Like any of us I get a whole bunch of trade mags like Quality Digest. Always have, probably always will.
The question is how long do they keep sending you the magazine with the "Urgent Notice, About to Expire" page glued to the front?
I think I've been getting that on my Quality Digest for at least 6 months.
And I think I started getting this warning page about 6 months into the "subscription".

I know they just want updated information for their database, but at what point do they actually give up?

I think I'll resend my info today, then for the next year I'll save each issue until they stop and see how many issues there are total and with the warning. Provided I'm at my current gig long enough of course.

I'd have it send to my home to try totally fresh, but I'm afraid of the deluge of other mail I'd get from them sharing/selling my info.

I have received some of those for 4 months with the renewal notice. Some stating "this is your final". Paid subscription magazines do it also (one way to get some free magazines)

For the cheap skates: (probably applies to US only)

1) subscribe to a magazine through PCH (publisher clearing house) or school fundraiser at reduced rate
2) use the "renewal notice" to keep receiving until it stops (get up to 4 free)
3) go to 1 when no more magazines arrive.

I've been getting Quality Digest at home for years and there is very little, if any, junk mail I can recall getting because of it.

Dave

Like any of us I get a whole bunch of trade mags like Quality Digest. Always have, probably always will.
The question is how long do they keep sending you the magazine with the "Urgent Notice, About to Expire" page glued to the front?
I think I've been getting that on my Quality Digest for at least 6 months.
And I think I started getting this warning page about 6 months into the "subscription".

I know they just want updated information for their database, but at what point do they actually give up?

I think I'll resend my info today, then for the next year I'll save each issue until they stop and see how many issues there are total and with the warning. Provided I'm at my current gig long enough of course.

I'd have it send to my home to try totally fresh, but I'm afraid of the deluge of other mail I'd get from them sharing/selling my info.

Free trade magazines want you to send subscription request cards back because it affects advertising revenue. Because there are no subscription fees, advertising revenue is what keeps those publications afloat, and advertisers want to know about who's receiving the magazines. There are subscription audit services that compile data on the circulation of publications, which advertisers use in determining where to place their ads, and how much to pay for them. In the case of free subscriptions, the returned subscription cards are counted, because advertisers feel that people who are interested in receiving a given publication (as opposed to those who receive unsolicited copies) are more likely to buy their products or services. For this reason many, if not most, trade magazines will cancel subscriptions after a year or so if you don't return the card.

My experience is that the month of the actual expiration, the publisher has call centers (mine are mostly foreign) pestering for at least two weeks.

The motivation, of course, is the demographic info they get from you in return for the free issues makes each "audited" reader worth a lot of money in advertising fees.

You sure don't see minitab advertising in TIME or NEWSWEEK, but they sure do in QD and similar "free to qualified subscriber" magazines aimed at quality folk.

I get several magazines from industry-specific publications. Usually I will get a phone call asking for my place of birth, month of birth or some such so that they can confirm my subscription. Some of them get quite pushy if I tell them to quit sending the publication to me.

I get several magazines from industry-specific publications. Usually I will get a phone call asking for my place of birth, month of birth or some such so that they can confirm my subscription. Some of them get quite pushy if I tell them to quit sending the publication to me.The call center people get "bonuses" for each renewal. I get lots of calls offering brand new publications, too. ALL free, and they only ask a "confirmation question" to prove they actually talked to you if the question should arise later. Sample questions might be:

city where you were born
dad's middle name
month of your birth (not actual date)
My curse is that I sometimes consult for companies that use call centers, so I subscribe to a trade publication "CRM" (Customer Relationship Management) which has all sorts of little tidbits about "management by objective" (makes a Demingite like me SCREAM!) to goose up the drones working the phones. ICK!