Are you annoyed at the great introductory prices new subscribers to a magazine get, while old-timers’ subscription prices climb higher? Yeah, it’s the nature of subscriptions, but Gabe found a simple way around it: he called up the magazine and complained about the discrepancy.

I’ve subscribed to Car and Driver for probably a good 6 years now.

So, at the advice of my umpteenth snail-mail renewal notice, I went online to renew. But I accidentally went to the NEW subscriptions page when I was searching for the renewal page. Attached you will find a combined screen shot of my renewal price (on the left) and the price for new subscribers (on the right).

Apparently you get a WAY better deal as a noob than a guy that’s been around a couple of years.

However: before I signed up online, I called the subscription number to ask them about this.

The woman on the line was very helpful and after taking my info was immediately willing to give me the $19.95/2 year price.

Simple enough, but most subscribers wouldn’t think to even make that quick call that saves them $6. This won’t work with all magazines, and perhaps not with all customer service reps, but it’s worth a try if you enjoy dead-tree magazines.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.