Give Us The Cancel Button And We Will Subscribe

1 minute read

Part 1: Why consumers don’t like subscriptions

Because cancelling some of them takes hours.

To unsubscribe from a service, you often have to do one or multiple of:

  • A phone call which ends up with a sales rep convincing you to stay
  • Physical visit to a brick and mortar location which ends up with a sales rep convincing you to stay.
  • Click through a long and painful multi-step form which tries to convince you to stay.

Did I mention cancellation fees? [1] [2].

All of this leaves a very sour taste.

As a consumer, I can’t do much, other than spend extra time researching whether a subscription is fair, or if the company is shady.

In practice, I don’t do that and just completely avoid all subscriptions unless there is no other option. In my mind, the concept of subscription is tainted, and I always opt for a free or pay once (even if more expensive) alternative.

This means a lot of great companies with otherwise completely fair subscriptions miss out on my money.

Part 2: What you can do as a business

Invest heavily into positive differentiation of your (un)subscription flows. There are more than enough companies building subscription moats the wrong way [3] [4] You can do so much by just saying it will be easy to unsubscribe (and actually making it so)

Here are a few things you could say:

  • “We don’t want to see you go, but if you want to, it will take 1 click”
  • “Unsubscribing with us is easier then subscribing”
  • Absolutely no cancellation fees: You pay for what you used and not a cent more.
  • Cancelling your subscription is as easy as one click.

Also please deliver on these promises and actually invest in end of subscription experience for your users. We will be forever grateful and gladly give you all of our money.

Sincerely, a disgruntled consumer.

[1] - https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/06/ftc-takes-action-against-adobe-executives-hiding-fees-preventing-consumers-easily-cancelling

[2] - https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=twitter.com/mrdaddguy

[3] - https://imgur.com/a/K8m7p2t

[4] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30253785

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