Avoid the Subscription Blues
Posted on | January 7, 2010 | No Comments
The beginning of a new year is always a good time to think about ways to save some money on your annual subscriptions for a lot of software packages, primarily security and financial software. A few examples:
Security Software:
This is software for internet security, firewalls, anti-spam, anti-virus, anti-spyware, etc. Most of these packages, whether integrated suites or individual products, require an annual subscription in order to keep the programs and the signature files up to date. In most cases, the cost of an annual subscription is equal to the initial purchase price.
Most of these vendors are quite happy to have you set up an auto-renewal account with them. You just provide them with a credit card and every year they simply bill the card for the full price of a subscription. This process is very handy for you. You don’t have to remember to renew the subscription or order software updates.
The process is also very nice for the vendors. They don’t have to sell you again. They get their subscription fees right away, and they don’t have to worry about competition. Every year, at least until the card’s expiration date, it’s a done deal. No effort, no worries.
Financial Software:
These are the programs you use for tracking your money and finances (either home or small business), and for preparing and submitting tax returns. As with security suites, these have an annual renewal/replacement/upgrade cost that is approximately the same as your initial purchase price.
Although these programs don’t necessarily have a subscription program like the security suites (although some do), they use the information you provide when you initially register the product to send you a friendly reminder that it is time to buy the version for the upcoming year. Normally they send an email with a link to a site that will allow you to immediately download the upgraded version after you submit your credit card information.
Again this can be very handy for you, and save the vendor a lot of sales expense and manufacturing expense at the same time. But this is often the most expensive way to keep these programs up to date.
Productivity Applications:
Many productivity applications like photo editing tools, video editing tools, etc. provide annual upgrades. These companies also communicate to registered users via email to notify them of available upgrades.
How do I save money?
As mentioned earlier, these vendor downloads, while very easy and convenient, are often the most expensive ways to obtain upgrades and updates. Because the software vendors want to ensure solid relationships with the retail outlets that carry product, the manufacturer downloads will almost always be at the suggested retail price. And, they assume that you will be overjoyed to pay full suggested retail to have this convenience.
BUT… You can save a substantial amount of money, sometimes 50% or more, just by watching for special first-of-the-year, tax-time, and end-of the year promotions on these products. Even if your subscription expires in June, you can buy the product at a special price in January or March, and wait until your current version is at expiration before installing from the new retail package. This way you still get a full year’s value from your existing software and the new software won’t expire until a year from the date it is installed. You can also find some great bargains on special packages with a 3 PC or 5 PC license, allowing you to install on your entire family’s computers for a single low price.
Places to look for these deals are member warehouses like Costco and Sam’s Club, and big box stores like Office Depot, Office Max, Staples and Best Buy. Similar deals are available at hundreds of on-line outlets, like Amazon.com, Buy.com and more.
Don’t worry about installing your upgrade/update from a new retail package. The installation program will install your current settings and saved information when it finds an existing copy of the software on your PC. Either that, or it will leave the existing installation intact and install to a new folder, so you can import your settings from the existing version.
What the heck? Use some of the money you save to buy me a beer next time you see me at a writers’ conference.
Tags: downloads > financial > productivity > security suites > software > subscriptions > upgrades
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