# Is this site reputable? What's the catch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 29, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243 "2003-06-29T23:58:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/1 "2003-06-29T23:58:37Z")
This site lists on-line magazine merchants that offer incredulous sounding deals on subscriptions. $1.18 a year for Discover sounds to good to be true. My brother just ordered a subscription to Men’s Health through them, and was concerned that it is written that he wouldn’t receive his first issue for up to two months. He was thinking that this being the amount of time that credit card companies give you for putting in a complaint might be more than coincidence. Does anyone know if this is on the up and up? [edited to remove link] ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/2 "2003-06-30T00:12:57Z")
I googled it and didn’t find anything except ads and recommendations for the site, and they’re not mentioned at all on [ripoffreport.com](http://ripoffreport.com)… (I searched for magazinepricesearch, [magazinepricesearch.com](http://magazinepricesearch.com), and magazine price search) ---
**Author:** ![Yuki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@Yuki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yuki)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/3 "2003-06-30T00:19:47Z")
You may want to also research Amazing Bargains, since a register search for the domain name pulls up [amazing-bargains.com](http://amazing-bargains.com) as the owner of that domain name. I didn’t find anything under either name in the BBB website. It seems to me that they don’t provide the services themselves but they are associated with the businesses that do. ---
**Author:** ![kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f9ae1b/32.png) [@kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirk)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/4 "2003-06-30T01:16:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by x-ray vision \* > \*\* > My brother just ordered a subscription to Men’s Health through them, and was concerned that it is written that he wouldn’t receive his first issue for up to two months. He was thinking that this being the amount of time that credit card companies give you for putting in a complaint might be more than coincidence. Does anyone know if this is on the up and up? \*\* Two months is about the average length of time for a monthly magazine subscription to start. I’ve used [www.bestdealmagazines.com](http://www.bestdealmagazines.com) for the past three years without problems. [edited to break link] ---
**Author:** ![MichaelColey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@MichaelColey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelColey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/5 "2003-06-30T03:27:21Z")
Hi there! I’m Michael Coley, and I run [MagazinePriceSearch.com](http://MagazinePriceSearch.com) (and [Amazing-Bargains.com](http://Amazing-Bargains.com)). I noticed some traffic to my site from this thread, so I thought I would check it out. Cool message board! Can’t believe I never ran across it before. [remainder of message deleted] ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/6 "2003-06-30T03:30:01Z")
Welcome. You’ll get the bill for your advertising in about two months. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/7 "2003-06-30T05:00:55Z")
HAHAHA… now THAT, my friends, is good PR. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/8 "2003-06-30T05:02:34Z")
He registered too… Wonder if we can get free mags? ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/9 "2003-06-30T05:09:35Z")
Nah, I think we should cut him some slack. I mean, how often do questions about specific sites (or specific anything) get a response from people actually involved with it? So give him a 15%-off discount. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/10 "2003-06-30T06:54:58Z")
Maybe we could ask him to answer any questions people have about magazines & subscriptions. Like why do magazines I subscribe to arrive days of even weeks after the new issue appears on the newsstand? Do the publishers care less about me, a long-time subscriber, than new customers from the newsstand? ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/11 "2003-06-30T07:28:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by [t-bonham@scc.net](mailto:t-bonham@scc.net) \* > \*\*Maybe we could ask him to answer any questions people have about magazines & subscriptions. > Like why do magazines I subscribe to arrive days of even weeks after the new issue appears on the newsstand? Do the publishers care less about me, a long-time subscriber, than new customers from the newsstand? \*\* Yeah! I deserve to get my porn before the general public! ---
**Author:** ![MichaelColey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@MichaelColey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelColey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/12 "2003-06-30T11:44:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by [t-bonham@scc.net](mailto:t-bonham@scc.net) \* > **Maybe we could ask him to answer any questions people have about magazines & subscriptions.** I’d be glad to take a stab at any general magazine-related questions. I don’t know all the answers, but I can guess with the best of them! 😃 > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by [t-bonham@scc.net](mailto:t-bonham@scc.net) \* > Like why do magazines I subscribe to arrive days of even weeks after the new issue appears on the newsstand? Do the publishers care less about me, a long-time subscriber, than new customers from the newsstand? \*\* Cynical answer: Probably because the publisher already has your money. Likely answer: Newsstand issues are delivered by jobbers who are able to deliver on a specific day. Subscription issues are delivered by the USPS at perhaps the cheapest rate available, so who knows how long it will take to deliver. Some may come before they appear on newsstands (and I think that’s more typical, but I don’t visit newsstands very regularly) and some may appear after they’re already on the newsstands. Michael Coley [edited to remove links] ---
**Author:** ![MercyStreet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@MercyStreet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MercyStreet)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/13 "2003-06-30T12:05:13Z")
I can vouch for Amazing Bargains. I never order anything online without consulting that site for discount codes. It routinely saves me 20% to 25% and often gets me free shipping to boot. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/14 "2003-06-30T15:17:54Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, **MichaelColey**. It is understandable that you would want to answer the question about your own site. However, I have edited your first post to remove most of the text and your second post to remove the links to your sites. Your posts contained advertising, which we do not allow here. You are of course welcome to purchase advertising here. See [http://www.chireader.com/readerinc/Onlinerate.html](http://www.chireader.com/readerinc/Onlinerate.html) for details. I am going to ask you not to post links to your commercial sites in the future. This includes the signature line in your profile, which you will want to update. Failure to comply with our policies will result in the loss of your posting privileges. bibliophage moderator GQ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/15 "2003-06-30T17:34:24Z")
With the noted exception of Consumers Reports- the publisher wants you to be counted as a “paid subscriber” far more than he wants your subscrition money. I used to work for Hearst, and I was having problems figuring out the economics of Newspapers subscriptions. This was explained to me, and now I’ll share it with you. Advertising is charged on an audited PAID subscription total. Mostly- those handed out “free” aren’t counted (advertisers figure that dudes who don’t want a mag/paper enough to pay for it won’t read it). And ads pay for the bulk of what is printed- not subscriptions. Thus- very cheap sub rates- and worse yet, when some of these subcontractors get your subscription- nothing really is left over for the actual publisher. The Publisher might well lose some $ on this, even after advertising- it could be a loss leader (see below) Not that your $$ is scorned mind you. Many dudes, if they like something will re-subscribe for years- if not decades. And, that means a constant flow of cash coming in- not to mention another “paid subscription”. Mike- please stick around. Sure, they edited out the link, but the Mods did keep in the actual site addy, so if we REALLY want to-we can find you. You’ll build up some goodwill, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Moeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@Moeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moeman)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/16 "2003-06-30T20:19:02Z")
Yes, stick around. You never know when your experience will be needed. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelColey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@MichaelColey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelColey)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-site-reputable-whats-the-catch/185243/17 "2003-07-01T16:04:36Z")
Thanks, guys! I certainly plan on sticking around. Like I said, this is a cool forum. I’m only going to be online about 3-4 hours a day for the next couple weeks (versus 18+ hours a day), so you probably won’t see a lot of me during that time. Michael