In today's world of subscriptions!

[EarnOnVictor]

But it got me thinking of subscriptions in general. These days everything has to be subscribed to. Television, music, software, storage, gaming, and others. My question is, are these subscriptions actually worth it? Are you actually getting your money's worth?

Everybody and companies are looking for ways to maximise their earnings, so you should expect more subscriptions. As long as they offer value, why not? As for whether it's worth it or not, it solely depends on you. Are you getting a value from it? That should answer it, especially if it is making you or your loved ones happy, or getting you occupied when needed.

There is no real transparency and you are not really getting a real breakdown of the costs. But we pay anyway. Are they actually worth it or we just do not have a choice anymore in a world where everything has to be subscribed to?

What do you mean by transparency? I don't see anything hidden in the subscription, as the condition and value are always clearly stated. It is your choice to subscribe or not. Left to me, subscription will not thrive in this world, especially in the movie industry...lol

[Hanadawa]

We now live in an era where subscriptions have become a convenient option, especially for digital products. I've been a YouTube Premium subscriber for a long time because ads now appear almost every minute, unlike a few years ago when ads only appeared at the beginning of videos. So far, YouTube Premium is the most worthwhile subscription for me. I also once subscribed to Netflix just to watch a movie. But oddly enough, once I subscribed, I didn't even know what else to watch because I was only interested in one movie. Yes, subscriptions can have benefits, but on the other hand, they can make people feel compelled to use their subscriptions to avoid losing money. I think this is what subscription providers exploit to keep us engaged with their products.

[davis196]

1.There are platforms like Sharesub, where you could share the costs of a subscription with other people. For example, Youtube Premium family plan can be shared among six people. You get the premium plan and you share it with 5 people, who have to pay you a certain fee.
2.Buy subscriptions at a lower cost. Many people used to sell Spotify premium or Netflix. This is a shady market, but when there's demand, the suppliers appear out of nowhere.
3.Online piracy is still a thing. There are Reddit subreddits about Piracy, where everything is explained in detail.
4.I would never waste money on Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ or any other kind of streaming garbage.
Yes, we live in a "subscription-based online economy" and it kinda sucks, but there are ways around this.

[Porfirii]

After a few years I got used to subscriptions mainly for music and TV, without taking too much control of them, I'm starting to be more conscious of what I really want and what not. It is not only that you pay for services you don't use, but about the time of your life you spend because you feel the urge to take advantage of the service that is costing you money. After finding myself losing hours of life in front of my TV watching films and series I don't really like, just because I'm paying for them, I'm starting to change my habits.

In addition, every time you use these services you're giving out sensitive data about your identity and preferences you don't know where they'll end up.

[Wapfika]

It’s true, Subscription now is terrible compared before. In the past you can watch everything on cable channels with 1 subscription only but right now all the cable channels have different subscription just to watch different category shows such as sports, action, drama and other genre.

So far I only have few subscriptions which is Netflix for movie streaming and spotify for music.

The rest is I watch on free sites in exchange for ads.

[Fiatless]

I am here to tell you that companies are actually getting more from you when you subscribe to their services. Why? First of all, for some reasons we humans tend to subscribe to something and then forget about it immediately. How many subscriptions have you forgotten to cancel?

When you don't have so much money to spend so I don't usually subscribe to services I don't really need. It is common to have a free or trial version of some products which can be tested before a subscription. Before subscribing I ensure that it will be helpful and I will use the services.

Second, when you are subscribed to something in a certain amount of time you might not really use it as much as you thought you would. You might be too comfortable that the service is just there and easily accessible therefore not really making the most out of it. Like in a gym membership where you pay for the whole month but you only go for a few times.

Since the gym management didn't stop you from using it, then it's your fault. Before subscribing to any service, you should make necessary plans to maximise it.

Third, subscriptions are usually in bundles. There is no real transparency and you are not really getting a real breakdown of the costs. But we pay anyway. Are they actually worth it or we just do not have a choice anymore in a world where everything has to be subscribed to?

Some services are monopolised by some firms.  But I don't get the value for my money after using a service, so the subscriptions will not be renewed. I would have to seek an alternative.

[Despairo]

Second, when you are subscribed to something in a certain amount of time you might not really use it as much as you thought you would. You might be too comfortable that the service is just there and easily accessible therefore not really making the most out of it. Like in a gym membership where you pay for the whole month but you only go for a few times.

My question, do they given us an option to use their service for one time/one day instead of subscribe at least for a month? IIRC most companies not offer that, which mean it's different with gym.

If the gym fees $1 per day and $10 per month, you can make a schedule and thinking how many days you will go to gym per month, the most important thing is stick with your plan.

Even at just 10 dollars per subscription, 100 people would make it worthwhile, so it is not that difficult.

It's difficult because it's keep compounding.

Just use your logic, if you can have a nice meal for $2.5, that's mean you gave away 4 nice meals for free.

[Ucy]

Well, it's important to use your subscriptions for things that add value to your life, for the good of your community. Before you subscribe, make sure you note down or memorize valuable things you will be using it for, and if you already subscribed don't use it for things that are not beneficial. And try to avoid using the subscription to access evil things, only the good and beneficial things should be accessed. This is what will help ensure that you get value for the amount of subscription you paid for. Your target could be a minimum of 50% of what you paid for in the subscription, meaning if you pay $5 for a subscription, you use it for consuming products or services that end up worthing $7.5. You recover your $5 subscription fee and your profit is $2.5. Ofcourse, this is the minimum that could be targeted. If you use your subscriptions for super valuable things, the benefits could be over $1000% of your subscription fees. By the way, the benefit is not necessarily financial. It could come inform of good knowledge that can help you improve on your health and spiritual life, to build a great future business, product or service

* Having a list of what to use your subscription for can help you remember to use it and also use as much as you can

[coolcoinz]

It's important that you know where the real problem of subscribing lies and what your biggest mistake as subscribers are.

When you subscribe always buy it when the period ends. If it's a monthly subscription, buy it every month. Don't give them your credit card. I don't even have one, but if you do (which IMO is already a mistake) use a normal bank transfer to pay. Don't use your card because if you go on vacation, or get into an accident and somehow forget about your subscriptions, they'll get renewed automatically.

Sometimes you can get great Black Briday deals for a whole year, so be on the lookout, but again, don't use a card.

[salad daging]

We now live in an era where subscriptions have become a convenient option, especially for digital products. I've been a YouTube Premium subscriber for a long time because ads now appear almost every minute, unlike a few years ago when ads only appeared at the beginning of videos. So far, YouTube Premium is the most worthwhile subscription for me. I also once subscribed to Netflix just to watch a movie. But oddly enough, once I subscribed, I didn't even know what else to watch because I was only interested in one movie. Yes, subscriptions can have benefits, but on the other hand, they can make people feel compelled to use their subscriptions to avoid losing money. I think this is what subscription providers exploit to keep us engaged with their products.

You can see that each Vidio subscription is different, especially for Premier League subscriptions, which are now much more expensive. There are more differences, and one subscription does not allow you to enjoy everything.

Currently, we subscribe to YouTube Premium, Netflix, and WeTv because my wife often watches a lot of movies, so we have no choice but to subscribe.

Perhaps all digital platforms are paid subscriptions, except for the VLC video player, which is still free at the moment.

[Bitcoin Smith]

Let me bring you something different, "If you are not paying for the service, then you are the product" so anyone who uses pirated apps to watch these things for free then you also need to accept that your privacy is already compromised and someone can even spy your camera, mic, contacts, call logs, text messages, etc.

Is it worth paying for it? It's subjective, If you are enjoying the movies that you can watch then it's worth it and if not then just cancel the pack.

If you want the content but not willing to pay then you must be taking a huge risk.

[AmaGold70]

Everything you have said boils down to business, subscribing isn't by force and you have your choice to make, if you want entertainment then you have to pay for it and if you are enjoying the entertainment then it is worth paying for, personally I don't really use my TV subscription the way I was supposed to because I paid for it but I'm always busy and don't really have time for tv but there's this satisfaction I get knowing that I have paid to be entertained and I can tune in anytime anyday I want at my own convenient time. We all know that we don't really use our subscription so as a person we should always be able to identify the things we really need and avoid wasting money on subscription, I don't subscribe on YouTube because I don't use it so I don't waste my money on it.

[boyptc]

After a few years I got used to subscriptions mainly for music and TV, without taking too much control of them, I'm starting to be more conscious of what I really want and what not. It is not only that you pay for services you don't use, but about the time of your life you spend because you feel the urge to take advantage of the service that is costing you money. After finding myself losing hours of life in front of my TV watching films and series I don't really like, just because I'm paying for them, I'm starting to change my habits.

That realization really hits you hard and it is also happening in other people. While I don't subscribe mostly to these entertaining apps and streaming platforms.

I almost tried one but I can't think of myself sitting on the couch and just trying to make every buck worth it by just watching all of the videos and movies that I am not interested with.

I'm already good with the free ones like YT and even it's also taking our data through their algo, at least I am not paying a monthly satisfaction to feel that I am in just like the others who kept subscribed to them.

[Majestic-milf]

 Some people make subscriptions to things they don't really need, either they do it simply because it seemed appealing at the moment or they do it to keep themselves entertained. Sometimes there are two more subscriptions one pays for, then overtime forget about it and then it begins to charged from their accounts and if they don't check this, you'd find that in a month, they have paid for things they really don't need but because they are too busy or lazy to follow up, they just let it be.
 I'd rather pay for say one or two subscriptions because overtime, these things loose their novelty. Work and other things can occupy ones time too much that they may not have the time to enjoy these things so instead of straining your finances it's best to go for what you need and not want.

[Mate2237]

Subscription are more prevalent because because the world is going more to a digital era and this has also affected the way and manner that people especially business where done before so companies and service providers offer services that you can only subscribe to and renew it periodically or monthly this is one way that companies and service providers use in getting much gain from people as it puts a price tag on the services that you are dealing with.




Subscriptions service has taken over everywhere that everything is going towards the way of subscription this is defining the business world as every business man or woman will look for a way to make his business in such a way that people will subscribe into it

[Davidvictorson]

Third, subscriptions are usually in bundles. There is no real transparency and you are not really getting a real breakdown of the costs. But we pay anyway. Are they actually worth it or we just do not have a choice anymore in a world where everything has to be subscribed to?

In today's world Of subscription Services, while I feel that they have made our lives easier, I haven't given it a thought as to maybe there are hidden costs and unfair charges unknown to the customers. Personally, what I don't like about subscribimg is thr marketing strategy of wanting you to pay less for a year and pay more for a month. The calculations makes no sense.

[Salahmu]

It depends on what we're subscribing to and their importance in our daily life. Aren't the sport and TV subscription important because we make use of them frequently. What about the internet that we make use of everyday, aren't they important and their subscription being vital. There are some subscription that aren't worth it because we aren't getting anything positive from their services instead they're the ones enriching their own accounts and going unpunished. When it comes to subscription, we should try as much as we can to do the ones that are necessary and ignore the ones that aren't basic need because the more subscriptions we are getting, the more our life becomes expensive and when we aren't getting more money, it becomes a problem in our life.

Is good you brought Internet on this discussion about subscription because if op feels is not necessary or a waste subscribing TV he might also say the same thing on internet because we are all doing the same subscription for the both, so actually is not just about subscribing on TV or Internet but is about doing it for what is important for us, TV is as important as Internet because without them it affect every ways we manage to get information but however you have also stated my mind about how people should go about the subscription instead because not all channels are supposed to be wasted money on.

[terrific]

Third, subscriptions are usually in bundles. There is no real transparency and you are not really getting a real breakdown of the costs. But we pay anyway. Are they actually worth it or we just do not have a choice anymore in a world where everything has to be subscribed to?

In today's world Of subscription Services, while I feel that they have made our lives easier, I haven't given it a thought as to maybe there are hidden costs and unfair charges unknown to the customers..

Most of the hidden costs are basically the taxes that are also charged to them by the government for having their service.
So what they basically do is pass that on to us, the consumers. But on top of that, they're not breaking down the cost of everything since it's not really a concern of the majority of their customers.

Personally, what I don't like about subscribimg is thr marketing strategy of wanting you to pay less for a year and pay more for a month. The calculations makes no sense.

Well, that's what we call 'promo'.

Soon, we'd see services like food deliveries to us and we'll be paying in subscriptions for the food that we're going to order.
People will start to calculate how much they need in able to survive in a month and if it's that more practical, it's possible that everyone is going to subscribe for monthly food delivery. Are there such services already in the US? I only think of the actual delivery but doesn't include the food.

[DanWalker]

Well I'm a bad person here because I don't subscribe any apps, instead I use pirated version.

I don't understand the mindset of people who subscribe the apps, like, why you need to spend more money when you can get for free? I know it's for appreciating the creators's work, but it's costly I think.

It looks small, but if you calculate it in a year, it's a good sum which you can use to pay something else.

If it were you, would you be willing to spend millions, even billions of dollars to build a service system and provide it for free for everyone to use? I bet you wouldn't be that generous.

You only work for someone when they pay you or you only sell to people when you make a profit. Likewise, they also have their own lives and they need money to maintain that life.

Try to put yourself in the shoes of the producers, providers of those services, the people who have spent effort and money to build those applications and entertainment channels, you will see and understand the importance of subscriptions. And you will also feel it when people tend to prefer to use pirated goods instead of subscribing and licensed products from the supplier (you).

[MArsland]

There is no real transparency and you are not really getting a real breakdown of the costs. But we pay anyway. Are they actually worth it or we just do not have a choice anymore in a world where everything has to be subscribed to?

Whether it's worth it or not depends on the user, for example I subscribe to Netflix every month because I love watching movies plus I don't need to find illegal website sources that are full of advertisements, sometimes the subtitles are bad. With an official subscription we get clear subtitles, no ads and of course the official movies we watch also get official benefits. This is our way of appreciating the work of someone who has presented our favorite movies. So it can be said that it is worth it means mutual benefit to each other. unless you prefer to use illegal services, in addition to harming other parties it is also considered not to appreciate someone's work.