Why a Lifetime Subscription Might Not Last You a Lifetime
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Access to affordable credit helps me pay my employees, but I don't really need it. The inflation is killing me. But who cares? Big retailers are making record profits. That's why we support the Durbin Marshall credit card bill. See? Banks and credit unions help small businesses make payroll. This bill would cut the vital resources they need. While increasing megastore profits. They deserve it, don't they? Tell Congress, stop the Durbin Marshall money grab for corporate megastores. Paid for by the Electronic Payments Coalition.
Here's your Money Briefing for Wednesday, July 10th. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. For many people, the allure of a lifetime subscription is the hope that by using the service or product often enough, they'll eventually be enjoying it for free. But often overlooked rules in the agreement can short circuit that plan.
One example of this is a lifetime subscription can be for the lifetime of your device. It can also be the lifetime of a company. So thinking about the company is going to merge, be bought out, shut down, or if the product itself might change during your lifetime, that can change the parameters of a lifetime subscription.
We'll talk to Wall Street Journal personal finance reporter Katherine Hamilton after the break.
Access to affordable credit helps me pay my employees, but I don't really need it. The inflation is killing me. But who cares? Big retailers are making record profits. That's why we support the Durbin Marshall credit card bill. See? Banks and credit unions help small businesses make payroll. This bill would cut the vital resources they need. While increasing megastore profits. They deserve it, don't they? Tell Congress, stop the Durbin Marshall money grab for corporate megastores. Paid for by the Electronic Payments Coalition.
A lifetime subscription may sound like a deal of a lifetime, but be sure to read the fine print. Wall Street Journal personal finance reporter Catherine Hamilton joins me. Catherine, lots of people have monthly subscriptions, but why do some companies offer lifetime subscriptions?
There are a few different reasons why this can make sense for a company, and it definitely doesn't make sense for a lot of companies. But if a business is selling sort of a one-off service like language learning or a software, that can work out for the company because they're not constantly putting money into their product. It's just sort of a one-time thing. Whereas something like Netflix probably will never have a lifetime subscription because they're constantly paying for TV and movie rights. So a one-off payment for a subscription doesn't really work for their bottom line. There's also some smaller firms that might do this to sort of increase their short-term revenue and get some upfront capital without having to go to investors or get loans.
What caveats should I know about 'lifetime' subscriptions?
What does the consumer expect to get out of these type of subscriptions?
Most consumers assume they're getting a product for the rest of their life, but that's not always the case. There's a lot of nuances that can come with a lifetime subscription.
Well, what should they watch out for?
Quite a few things. You definitely want to pay attention to the fine print. One example of this is a lifetime subscription can be for the lifetime of your device. It can also be the lifetime of a company. So thinking about the company is going to merge, be bought out. shut down or if the product itself might change during your lifetime, that can change the parameters of a lifetime subscription.
You mentioned lifetime of a device. What's typically the rule around that?
One example of this is SiriusXM, which is a broadcasting company. There was a lawsuit against that company in 2019 because they had a lifetime subscription where consumers thought they were purchasing a subscription for their lifetime. But SiriusXM argued that it was the lifetime of your car or your device where you were streaming. their product. And so once you sold your car, you no longer had that subscription. And the consumers actually ended up winning the lawsuit against Sirius XM because they were able to successfully argue that they paid for a subscription for their lifetime.
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