Comments on: More Fun With Subscription-Based Pricing http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2005/07/more-fun-with-subscription-based-pricing.html Tue, 14 Feb 2012 01:23:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Dave Winer http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2005/07/more-fun-with-subscription-based-pricing.html/comment-page-1#comment-1209 Dave Winer Sat, 09 Jul 2005 13:40:00 +0000 http://www.feld.com/wp/?p=463#comment-1209 Hi Brad -- For what it's worth I started subscription-based pricing at UserLand in 1998, with good results. Our policy worked as followed: 1. Pay $X to get started, download the software, install it. 2. Every year pay $Y to renew, guaranteed not to change (for you, we may raise the price, but your renewal price will always be $Y) and you'll get all new versions, updates and fixes. 3. If you choose not to renew, keep using the software, but no updates or fixes. 4. You can get back on board at any time for the annual fee, you don't pay the fee for intervening years. There was some resistence to paying for fixes, but we stood firm on that, fixes cost as much as features, and we argued it wasn't in the users' interest that we be financially incentivized to add features but not fix bugs (guess how may fixes you'd get under that system). Most people seemed to be happy with the system. Hi Brad — For what it’s worth I started subscription-based pricing at UserLand in 1998, with good results. Our policy worked as followed:

1. Pay $X to get started, download the software, install it.

2. Every year pay $Y to renew, guaranteed not to change (for you, we may raise the price, but your renewal price will always be $Y) and you’ll get all new versions, updates and fixes.

3. If you choose not to renew, keep using the software, but no updates or fixes.

4. You can get back on board at any time for the annual fee, you don’t pay the fee for intervening years.

There was some resistence to paying for fixes, but we stood firm on that, fixes cost as much as features, and we argued it wasn’t in the users’ interest that we be financially incentivized to add features but not fix bugs (guess how may fixes you’d get under that system).

Most people seemed to be happy with the system.

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