Like most small businesses, Defector has felt the sting of inflation, rising interest rates, and gnarled supply chains. David Roth has already blown through most of his annual plaid shirt budget, and Dave McKenna won't stop talking about how he's "getting killed at the pump" these days (the pump in question is the espresso machine at 7-Eleven). We can't keep living like this, and so we are doing what all great American businesses do when faced with economic headwinds: passing costs down to the consumer.
No, we are not raising prices on any of our existing subscription packages. We will not, however, be offering a $0.99-for-your-first-month introductory subscription package like we did in 2021. Despite how desperately we wanted to offer new readers this exciting, limited-time promotional deal this summer, our subscription analytics department came to one conclusion following a deep analysis of the macro-economic data: This year's introductory subscription sale price has to be $1.08 for your first month.
How did we settle on that number? Do I need to mention the deep analysis of the macro-economic data again? Rest assured, we did not arbitrarily increase the old sale price by 10 percent because we are frightened of math. We are certainly not doing this as some kind of "bit" or "joke" based on constantly seeing headlines about inflation above news stories that we do not fully understand. This is economics, the most serious thing in the world.
Despite this year's sale not being as good as our previous sale, you are still unlikely to find a better place to spend your money in this marketplace. I mean, have you seen the price of cement lately?
Based on the above chart, I might even go so far as to say that if you have not yet subscribed to Defector, you are morally obligated to get out your credit card right now and purchase a subscription at this exciting introductory price before it disappears. Not only has Defector kept prices low throughout months of rising inflation, we are also small business owners, and nobody in the world is more important than small business owners. Not even the troops.
So what's your deal? Are you going to buy a subscription to Defector, which will only cost you $1.08 for your first month of access, or are you going to sit on your hands and watch this country die?
