Subscription Connection: Article
Monday, January 13, 2003

Be Informed, then Be a Member

"Subscription" is becoming the prevalent pricing model in an ever-growing number of categories including music, games, financial information, sports, news, premium email, dating, community and bulletin boards sites. Fees are charged so that unique, valuable and high quality content can be offered free of obtrusive advertising.

Several sites are usually available from which to chose. However, clicking between various site to discover and compare available options and, ultimately, registering and launching your selected subscriptions is cumbersome. The online subscription process is often far from being easy or user-friendly.

You learn about books, software, movies, restaurants or products through professional or user reviews and through inspecting copies of magazines, books or newspapers. Yet, you continually experience frustrations and obstacles to a satisfying experience in your pursuit of premium, advertising-free content. Some of the more frequently faced questions about online subscriptions include:

1. How much will a subscription cost? Pricing and payment information is often deeply buried in the site, often hidden inaccessibly behind a "free trial period" curtain.
2. How many different pricing alternatives are there (monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc.) and what are the trade-offs among the various payment alternatives?
3. How competitive is the pricing?
4. What are my payment options? Does the site accept phone, fax, mail or online payment? What funding sources are available to me: credit cards, e-payments, checks or mail order?
5. Is content available only through a subscription or is some content free, as well?
6. Are there trial periods and, if so, what are they?
7. Does the site offer a money back guarantee and, if so, under what terms?
8. How easy is to cancel my subscription if my interests change?

Subscription Connection does the basic research and legwork for you by gathering all the information you will ever need before making intelligent choices. Begin your search by browsing according to:

• Name
• Category

or by using our intelligent search feature.

Learn about the features sites offer such as search, archives, downloadable data, notices, newsletters or mailboxes. Uncover payment pricing options and payment methods. Discover whether sites offer trial periods or guarantees. And, most importantly, read highlights and excerpts from the sites themself. Direct, easy links to the site are available so you can inspect sites, first-hand.

Find your next subscription here!

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