SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Subscriptions are things many of us have whether it a streaming service, groceries, or food delivery.

“Coming out of COVID, people were thinking, you know, the subscription thing is just a fad, it's kind of like fizzling out,” Stefan Pretty, CEO & Founder of Subbly, said.

Pretty’s company Subbly is one that helps and supports people who are looking to start and run subscription businesses. 

“What we're actually seeing in the data with our secondary research is that even in the last year, the average American subscription bill has gone up 23%,” Pretty said.

But in a time where the economy is up and down, can these subscription services save you money compared to buy something each and every time? 

“On the replenishment side where you get the same product over and over again, there's often discounts that come associated with that, and those can range from like 5 to 15% off of the shelf price,” Pretty said.

Subscriptions are a trend that we’ve seen grow for years now.

“There's been a huge shift over the last, you know, 10 years or so, especially the last 5 years just towards subscriptions,” Colin Campbell, a USD Professor, said. “The caveat, of course, though, is that you're actually using it. So, if you're subscribing to something like a streaming service and you forget to use it, that's obviously not good value, or if you're having something pile up in your garage and you're not actually using it as well too, then you probably are not saving money either.” 
 
Outside of saving money, it can be about saving time and what you can use it for. For example, Pretty said the average American spends 100 hours a year roaming the aisles of a grocery store. 
 
“If you're wanting to compare like meal kits to your, your average weekly grocery shop, then actually on average, a meal kit subscription will cost you about 33% more for the same amount of food,” Pretty said. “However, the picture's a bit more complicated than that because actually you have to consider other things like gas. And the cost it takes to get to the grocery store. And so, when you actually factor for that, the gap goes from 1/3 to about 20% more expensive for a meal kit service.”

ABC 10News did compare the price of products available from the $179 Butcher Box subscription to buying the products individually online at Vons.

Buying all of the individual products at the grocery store was cheaper. However, some weren’t the same style of cuts of meat or the same weight of some meats in the Butcher Box package.

Also, the prices from the grocery store didn’t account for sales tax and the cost of gas driving from one’s home to the store. So, it still goes back to the concept of convenience and what you want and are going to use on regular use.
 
So, if you are thinking of a subscription, here are some tips for consumers.
 
“I would be looking for brands that actually give you like a trial, like a one-time version, just to kind of get a taste for it. Is this the quality I'm expecting, is this the experience that I'm expecting?” Pretty said. “I think also, one thing that I would look out for is a brand that makes it easy to cancel. Because that would signal that they're a high-trust brand and that they actually are putting the customer first and that the quality is something that they really care about.”