A new print subscription takes weeks to start, and it takes the same weeks wherever you buy it. The wait comes from how magazines are printed and mailed, not from how your order was placed.
6 to 12 weeks for a first print issue, depending on how often the title publishes | 1 hour for digital, which skips printing and mail entirely | No gap on renewals, the wait applies to a first issue only |
What happens after you order
Five steps sit between your order and your mailbox. Four of them belong to the publisher.
1 | We send your order to the publisher. In many cases we submit orders directly to the publisher; in others they go through the fulfillment center that publisher uses. Either way, from that point your subscription is an account with the publisher, exactly like one placed on their own site. |
2 | You are added to the subscriber file. The fulfillment center keeps the list of everyone who receives that title. It is processed on a cycle tied to the publishing schedule, not continuously. |
3 | The next issue closes. This is the step that creates the wait. Every issue has a closing date, weeks before the date printed on the cover, after which the mailing list is locked and labels are printed. If you were added after that issue closed, you start with the one after it. |
4 | The issue is printed and labelled. Copies are printed, labels applied, and the run is sorted into postal bundles. |
5 | The post office delivers it. Magazines travel as Periodicals mail, which moves more slowly than First Class and carries no tracking. That mail class is part of why a year of a magazine costs what it does. |
Why the wait depends on how often the magazine publishes
Step 3 is the whole story. Missing a closing date does not cost you a few days, it costs you one whole issue.
- Miss the close on a weekly and you wait about another week.
- Miss it on a monthly and you wait about another month.
- Miss it on a quarterly and you wait about another three months.
That is why our estimates are given by frequency rather than as one number. See When will my first issue arrive? for the table.
Would it be faster to order from the publisher?
It takes about the same amount of time. Ordering direct does not skip any of the five steps above, because the closing date belongs to the issue, not to the seller.
Publishers quote a wait of weeks on their own subscription pages too, and they ask for several weeks' notice to change an address or to renew without a gap. The cycle is the same whoever takes the order.
There is also usually no extra step to skip. In many cases we submit orders directly to the publisher. Whichever route your order takes, it joins the same subscriber file and waits for the same closing date, so the first issue takes about the same amount of time.
"It has been months and nothing has arrived"
Before assuming something is wrong, check how often the magazine actually publishes. This is the most common reason a subscription looks broken when it is not.
- A bi-monthly title publishes 6 times a year, so two months between issues is normal.
- A quarterly publishes 4 times a year.
- Many monthlies publish combined issues, such as a single July/August issue, which counts as one issue and leaves a longer gap.
What is not slow
- Digital. ZINIO and Magzter orders are usually ready within an hour, because nothing is printed or mailed.
- Renewals. A renewal is added to the end of your current term, so there is no gap and no new waiting period. That is also why renewals are processed well before your subscription runs out.
- Books and other goods. Those ship from a warehouse with tracking and arrive in days.
Still waiting after 12 weeks
Twelve weeks is the point where we stop waiting and start asking. Contact us with your order number and we open an investigation with the publisher and follow up with you.