You are right, and as a matter of fact, I periodically receive letters
from Kalmbach Publishing alerting me to unauthorized subscription
services.
I would not trust these so called "vendors"...likely you won't see
your money. And once they have your credit card info...well, you know
the rest.
snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net wrote in
news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
My wife bought a subscription to Model Railroader here last year, I
have had no problems whatsoever. About a month ago, we received an
offer to renew the magazine for $15.95 from this same website.
formatting link
She has many friends who buy their magazine subscriptions through
mags4cheap, and no one has had anything adverse to report.
covers will be missing . . .<
A vendor who does not sell all of a month batch of magazines will return
the front covers for credit. What this means is that person has had MR give
him full credit for the magazines and then he is trying to make extra profit
by selling the magazines he is supposed to throw away.
jJim McLaughlin wrote in
news:2dSdnRZq36sbfqHanZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:
I'm a poster but very infrequent. I am a nearly everyday reader of
the group. I am trying to learn about the hobby now as a grandfather
and how it has changed since I was a boy in the 50's. I don't
usually post unless I feel I can contribute something to the group.
I can assure you that the mags4cheap is in fact a legitimate site,
and the renewal price is correct $15.84 (not $1595 as I stated
before) was my renewal price at a %5.00 discount.
I wonder if Kalmbach Publishing has actually authorized this vendor?
I don't see HOW they could sell the magazine this cheap, compared to
ordering it direct from the publisher...sounds like some kind of scam.
Don't know what, how or why...but the old adage comes to mind...
If it seems too good to be true...it probably is.
Cover price on MR is $5.95. And you get a subscription for 3 times
one issues street price?
The subsciption rate direct from Kalmbach is 42.95 (if memory serves)
which is a tad more than seven times one issue street price...which
means basically you are paying for seven issues and getting five for
free when ordering direct from Kalmbach.
I can't imagine that Kalmbach could offer even bulk quantities to a
3rd party magazine vendor for a price that is less than half their
normal subscription rate.
Oh, I just checked the website and they say 20.84 is their rate, and
they say that 80.00 is cover price, which isn't entirely accurate as
12 issues times 5.95 (street price) would be 71.40
Oddly this same website wants over 30.00 for Railroad Model Craftsman
(which is Carstens Publishing) , and over 50.00 for Trains magazine
(another Kalmbach magazine), as well as 29.99 for Railfan and Railroad
(another Carstens magazine).
This may be a legitimate magazine vendor, but I have to wonder.
I also wonder do you get the magazines at the same time they are
mailed out to regular direct Kalmbach Publishing subscribers?
I also wonder, if you subscribe through this service...are you
entitled to the online extras that you get as a regular Kalmbach
subscriber?
Yes, many people may wait a few weeks extra to receive a discount, and
also may not care for the online extras...but still something just
doesn't seem right.
I recall as a school child (and I also recall as a parent of school
children) whenever the school has a fundraiser selling magazines, the
magazines are usually the same price as a direct subscription, or
possibly slightly lower, but not generally 1/3 of the regular
subscription price.
Say for instance a magaze was 24.95 a year direct, it might be 19.95
through a fundraiser, or something along those lines.
While I don't know if the site is ok or not I can see Kalmbach doing
this. The reason is their numbers are down, way down. Well, so is everyone
else but I guess they consider they shouldn't be following the pattern.
It's one way to get new subscribers and I think Kalmbach is doing everything
they can to do that. Notice that you can't get 3 year subscriptions!
Don't go to these. Here is what Kalmbach wrote in response when I
inquired if these were on the up-and-up:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for the inquiry regarding Model Railroader subscriptions for
sale on Ebay. There are hundreds of companies and people that act as
subscription agencies; however, these companies are not affiliated
with Kalmbach Publishing Company. Traditionally, the agents that are
authorized to do business with us are typically those that promote
through schools and different fund-raising programs. Unauthorized
agents most of the time are those that are online. We continue to
make every effort to stop unauthorized agents from promoting our
magazines.
We strongly recommend you do not remit a renewal payment of any kind
to this company and renew directly through the publisher, Kalmbach
Publishing Company. We will not be responsible for any renewal
payments sent to Ebay, as they do not represent our company in any
way. If payment was remitted to this company, we would strongly
recommend contacting them immediately by mail requesting a full
refund.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you do some searches on the Internet, you'll see unpleasant
comments about these types of services. Just Say No!
OK...here's what MODEL RAILROADER sent to me when I inquired about
this:
Thank you for the inquiry regarding the Model Railroader online notice
you received from Mags4Cheap. Please note, Mags 4 Cheap is not
affiliated with Kalmbach Publishing Company; however, we have received
payments collected through their organization in the past. Payments
through outside agencies can take upwards of 6-12 weeks to arrive and
if for some reason they would not remit the collected payment to us,
we are not liable to credit your account. While agencies such as this
offer lower rate offers, you take the risk of potentially not having
the publisher receive your order/payment or a delay in service due to
the amount of processing time it takes them to remit payment to the
publisher.
----------------------------------------------------------
so apparently this place does legitimately sell the magazine, but you
see what they say regarding Kalmbach's liabilities considering. I
guess it's worth the risk. Maybe.
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