Why is everything turning into a subscription and when will it stop?

Yea I don't see the issue. If you can't afford it or don't see the value don't get it.

I have;

Sky
Netlix
Amazon Prime
Apple Music
Gin subscription

Played several games over the years with subscriptions.

Depends how far you take 'subscription' based. Do you define it as a monthly payment? Well then most bills fall into that category.

Do I need all the above? No. Does it make my life more comfortable? Yes.
 
I'm not overly bother about subscription models. I have Netflix for my commute, Amazon Prime mainly for next day delivery but also for films. I use subscribe and save with Amazon which saves me good money on catfood and various other items. I've used Audible previously but cancelled as it tends to prompt them to send me deals.

The missus is also a great fan of subscription boxes for cosmetics, she keeps the stuff she likes and tends to make the value of the sub back by selling the other items on Ebay.

The only thing that annoys me slightly is the proliferation of subscriber TV services. Back in the day a Sky subscription would pretty much get you everything you could want barring sports and movies (unless you hiked your contract), now we've got Sky, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, DisneyLife, each of which have a number of decent exclusives, I can see being a fan of TV getting more and more expensive.

Having said that monthly costs compared to Sky alone 15 years ago are significantly lower.
 
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Cleisthenes said:
Now that is a middle class subscription, well done that man :p
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I drink a lot of gin. Going tescos (not quite Waitrose middle class :p) I would just get the same gins time and time again. This way I get new gins with no effort.

Plus last time they also included and praline salted caramel spread :D
 
mrochester said:
What about when you stop paying for Spotify?
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To a lot of people, that's as daft as saying "And what happens when you stop paying for your gas and electric?" It's just an accepted monthly outgoing. Why not? Just because it falls under entertainment?

MikeTheNative said:
I got into a argument with Vodaphone about this, I had a contract for 12 months the deal ended and they put my next bill to full price with out telling me it was going up. I refused to pay the extra and threatened to not pay the bill at all, eventually they discounted the extra as a 'goodwill gesture'.
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Back in the day, T-Mobile hiked my monthly bill twice in about 6 months. I think it went up by about 50%. That was the last straw with phone contracts. I don't need a flagship, so I buy a phone outright and use Giffgaff on a monthly rolling 'contract' (which is not really a contract as I can cancel any time).

Generally I'm all for subscriptions. Some things are daft though, you get those silly 'horror' subscriptions that send you a box of tat every month (DVDs, figurines etc. my sister used to have that). Clearly they get manage their margins quite well and send stuff that doesn't cost them much.

In all seriousness it probably comes from the millennial market. Nobody can afford to buy a house, we all rent -- or in other words pay a subscription to our landlord to live there. If you do that for the biggest, most important 'thing' in your life (your home) then why wouldn't you do it for music, movies etc. Then you can look to the USA where most people lease cars. I don't know the ins-and-outs but it seems to work quite well. Why buy something hugely expensive that loses it's value as soon as you drive away, when you could pay a known, fixed monthly fee for a nicer/newer car, then get a new one at the end of 2 years or so. Makes sense to me.

And, I can't see how anyone would struggle with their finances using monthly subscriptions? Surely it's 10 times more easier when you know what is coming out every month? :confused:
 
The subscription model as in like Graze snack boxes, etc, is built on the idea that you will get so used to getting your weekly box or whatever and that you won't want to be without it. So you will carry on subbing and won't cancel it.

Also the whole "it's only the price of a coffee" or "it's only 20p a day" concept annoys me too.
 
subscriptions are fine BUT im not impressed with software moving to subscription models. It absolutely is a way to extract more money, just look at the cost to subscribe to adobe products, or office 365. Windows itself is heading that way (and has 'microsoft 365' ready for businesses) and when it does that will be the end of cheap legit windows keys entirely. Great for Microsoft, they'll be getting more cash in and more regularly so vastly better for cash flow, but bad for the end user.
 
How can anyone be for subscription models, are people really that easily controllable/gullible?

Anything a business does to milk more money from the consumer is BAD/WORSE for the consumer and GOOD/BETTER for the business.
 
I disagree, i prefer software subscriptions in cases such as Office, Adobe and such from both a perspective of a consumer and as someone who works/has worked in IT/Accounts.

Buying the license outright for things like Photoshop and stuff has always been silly money. A subscription gives you flexibility to add or subtract users for professionals, as well as keep you up to date in an ever changing world where more and more apps and devices seem to be able to work together.

The support you get is also a lot better. If you have an issue with a subscription product, then technical support is generally readily available.

Microsoft 365 does not cost a huge amount if you are a user that needs it. Students can get it free or massively discounted depending on the level of education and if you are just a casual user, there are free alternatives that are good enough for most people or you can dish out the extra and get the unlimited license key.

My company changes license numbers regularly so that our costs change with our needs. Purchasing the products outright over a subscription would be incredibly costly and wasteful.

asim18 said:
How can anyone be for subscription models, are people really that easily controllable/gullible?

Anything a business does to milk more money from the consumer is BAD/WORSE for the consumer and GOOD/BETTER for the business.
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How do you propose Netflix, amazon Prime and Spotify price their business?
 
james.miller said:
subscriptions are fine BUT im not impressed with software moving to subscription models. It absolutely is a way to extract more money, just look at the cost to subscribe to adobe products, or office 365. Windows itself is heading that way (and has 'microsoft 365' ready for businesses) and when it does that will be the end of cheap legit windows keys entirely. Great for Microsoft, they'll be getting more cash in and more regularly so vastly better for cash flow, but bad for the end user.
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Absolutely agree. Windows as a subscription is the worst thing that's ever happened. Worst thing is it's now tied into a person's email address instead of machine licences. I used to warn everybody about the problems but all they cared about was that they were getting a "free upgrade" lol. :(
 
asim18 said:
How can anyone be for subscription models, are people really that easily controllable/gullible?

Anything a business does to milk more money from the consumer is BAD/WORSE for the consumer and GOOD/BETTER for the business.
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Because some models work out significantly cheaper for the consumer? Netflix for instance let's say I watch 20 films a month, with a rental fee of £0.99 - £3.99, let's call it £1.50 to be generous, that's £30 a month, I pay Netflix £7.99 I think, net saving for me. Same with Audible and Amazon Prime, subscribe and save offers me significant savings on items that I will buy anyway compared to supermarket prices. Where's the downside, they're all 1 month rolling contracts anyway.
 
Avenged7Fold said:
How do you propose Netflix, amazon Prime and Spotify price their business?
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Prime is basically an advertisement platform, half the crap on Amazon Prime Video - isn't actually on Prime Video lol :D


FortuitousFluke said:
Because some models work out significantly cheaper for the consumer? Netflix for instance let's say I watch 20 films a month, with a rental fee of £0.99 - £3.99, let's call it £1.50 to be generous, that's £30 a month, I pay Netflix £7.99 I think, net saving for me. Same with Audible and Amazon Prime, subscribe and save offers me significant savings on items that I will buy anyway compared to supermarket prices. Where's the downside, they're all 1 month rolling contracts anyway.
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Exactly. By your own admission it's unfair, but because you're the one at an advantage you don't care.
 
james.miller said:
subscriptions are fine BUT im not impressed with software moving to subscription models. It absolutely is a way to extract more money, just look at the cost to subscribe to adobe products, or office 365. Windows itself is heading that way (and has 'microsoft 365' ready for businesses) and when it does that will be the end of cheap legit windows keys entirely. Great for Microsoft, they'll be getting more cash in and more regularly so vastly better for cash flow, but bad for the end user.
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I can see both sides of it. A pure subscription model means that the software publisher doesn't need to support legacy products; the user is always able to upgrade to the latest version for no extra charge. The user usually gets tangible benefits from being subscribed (e.g. extra cloud storage). But I don't like that you can't *choose* to stick to a single version of the software that you've already paid for. I'd love to have Photoshop, and would seriously consider paying a one-off charge for it but I don't use it often enough to justify a monthly purchase.

On the other hand I subscribe to Netflix and Spotify and have an Amazon Prime account. The majority of TV that I watch is through Netflix, and I love the freedom that the Spotify account gives me (though I wish the artists were being paid more).

asim18 said:
How can anyone be for subscription models, are people really that easily controllable/gullible?

Anything a business does to milk more money from the consumer is BAD/WORSE for the consumer and GOOD/BETTER for the business.
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Businesses exist to make money. Of course they're going to come up with ways to extract more from the consumer. As a consumer I'm okay with it as long as I get tangible benefits from that subscription. For example, in the case of Spotify I get access to music that I wouldn't necessarily buy (or take a risk on buying). In the case of Netflix I get a library of current and classic TV and movies that I either wouldn't be able to watch legally or would have to spend a lot of money on to get the boxsets. I can choose to end my subscription at any time with the only downside being that I don't get to listen to the music or watch the TV I've previously 'paid' for. But I'm okay with that, to be honest.
 
asim18 said:
Prime is basically an advertisement platform, half the crap on Amazon Prime Video - isn't actually on Prime Video lol :D.
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You ave conveniently ignored prime as a delivery service, netflix and spotify.

Want to address how those businesses can work with the ongoing costs of running by charging a fixed fee?

People treat subs as a money grabbing conspiracy. They are pricing models that suit some businesses and consumers better than others. If you don't like it, you don't have to buy it...

My personal subscriptions are as follows:

Audible
Spotify
Photoshop only when i do a lot of editing, which is only every 3 or 4 months
 
And then this is what forces people to watch more and more dross mind control shows on netflix, because it's just there and the more crap they watch the more value for money they get.
 
Avenged7Fold said:
You ave conveniently ignored prime as a delivery service, netflix and spotify.

Want to address how those businesses can work with the ongoing costs of running by charging a fixed fee?
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Prime as a delivery service is certainly unfair. Someone could be shipping 100s of packages a month, but they pay the same as someone ordering 20 packages a month.

Don't you see how that is just sad? (honest question) because some customers subsidise services for other customers.
 
If you're on Prime and there is ANYONE out there who orders more packages than yourself, then you are getting shafted. Simple as.
 
asim18 said:
Prime as a delivery service is certainly unfair. Someone could be shipping 100s of packages a month, but they pay the same as someone ordering 20 packages a month.

Don't you see how that is just sad? (honest question) because some customers subsidise services for other customers.
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I think it is sad that people feel the need to blame the company price policy for poorly purchasing an option that is not economical for them and is optional. I have never used prime but ic an see how it is useful to those people shipping 100s of packages.

It is not just subsidized by the other customers by the way, it is subsidized by the lower cost of running a huge business. Prime pays for itself in many cases by encouraging subscribers to use amazon over other cheap alternatives due to the free delivery. Most of the time people wouldn't even check for cheaper alternatives elsewhere because they usually get a cheap deal on amazon with prime.

Fact is that Amazon can steal away more customers from competitors because they have people commit to paying a cost with prime. Yes, some people are getting a bad deal but that is the fault of themselves really. If you subscribe to Sky but then complain that it is too expensive because for this week you only watched 3 hours, who shafted who?
 
Not a big fan of subscription models either. Like to pay upfront where possible. Excluding bills/utilities my only monthly subscriptions are Sky, Prime and gym. Though I am thinking of cancelling Prime. All insurances, professional subscriptions/memberships are paid upfront.

PS makes my blood boil that some charities want out bank details. For this reason we've opted to refuse to give to any that demand this!
 
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