Long term subscribers must be a comforting buffer of reliable income stream for a small scale setup like STW. You’d have thought a small token of gratitude every now and then would make good business sense to keep them (us) feeling valued. Your 10th year of subscription free maybe (and 20th and 30th etc). Or an ‘exclusive’ mug on your 10th/20th/30th anniversary. Or a personal card after 10 years thanking your continued support and an offer to drop in for a coffee on a specific day. Virtually no one would take it up but the value is in the offer not the take up.

Can you buy a bag of the coffee without the subscription? Is it any good?

If its anything like Stu.s beer it will be good!

What I said was long term subscribers get nothing for their loyalty.

apart from a magazine, obviously, which is what you’re buying isn’t it?

As plenty of others have said the gift is an incentive to make you sign up for a subscription if you don’t already have one.
The existing subscribers who feel hard done by and think they are doing ST some kind of favour need to have a think about what they already get and decide whether it’s worth what they pay.
Think about it in terms of what Adam Smith wrote “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.”
Basically ST isn’t sending out free coffee to new subscribers because they are generous, it’s because they think they can sell more subscriptions and hence make more money by having this offer.

Something tells me you’ve not put much thought into this Bruneep.

Which part of what he said was factually inaccurate?

apart from a magazine, obviously, which is what you’re buying isn’t it?

I thought you pay for that with money, not loyalty?

In terms of subscription services, money and loyalty are interchangeable. You don’t get either without the other (in this case).

Can you buy a bag of the coffee without the subscription? Is it any good?

As an existing subscriber I’d be interested in buying the coffee. Though we’re very particular coffee snobs here so it has to be something special.

Every year when my subscription auto-renews they send me a kitten

Bloody things have wrecked all our furniture

Curse you Singletrack!!!

Just going to leave this here.

Any deals available for a Mint Sauce keyring?

Wrong magazine.

Any deals available for a Mint Sauce keyring?

Maybe someone could lend you one?

@drac are you saying it available in the shop? I have looked and couldn’t see it. Cheers

Just going to leave this here

Can’t see the coffee though. Coffee cups yes. Or just tell us what the blend is from Kircabi and I can go order from them. Not a Singletrack discount though.

No not the coffee but discount for members, even loyal ones.

Also for new ones.

Yes all subscribers.

Ah right sorry thought you meant the coffee was available through the shop.

new subscribers get coffee and discounts 🤔

I see so they value my privacy but not my loyalty

Still struggling to grasp it I see.

Anyway happy New Year folks.

Free coffee? Get thee to Waitrose

Got to buy something and take a coffee cup now to Waitrose. Actually, not sure if you can take any cup or has to be a Waitrose one. Not tried since they changed the rules.

Perhaps there should be some awesome reward goodies for people who have been subscribing the longest….

I am not really being serious btw, I get the whole point of the incentives to sign up!

I don’t mind that the coffee is for newbs only because I love the magazine.

Would be nice to see the beer and coffee in the shop though 😀

Perhaps there should be some awesome reward goodies for people who have been subscribing the longest….

Perhaps, if anyone really does think subscribers need an incentive to stay subscribed, ST could have a monthly prize draw with all subscribers eligible. Bike tat. Coffee, Beer. Whatever.

That way you can feel randomly valued and the smarting pain of coffee deprivation might be dulled a little.

Are people really pissed about this? Are people saying that STW shouldn’t be able to offer a promotion to get new customers?

I either value what I’m buying or I don’t. @spawnofYorkshire has it right…

In the bigger business world, new customers or renewing customers are incentivised with gifts or cash reductions because of either

A) there was a huge markup in the price / sub anyway which can be eaten into to demnstrate a virtual discount offer to you

B) you trade customer A’s Discount off of customer B’s markup e.g. rob Peter to pay Paul.

In both models there was always revenue excess to enable these decisions. However, for a small industry such as single track that have already warned us of reducing revenue through their prior main income stream – the physical mag – in the past, if they don’t have the margin to play with you are asking them to provide you with an incentive that would push them below thier bottom line.

Personally, and for the main demographic on this site £15-£30 is a tiny token of what you can glean from it, and to perhaps imply you’d happily see STW Towers forced to make cost cuts or risk going out of business to provide each subscriber with a free bag of coffee from excess revenue they likely don’t have is a tad one eyed IMO. It’s literally cutting of your nose to spite your face.

The final option is to provide an incentive of a service/ item “at cost”, but that’s not a business model based on profit, just turnover and does not enable a business to grow unless you have enough other customers buying these items at profit.

£15-£30 is a tiny token of what you can glean from it, and to perhaps imply you’d happily see STW Towers forced to make cost cuts or risk going out of business to provide each subscriber with a free bag of coffee from excess revenue they likely don’t have is a tad one eyed IMO

Holy shit – I think you’ve hit it. How about STW charge an annual subscription for coffee and just give away a “free” mag once a year?

Dear was that the price last night as I am seeing hats at 14.99 and sweat shirt at 23.99…

Holy shit – I think you’ve hit it. How about STW charge an annual subscription for coffee and just give away a “free” mag once a year?

Lol, well I get the impression they want to be a Cycling resource as opposed to a Coffee supplier…

As an existing subscriber I’d be interested in buying the coffee. Though we’re very particular coffee snobs here so it has to be something special.

STW are doing Panama Geisha beans? Or is it the Yemeni coffee they serve at Alain Ducasse?
You did say “something special”

And being STW that means at least Audi/Santa-Cruz quality.

*Wonders how many people on this thread complain when an item they bought full price gets put into a sale, or discounted to less than a they paid for it (as they never pay full price)