magazine renewals?

[ivwshane]

This may not be the correct forum so please feel free to move it.

I have a sub to workbench magazine and its time for renewal. I've been looking around and I found a deal for 3yr sub for less than the cost of a one year from the publisher on ebay.

Has anyone had any issue from buying subs off of ebay?

[stormdog74]

I have bought several off of ebay without problem. I think the key is to look for someone who has been around for awhile (a couple of years at least) and has a very high rating. Also, if their price is significantly lower than anyone else on ebay, then it is a big red flag. A lot of people offer magazines for at a great rate and then disappear, and since it takes a few months to get your magazine, by the time you realize it they are gone.

[stormdog74]

One more thing - although it ships from the publisher, realize that you are buying from an independent contractor who is not tied directly to the company.

[sweensdv]

One more thing - although it ships from the publisher, realize that you are buying from an independent contractor who is not tied directly to the company.

How does one go about selling a particular companies product without having any ties to it? How do they make their money?

[thallikar]

How does one go about selling a particular companies product without having any ties to it? How do they make their money?

Do you think the magazines make money out of subscription fees? It costs lot of money to ship and distribute them. The money is made in advertising, not in subscriptions. That is why you see very good deals on subs.

[sweensdv]

I wasn't talking about the magazines, I was referring to the companies selling the subscriptions.

These companies are of course getting a fee from the magazines for booking those subscriptions which means that they do, in fact, have some type of ties with the magazines.

[stormdog74]

Yes, they, of course, do have some ties, but not directly - by that I meant they are not part of the company. Just like if you buy a tool from Amazon and it never comes, the company that made the tool isn't responsible - Amazon is.

[farkel]

Buyer Beware

I have bought many subscriptions like that and have been burned a couple of times. I always buy from sellers with really high numbers of positive feedback, (i.e. usually 99% plus rating, from least 2000 plus buyers), and even then I have been burned. These sellers are uniformly here today gone tomorrow operations. Overall, I have done much better than paying retail, and it adds a little suspense to the deal, waiting to see if the magazines actually arrive. I have been waiting for months for someone start selling deeply discounted Fine Woodworking subscriptions on Ebay again . . .

[ivwshane]

The one seller I'm looking at has a pretty good amount of feedback but he has only been around since febuary of this year!

[Uncle Cracker]

For eBay subscriptions, I've heard that a seller named "Mag-Mart" is very good and very cheap. I am going to give them a try when my next expiration comes up. Only downside I've heard of is that it sometimes takes 4-5 months for the first issue to arrive. Seems a little slow to me.