buying quilting magazines at a retail store vs subscription
 

Do you subscribe to quilting magazines or buy them when one catches your eye at the store? Here is my situation. Due to the economy i subscribe to only one. the other day i was at a local drugstore and checked out the selection of quilting magazines. You know how sometimes they put a bonus pattern in the shrink wrap? well there was one of a reversable table topper/runner - one side was christmas trees and the other was candy corn. i had it in my hand to buy and realized it was the one i subscribe to American Patchwork & Quilting. i contacted them and in all fairness to them didn't realize my email box was full :( . So here i sit wondering where I could get this pattern. It seems to me as a subscriber I should get the bonus patterns they offer at the store, right?

i would say 'not necessarily'. the magazine may offer the bonus pattern as an incentive for people to buy the magazine at the newsstand. at the newsstand, the magazine would cost full price. if, with the bonus pattern, the magazine gets a new subscriber, then the bonus pattern did its job.

I understand your dilemma, but can't really agree with your reasoning. Subscription copies cost so much less than those on the shelf, that I can understand it. But QuiltnNan really hit the nail on the head I think ... they're roping in new subscribers for sure! (But, like you, I would want it, too!!! Sometimes we just can't win!!! :) )

I would think a subcription is just that , a year or what ever the term of the payment is , for the issues in full for the entire year . You did not subsribe to the "lite"version/subscription.

I must admit that I thumb through the magazines before I buy them. If they don't have anything that interests me on the content page, I don't buy it. The cost of a magazine subscription is a lot more than I can pay for them at the Walmart with their discount. If a magazine is in the plastic, it stays on the shelf. Too many times I've been suckered into the purchase only to be disappointed in the content. I think they do it on purpose as a marketing ploy. They know it's a mediocre issue so they throw in an "extra". I find that most of the quilt magazine are getting very repetive and I only buy a few now.

ok thanks for making me see the other side of the story! i probably will go get it and just give the magazine to my sister who quilts. win-win situation! i guess i had to vent a little.

I always go through the ones at the news stand as well with the prices they charge I don't want to get it home and find out there's nothing I like. My husband and sister were very nice this year they both got me a subscription to different magazines. American Quilter and the McCall's quilting magazine and of course Ms. Paula Deen! So the only one's I really purchase this year are my Fons and Porter ones, I might ask for that one next yr!

This complaint is quite common amoung us. I agree the subscriptions should contain what they sell on the stand. Nothing wrong with getting new customers but they should keep the ones they allready have.

The same thing is happening with a retail store. I buy all my clothes, etc., from them, but they always send "others" discount coupons, offers, etc. Since I shop there alot, I guess they feel they have me hooked.

How refreshing :) ask a tough question, respect the answer, find positives. Love it :)

I purchase mine from the store so I can pick which ones I really want and not just recieve the all.

Ive cut back on mag subscriptions since they are just eye candy for me. The patterns are usually not the easiest method to use and if Im interested in a quilt by the time I finish what Im working on Ive forgotten about that pattern. It is a big hassle to try and find a pattern in a stack of magazines so like I said they are just eye candy for me.
Fun to look forward to finding in my mailbox and spending time reading them, but have never used a pattern in one.

I have let all my subscriptions lapse but I was at Fry's Electronics last night and noticed that they had four quilting magazines I hadn't seen yet, so I picked them up. Then on the way back past that rack, I noticed some more, so I got those too! :)

I hardly ever look inside the magazine before I buy it. If the cover interests me, I buy it, but I want the contents to be new to me when I sit down with my cup of coffee. ;-)

I think most of the time, the stuff they put into those plastic covers is junk. I'm sorry they put something really interesting into this one. I've been looking all over their site and haven't even found a single reference to that tabletopper. :(

i subscribe to a quilt mag every few years--but never more than one, and never for more than a year. then i let it ride for a while. it seems that things get repetitive after a year, and i already have pattern books galore. like ragqueen03 said, i don't like being excluded from the "carrots" they dangle in front of the retail buyers, either. i like being able to see what's inside an issue, and pick and choose what i spend my bucks on. i know there are occasionally new revelations in the quilting world, and it's nice to find out about them--but hey, that's why i like this board!

I totally agree.

I subscribe to some and buy others when I like them.
I've wondered the same thing, why does a new /random customer get something extra that regular subscribers DO NOT ???
What BURNS me up the MOST (and it's not just the quilt mags) is when they offer a LOWER PRICE to NEW subscribers than for RENEWALS !!!
What happened to rewarding your LOYAL LONGTIME READERS ???

did you check their site to see if it was there under free or bonus patterns?

Last night I was going down to my sister's to do some sewing (never works out - we never get around to sewing - lol) but I stopped and picked up the magazine. I am soo glad I did. The pattern was rated for a beginner (which is definitely me!) but the pattern has so many possibilites - table runners, coasters, mug rugs, candle mats! I gave my sister the magazine (her birthday was a couple of days ago so cheap gift - haha!)But on the subject of sewing - we made a real quick version of a snap bag - something we had been wanting to make for a long time. So all in all everything worked out great! I guess I just had to grumble a bit!

I also agree 100%!

Just a quick update! They sent me the pattern - so I gave it to my sister! They were very nice about it.

I got the Love of Quilting magazine for quite a while. At first every time I got one, I was so excited about a quilt in there. Even made a few. Then for a couple of years it seemed like there was nothing new, so I decided not to renew. And wouldn't you know it? The last 2or 3 mags. Had something that excited me. But I'm still not renewing cuz I know as soon as I do, no more excitement. I'm waiting for the quilt show and I can get magazines for 25 cents. Or I will buy one at the newsstand.then I'm not locked into any one subscription.