The speculation in this thread doesn't make any sense. If Porn.com wasn't already making big money with the new pricing structure, they wouldn't be announcing it in a press release... what would they gain by doing that? The fact that they are coming out publicly with such a big move makes it very clear they already tested it and their bank statements are showing it to be a good move. There is no motive to be public about it otherwise.

Review sites have been offering discounted join pricing for a long time now on a lot of sites. In some cases it's a benefit because it costs a customer less than the type-in price, but in other instances it's a benefit simply because some sites are priced higher than they ought to be. The thing I'd be curious about is what impact having no trial would have on average income per conversion. I doubt many people would leave if they had a $9 purchase price without a $2 trial option and most trial buyers these days cancel minutes after signing up in my experience... but I'm sure Porn.com has the facts and figures to have done that analysis already as well. :2 cents:

You would think so, however, not everyone makes intelligent decisions all the time. Reading GFY for any amount of time demonstrates this all too well. There's also the possibility it's an "act of desperation" or publicity stunt.

Uh...how about the fact that they are publicizing the lower price in hopes of gaining more members? Dude, the reasoning for publicizing it is a no-brainer.

Also...just because you say some sites are "overpriced" doesn't make it true in any way at all. It's just your opinion.

In my opinion most porn sites are incredible deals.
Especially when compared with what it was like buying porn as recently as the mid 1990's and of course all the decades before that:

You had to sneak to an adult book store and hope nobody recognized your car...and that's IF the town you lived in even allowed an adult book store...and then you were paying 40 to 50 dollars for ONE video tape that you didn't even have a chance to preview and would have 4 or 5 scenes on it.

Now you can join most any site for less than one dollar a day and have access to tons of scenes...and you are able to preview before you buy with a nice tour. And of course all done from the comfort and privacy of your home.

I get annoyed reading people who are part of this business constantly saying that paysites suck. I'm old enough to realize just how good they are and how the internet changed everything.

Only because you are assuming that the majority of www.porn.com customers are rebilling at a rate higher then the "new" pricing :pimp There is no need to do anything with past members they are already enjoying the low prices.

Shap what do you think of these 2 sections:

http://www.porn.com/pornstars.html

and

http://www.porn.com/sites/MXM/Matrix-Models.html

I agree with all of this, but just want to point out that if an affiliate is only going to make $5 per a credit card sale then they aren't going to have many if any affiliates. Hell, I currently get paid $4 per a confirmed email account, you know how much easier that is to do then to get someone to take their credit card out and sign up?? Even at $10 a month vs $30 a month subscription cost, (for example) I will still likely convert say 1:500 to make $5. With same traffic I could convert 1:50 and get paid $4 . Do the math, which one is 100x more profitable for me.

If I get someone to take out their credit card to sign up I need to be paid at the very least $30 a sale or I (and 99% of affiliates) would lose money. I know sponsors seem to think that traffic falls out of the sky for free for affiliates but it doesn't. Most either spend a tremendous amount of time or money or both to generate traffic, $5 per a credit card sale is just sad and would never take off with affiliates.

If it were some company I'd never heard of I would share your cynicism... but in this case I'm inclined to believe it is working very well for two reasons.

Not all GFY posters and companies are the same. Few if any are as well-run and logically calculated as PIMPROLL / Porn.com. They don't 'just do things' or 'just say things' without already having the answers.

Also, I've been promoting Porn.com on my review sites at the $9 price for a long long time with excellent results. I'll know in a few months if the sales have come from being less expensive than the type-in price, or if they have been coming from having a lower price point in the current market than most other sites offer. My expectation is that sales will stay strong and other major brands will soon follow. :2 cents:

Excellent post. It mirrors my sentiments exactly. There's no way I'll send traffic which converts on average at 1:1,000 per $5 sale. That's just a waste to me. But I'll gladly send all that I can under a true honest PPFS program paying $1.50 per verified no-cc member (It should convert no worse than 1:50 on average in comparison).

It's my stats I watch, not my opinions. Several site owners allow you to choose your own price point or make arrangements for review sites to offer sites at lower price points. Doing so definitely impacts sales... on some sites much more than others. A site that suddenly sells much better than it used to because I changed a link code and offered a lower price IS overpriced... not because I say it is, but because customers make their thoughts known with their purchase decisions.

I also own my own paysite network. It's exclusive boutique content in niches that are not over-saturated. Currently I am pricing it at $29.00 per month with a $9.00 trial. When I raised the trial price to 9 dollars from 2.99, sales improved and average income per conversion went up dramatically as more buyers chose the monthly or long term join options. Your customers tell you what price your sites should be with their purchasing actions. My sites aren't in the same market as Porn.com, still based on their move I'll be trying lower monthly prices on my own sites at least temporarily to see how it does.

The press release was on "xbiz" how many potential customers vs porn site people read that ?? To do a press release in an adult industry publication would look more like they are trying to market to affiliates not customers.



A 21 year old, or even a 26 year doesn't know what it was like to buy porn in the mid 90s off line nor do they care. Just because you think it is a great deal now vs what it was 15 years ago, doesn't mean it is a good deal to everyone now.

You comparing your view of online porn today vs what you use to have to do to see porn 15 years ago would be like a 21 year old person today saying, I think those tube sites are great deals, I can't believe that people use to pay for porn a couple years ago. The tube sites are such a convenience and much better deal. You can go to a tube site and search tons of full length videos fast and easy, don't have to download anything to worry about viruses, the quality is good, don't have to enter in a credit card and worry about trying to figure out how to cancel, or getting banged 3x with cross sales, and best part it is 100% free.


I agree, you get a lot more bang for your buck now than what you did in 1995 but we are not in 1995. You should stop thinking that something is a good deal now vs what it was like in 1995 and instead look at if what you offer now is a good deal or not vs what is out there now, not was out there 15 years ago.

Mainly was done to piss of competitors.

Also where did we say we'd only be paying out $5 on these joins.

GFY = assumption city.

You guys all need to go back to work.

Cannot believe the ignorance of so many in this industry.

heh-heh :pimp

LOL Dave you are so defensive. I wasn't assuming anything. I'm in the midst of a potential price change myself and considering lowering the rebills for existing members that are at a higher monthly rate. That's why i'm asking.

I don't care why you did it. I was commenting on Robbie's post that it likely wasn't to try to pick up new customers like he thought.

Well if you offer revshare at 50% on a $9.95 join then it is $5. Maybe a few will rebill but most wont. BUT, I wasn't commenting on your post but someone else who was mentioning affiliate's getting paid on $5 sales, so I am talking in general that wouldn't work and why. Whether you do pay revshare $5 or not I don't care.

get back to work... mmm ok, nice one. :winkwink:

The pornstar page is nice. Nice and clean easy to navigate.

The matrix one is ok. Only thing that came to mind was why label it matrix when that brand has little value to end customer?

I tend to see things for what they really are. And porn sites online are really good. I'm not gonna suddenly say that just because tube and torrent sites are stealing everything and giving it away for free that a paysite suddenly is no good.

Nothing can be as "good" as FREE no matter what it is. It's only the devaluation by thieves that is makes these sites harder to sell. Not that they aren't a great value. Once the thieves are out of the way, paysites will once again be a tremendous value.

Less than a dollar a day. It's the deal of the century and is what made so many of us so much money. But as you know, once thieves started giving it all away for free...

correct me if I am wrong is but are you really paying over 20% in processing fees?
I guess some of that is your reserves too?

You should see me on Fridays.

Wait! Who pays $4 per email and converts 1:50? Thanks.

Let me throw my 2cents in here :)


In general , I have seen that hot content , advanced marketing strategies and tools is what makes more money for everyone involved.

Price is a great stimulus for a short term boost ( as mentioned by Adam above ) but then the novelty wears off and consumers don't buy more simply cause its cheaper especially in an industry where it is mainly impulse buying.

Agree?

right and it doesn't matter what you, or I, think is a good deal, it matters what the surfers and potential customers think is a good deal.

I don't have much dating traffic so don't do a huge volume with them but I make $4 per email join to dating gold and converted at an average of 1:35 last period.

If you say so. Problem is that NOTHING is as good a deal as FREE. So all I can do is hope that the current legal moves against piracy continue and get more power behind them.

Once that is done...then people will once again see that less than a dollar a day is a great deal. I spill more beer by accident at the strip club for God's sake. :1orglaugh

I just noticed that porn.com has a site called you.porn.com I wonder if "youporn" youporn.com was trademarked if they would have any problems. If i owned "tube.com" and made a subdomain called you.tube.com i bet they would sue me.

I'd love to know who pays $4 per email. Feel free to send me your referral link. I Would be glad to make to make the both of us more money. I'm getting paid $1.50 per email. That would be a nice increase :)

its not if I say so, it is common sense reality. It matters what your potential buyers think is a good deal deal not what you think is a good deal and you laugh at people who don't agree with you.

If you waiting for the laws to change then you will be going out of business.

How do you compete with "free"? You offer something that can not be given away for free. You need to offer a product, better experience, what ever you want to call it (i know "interaction" is now a taboo word here) that can not be stolen. Then you could use the pictures and videos to get exposure and drive traffic to your site where you up sell them on what they couldn't get for free anywhere else.

There is a lot more to it, and better for another thread.

more will76 bullshit.

perhaps what I call a "confirmed email join" is something different that what you guys are thinking. I refer to it being someone sign ups up with out putting in a credit card and using a valid email address which they confirm.

But regardless I mentioned it to illustrate a point of why no affiliates would market a program if they were only getting paid $5 a month / sale from a credit card join... as it is a lot easier to convert that at $4 vs getting someone to pull out a credit card (hope credit card works) and joins.

it's dating gold btw.

Repeat: The Pie Is Only So Big; Lowering Prices Hurts Everyone, Period. VOLUME cannot be the replacement for quality when SO MUCH PORN is available for free.

People panic and lower prices and it is a MISTAKE. Shap, if you lower your prices, even just on rebills, you will be hurting not only your own business long-term but also the Industry as a whole. BAD business practice peeps.

I'm at $27.95 and wouldn't be lowering more than 10%. We are just trying to find our ideal price point and I think as long as I'm over $19.95 my price changes won't hurt anyone.

why would you give them all the same price? if you buy something and a week later it goes on sale you don't get a rebate check in the mail from the seller.

if you're experimenting with a new lower price point and you realize it doesn't work then offering all your members the lower price can sink you pretty quick.

150..........HUGE Moves :Graucho

Has to be his reserves.

Which bank do you own? Do you offer merchant accounts?

Seems like a smart move, considering the state of the biz, and the fact that its a type in domain.. Dave is a smart guy.

exactly! we're dealing with two critcal issues:

1) recession
2) abundance of free content

1 is feeding 2. everyone is trying to figure out a magic recipe but both issues are a waiting game.

i see lots of restaurants in my area going out of business and it's not because other restaurants are giving away free food.

my traffic has increased but ratios haven't increased with it so people are still looking, just not buying...yet!

from my experience with price points the lower price works well for stuff like special offers, mailers, etc... especially when it's time limited because the impulse becomes greater (i.e. black friday).

if you just doing a short test, yeah i agree.

But if you doing this for good, how could you not give them the same price ?? I am a loyal member and have been with your site for a year ( not common but lets pretend for the sake of making a point) , so i pay every month $30 then i notice someone who has never sent you a penny before you offer a better deal to and on top of that you don't offer it to me either. I would be pissed. Nice way to shit on your loyal members. Not to mention if they really wanted to, they could just cancel and sign back up again, but if someone pulled that stunt with me and I was a long loyal customer I would be out of there and never go back.

Chris Mallick is a smart guy. I've heard people rave about how brilliant he is. Not all smart guys always do smart things. Nothing against Dave, just saying in general.

One that will be kept private.

good move on their part

that's just the way things are but it's up to the site owner how they want to deal with it. when we first opened our site 5 years ago we have 50 video and pic sets and we charged $24.95. now when you join you get over 600 videos and pic sets for $29.95. i guess you can say that the first ones to join are pissed because you get alot more for your money now.

i bought an ipod a few years ago and a few months later they came out with the same model that had twice the storage capacity and three times the battery life for the same price. did apple rip me off? was the previous model not worth the price i paid?

i can totally understand what you're saying and i think members would love to get the discounted price if you changed your price point perminently.

you cannot trademark a 3rd level domain.

lolz. I couldnt even get erect to your stuff let along jerk off to it ;)
go to fan boards and see how many people are digging your stuff vs mine. Friendly wager :)
ds