WB084: A win-win way to subscribe to The Economist

I recently started reading The Economist and have found it to be beneficial in broadening my exposure to global current affairs and improving my grasp of the English language.

To recap, in Japan each issue of the print edition retails for JPY2,000 (US$12.50). Unfortunately, as The Economist is considered a niche publication, it is only carried by major bookstores like Maruzen (Japanese: 丸善) and international airport bookstands, neither of which are in my neighbourhood.

For the sake of convenience, I considered purchasing an annual subscription. This is sold as either a digital-only or a digital plus print package. There is no print-only option.

The discounted, digital-only package works out to be the best value at around JPY34,930 (~US$218) annually. Assuming you receive 52 editions a year, this equates to just under ~JPY 680 (US$4.25) per issue - more than 65% off the original, off-the-shelf price.

I am, however, not keen on the digital version of the magazine. The experience is just different from the print version in a negative way.

A large of my enjoyment of The Economist comes from being more productive when reading the print edition. There are far too many temptations when consuming content digitally, which also strains my eyes.

I also decided against buying an annual digital plus print package, due to the high upfront cost. Accompanying this cost is also the pressure to finish each issue before the week's end, prior to the arrival of the next issue.

Keen to strike a balance between the convenience and cost of purchasing a print edition, I decided to try my luck looking online for second-hand copies. To my surprise, I have found two sellers of used Economist magazines on a Japanese online secondhand marketplace called Mercari.

These sellers are likely subscribers to the annual digital plus print package. By selling the issues they have read, they defray the cost of their annual subscription and reduce physical clutter at home.

The pricing is competitive, with at least a 30% - 50% discount off the sticker price. This is great value, in my view, as the sellers start advertising the latest issues within a week of receiving them.

I anticipate sellers adjusting down the prices of issues that go unsold for a period of time. Depreciation of an asset is a tangible cost! So far, I have bought one copy from Mercari for JPY1,100 (including postage). It arrived via post a few days later in excellent condition.

I had a previously-held view that in life, all transactions are a zero-sum game: there is a loser for every winner and no such thing as a win-win outcome.

This experience has, thankfully, proved me wrong.

--Ends