Lately, I’ve been getting these random ghost subscriptions in the mail; subscriptions to magazines I’ve never signed up for. At first, I was alarmed. Had I purchased these subscriptions in my sleep? If not, how did they get my name and address? Am I on some sort of potential subscriber list somewhere? I must be.
In one of my new magazines there was a postcard stuffed into the binding. It said, “congrats on your new subscription.” New subscription?! I didn’t order any new subscription, but there it was. I needed to solve this mystery and quick. So did I call the magazine like a normal person and ask them where the subscription came from?! Of course not! I decided to send a text message to all my friends and family asking if they sent me a magazine gift subscription. They didn’t.
I think these ghost subscriptions were a spin-off of a subscription I already had. So, let’s say I subscribed to a Condé Nast pub and they were interested in attaining new subscribers for one of their other glossies. All they’d have to do is send out a sample mag and put the subscription info inside. Sort of like, check this out and if you like it, buy it for a full year. And the thing is, I didn’t get one magazine, but two! I know, lucky me!
I started to think this was pretty cool, like a gift from the gods or something, but then I started to inspect the magazines. One of the subscriptions was to US Weekly and the other to Lucky magazine. Now, what about those magazines says that a gal like me would like them? I mean, sure I’m a woman, but does that mean that I like to read gossip and fashion mags? Heck yeah, it does! But do I like to read other things too? Why yes, yes I do. So if you’re reading magazine publishers, I’d also like a ghost subscription to The New Yorker or Bust, Make, or Dwell. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge. Come on magazine gods, don’t let me down now.
3 Responses to “Magazine Ghost Subscriptions”
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I recently got a ghost subscription in the mail too and it has been baffling the heck out of me! Except my ghost subscription is for Money magazine, which doesn’t interest me in the least. Booooooo! I’d much rather have gotten your selections. 🙂
Your post prompted me to do some research and I discovered that my subscription came from M2 Media Group, which apparently gets our personal information from a lot of major companies and then sends us free magazine subscriptions and makes it rather difficult to cancel said subscriptions. A few of the companies that I found were connected with M2 Media Group were Barnes & Noble, eHarmony, Orbitz, and Choice Hotels. I recently ordered business cards from VistaPrint and then my ghost subscription started showing up shortly after and sure enough, I found a connection between them and M2 Media. I am a little confused as to what they gain by giving us free magazines except that maybe they hope we’ll forget we never ordered it in the first place and just automatically pay the renewal in a year? Not sure, but I am going to attempt to cancel mine and then look for another place to get my business cards when I run out.
Ooh, thanks for investigating Diane. I have a B & N account. I wonder if it came from them.
My sister got a ghost subscription too, but when she called to inquire, they said it came from her ordering make-up from ELF. Apparently, it was a free gift. But as we all know, nothing in life is quite free.