Don't Subscribe So Casually

sa-code

I would go a step further, cancel as soon as you subscribe. It's still valid for a month because you've paid for it! If you ever need to use the service again just re-subscribe (and re-cancel) In fact, what is stopping you from cancelling all your subscriptions right now? You can always buy back in when you like

winddude

Kinda' ironic posting a service that promotes two types of casual subscriptions, inbox clutter, and "micro transactions"

xg15

Can be extended to social media accounts as well.

musha68k

One way I've "reset" my subscriptions is by invalidating the credit card they're on so most of them just stop billing. YMMV it's a bit of a blunt tool and not always foolproof, but it's worked for me before.

elzbardico

Nowadays I am adopting the "Mom Strategy for Subscriptions (TM)": Eat what is in your plate before asking for more stuff.

IFC_LLC

A very simple handling: Buy a domain. Get Proton, or Apple, or any other custom-domain email service. Setup catch-all incoming mail. Every merchant receives an email like merchantname@donotwriteto.me Then you can either sort those out, or if they are malicious and not deleting you from your email lists, you can block the incoming traffic on that email. This way you still can verify your email, comm stays private and you can have your own peace of mind, but you don't have to keep the spam in your primary inbox.

rectang

Companies who wish for more casual subscribers should support services (such as Apple App Store subscriptions) and anti-dark-pattern laws which reassure the public that unsubscribing will be easy. Then the complacency and other psychological effects that this article seeks to inoculate users against will be maximized.

m463

I think costco membership has two reasons... Yes, the people who "subscribe" to costco are more loyal, etc. But it also excludes. The general public is probably a lot more labor-intensive for costco, and they eliminate that.

Havoc

Same for online feeds like YouTube. Good to occasionally clear out anything that hasn’t delivered good vids in a while

0x59

I think generally people have trouble not subscribing casually which could be why so many services are setup the way they are. In US society we give people the Freedom of choice with all of the beautiful and ugly side-effects that comes along for the ride.

borski

Privacy.com solved this problem for me. I just sign up for trials with a $1 card, and I sign up for memberships with a unique card number and a “use once” flag.

asw01

The post makes some really great points.

Sophira

> If someone offered you a magic button that gave you ten dollars now, but carried a high probability of altering your tastes, your routines, and the way you think, would you press it? This is actually a very interesting question, because I can see someone's answer being different between this question as stated, and the same question but where you would be paying the $10 instead of the button giving you $10: > If someone offered you a magic button that carried a high probability of altering your tastes, your routines, and the way you think, but it cost $10 to press, would you press it? Specifically (and somewhat paradoxically), I think more people would say yes to the second question than to the first, because people would start thinking about it as a transaction where the purpose of pressing the button has changed from "receiving money" to "changing myself", even though in both cases it's stated upfront. Of course, in the context of subscriptions, the purpose is neither of these things (it's to receive the content that subscription is offering), so the first question is definitely more relevant in this situation than the second. It's still interesting to me, though.

croisillon

thanks for teaching us to carefully vest the services we are using https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-s...

singiamtel

My relationship to subscriptions has changed since I started using https://kill-the-newsletter.com/ . To show up in my inbox demanding my attention is a big privilege I'm not willing to give away so easily anymore.

1vuio0pswjnm7

Meanwhile I see "Subscribe" and "Sign-In" on this web page

xet7

Apple products are not anymore more expensive than competition. Other prices like RAM, harddisks, etc prices have risen so much. I had some affordable TV subscriptions, but after a while I did not find more good shows, or there was too many ads, so I canceled them. Anyway, usually it's enough I have watched some movie once. With some subscription that I pay, I'm paying for some change, or some new experience, or that I can use some software or hardware for some time. If after paying nothing changes, there is no ROI.

gobdovan

> gym memberships are subsidized by people who barely go to the gym and would be better served by buying day passes In my country, they're priced in such a way that day passes never make sense. If a monthly subscription is 50 EUR, a day pass is 18 EUR. So you'd need to go less than once a week for it to be better than a Gym subscription. But at that level of gym-going, you'd never see any kind of progress, unless you do very specific training, like very heavy lifts. So, as a rational actor you're left concluding that the only options are: - gym membership: you can grow muscle if you go daily; you won't see much benefit if you don't. <- reasonable - no gym membership: you feel bad. <- suboptimal both for money and for muscle - day passes: no muscle growth <- reasonable but then you feel bad about yourself So, the middle is squished out completely and you're left either feeling bad or buying a membership. This presupposes you don't have alternatives for growing muscles, such as calisthenics, parks, free weights at home, which is the case for many. I can only conclude daily passes are for heavy gym goers that are traveling and don't want to lose progress, or other situations with people whose demand temporarily inelastic or non-repeatable.