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People Are Sick and Tired of All Their Subscriptions

zeroonetwothree 2y ago
https://archive.is/QCCGm https://archive.is/QCCGm
gnabgib 2y ago
(2023) Discussion (68 points, 52 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35546133 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35546133
Janymos 2y ago
-- "Continue reading your article with a WSJ subscription"
- zgk7iqea 2y ago
  the joke practically writes itself
  - a2128 2y ago
    A bit like that Wired article about how the web became unreadable: https://i.imgur.com/xZFeFa3.png https://i.imgur.com/xZFeFa3.png
beardyw 2y ago
I just set up a reminder to cancel every 3 months. At least I have to dismiss it.
7bit 2y ago
This comes to no surprise due to my personal views. I much rather want to be reminded to losing money, then having to remember to stop losing money. One naturally gives me peace of mind, the other is just stressful.
HelloMcFly 2y ago
I will typically advocate for digital envelope budgeting in general, but certainly this practice helps keep you informed of your subscriptions so you "feel" them every time.
josephd79 2y ago
$25 a month for a satellite radio sub is insane. That along since most people have a phone no wonder they're losing subscribers.
- _mlbt 2y ago
  That’s for the all access package with news, talk, and sports. If you just want music it’s $10 a month, which is much more reasonable. Plus, it’s been my experience that if you’re willing to call them and go through the charade of threatening to cancel they’ll give you a better deal.
  - gs17 2y ago
    Still, Spotify is $11 and you can take it places that aren't your car (plus listening to whatever you want, which for me is a big deal), or $12 to also get audiobooks too.
rchaud 2y ago
The shift from one-time payments to subscriptions has felt to me like the shift from email to Slack/Discord. I can't keep up. Just saw an ad on TV about an app, just to keep track of your subscriptions! Thank goodness for one-time payment software+apps, and physical media!
- JohnFen 2y ago
  This is one of the main reasons why I avoid subscriptions like the plague. The overhead of keeping track of them is so much more work than its worth. The other reason is that I generally prefer to avoid fixed recurring expenses, particularly small ones. > Thank goodness for one-time payment software+apps, and physical media! I agree. I am glad there are still options that I consider reasonable.
cedws 2y ago
I’d love to see a ‘micropayments’ model. Instead of a monthly subscription, you pay a fair price based on usage. So instead of however much a month for Netflix, you pay maybe a fraction of a dollar to watch a movie. Or to listen to a song on Spotify, you pay a fraction of a penny. Maybe I’d be happy to pay WSJ a few cents to read this article if it were a quick and painless user experience. With this I don’t have to juggle subscriptions and pay for something I don’t use. Companies could set the rates at a level that would generate the same amount of revenue.
- martin_a 2y ago
  flattr is dead, probably for a good reason. Maybe it was unfeasible, maybe it was greed, but it was there and worked.
- jowea 2y ago
  I feel people don't want the feeling of expending money when using a service. It just makes using the service feel bad. Although that's how electricity and water "subscriptions" work.
  - stackskipton 2y ago
    And my electric company/water company offer ability to pay single amount per month which is average of your 12 month bill. So it’s clear people dislike that model as well.
    - kkielhofner 2y ago
      Living in a climate (Wisconsin) that has extreme highs and lows my understanding is this is typically intended to smooth-out a gas bill (as one example) moving from $10/mo in the summer to $400/mo in the winter. It’s a budgeting thing.
  - abadpoli 2y ago
    Electricity and water are things that we don’t mind (or even want) people using less of. The same can’t really be said for Spotify etc.
Havoc 2y ago
I try to mostly immediately cancel on signup now. At least for yearly ones. Too easy to get caught in the 75% off and auto renew at full price trap otherwise Looking at you The Economist
- lsaferite 2y ago
  My 'fav' is when they jack up a yearly subscription fee by 40%, barely notify you with an email that gets tagged as spam, charge you, then have AI customer service with zero ability to get a person when you try to dispute the charge and revert the subscription. Sony lost a customer for life due to this. And I'm stuck with another year of their service when I don't have a PS5 that I play anymore. Paypal did as well for refusing to properly dispute the charge. I wasn't even trying to get 100% back, just the unapproved price increase. I'm not bitter at all. Disney did the same when they jacked up the Disney+ subscription, but they at least had the wherewithal to allow me cancel the subscription on demand and prorate the refund. I won't subscribe to Disney+ again, but I don't have unbridled anger towards them like I do for Sony. In the end, narrowing the footprint of services I use is ultimately a good thing, Those bad interactions are forcing me to do something I should have done earlier.
temporallobe 2y ago
The irony of this article being behind a subscription paywall is hilarious.
NewWebDev 2y ago
The subscription system is a good way to generate income for developers, but it is somewhat unfriendly to users. Users will always forget the products they have subscribed to before, and users will feel that they have lost a lot of money in vain. Sometimes, some users will report you due to automatic subscription issues, resulting in the payment account being banned. I hope there will be revenue models other than advertising, subscriptions, alliances, and donations. Every product needs to find a good revenue model.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
askthrowaway 2y ago
I like how OpenAI API price model work, you pay X amount then use the service until you run out of the charged amount then you can charge it again. Actually it is how Telecom companies price model worked since decades, and probably the most fairly model, you are not charged while not using the service and the service provider get paid up front instead of at the end of the month
greatgib 2y ago
In addition to be unfriendly for users, with all the subscriptions it starts to be expensive for users. Like where you would have bought a fixed price app before like 50$ now for the same things you will have to pay 10$ a month without even the possibility to resell the app later. And look at things like the Xbox, you can't play a multiplayer game (that you bought) even just with your friends without having to pay a 10$ racketeering fee to Microsoft. And once you have no choice anymore, companies tend to insanely increase the fee yearly.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
Log_out_ 2y ago
This will end in a auto unsubscribe law at 31.12.Yyyy every year, with a user driven renewal.

https://archive.is/QCCGm https://archive.is/QCCGm

(2023) Discussion (68 points, 52 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35546133 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35546133

Janymos 2y ago

-- "Continue reading your article with a WSJ subscription"

zgk7iqea 2y ago
the joke practically writes itself
- a2128 2y ago
  A bit like that Wired article about how the web became unreadable: https://i.imgur.com/xZFeFa3.png https://i.imgur.com/xZFeFa3.png

beardyw 2y ago

I just set up a reminder to cancel every 3 months. At least I have to dismiss it.

7bit 2y ago

This comes to no surprise due to my personal views. I much rather want to be reminded to losing money, then having to remember to stop losing money. One naturally gives me peace of mind, the other is just stressful.

HelloMcFly 2y ago

I will typically advocate for digital envelope budgeting in general, but certainly this practice helps keep you informed of your subscriptions so you "feel" them every time.

josephd79 2y ago

$25 a month for a satellite radio sub is insane. That along since most people have a phone no wonder they're losing subscribers.

_mlbt 2y ago
That’s for the all access package with news, talk, and sports. If you just want music it’s $10 a month, which is much more reasonable. Plus, it’s been my experience that if you’re willing to call them and go through the charade of threatening to cancel they’ll give you a better deal.
- gs17 2y ago
  Still, Spotify is $11 and you can take it places that aren't your car (plus listening to whatever you want, which for me is a big deal), or $12 to also get audiobooks too.

rchaud 2y ago

The shift from one-time payments to subscriptions has felt to me like the shift from email to Slack/Discord. I can't keep up. Just saw an ad on TV about an app, just to keep track of your subscriptions! Thank goodness for one-time payment software+apps, and physical media!

JohnFen 2y ago
This is one of the main reasons why I avoid subscriptions like the plague. The overhead of keeping track of them is so much more work than its worth. The other reason is that I generally prefer to avoid fixed recurring expenses, particularly small ones. > Thank goodness for one-time payment software+apps, and physical media! I agree. I am glad there are still options that I consider reasonable.

cedws 2y ago

I’d love to see a ‘micropayments’ model. Instead of a monthly subscription, you pay a fair price based on usage. So instead of however much a month for Netflix, you pay maybe a fraction of a dollar to watch a movie. Or to listen to a song on Spotify, you pay a fraction of a penny. Maybe I’d be happy to pay WSJ a few cents to read this article if it were a quick and painless user experience. With this I don’t have to juggle subscriptions and pay for something I don’t use. Companies could set the rates at a level that would generate the same amount of revenue.

martin_a 2y ago
flattr is dead, probably for a good reason. Maybe it was unfeasible, maybe it was greed, but it was there and worked.
jowea 2y ago
I feel people don't want the feeling of expending money when using a service. It just makes using the service feel bad. Although that's how electricity and water "subscriptions" work.
- stackskipton 2y ago
  And my electric company/water company offer ability to pay single amount per month which is average of your 12 month bill. So it’s clear people dislike that model as well.
  - kkielhofner 2y ago
    Living in a climate (Wisconsin) that has extreme highs and lows my understanding is this is typically intended to smooth-out a gas bill (as one example) moving from $10/mo in the summer to $400/mo in the winter. It’s a budgeting thing.
- abadpoli 2y ago
  Electricity and water are things that we don’t mind (or even want) people using less of. The same can’t really be said for Spotify etc.

Havoc 2y ago

I try to mostly immediately cancel on signup now. At least for yearly ones. Too easy to get caught in the 75% off and auto renew at full price trap otherwise Looking at you The Economist

lsaferite 2y ago
My 'fav' is when they jack up a yearly subscription fee by 40%, barely notify you with an email that gets tagged as spam, charge you, then have AI customer service with zero ability to get a person when you try to dispute the charge and revert the subscription. Sony lost a customer for life due to this. And I'm stuck with another year of their service when I don't have a PS5 that I play anymore. Paypal did as well for refusing to properly dispute the charge. I wasn't even trying to get 100% back, just the unapproved price increase. I'm not bitter at all. Disney did the same when they jacked up the Disney+ subscription, but they at least had the wherewithal to allow me cancel the subscription on demand and prorate the refund. I won't subscribe to Disney+ again, but I don't have unbridled anger towards them like I do for Sony. In the end, narrowing the footprint of services I use is ultimately a good thing, Those bad interactions are forcing me to do something I should have done earlier.

temporallobe 2y ago

The irony of this article being behind a subscription paywall is hilarious.

NewWebDev 2y ago

The subscription system is a good way to generate income for developers, but it is somewhat unfriendly to users. Users will always forget the products they have subscribed to before, and users will feel that they have lost a lot of money in vain. Sometimes, some users will report you due to automatic subscription issues, resulting in the payment account being banned. I hope there will be revenue models other than advertising, subscriptions, alliances, and donations. Every product needs to find a good revenue model.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

askthrowaway 2y ago

I like how OpenAI API price model work, you pay X amount then use the service until you run out of the charged amount then you can charge it again. Actually it is how Telecom companies price model worked since decades, and probably the most fairly model, you are not charged while not using the service and the service provider get paid up front instead of at the end of the month

greatgib 2y ago

In addition to be unfriendly for users, with all the subscriptions it starts to be expensive for users. Like where you would have bought a fixed price app before like 50$ now for the same things you will have to pay 10$ a month without even the possibility to resell the app later. And look at things like the Xbox, you can't play a multiplayer game (that you bought) even just with your friends without having to pay a 10$ racketeering fee to Microsoft. And once you have no choice anymore, companies tend to insanely increase the fee yearly.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

Log_out_ 2y ago

This will end in a auto unsubscribe law at 31.12.Yyyy every year, with a user driven renewal.