ValueMags.com: Lousy Site, but the Prices are Low
Written: Dec 09 '02
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There was once a time when ordering a magazine was a bit of a hassle. You basically had two choices: purchase a copy from the store and look for a subscription card to send in, or wait for a solicitor to call you. There weren’t many other ways to purchase your favorite magazines.
But today, buying a magazine is as simple as 1-2-3. With the invention of the internet, a magazine subscription can be purchased in less than one minute, all from the comfort of your own home. One site that sells magazines on- line is Valuemags.com, a web service that helps you stay current on your magazine subscriptions.
What Does This Site Have to Offer?:
Valuemags.com offers more than 1,200 magazines for sale, including most all of the well- known publications (like TV Guide, Family Circle, Cosmopolitan, etc.) and hundreds of not so well known magazines (like Wild West, Arizona Highways, Fast Company, etc.). The magazines are sorted by category, to help make your search a little easier. Some of the categories include Arts & Crafts, Automotive, Entertainment, Family & Parenting, News & Politics, Pets, and many more. All together, there are 29 categories to choose from.
If you aren’t sure which precise category your desired magazine falls into, and you would rather search by title, you can do so by entering the name of the magazine in the search box. Valuemags.com will search and find any magazine that includes the words that you have entered. Using more words will limit your search so if you are not sure about the spelling of some of the word in your magazine’s title, then you will have better luck just entering a word or two to search.
Other Services:
Besides being a place to buy magazines, Valuemags.com does offer one other service. You can choose to receive an e-mail reminder, when the subscription that you are buying is close to its expiration date. Valuemags.com will not renew your subscription automatically. But it will send you a reminder, when the time is running out on your subscription.
As far as things to buy, you won’t find anything else for sale in Valuemags.com. This is strictly a place to buy magazines.
Pricing:
For most shoppers, the bottom line is the price. Valuemags.com does deliver relatively low prices. The prices are not always the lowest ones offered all of the time, on every magazine, but I have found that the prices are at least competitive with other web sites, and usually a little bit lower. A few examples would include Kiplinger’s Financial Magazine ($14.97 per year), Redbook ($8.00 per year), and Woman’s Day ($8.99 per year). With each listing, Valuemags.com displays the percentage discount that you are getting, if you accept the offer. Keep in mind that this is a discount off of the cover price, which is expected for any subscription. It doesn’t mean that you are getting a deep discount on the normal subscription price.
Buying magazines requires that you setup a simple account with Valuemags.com. All you need is an e-mail address and a password. Once you have entered this, you will then be asked to enter your shipping address and billing address (which may or may not be the same, depending on whether or not this is a gift). An e-mail confirmation will be sent to you within seconds after submitting your order. This is just a standard e-mail- it doesn’t mean that your order has been fulfilled.
There is no tax or extra shipping charges to pay, with this service. The quoted price that you see is exactly what you will pay. Valuemags.com also offers a full, money- back guarantee if you are not satisfied and a best price guarantee. If you can find a better deal, just send Valuemags.com a link to the web site with the better offer, and it will be matched.
Final Thoughts:
Valuemags.com does offer some good, competitive prices on magazines, and I have used it to buy gifts for others, and to buy magazines for myself. The customer service is prompt and helpful, and they have a toll- free number to call, if you need assistance. But the site itself is not perfect. There are many aspects about this site that will annoy potential shoppers.
Let’s start with the search engine. You have to be very careful in the way that you conduct a search, or else you will be falsely led into thinking that your desired magazine is not offered. For example, if your magazine’s title includes punctuation, and you fail to include this in the search box, then you will likely get no matches. If, for instance, you enter the words “Readers Digest”, it says there are no matches. But if I include the apostrophe, and enter “Reader’s Digest”, it finds a match.
Another annoyance is that there are many, many popular magazines that are not even offered here at all. Some examples would include Sports illustrated, Time, Popular Electronics, and several others. I’m not sure why Valuemags.com doesn’t offer these publications. I assume that they do not have a direct contract with these publishers.
Yet another aspect that might bother some potential buyers is the limited information that is available about each magazine. You can click “details” to get an idea about the contents of a specific magazine. But some of this information is very limited, like “First published in 1990, this magazine provides insight into world affairs”. That’s far too brief of a description, and it could hurt Valuemags.com, in terms of sales (if you were browsing for a magazine to buy, would you take a chance and make a purchase if all you had was the above description? I know I wouldn’t!). A better, more detailed description, along with a way to read some excerpts from the magazine, would give an added boost to sales.
Overall, I give Valuemags.com a thumbs- up because of its competitive pricing. The site is not the most intuitive, and it could use some improvements in several areas. But if finding a cheap magazine is your goal, then Valuemags.com should have no problem fulfilling your needs. The prices are good, and they will gladly match a competitor’s price, if you find one that’s lower, ensuring that you get the best possible deal.
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Member: Bryan Carey
Location: Houston, TX
Reviews written: 3614
Trusted by: 1570 members
About Me: Beer Drinker and Libertarian Political Activist. Great Combination, eh?
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