As I expressed earlier this week, it’s been a bit tough lately dealing with a Google algorithm that seems intent on surfacing AI slop and prioritizing it over our great original reporting. You, dear readers, answered the call and we’ve seen a huge uptick in membership in all categories except one: Cloth Monthly. I think I know why, so we’re fixing it. Cloth Monthly is now just $5 if you click this link.
One of the exciting aspects of doing a membership program like this is learning as you go. While we did look at our competitive set and took advice and inspiration from others, some of this was just guessing. We didn’t even have “Cloth” level when we launched, and we had to think long and hard about pricing it. There’s a transaction fee we pay every time someone renews, so we pay the fee 12 times for a monthly member versus once for an annual member. That, and for planning purposes, we’ve made the annual plans cheaper.
When we launched Cloth Annual, it was $70. And Cloth Monthly was $7. We ended up lowering the Cloth Annual price to $50, but we kept the monthly price because of the fees. This made sense at the time, but during this last drive, a couple of you pointed out that the price delta didn’t work for them. So we lowered it. You can also click the button below to order.
If you’re a current Cloth Monthly member, thank you! When your plan renews, it’ll be $2 cheaper. If you’ve been holding out from becoming a member because you thought $7 was too much, well, we’ve solved the problem!
As a reminder, for $5, you get special access in our Discord, member emails, an invite behind the paywall, and a chance to win swag we randomly give out. Full details on what you get at every level can be found here.
Thanks to everyone for the helpful feedback and just for helping create the greatest car community on the web.
Also for $5 you get to support THIS VERY WEBSITE you’re reading right now! Like what these crazy kooks are doing here? Want to see what ill-advised lovecraftian German engineering nightmare Mercedes falls in love with next? Enjoy supporting DT’s crippling Jeep addic-I mean, lovely growing family? Need more of Torch’s unhinged rambling or Adrian’s sneering goth insults? All this could continue to be yours for just $5 a month!
Remember how everything else you loved was ransacked and savaged by tasteless finance weenies, failsons, and herbs? Want to keep just one friggin’ corner of the internet untouched by the AI-slop-pocalypse? Then open your wallet, friend, because otherwise the commies-err, capitalists… uh, the bad guys win!
EXACTLY! Very well stated.
Thank you for having an affordable option for those that want to support your awesome endeavor and aren’t rolling high in the moolah. When I was a kid I’d watch the mailbox like a hawk for my latest car mags to show up. Y’all make me feel like a giddy kid again, I get a new issue delivered everyday when I log onto The Autopian!
keep on innnovating!
Fine cloth seats are the finest seats.
Does Google pay more if we read in the Google News app vs. read on the browser?
I can’t believe there’s not a “Rust” or “Bondo” level.
“Upside-Down Milk Crate”
This $5/month tier should’ve been called “Busted Seam Cloth with Cigarette Burns.”
Alternately Blanket Bench Seat Cover. You know the one. In every Dad and Grandpa pickup in the 70s
I would actually pay *more* for a tier named that.
This is awesome but the main thing holding me back from becoming a member at this point is that some perks are too US-centric, such as giveaways, contests, swag, etc.
I live in the jungle surrounded by sloths, monkeys and toucans. $5 is great, but missing out on some of the pluses of being a member is not so great.
Still, I disabled my ad-block because I really love you guys, even though it’s not nearly as much as what a member contributes.
That’s what’s nice about the cloth membership though, you don’t get any physical things so it’s really just financial support.
Good info. I’m signed up for monthly, but maybe I can switch to annual so you can avoid some of those pesky fees!
And if you switch to annual, you still save $10 over monthly, so win-win.
So is this like “value cloth,” with less side bolstering and doesn’t have the autopian logo embroidered on the seatback? But it does still have the jazzy pattern, right?
It’s like home made cutoff jorts. Stylish.
Daisy Dukes??
I wanted to reply with David Dukes in honor of DT, but then felt weird because of the trash Nazi KKK guy (Duke). There was an actor named David Dukes though, and he seems like he was probably a decent guy.
It’s the “old blanket over ripped vinyl and sprung springs” level.