Why are magazines so expensive?

[HygerTyger]

Magazines have become ridiculously expensive in the last couple of years. It seems quite counterintuitive as they sell so much advertising and if the magazines were cheaper then more people would buy them and therefore might buy the advertised products.

I loved the days when buying a magazine was a cheap little treat every fortnight or so. And often Grazia, Glamour etc would be sold for £1 as a 'special price', those sorts of offers you never see any more. Grazia is almost £4 now!

While I'm here, I would also like to take a moment to mourn great now-defunct magazines: Real (not Real people), Glamour, Eve, She, Bmagazine, Company, Look, Newwoman, More... there were so many I loved and enjoyed.

Anyone still buy magazines? Any old magazines you still remember fondly?

You've brought back a memory.

When I was a young child, I used to get Bunty delivered. Once I'd outgrown that, I asked my mum if I could get Blue Jeans instead.
Alas not! Mum went off on one, said I'd end up "pushing a pram up the High Street by the age of 16 if I read that smut". 😂

Yes, I think I agree with this. People just aren't buying them like they used to, so much content easily available online.
I've always loved comics and magazines, ever since I bought Twinkle, the Dandy, Hi! and Just Seventeen 😁
Just spent going on for 6 quid the other day for a magazine, cough inducing but worth it as I still don't think you can beat a freshly printed book or magazine.

😂

It really isn't "only the elderly" who buy magazines. I buy a monthly mag. and women of all ages buy it. Maybe the more gossipy weekly ones will die out, but not all magazines are like that - and the local shops have plenty of both types for sale.

I subscribe to readly, £12.99 Amazon month for as many magazines or newspapers as I want. I easily get my moneys worth every month.

*Readly bloody predictive text

They're not. They're only expensive in the shops

Subscriptions can be found really reasonably for maybe £2 an issue.

I used to buy about 10 magazines a month , now I buy a couple depending on context . At nearly £6 each they are not worth it and I’m going more towards books .

I started on Bunty, then Mandy, Smash Hits, classmates' Just 17 and then Heat magazine. Vogue magazine in the hairdressers now is rather good, the other glossies meh.

Teen DD only just now getting one on the train...she liked Vogue but not Elle so far. Think it was Elle.

@JockTamsonsBairns

Your mum sounds great 😄 😆 wonder what she'd have to say about Sabrina carpenter's concerts

On the magazines front, I have popped into Whsmith today especially to pick up the new summer Grazia beauty issue which comes out every six months or so and the winter one was great. I reckoned if I buy one in summer and one in winter that should itch the scratch. Plus this one had a cheery pink cover

Yes indeed, "Paper" versions are expensive because of all the costs involved, i.e. printing, carriage, wholesalers and retailers margins, etc. That's why they can provide online subscriptions a lot cheaper, and cheaper still if you have a subscription covering lots of titles - they don't have to pay the printers, drivers, wholesalers nor retailers. In fact, they make more money out of subscriptions even though they're cheaper for the customer, because they don't have those costs to pay to get the magazine to the shop floor.

Something that's quenched the charm is shifting to cheap eco-friendly rough paper and reducing the size. It feels less of a little indulgence and is harder to read as the print is less sharp.

Plus the titles I like (hobby related) became more scarce in supermarkets.

I watch a lot more youtube now than a few years ago which covers the same ground.

What I wish people would realise is what good value the weekend newspapers are, compared to magazines.

Yes, the big ones are vastly more expensive than they used to be. How much is the FT now, more than a fiver I think? But you get so much - a good-quality general interest magazine, several features sections, plus a whole news section that often includes more in-depth articles. And then sport and travel and comment and puzzles and all the rest of it. There's not even that many ads (which is a problem in itself for the papers, but hey ho)

My dog walking app has an offer for 3 months free Readly. It's loads of magazine titles online. I know you don't like online so much - but three months free may be worth a try? Even if you buy the odd physical one as a treat and use it to pad out the content? Fingers crossed and I'll post you the link

https://gb.readly.com/biscuit?utm_source=awin&utm_id=1063925_&utm_campaign=affiliate&sv1=affiliate&sv_campaign_id=1063925&awc=46045_1752215948_9517258f949e53c7671dc08378668ba2

Yes, I've just cancelled my newspaper subscription after decades but might just buy at weekends.

DH has a company that deals with wood/paper recycling. The amount of magazines they receive is insane, not old copies either ones that are still available to buy so August editions will be there now. Hes always said to his employees that they can help themselves, he'd rather they got some use. Im a teacher and use the children's ones as prizes for star of the week.

I agree. I used to get the Saturday Times because I liked the magazine, food and travel supplements but it increased in cost and there was too much to get through in the week. I've now switched to the iWeekend, which is only £1.80 and has a similar range of features.

Oh I thought i newspaper had gone online only?

I use PressReader and BorrowBox, both free through the library, lots of magazines there.

I really like the i newspaper! Only buy the weekend one now, but I remember buying the first ever issue at 20p 🥲 perfect length to read on my work break. They even threw a readers’ party back then! The weekend one is great value, as pp have mentioned - I’m so happy (though my wallet begs to differ…) that they nearly always have a books feature now.

The Readly app is also very good value, if you normally buy magazines each month, especially as you can access so many titles from abroad. I personally just use the free trials, which they are generous with, as I’m not too bothered about missing issues.

Magazines I am happy to spend money on, as an occasional treat: Simple Things, The Internationalist, Grazia, Apartamento, The New Scientist, The New Yorker, and House & Garden.

I definitely feel guilt at not being able to support print more, when I see titles closing down, but as their costs are rising so are mine, obviously. Wistfully recalling my stacks of Dazed & Confused back in my 20s, when I was on minimum wage…

They've always had offers on Vogue prices, and I thought it was seen as a sign that things are going well. That was always the case in the past, very frequent offers of £1 for Grazia magazines etc. When magazines could afford to practically give their copies away

We used to get free copies of Grazia and Heat at the gym i went to

You can get free magazines subscriptions from your library. I use press reader through my library card and can read as many as I want

I miss the free mascaras and stuff you used to get with the fashion magazines! It was so fun trying them out.

And the bags! I had so many of them, beach bags, clutch bags, bamboo handle bags. they were great.