The Monthly Subscription Trend Is Not Sustainable. There Is Going To Be A Breaking Point

Breaking The Monthly Subscription Trend

I’m sure you noticed the monthly subscription trend – that some companies want payment subscriptions from you everywhere you look. Everything from news sites to online articles wants you to pay for the privilege. Let’s look at why this monthly subscription trend is building, where it ends, and whether there’s a better alternative.

My dad was a no-nonsense kind of man. He didn’t mince words or give trends a moment of thought. Even though he didn’t pass away until 2013, he never owned a cell phone or computer, didn’t know what Wi-Fi, podcasts, or even a blog were (even though I was a blogger and podcaster), and never Googled a thing or seen a single social media post in his entire life. His influences came from his upbringing, daily interactions and what little he watched on TV.

One thing I clearly remember my dad saying for years was:

Nickel-and-diming perfectly describes what we’re dealing with today, other than the amount. It’s more like Tens-and-Fifties today. Oh Dad, if you only knew how far it would go.

What Am I Talking About?

I’m talking about monthly and yearly subscriptions. Years ago, someone realized the subscription model was a winning business strategy. Then everyone jumped onto the bandwagon, and today, my monthly bill calendar has daily entries to rival an executive’s busy schedule.

Why Listen To Me?

Note: (Those new to my writing style should know that I don’t follow a script or worry about the proper writing/blogging advice of staying concise, short, and sweet)

Twenty years ago, in 2004, my first real website was CheapAzz.net, where I offered money-saving and frugal tips on a blog-style site.

In 2006, two years before Bitly and the other giants hit the scene, I started an ad-tracking and URL-shortening website, YourAdTracker.com. I used the domain 4U2BN.com as the backend shortening site. It even had a successful referral program.

I mention this because it was a membership website. I had both free and paid memberships available. The free members tracked and shortened links had an embedded banner, paid by advertisers.

If I remember right, the paid membership was $3.25/month ($32.50/yr) after a promotional launch special.

That little website grew quickly. It offered instant link editing, statistics, affiliate link cloaking ability, and paid referrals. Within months, I had to move to a dedicated server and hire a programmer to keep the data and script clean and safe.

I quickly understood the value of owning a paid membership site. Hardly an hour passed without notifications that new payments were deposited, and I almost left my day job. The notifications were ridiculous. It was hard not to walk around looking like an idiot with a smile on my face all day. That was when notifications were fun.

I understand the recurring payment model—the membership model—the subscription model, as well as the potential for residual income from digital sales. The monthly subscription trend.

Still not convinced I know what I’m talking about? How about this? I invented cheese sticks! #TrueStory Nuff said.

The Monthly Nickel-and-Diming (Tens-and-Fifties) Is Nonsense

My bill calendar looks like this. (Highly redacted)

Amazon Music, Ring, Audible, Instant Ink, Netflix, Text Expander, Microsoft, iPostal, Google One, and YouTube. And, for research – don’t judge—NY Times, Wash Post, and Epoch Times.

These monthly subscriptions add up to the level of my wife’s Starbucks habit.

Let’s not forget the annual subscriptions for the forty domains I have, website hosting, Zoom, Costco, Ground News, website themes, website plugins, Substack subscriptions, Buy Me A Coffee subscriptions, Amazon Prime, Inoreader, other website memberships, AAA, LastPass, Sniped, Evernote, Pocket, Grammarly, Bj’s, Proton Mail, Google One, Podcast Addict, Asismet, Readwise, Podbean, Raindrop, and many mobile phone apps (no games).

Notice that nothing mentioned above is the traditional payments we make in modern society, like our mortgage or rent, taxes, utilities, insurance, car payments, credit cards, and finance bills. Those haven’t gone away; they have only increased for the most part, especially for those just starting out.

There Is Going To Be A Breaking Point

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I like Substack. I read a lot and have many interests. I discovered Substack and found more exciting content to read than there are hours in a day. Those publishing on Substack didn’t take long to learn the value of payment subscriptions.

Now you read a few paragraphs only to be smacked with a notice saying, “This post is for paid subscribers.”

Again, I understand. I offer paid subscriptions on one of my Substacks, although the free subscribers see the same content as the paid subscribers. It’s run more on a value-for-value concept.

Even with that, I have no problem with folks earning a living. We all want something for our efforts, myself included. Come on, you just saw my bills.

The problem is obvious. We only have so many five-dollar bills available. If I want to read a dozen blogs (a VERY conservative figure), a few newspapers, and listen to a handful of podcasts, and they all want five bucks a month? We’re already up to $100/month or more, and we haven’t even gotten started.

It’s just too much.

Eventually, people will pull the brakes and jump off the train. We’ve been seeing this with cable for years. With all the people cutting the cord, the cable companies are hemorrhaging. Next, we’ll have people ‘dropping the apps‘ or ‘ditching the media‘ or another more catchy term. It’s just too much.

I’m seeing it big-time while trying to redesign this site and bring some life into it. Buy a WordPress theme for a yearly subscription. Add WordPress plugins for more annual subscriptions. I’ve spent over a hundred dollars in the past two days on this website (HotHolidayOffers), and that’s taking advantage of the Black Friday sales. The problem is, next year, they will renew at full price.

Are Annual Payment Subscriptions Better Than Monthly?

I started paying yearly when it made sense and when I could afford it. “when I could afford it,” I’ll come back to that in a minute.

It makes sense to pay yearly for two reasons. First, you often receive a price break or discount when paying annually. I even offered that deal back in 2006 with my first membership website. Second, it’s less to keep track of, which equals less stress. I have enough debits in a month between the auto-deductions and bill pay. Remember balancing a checkbook?

If you keep a decent payment tracking method, you have months to plan for your larger annual renewal fees. It’s very doable if you have a little discipline.

There may be a third benefit to paying annually if you consider price hikes. For example, if your favorite online newspaper subscription just increased, you won’t have to pay more until it’s time to renew. If you paid monthly, that time would likely be next month.

Back to “when I could afford it.” This is a warning sign that there might be too many debits in your life—and when I say your life, I mean my life as well.

For example, when my annual subscription to Amazon Music, which is $99/year, came around, I couldn’t afford it. I switched to the more costly payment of $9.99/month to keep the service: the same thing and the same costs with my Ring account. I switched to monthly because I couldn’t swing a hundred bucks at the time.

Those are warning signs. Truthfully, in my case, I had a bad first half of the year with a few medical issues, but the signs are still legit.

Even if those debits and payments aren’t hurting you financially, it’s probably causing some stress.

Lifetime Purchases Make More Sense – Sometimes | Breaking The Monthly Subscription Trend

As you’ve seen, some of my biggest payments involve my websites, either directly or indirectly. In fact, when I listed my annual subscription payments above, I stopped short of including those online tools I use for recording audio and video, creating graphics, and editing images. The paragraph was already too long, and it started looking depressing.

Now, enter the “Lifetime Purchase” model. I like this model, especially when deep discounts are involved. However, there are some risks and drawbacks.

First, let’s look at the benefits of paying once for a lifetime of use.

As I mentioned, companies often offer deep discounts for larger expenses.

Also, there’s little to no commitment. It’s a buy once—cry once deal. You don’t have to worry about the next payment date because there isn’t one.

Now, the drawbacks of lifetime deals.

Several years ago, a good friend of mine, Todd Sepulveda, who runs the Ready Your Future Podcast, introduced me to the AppSumo website. I’ll admit, I went a little crazy, like a kid in a candy store. The idea of buying an online tool for a lifetime was ingenious.

I have a page on another one of my sites, Content Creation Tools & Resource Links, that will give you an idea of how many online tools I use, many of which are paid.

Most of what I bought, I have no regrets. Most of my regrets regarding AppSumo were not taking advantage of it when it was available. But, there are several times I was bitten in the butt.

Hosting was a big regret, but I should have seen it coming. I bought into two different lifetime website hosting plans. Both iBrave and BarkWeb both went out of business on me. I guess it was their lifetime, not mine. Actually, I think BarkWeb rebranded or something because I see them around. The sites I had hosted there started redirecting to porn. That’s generally not a good sign.

Yes, Hot HolidayOffers.com was one of those websites. Two days ago, on Thanksgiving, I quickly moved the website to SiteGround and started redesigning and adding content. How am I doing?

I should have seen it coming because running a hosting company is expensive. I should have known that a business model offering a lifetime of use for a single reduced payment isn’t very sustaining.

Most companies running lifetime promotions on AppSumo are there for a limited time and still sell at full price on their websites.

This is something to consider when deciding if a company will be around long term.

Overall, I’ve had a great experience with my AppSumo purchases. There are several tools I don’t use that often, but they are there when I need them without paying again, and that’s a nice feeling.

Wrapping Up The Monthly Subscription Trend Is Not Sustainable. There Is Going To Be A Breaking Point

Eventually, new companies will be unable to ask for a piece of your subscription budget because there will be no more pieces to give, especially while our cost of living outpaces our income.

They’ll have to find another method of earning a profit.

Again, I have no issue with getting paid for our efforts. I’m a big fan of making a profit. I just see the writing on the wall. Too many people asking for too much means someone will go without, no matter how good the product is.

For now, I think the solution is to look carefully before clicking that buy now button or subscription link. Is it really worth $12/month for that online newspaper? They will keep your email box full, and you can be lied to daily for free. Without getting political, you know I’m right—no matter what side of center you fall.

Next, if available, consider investing in the buy once, cry once theory if you can afford it. As I mentioned, be careful. Ask yourself, “Is the business going to be around in two years?” Then ask yourself, “Am I going to use this product enough to justify this larger expense, or will I lose interest in a few months?“

Finally, do what I did earlier this year: do some spring cleaning on your budget. I enjoyed cutting my expenses by deleting a bunch of my payment subscriptions. Yep, you should have seen that bill calendar back in May.

And I’m not finished. Writing this piece helped me see several payments I no longer need.

You know what? Before I close out, I just thought of something else I want to share…

Back when I was running YourAdTracker, one of the most common comments I received when people were canceling their payment subscription was,

“I’ve meant to cancel this payment for a year but kept forgetting to do it.“

That small payment of $3.25/month was so small, even back in 2006, that people continued to pay me rather than cancel. I knew exactly what was happening, but I never felt the need to send “Don’t forget to cancel” emails. I’m not an idiot. LOL

That’s enough for now. See ya,
Brian

Brian D. Hawkins wrote this article without the help of AI or an outside editor and originally cross-published it on two different Mighty Mix Media websites, HotHolidayOffers.com and TheOpinionBlog.com. The featured image was created from Brian’s actual ‘bill book.’