Americans are drowning in a sea of subscription fees. These days, it seems everything from phone plans to fitness apps to news services requires a monthly fee. While those fees are often fairly affordable on their own, they can add up quickly.
So, consumers have started looking for ways to bring those costs down. They're sharing passwords, hacking free trials, and even building their own chosen family plans.
These chosen family plans include everyone from parents and children to friends, acquaintances, and sometimes even strangers, according to Business Insider. They're being utilized on everything from cellphones to streaming services and music platforms like Spotify (NYSE:SPOT), taking advantage of the fact that none of the companies in question have included any fine print about families needing to share DNA.
Don't Miss:
- The same firms that backed Uber, Venmo and eBay are investing in this pre-IPO company disrupting a $1.8T market — and you can too at just $2.90/share.
- Bill Gates Warned About Water Scarcity. This Award-Winning Device Just Might Fix It — And You Can Invest Early
Nicole Nikolich, an artist who lives in Pennsylvania, splits a phone plan with a former roommate. “I was just like, we will literally save so much money if we just do this together," she told the website. "It’s been smooth sailing for years.”
Others told the outlet that things hadn't always been so easy in their chosen family plan experiences. One Business Insider employee talked about an ex-partner who stopped covering their portion of a phone plan, expecting the others in the group, who made more, to handle it. Another woman shared that she often deletes users from her Peloton account if she sees they aren't utilizing it regularly.
How do corporations feel about this new trend? It's a bit of a mixed bag, experts tell Business Insider.
While it may seem ideal that every customer has their own account and pays full price for the service, “It really depends on the company in question, the stage that they’re in, and the lock-in that they have with subscribers,” University of Maryland associate marketing professor Daniel McCarthy says.
Trending: ‘Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. You can invest today for just $0.30/share.
Take Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), for example. In its early days, the company widely allowed for password sharing, using it as a strategy to get people hooked on its content. It's only been recently, as they've become more profitable and well-established, that they've begun to crack down on the family plan practice.
“[Allowing for chosen family plans is] a useful strategy to build usage, understanding and habit formation,” says Robbie Kellman Baxter, a consultant for subscription-based companies.
That being said, many companies are now following Netflix's lead and cracking down on password sharing and chosen family plans. It's become an "increasing point of concern from the media companies to make sure they’re getting the appropriate subscription dollars from different households," MoffettNathanson senior research analyst Robert Fishman told Business Insider.
See Also: Kevin O'Leary Says Real Estate's Been a Smart Bet for 200 Years — This Platform Lets Anyone Tap Into It
Still, many consumers find it hard to feel guilty for the financial hack. They reason that if companies feel okay monetizing every little thing, then they are okay to find creative ways to save a buck or two here and there.
Sharing the cost of subscriptions can go a long way to ease the financial burden many people are feeling, and will a company like Disney (NYSE:DIS) really miss that extra $9.99 a month?
Read Next: Bezos' Favorite Real Estate Platform Launches A Way To Ride The Ongoing Private Credit Boom
Image: Shutterstock
