Why offering several join options?
 

Hi there,

just a quick question: why almost 99% of sites have several join options?

It's quite clear that the most "revenue-effective" join option is the monthly subscription. What's the point to offer several confusing join options. Maybe to make more cash in advance but on the long run you would make less.

I'm going to run a test offering one single monthly subscription. :helpme

People like options when buying. Some like a recurring commitment for less than a non recurring commitment.

My subscribers pay $10 more for the non recurring option. You're losing money by not offering at least two options.

That's a good point, people like more options. I think the opposite, people get confused by many options. I'm not saying you are wrong, I'm really considering your idea.

I don't work with single shot (not recurring). Many big programs got rid of non-recurring options as well.

I love the non recurring members that sign up every month after their subscription expires. $10 more for me :1orglaugh

Non-recurring members that really like the site end up becoming recurring members.

I get quite a few yearly signups too so I am glad some have that option.

We have the same option and they are a lot of members that prefer to pay $10 more to have an one time fee

Too many choices is bad. Too few is bad. You need a mix. :)

Some people simply will not join a site with a recurring Membership fee. Some like bargains like yearly or 3 month options (cheaper). I offer 4 options, two recurring and two non-recurring. :)

True dat, some people just get partial to a certain processor. The tricky part is the come and go so often there is not enough time for names to get recognized by users for very long.

Please share any ground breaking discoveries you make that hundreds of other paysite operators haven't made before.

:thumbsup

yup this I loved making $10 more for non-recurring and I think people were willing to pay it because some websites make it hard to cancel.

I also saw some of the same names come back a month or two later to do the same $10 more.

Do the math.

Join page has two options, $19.99/month or $120/year. The yearly option is half off. Let's say you have average retention of three months so you would collect $60. OR you can collect $120.

I've worked for some sites that have like $700+ 'lifetime' options, and people actually buy that. :upsidedow

It's proven that having several membership option is the best to get the most customers. It should be more than 2 and less than 5. When the customer feels like he has several options to choose from he is more likely to subscribe.

On adult sites having the $1 trial besides the full month price is because it's much easier to get people in. You will get a lot more signups compared to if you don't have this option and you will make more money in the long run by having this option despite a lot of the $1 trails canceling. It's a simple numbers game.

In addition most programs (used to) rely on affiliates and had to offer a PPS to get the affiliates to send traffic. So if you don't have the $1 trial the affiliates are not interested in sending traffic, because their ratios will suck compared to sites that offer do it. So for many it's also a must have because of that.

The 3, 6 or 12 month option is for the customers that have money and really want to join and see it as a much cheaper option.

You really don't know where your consumers mindset is at the moment of joining so having multiple options helps spread a wider net to catch them with.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Moskowitz

Thank this guy for this theory.

Yes true but with the $1 trials your chargebacks go way up, too. So that is a factor.

You can't imagine how many groundbreaking discoveries I have made over the years that made me millions while hundreds of other paysite operators were complaining about tubes. :1orglaugh

Let me add more value to my words: my aim in the last few years is to reduce friction during the signup / payment process. Many operators don't care about it. They have landing pages designed in way, join pages designed in another way and payment pages with another design again. Customers get lost.

If you think to have a strong product and you are confident about the retaining ratio, offering just one single monthly option is where you make more money with full memberships.

Accountant,

Thanks for your post. Working on different pricing is something I've done since day one and because we don't share too much real business between us I am never sure if what I'm doing is the best.

More recently (I began in the industry in 2001) I am finding more joins at higher price points and for longer memberships relative to the past.

You are correct that the monthly rebill model is what made some of us successful over the years and I might try just a simple monthly rebill membership on one of my sites and see how it goes.

Dave

PS - While I was writing this, an email alert of another $50 member on my blog (there is a $5 monthly option).

Today I just received a $99 sale to FTV Girls! yay!