Recurring Subscriptions and Support

Update an existing recurring subscription.

This is True has long had Paypal “recurring” subscriptions — but those are only available to those with a Paypal account. It’s also a fairly “weak” function at Paypal: a simple change in the expiration date in your credit card would cause the subscription to be canceled, even if the customer updated the expiration date with Paypal.

Patreon was good for awhile, enabling you to choose a variety of different support levels, with a variety of increasing “rewards,” but it was inflexible (monthly only: no option for quarterly or annual payments, for instance).

True’s Solution

Enough of inflexible systems! You can now use this shopping cart and purchase “recurring” subscriptions (and/or recurring extra support for This is True) right here, rather than set things up with outside vendors. All of the benefits (“rewards”) you would have received through Patreon are also available here, and you get to choose monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual options. Perfect!

Note: while this shopping cart does allow you to pay with a Paypal account, using a credit or debit card gives you extra flexibility, like the ability to come back and change your account level.

Why Does True Need the Support?

Simply, the publication has never recovered from the economic downturn. About 20 percent of the paid subscribers dropped off during the downturn, and while some have come back after the economy improved, most did not. In a 2013 survey, readers “demanded” that the Premium subscription rate should be increased, but also made it clear that those who wanted to pay extra should be allowed to. So that’s where this all came from. It has allowed subscription price increases to be smaller so as to not affect as many people who can’t afford it, while many of those who can afford it have stepped up to fill in that gap.

The Options

For simple auto-renewing Premium subscriptions, see this page.

For one-time contributions, see this page.

Patreon-Like Support, see this page.

Whatever Way You Choose to support This is True, we really appreciate it: this is literally keeping the publication going!