7 sneaky tricks subscription services use to lock you in - and how to avoid them

Do you have more subscription services than you use? You may have fallen victim to manipulative tactics designed to get you to opt into and stay stuck in those subscriptions.

In a public report released earlier this month, the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network discussed what it called "dark patterns" in subscription services, or practices that coerce customers into making poor choices.

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In January of this year, ICPEN analyzed nearly 650 apps or services that offer some type of subscription and identified seven main tricky tactics they use to manipulate your choices. Turns out, companies use these methods a lot.

75% of services that ICPEN evaluated use at least one of these tactics. 67% used more than one. Here's what you need to look out for:

Sneaking: The most straightforward tactic, sneaking simply involves not telling you important information. Examples include mandatory add-ons that cost more, locking in a subscription for a certain amount of time, hiding how to cancel a subscription, and automatically renewing a subscription after a free trial.

Interface interference: With this trick, a service steers you towards more expensive options by framing information in certain ways. For example, if you're signing up for a subscription, the app might have the longest option preselected or make it appear larger with the cheaper one harder to see.

Social proof: Companies might try to pressure you by using the power of the crowd, announcing information like "100+ boxes sold in the past 24 hours" or "Most popular option" or "645 people viewing this item right now". Numbers like that make you feel like you're making the right choice since a lot of other people are choosing that item.

Forced action: Many times, you'll have to create an account or provide payment information to access certain functionality on an app for a free trial. When you do that, you're not only giving the company your information to charge you later, you're connecting yourself with the service mentally, making it easier to continue using.

Obstruction: Have you ever found it more difficult to cancel a service than it was to sign up? That's likely by design. If a company can make it hard to cancel, some customers will simply give up and continue paying.

Nagging: While online popup ads aren't nearly as bad as they used to be, there's a reason they're still around. Persistence pays off sometimes, and repeated popup ads with a special offer or ongoing encouragement to do something can capture customers that might otherwise have moved on. Some apps, for example, push you to connect your social media accounts every time you log in.

Urgency: If you've seen a "number of items left" tracker on a site trickle down as you're shopping or a countdown timer showing how long a sale will last, the company is pushing urgency to buy now so you're not left out

What can you do to fight these tricks? You can't change the design of an app or site to avoid them, but you can be aware of them. 

When you're signing up for a subscription, don't assume the option labeled "Best choice" really is your best choice. Take the time to carefully look at all the options, even ones that aren't displayed prominently. 

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In terms of urgency or social proof, simply ignore calls that tell you how many people are looking at an item or how quickly it's selling. Even if that count is accurate, the most popular choice of other shoppers doesn't have to be yours. 

Lastly, if you do pay for a subscription, find out how to cancel it before you join. If the cancellation process is straightforward, you're probably in the clear, but if it's convoluted, consider whether it's worth the hassle.