Stack: one year on
It’s a year now since I first started working on the idea that turned into Stack, and looking back there are some bits I’m very pleased with and some bits that need to change.
The things I’m most pleased about are the quality of the magazines I’ve been able to send and the enthusiasm of the community that’s building around Stack. I had no way of knowing at the start that so many publishers would throw their weight behind the idea, and I’m incredibly grateful to them all for their support and advice, and of course their magazines.
It’s also fantastic to have so many subscribers who take the time to let me know they’re enjoying the service, and who recommend Stack to friends. There’s no money here for advertising so Stack really depends on word of mouth to keep on growing.
Which brings me neatly onto the main thing that needs to change about Stack. When I started out the business plan looked great, but then Royal Mail put up its postage prices at the start of April, and a series of other unanticipated costs have rolled in.
Stack isn’t in dire straits but it will be if I don’t do something about its finances, so I’m going to raise the subscription price from 1 November. It’s still going to be brilliant value, but it will also be sustainable enough for me to carry on sourcing and sending out the world’s best independent magazines into next year and beyond.
So what will it cost? The average price of the magazines I’ve sent out so far is £4.68 – that’s what it would have cost, on average, if you’d bought them off the shelf in any shop in the UK. I wanted to keep the subscription price below that, so from 1 November anyone buying a UK subscription to Stack will pay £4 or a bit less per issue. A full list of subscription prices is included below.
Overseas subscriptions will cost more per issue to cover the increased cost of sending magazines by airmail, but even with the higher prices it will often still be cheaper to buy from Stack than to buy the same magazines off the shelf overseas. And of course in many cities around the world it’s just not possible to buy one-off issues of the magazines available on Stack.
So if you’ve been thinking about subscribing to Stack, or if you know somebody else who’s mulling it over, make sure you (or they) sign up before 1 November to avoid paying the higher prices. Then sit back and watch the magazines drop onto your doormat through 2010.
New prices from 1 November 2009
Deliveries within the UK
Six magazines – £24
Eight magazines – £32
Twelve magazines – £45
Deliveries within Europe
Six magazines – £42
Eight magazines £56
Twelve magazines £81
Deliveries to the rest of the world
Six magazines – £65
Eight magazines – £87
Twelve magazines – £129
