Not exactly. They would always send a postcard or something similar beforehand allowing you to opt-out.

These were more like auto-renewing subscription dark patterns if I remember it correctly. You'd get a bunch of books or cd's for $1, but based on the fine print you were really signing up for a subscription where they'd send you one a month from then on at full price. They also of course made it tricky to cancel like any good (read: bad) subscription service does.