"Only 53 cents an issue!"

"Lock in your professional courtesy rate!"

It's certainly no secret that subscribing to a magazine is much cheaper than buying issue by issue in the newsstand or grocery store.

But is the rate that they quote on those annoying cards peppered through the magazine really the best that you can get?

Publishers Clearing House, for example, makes a lot of money by offering the lowest price that the magazine publisher would offer itself for renewals. This is usually the price that the publisher offers as a last-ditch attempt to keep you as a subscriber. However, there are even cheaper ways to go, some of them are free, and some of them might just put money in your pocket!

The reason why most publishers can afford to basically give away their subscriptions is because they can charge more for ads in the magazine if is has a broader circulation. "Professional" or "trade" publications work very hard to GIVE you a subscription for this reason.

But you can do even better! Because there are dozens of websites out there that do this, they give large kickbacks to people who drive business to them. And some of these affiliates will share their cut with you! Others buy the magazine subscriptions directly and resell them for less than the publisher's price.

• Ebates -- I've talked about this site before. Register, log in as a member, and click through to one of several magazine subscription sites, and you'll get up to a 25% kickback. That knocks a few dollars off right off the bat. To read another article on click-through sites, go here.
• MyPoints.com -- This is a variation of a pay to read e-mail site, but about once a month they sent out offers for no-risk six-month magazine trials. This is where you can get paid for reading magazines! If you cancel the subscriptions before the six months are up, you get a full refund, and keep the points you earn for gift certificates or whatever. They also send out offers for free, no-commitment, nothing-to-cancel subscriptions to selected magazines!
• Ebay.com -- I got two years of Consumer Reports for a good price off of eBay. Lots of deals here. Choose a seller with a high feedback rating, and you're good to go!
• FreeTradeMagazineSource.com -- Get professional publications free!