cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/35308060
Misleading pricing:
Using the billing period as the header and showing the price for the billing period… except for monthly—which shows 1/4 the price and says “every week” in smaller, gray text.
Punishing non-subscription payments:
Adding a $6.50 (1400%) surcharge for wanting a weekly one-time payment instead of a recurring subscription.
Charging more for longer periods:
Monthly billing, once you remove the dark pattern and convert it to its actual price, is $2. There are 12 months in a year, meaning it would cost $24 to maintain that subscription for a year.
Why is the yearly subscription $29, then?
If you want to verify this for yourself, you’re going to need to clear your cookies and reload an article a lot. They do A/B tests and show different subscription requied modals. This one was the worst.
$0.50/week = $26… not $24/yr.
So they’re upcharging you 3 dollars for the yearly payment, which is still scummy.
Scum indeed. I was just pointing out the math.
What am I missing? It’s just some quick math:
- $7 x 52 =$364.00/year
- $0.50 x 52 =$26.00/year
- $29/ year
The 50¢ is designed to look the cheapest and it actually is the cheapest.
You’re missing the part where you shouldn’t have to do quick math in order to know the price difference in a comparison.
So even if quick math is hard for you. Going with the cheapest looking option, is still the cheapest.
You’re charged monthly, at 50¢ per week, I think. So, you’re charged $2, once per month. But, there are 52 weeks in a year… I don’t know. You’re right, it’s confusing, but I expect it’s stated more clearly in the TOS, somewhere.
Wow, that’s really sneaky. You think you’re paying $29/year for access to the news, but really you’re getting the Washington Post.
Let’s see if I can math.
$7 a week x 52 weeks is $364 a year
50¢ a week x 52 weeks is $26 a year
$29 a year is $29 a year
The $7 option is good if you only need the paper for 1 week. The other options probably lock you into a 1 year contract.
What in the flying fuck? If a service makes me calculate how much it costs for any given fixed amount of time then I’m not even considering it and move on.
its stupid and unncessary more than anything else
Well, sorry to say this doesn’t seem scummy other than it expects you to have basic literacy. But if you have basic literacy, why would you read that trash anyway.
