Fake subscribers

Buying subscribers puts a channel on the wrong side of YouTube's fake engagement policy, which covers purchased subscriptions, view bots and sub4sub swaps alike. Enforcement normally opens with a warning, moves to strikes on repeat inside 90 days, and ends the channel at three, while a channel built for the purpose can go on the first pass. The bought accounts get removed when the sweeps run, so the number you paid for does not hold either.

Set the policy aside and a second cost remains. Your figures stop describing anybody. Every judgement you make afterwards about which upload landed and which flopped is made against a count with nothing behind part of it.