for a Sunday paper.

I think he may have been confused by looking at the NYT online store [1]. They will sell you back issues for $7 for a weekday paper, or $12 for a Sunday paper. But the back issue price is marked up from the cover price. The newsstand price if you’re buying today’s newspaper in person somewhere is currently $4 for Mon-Sat and $6 on Sunday. [1] https://store.nytimes.com/products/print-newspapers?variant=40695958929478 https://store.nytimes.com/products/print-newspapers?variant=...