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Time Magazine - $5 PER ISSUE?

mrgreen4242

mrgreen4242

macrumors 601
Original poster
Feb 10, 2004
4,377
9
Saw Time has a digital edition of their magazine listed on Apppshopper.com... for $5. It was date specific, just this weeks issue, for $5.

You can get a YEAR sub to Time for $20 if you hunt around a little, $30 with almost no effort. I was really looking forward to getting Time and other magazines digitally, but they apparently don't get digital distribution.
 
It depends if there are ads. I've worked supporting publishing and the existing model allows for practically free distribution as they are paid more per page based on verified readership.

If there are no ads - I get it. If there are ads, they are screwing us. I'd rather see ads just like the hard copy - and pay subscription prices (nobody pays newstand prices, cmon).
 
with the iPad in its infancy, the pricing has yet to be influenced by competition and the market.

Right now they are trying to get max profits while they can because we, as consumers have nothing to compare it to (except to news stand prices when it comes to magazines) or many alternatives to choose from.

This goes for Magazines and Apps.

Give it time, the pricing will work itself out.
 
h00ligan said:
It depends if there are ads. I've worked supporting publishing and the existing model allows for practically free distribution as they are paid more per page based on verified readership.

If there are no ads - I get it. If there are ads, they are screwing us. I'd rather see ads just like the hard copy - and pay subscription prices (nobody pays newstand prices, cmon).
Click to expand...

Frankly, I appreciate ads in magazines. some of them are worth checking out, and they're usually presented tastefully - not so "in your face".

I just hope this is a case of "starting out with a high price, and lowering to find the ideal point". It's really hard to raise prices, so it's best to start high, and slowly lower them.
 
As far as I can tell all their content is online anyway. So you're basically paying for an iPad formatted version. This thing should be free to $1.

But, hey how else will the iPad save the print media if it's not through price gouging...
 
Folks should check out the individual pricing on magazines at the checkout line in the grocery store next time you're there.
 
Why is anyone surprised that we would spend $5 an issue for a magazine? if you go to the store don't you spend $5 for a magazine or more?
 
mrgreen4242 said:
Saw Time has a digital edition of their magazine listed on Apppshopper.com... for $5. It was date specific, just this weeks issue, for $5.

You can get a YEAR sub to Time for $20 if you hunt around a little, $30 with almost no effort. I was really looking forward to getting Time and other magazines digitally, but they apparently don't get digital distribution.
Click to expand...

And how much is a single issue if you buy it off the newsstand? That's the comparison you need to make.
 
I hope companies get a clue in 2011. Pricing is nuts, to me, sometimes.

For instance, I'll be on Amazon and see a hard copy of a book for $25. The Kindle copy is $23. Um, what?

Time for $5 a copy is hilarious. Should be 99 cents maybe. And if it's loaded with ads, free.

Unfortunately, people buying things at over inflated pricing = support, which in turn keeps things as they are.
 
RebelRed said:
I hope companies get a clue in 2011. Pricing is nuts, to me, sometimes.

For instance, I'll be on Amazon and see a hard copy of a book for $25. The Kindle copy is $23. Um, what?

Time for $5 a copy is hilarious. Should be 99 cents maybe. And if it's loaded with ads, free.

Unfortunately, people buying things at over inflated pricing = support, which in turn keeps things as they are.
Click to expand...


Sorry to rain on your parade, but digital format is needed to save the magazine industry. This industry needs to make close to what they have been making per issue to survive. I have no problem paying $5 per issue for magazine just like I did when I picked one up off the shelf. I'll even subscribe if it's one like Sports Illustrated demoed a few months back.
 
RebelRed said:
Time for $5 a copy is hilarious. Should be 99 cents maybe. And if it's loaded with ads, free.
Click to expand...

Why should it be free? If I bought the actual magazine it would have ads, I have to pay for that.

When I go to the movies, they make me watch previews for other movies, therefore the movie I am seeing should be free?
 
I personally think what is going to happen will be just like it is now. If you want just one copy then $5 you will have to pay. If you want to sign up for a subscription then you can pay $30 a year or something like that. That would be the smart way to do it IMO.
 
Shouldn't the digital copy be a little bit cheaper though since there's no paper printing cost involved?
 
Having worked in the magazine publishing industry a bit, it's my opinion that publishers are only really interested in subscribers. When they sell you a single issue it is hard to sell "your eyes" to advertisers, but if they sell you a sub they can let advertisers know that *your* will be seeing their ads every issue for a year, or whatever time they are looking to advertise for.

Also, news stand price is almost completely vendor profit. The publisher gets a small chuck of the sale, the store gets most of it. It's essentially just a (fairly cheap) advertisement for their subscriptions.

There's really no justification for their pricing, imo. They should have given away a reader app and sold subs or single issues in it at a SANE price ($20-30 a year, $1 for single issues seems pretty reasonable), gone ad supported, free only, or just not bothered at all.
 
RebelRed said:
I

Time for $5 a copy is hilarious. Should be 99 cents maybe. And if it's loaded with ads, free.

Unfortunately, people buying things at over inflated pricing = support, which in turn keeps things as they are.
Click to expand...

You really have no concept of the costs to produce a magazine like Time, do you?
 
Aside from the obvious - also consider that to produce content - regularly- for the iPad involved additional staff, programming, etc. It's not like they are simply scanning each page and throwing it into an eDoc. The content, from what I understand is much more interactive, clickable, etc. That doesn't magically happen. It's created. A UI had to be developed. etc etc

So saying that it should be free - or that there's no cost to put out the magazine electronically is a bit shortsighted. Look at the big picture.
 
I have a magazine on my desk right now that says $6.50 USA and $7.50 Canada. So $5 for Time not so bad and you don't have to get a copy each week if you don't want that issue and one less mag to throw away if it's not one you want to keep for a couple of years and then throw away because you don't know why you saved it in the first place.
 
Somehow it's supposed to include a print copy with the price, so I guess you could look at the price as a 2 for 1.
 
al256 said:
Somehow it's supposed to include a print copy with the price, so I guess you could look at the price as a 2 for 1.
Click to expand...

I read that as it has all the content of the print edition, plus extra content (video, etc) which is probably just the web exclusive content packaged in.
 
I think $5 is obviously too much, and I highly doubt many people will buy it at that price point. While it might be the same as a print edition on the newstands, people have different expectations when it comes to the internet. Its just a fact, people have been getting free news and articles online for years now, and suddenly magazines and newspapers want to charge full price for them and I think there will be a backlash.

I think a better way to go would be first only charge 99 cents for a single issue of a magazine. Then, offer a subscription price that is a little less than what you pay for a physical subscription. So if a year of Time is $30, then the online one could be $25 say. Then, make sure that if you do buy the physical subscription, you also get a code so you can get a digital subscription free along with it.

I think that framework will be much more successful.
 
mrgreen4242 said:
I read that as it has all the content of the print edition, plus extra content (video, etc) which is probably just the web exclusive content packaged in.
Click to expand...

Ohh... I thought they might have some way for you to contact them inside the app and they will send that issue to your address. You get the magazine, they get information about you and will try to sell you a subscription.
 
mrgreen4242 said:
There's really no justification for their pricing, imo. They should have given away a reader app and sold subs or single issues in it at a SANE price ($20-30 a year, $1 for single issues seems pretty reasonable), gone ad supported, free only, or just not bothered at all.
Click to expand...

I have to agree. Furthermore, digital subscriptions should "come with" your paper subscription (i.e. free if you already get the magazine/paper). If you want "digital only", you should be discounted the cost of printing & delivering the hard copy. That way the magazine/paper is making just as much money off subscriptions.

Trouble is, they're trying to be greedy, and starting out with a high price point because they're worried about leaving money on the table. I just hope when that flops, they figure out they're just charging too much, and don't think that the whole concept of digital subscriptions is DOA.

In the meantime, they're just pissing-off their subscriber base, who knows they're getting screwed. Some way to run (i.e. ruin) a business.
 
Bodhi395 said:
I think $5 is obviously too much, and I highly doubt many people will buy it at that price point. While it might be the same as a print edition on the newstands, people have different expectations when it comes to the internet. Its just a fact, people have been getting free news and articles online for years now, and suddenly magazines and newspapers want to charge full price for them and I think there will be a backlash.

I think a better way to go would be first only charge 99 cents for a single issue of a magazine. Then, offer a subscription price that is a little less than what you pay for a physical subscription. So if a year of Time is $30, then the online one could be $25 say. Then, make sure that if you do buy the physical subscription, you also get a code so you can get a digital subscription free along with it.

I think that framework will be much more successful.
Click to expand...

Bingo! This is what I've been saying forever... and your post is the FIRST time I've heard someone else say the same thing. Thanks. You'd think it's so freaking obvious... In the meantime, they're completely screwing this up.
 
A large portion of the newsstand cost of Time is the following.

#1 Paper
#2 Ink
#3 Cost of transportation to store sites.
#4 Cost of unused product ending up getting destroyed.
#5 Cost of printing and stapling.

Yet the digital version has none of the above. What they are doing is being greedy and trying to pocket the spread.
 
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