07-14-2003, 02:09 AM
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Confirmed User
Industry Role:
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: East Coast Baby
Posts: 1,269
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Quote:
Originally posted by CGI
It's about time the industry is finally getting back to the way things used to be. Anyone who's been around for a few years knows exactly what I'm saying 
Back in 1998 (97?) when revenues from running sites like in 1996-97 started dropping, everyone started to migrate to free trials. By the end of 1998 the rules changed and "oh my god, the sky is falling - no more free trials! what are we going to do now?" I watched our conversions from trials shoot through the roof overnight. What seemed like the end of the world at the time ended up being a great thing -- less free porn = more paid signups and trial conversions. The industry adjusted and survived.
A while later (don't remember exactly when) MC came down with the 1% chargeback rule. And "Oh my god, the sky is falling - 1% chargeback limits?". I think we were running at under .05% at the time and we were worried about it. But the industry adjusted and survived.
Last October came the $750 "sponsored merchant" crap and again, the sky was falling. Visa has gotten that fee from us for each of our IPSPs and as much as I hate paying it, it's a cost of doing business. And guess what -- pretty much everyone is still around and the industry survived.
Now comes the new 1% chargeback rule from Visa. How many other people were wondering when it was coming? I figured it would have come within a few months of the mastercard ruling, but it didn't. We're still below 1% across the board, but as surfers start getting smart (dumb, actually - as I'll explain with another short story in a minute) it goes up. We provide high quality sites with lots of content focused on the niche we are marketing. We don't lie about what we offer, nor do we allow affiliates to do it. We also give access to our other sites (although we don't promote it on the outside of the sites) as a tactic to increase retention and reduce unhappy subscribers who may have had second thoughts about spending $30/month after they bought access.
It's simply a time to adjust tactics, cut some of the bullshit (multiple pre-checked cross sells, etc) and get back to basics. I don't see anyone who's on the level going anywhere anytime soon and if this all ends up going as I expect it will, we're all going to be better off in the long run due to this.
There is also a pretty big lesson to be learned -- if we don't watch what we're doing and keep clean, someone is going to clean us up again.
Anyway, one of my non-industry friends was talking to me the other day and I asked what their take was on some of the sites out there. "Do you ever worry about getting screwed by the site?" Her response - "No, I just call my bank and get a refund". Thank you V/MC for teaching people that there is nothing wrong with calling your bank and "getting a refund" (charging back) because you didn't want to pay for the porn.
Anyway, this is long winded so I'll cut it here - as much as I want to post oh so much more about this
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Beautifully said, CGI. Especially, "I don't see anyone who's on the level going anywhere anytime soon and if this all ends up going as I expect it will, we're all going to be better off in the long run due to this."
So true!
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Adult Business Consultant since 1995 
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