Magazine Subscriptions : eBay

I'm not sure everyone knows this, but you can get suprisingly cheap magazine subscriptions on eBay (full disclosure: I work for eBay). The selection isn't that great, which is suprising because that is what ebay is known for, but they prices are as close to free as I've found.

The reason they are so cheap is that magazines sell adverts based on circulation, so if they numbers are higher, they make more money. They basically give free subscriptions to these folks, who turn around and sell them to you for $1 or $2.

I was able to purchase a 4 yr subscription to GQ for my brother for just $4, a 2 yr subscription to Esquire for my brother-in-law for just $3, and a 2 yr subscription to Men's Health for my friend for just $1.99. Magazine subscriptions are usually pretty cheap, but these prices are so cheap it's almost nothing, and they provide something current to read in the loo.

What's really cool is that I got a one-year subscription to the Wall Street Journal for just 99¢, which is something like $.0032 or .32¢ an issue (there are 306 issues per year in the subscription). That is really cheap.

I did lose an auction for the Economist at $40. The subscription eventually went to $53. But with all the other magazines and newspapers to read, what do I need that for?