The Subscription Trap: Planet Money

The subscription can leave users feeling trapped, much like Admiral Ackbar, who reached the second Death Star and discovered that its shields were still fully functional and ready to ambush several star destroyers.

Over the past two decades, a kind of tectonic economic shift has been taking place beneath our feet. Many other companies have shifted from selling individual products to selling services, available as subscriptions. Everything from razor blades to meal kits to car washes has become a subscription these days. But with all those benefits comes a dark side – some companies design their offers to make it as easy as possible to sign up and as difficult as possible to cancel. Many consumers are now paying for far more subscriptions than they realize.

On today's show, we explore how we've all fallen into this subscription trap – who's winning and who's losing in this brave new subscription-based world – and what both governments and the free market are trying and doing to fix it.

This episode is hosted by Alexey Horowitz-Gazzi and Jeff Guo. It was produced by James Snead. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Sina Loffredo. Alex Goldmark Planet MoneyIts executive producer.

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Music: Source Audio – “Digi Doctor,” “Brooklyn Rhythm,” and “Jazz Club Beat.”