WSJ Begins Selling Single Issues, But They Don't Come Cheap
March 23, 2011
The Wall Street Journal began selling individual copies of its morning newspaper today through its iPad app. Each single issue, which can be purchased by tapping a link on the app’s home screen, is billed directly to your iTunes account. As such, Apple receives 30 percent of each transaction. While convenient, this option is actually quite expensive.
Each issue, priced at $1.99, gives you access to today’s issue of The Wall Street Journal as published that morning. In addition, you’ll gain access to the European and Asian editions as well.
However, the single subscription will not give you access to the Now edition, which includes top stories from WSJ.com and is updated every 30 minutes.
Single issues are saved within the app and can be accessible anytime. You can access your purchased issues through The Journal's iPhone/iPod touch app by tapping the “Restore” button in the Saved Issues folder located on the Start Screen.
While The Wall Street Journal should be commended for making single issues of its venerable publication available, less expensive alternatives are available.
For $3.99, you can purchase a weekly subscription directly from the app. This subscription does give you access to the publication’s Now edition, as well as full access to its iPhone/iPad apps. This subscription does not go through iTunes and fees are collected from the company.
