How can Elle cost £5.99?

[Iamthewombat]

£5.99 for this month’s Elle magazine! How? They can’t be expecting to sell many copies for that price, surely?

I haven’t bought Elle in years. I sometimes buy Vogue when it is on special offer for £3. I must be out of touch with the terrifying cost of fashion magazines.

They are full of adverts and ‘partnership content’ (ie sponsored by advertisers) anyway. Actually I can’t say for sure with this month’s Elle because it was sealed in a plastic bag with a tiny tube of Elemis moisturiser allegedly worth £15 or something.

Does anyone think that £5.99 is worth it?

Fashion magazines are themselves out of fashion now surely

I have a lot of friends that work within the fashion industry and the only magazines they own are 1. vintage (and therefore iconic) or 2. Involve their own work

Magazines cost a lot to produce, that glossy paper and high quality images, magazine readership is way down so the advertisers reach fewer of thwulur target audience. They just aren't viable anymore, when you can find stuff on Instagram, Pinterest etc

I still like a magazine as a physical object. I like the weight of it, plus the feel and (if not over perfumed) the smell of the paper. I also don't think it's either fair or realistic to expect to get good, opinionated writing, stylish photography and imaginative photoshoots for free. So yes, I would pay £5.99 if that was the deal on offer. What I won't pay for are advertorials dressed up as content, identikit photoshopped models, and writers who don't dare voice an opinion in case they upset a sponsor.
So I rarely buy any of them now, and if previous regulars like me are saying that then I think they're probably in deep shit.

That's normal price for a monthly magazine. It's worth it if it's a decent magazine. For example the Blocks (Lego) magazine or craft ones I get or specific interest ones like Buses Mag which my Dad buys are worth the money.
Fashion magazines have always been all pictures and little words. I agree they aren't worth the money. Back in the pre internet days if someone was interested in fashion then I suppose they gave inspiration. Now... not really worth it at all.

I used to love magazines and bought a year's subscription to one as a treat to myself a few years ago. It was so disappointing - full of adverts and there's better content on the internet for free. I could barely even be bothered to read them!

I think it's a shame as there could be a place still for interesting, paid-for fashion magazine content - just too expensive for what they are and I'd rather spend my money on a book!

I remember reading that glossy magazines were always expensive to produce. They made the money through advertising and the higher the readership the more they could charge. That's why you got the amazing subscription offers with a free gift as a subscriber is a guaranteed reader. With readership being down so will advertising revenue.

It's a shame as I used to love magazines! They are so dull now.

I buy the Christmas editions just for the samples

Haven't bought a magazine for years. Full of ads and the same articles that are churned out on a regular basis. They used to make me feel dissatisfied with my life - which is, of course, the point.

I agree that there’s still a place for well-produced fashion magazines. Shame that there aren’t many around!

With the advertorial thing, I wonder whether the editors think that the readers are stupid. You can spot the paid for content a mile off and it makes me determined NOT to buy the item. That includes the beauty pages. Why are they recommending this particular Lancôme mascara or creme de la mer? It couldn’t be because L’Oreal and Estée Lauder are your biggest advertisers, could it?

As for the celebrity puff pieces: I had to fling last month’s Vogue aside because its remorseless bum licking of Angelina Jolie became too much to bear (distilled article: she’s so BEAUTIFUL, she’s such a GOOD MOTHER and she does so much for CHARITY!)

I haven't bought magazines for years, but even then Elle was one of the worst offenders in terms of actual magazine content versus advertising.
I'm amazed they still exist - I've only ever bought a style magazine in the last 10 years if I fancy the nail polish or other "freebie" so for me it's more like paying £5.99 for a beauty product I want.

I've given up buying women's mags.
They all seem to be based on the idea we need 'fixing' and help.
'How to be a better you' blah blah. As if we aren't just okay as we are.
And '3 women who did XYZ.'

I loved glossy magazines and used to buy every single one back in the days before social media. Cosmo, Marie Claire, Good Housekeeping, Eve, Red, Essentials, Glamour, Vogue just off the top of my head. Elle was the only one I never bought or subscribed to because it was just loads of pretentiously boring fashion pictures with hundreds of ads and barely any readable content. I was studying at Central St Martins at the time so I didn't have any prejudice against high fashion, but always found Elle insufferable. Vogue was also bit too un-relatable but it did have extremely well written articles.

I'm amazed Elle is even still going, they must have very deep investor pockets or some kind of vanity funding happening behind the scenes.

I have a subscription to Press Reader for £21 a month I get access to all the newspapers I could possibly read and magazines. The fashion magazines aren't particularly interesting but I will flick through them online but I would never buy one.

Used to be obsessed by glossy magazines years ago. For the last decade or so I've only ever bought them at airports and train stations.

If you're a library member you can read it for free on RB Digital.

Considering it’s the 19th most popular fashion magazine in the world and 73% of it’s readers are subscribers I think they probably have a good price point. The physical mag is probably a gateway for girls so they then subscribed to online and print versions later

I used to buy loads of them, Red, Elle, Grazia etc and really enjoyed reading them.
Got thoroughly annoyed with all of the adverts and the ever rising prices. Red is also £5.99 a month and the content just isn’t worth it. Page after page of adverts and sponsored recommendations that aren’t difficult to spot.
I use Press Reader now and just flick through them. It’s free through my library card.
I miss having an actually copy of a magazine to read, I’d happily spend money on them if they cut down on the hidden advertising.

Not many girls with £5.99 to spend on Elle, I’d have thought!

I don’t know what the way forward is for fashion magazines. Circulation is low and even subscribers get fed up if the content is samey. It’s almost as if they are being run for the benefit of the editorial teams at the moment.

I like Hello Fashion and it only costs £1.

It’s gone up! I think it is £1.80 now. I used to buy it as well, for a cheap thrill, until I worked out that most of the people in it were the tiresome no-marks you get in actual Hello magazine. Princess Stephanie of Monaco’s daughter talks us through her ball dresses blah blah.

I thought only hair salons actually bought them nowadays.

I’m going to the wrong salons. The type I give my patronage to only have dog-eared back issues of Closer. On the plus side I get to be au fait with the diets and plastic surgery of people from Geordie Shore.

No magazines in hair salons any more because of Covid.

I used to love the moment of sitting down with a coffee and that months brand new edition of Elle magazine!
But agree with lots of other posters too many adverts, lots of the articles were ridiculous 'how to please your man in bed' bla bla!
I just can't be bothered with them anymore!