How much does The Post-Star cost?

By Mark Frost, Chronicle Editor

A woman in Lake George contacted The Chronicle distressed about The Post-Star’s cutting back its print edition to three days a week.

In the course of the conversation, she said she pays $765 a year for her print and digital subscription.

The number seemed so high to me that I asked if she could send me a copy of the bill.

The woman, a senior citizen, provided it readily. It indicates she is paid up through 3/28/24.

She expressed belief that she’s not allowed to cancel.

The Chronicle looked at the digital edition of The Post-Star to check the subscription price listed there. It turns out there isn’t one.

An extensive section at the bottom of page 2 has contact information and sections headed “Pricing,” “Subscription Offers,” “Auto-Renewal, Cancellation, Refund and Subscription Renewal Policy,” “Subscriptions” and “Vacation Policy.” But nowhere does it state a subscription price. It does say, “We reserve the right to change your subscription rate at any time.”

Under “Subscription Offers,” it says, “All subscription offers available at poststar.com…are valid for new subscribers only.”

It adds, “There is a non-refundable one-time account set-up fee for $6.99 for all new subscribers.”

It also says (warns), “On the last day of your current term…your Subscription will automatically renew for the same length of time, at the then-current Subscription rate, which we may change in our discretion, unless you choose to cancel more than twenty-one (21) days before your Renewal Date (your ‘Cancellation Date’).”

As to cancelling, it says, “If you are not satisfied with your Subscription rate or service, you may cancel your Subscription at any time. No refunds will be returned if remainder of the Subscription term is under thirty (30) days. The refund amount of any balance over $25.00 will be returned minus an early termination fee of $25.00. No refunds for Digital Only subscriptions are provided.”

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Going to The Post-Star website, there’s a Print + Digital offer: $40.00 for 1 Month that renews at $40/month. “Cancel anytime.” That would amount to $480 a year for the package that the Lake George lady is paying $765 for.

To subscribe purely to the digital offerings, The Post-Star offers a price of $1.00 for 6 months, “renews at $10.99/month.” That calculates to $131.88 a year. The offer says “For new customers only” and “Cancel anytime!”

There’s also an Unlimited Digital Plus offer of $49.00 for 13 weeks, “renews at $19.99/month.” Again, “Cancel anytime.” That $19.99 a month calculates out to $239.88 a year.

I have a friend who says that’s the price — $240 — he pays for the full digital & 3-day-a-week print edition.

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Totally separately, we heard from another Post-Star subscriber last week:
He wrote: “FYI – I finally made the decision this morning to cancel my Post Star subscription! Loyal subscriber for over 40 years!”

I told him about the experience of this lady in Lake George and asked if he’d tell me what price he was paying for his subscription.

He wrote back: “I have negotiated a lower price several times over the years due to price increases, and I was shocked when I read that story! I just checked my latest bill – $22.99/mth for online access only. Still not worth that, but sure not worth over $700/yr, which is $58/mth!”

He wrote me again a short while later:

“The story gets better – I just got off the phone with the Post Star stating I wanted to cancel. Always foreign accents and hard to understand. They said they were sorry and then offered me a discounted rate of $19.99/mth and I said no thank you. She then said because I was a ‘loyal’ customer, they would give me 3 months free of charge, and then $4.99/mth after that! I confirmed that was a guaranteed rate going forward and that I could cancel at any time without penalty and was told yes. I took the offer just to see what happens, although I should have canceled on principle alone!”

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