Resin pricing stories are among the most popular on PlasticsNews.com. For about nine months, we've put those stories behind what's called a hard paywall, meaning readers have to be Plastics News subscribers to access them.
Starting very soon, you'll also have to be a paid subscriber to access the current resin prices.
That's a change. Until now, the current resin prices have been free for anyone to read. We also have a section with historical resin pricing that's been a premium for paid subscribers only. Starting next week, the current prices will also be behind the paywall.
If you read any news online, you already know that this is a trend in the journalism business. Publications launched websites in the 1990s with the strategy to give everything away for free, thinking that high traffic would attract advertising. But in the past few years you've seen more sites either lock down their content or allow readers to access only a few stories per month for free.
If you're a frequent visitor to PlasticsNews.com, you know that we're already putting most stories behind the hard paywall. That's become a key part of our business strategy since late 2019. The marching orders to the Plastics News editorial staff is to report and write stories that subscribers will pay to read. It's been working very well; we have thousands of new paid subscribers in just a few months.
Resin pricing is a natural addition to the menu of content that's available online only to paid subscribers. Our pricing — especially for commodity resins polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, PVC and PET — is updated frequently and is essential reading for buyers and sellers. We know that other quality resin pricing indexes exist, but those cost much, much more than an annual subscription to Plastics News.
If you're currently lucky enough to get a free copy of Plastics News in the mail, nothing will change. But savvy web readers know we typically record price changes on the Thursday before an issue is published. Having access to information first gives them a competitive advantage.
Plastics News has been covering resin pricing since we started publishing in 1989, and it has been a popular part of our website since we first went online in 1996. It's a trusted source, and we're counting on readers to recognize that they're getting tremendous value for subscribing.
Finally, since this is Kickstart, here's some Plastics News trivia: Senior reporter Frank Esposito has been handling our resin pricing since April 1997. And he'll tell you that he had perfect eyesight and a full head of hair when he started. Handling resin pricing is stressful work!
