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If it came down to it.....

Team Cotati

By Team Cotati
in General geocaching topics

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Team Cotati

+Team Cotati

Posted
Posted (edited)

How much would you be willing to pay annually as a usage fee to Groundspeak for:

 

- A non-premium account

- A premium account

 

Note to all who tread here: Nothing that I have or ever will post here or on any other site on the entire Internet should be viewed or interpreted as in any way indicating that I predict, have knowledge of or in in any manner whatsoever think or believe that Groundspeak can or will ever cease to exist.

 

This is completely hypothetical in nature. Any resembalance to any Web Site, living or dead is purely co-incidental.

 

Some people! Relax already. B):rolleyes::huh:

Edited by Team Cotati
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NorthWes

+NorthWes

Posted
Posted

Well, it's worth a tank of gas... using that as a kind of perspective for what I spend on trips afield (whether I'm caching or not...) so $50 a year wouldn't be a bad deal from my point of view for all the features a premium membership allows. The current $30 a year cost is a date night at the movies for the wife & I (who'd rather take the dogs for a nice hike to a new cache rather than veg at the movies).

 

Remember this, my fellow cachers - the only free meal's in a mousetrap. I enjoy this game too much not to share in its online hosting costs.

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Team Cotati

+Team Cotati

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

I would say I would be happy paying what I am paying now.

 

That was the deal:

 

"... you will always be locked in at the current rate as long as you continue to renew."

 

And watch the site go down the tubes...................interesting perspective. That's what "if it came down to it" means. A business that no longer exists, has no deals. B):rolleyes::huh:

Edited by Team Cotati
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Vinny & Sue Team

+Vinny & Sue Team

Posted
Posted

I would say I would be happy paying what I am paying now.

 

That was the deal:

 

"... you will always be locked in at the current rate as long as you continue to renew."

 

And watch the site go down the tubes...................interesting perspective. That's what "if it came down to it" means. A business that no longer exists, has no deals. B):rolleyes::huh:

Interesting... I note that not one respondent yet has actually answered your original questions, operating under the the assumption of "if it came down to it". Here go with my answers to your original questions:

 

I would pay up to $3 per month for basic service (which is currently free), up to $7 per month for Premium membership (which is currently $3 per month) and up to $680 per year for Platinum membership (this level, of course, as we all know, does not exist, but the nonexistent members currently pay $440 per year.)

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stepshep

+stepshep

Posted
Posted (edited)

A free one week trial of the site. You get to test all of the features available for free for one week.

After the week is up it's a 3 dollar monthly fee. (Basic Member)

10 dollars for the PM which has the features you got to test for free.

100 dollars annual fee.

1 dollar to get access to new features, these are features which come out after you become a member.

 

- A non-premium account $3

- A premium account $10

Edited by stepshep
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steve p

+steve p

Posted
Posted

And watch the site go down the tubes...................interesting perspective. That's what "if it came down to it" means. A business that no longer exists, has no deals.

I'm a bit puzzled about the original question and the "if it came down to it" statement. I mean, why is the question being asked. Is there some current financial reason why the site might "go down the tubes"? Is there an imminent financial issue, or is someone just testing the waters to see how much more could be collected?

 

The question seems kind of meaningless unless there's some actual definable issue and prospective financial solution being considered. Please let me know if I missed something here.

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gpsfun

+gpsfun

Posted
Posted

I would say I would be happy paying what I am paying now.

 

That was the deal:

 

"... you will always be locked in at the current rate as long as you continue to renew."

 

And watch the site go down the tubes...................interesting perspective. That's what "if it came down to it" means. A business that no longer exists, has no deals. :rolleyes:B):huh:

I would be interested in seeing the basis for the prognostication that the site will "go down the tubes" operating under the current business model. For reasonable responses to a hypothetical question, it is helpful for the hypothesis to have some probability of occurrence - and I'm not seeing it.

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Team Cotati

+Team Cotati

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Though perhaps poorly framed, I believe the meat of this hypothetical question is, "Many (if not most) of us feel that this site is worth much more than the current fees. How much would you be willing to pay?"

 

If I'm wrong the OP can correct me. (If he hasn't gotten a time-out for suggesting that GC.com is going belly-up!) :rolleyes:

 

Correctus au mundis :huh:B):D

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Team Cotati

+Team Cotati

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I would say I would be happy paying what I am paying now.

 

That was the deal:

 

"... you will always be locked in at the current rate as long as you continue to renew."

 

And watch the site go down the tubes...................interesting perspective. That's what "if it came down to it" means. A business that no longer exists, has no deals. :huh::rolleyes::D

I would be interested in seeing the basis for the prognostication that the site will "go down the tubes" operating under the current business model. For reasonable responses to a hypothetical question, it is helpful for the hypothesis to have some probability of occurrence - and I'm not seeing it.

 

Lighten up dude!! Criminnie. B):DB)

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GRANPA ALEX

+GRANPA ALEX

Posted
Posted

The idea kinda causes me to withdraw or recoil . . . not that the site has no value and should not be remunerated for expenses but that it invites a consideration of the matter when it has not (I think) been so considered.

 

Having seen the greed monster kill joyful concepts before, I am fearful it would do it again, inches at a time, perhaps.

 

Then, maybe, just maybe, - that is not a bad thing as it might limit the participants in a game that is running rampant with so many new people hiding so many new caches in so many creative and numerous ways in so many places . . . yea, who needs that?

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thedeadpirate

+thedeadpirate

Posted
Posted

If it came down to it.....

 

$0.00 for a basic account. I don't pay for any other site other than this one. I wouldn't pay for basic service here either.

 

$50/year for premium. But I would only pay the extra $20 after the site upgrade has been fully implemented and the servers are finally rock solid and stable.

 

If GC raised the rates today I would probably go basic. If they charged today for basic, I would probably give it up.

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GrizzlyJohn

+GrizzlyJohn

Posted
Posted

And watch the site go down the tubes...................interesting perspective. That's what "if it came down to it" means. A business that no longer exists, has no deals. :huh:B);)

 

Businesses go out of business all the time.

 

The deal was offered. Basic services would always be free. And premium as stated above.

 

So many here will be very quick to note that is it TPTB business and they get to run it how they wish. So let them. They made the offer and I accepted, I expect them to stick by it.

 

Do you allow people that you have a contract with to just change the rates? If so then we really need to do some business.

 

But as many have pointed out here, it does not seem that the question is based on any kind of possibility of "if it came down to it" so I guess all of the answers have the same amount of usefulness as the question.

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DudleyGrunt

+DudleyGrunt

Posted
Posted (edited)

How much would you be willing to pay annually as a usage fee to Groundspeak for:

 

- A non-premium account

- A premium account

 

Note to all who tread here: Nothing that I have or ever will post here or on any other site on the entire Internet should be viewed or interpreted as in any way indicating that I predict, have knowledge of or in in any manner whatsoever think or believe that Groundspeak can or will ever cease to exist.

 

This is completely hypothetical in nature. Any resembalance to any Web Site, living or dead is purely co-incidental.

 

Some people! Relax already. :huh:B);)

 

Gee, people are acting like every other thread in the forum is a completely serious discussion based on an actual real world situation. OP seemed to have a good grasp of his audience.

 

I'd probably be willing to spend $10 a month. If I slipped and let my current membership lapse, that is.

Edited by DudleyGrunt
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CYBret

+CYBret

Posted
Posted (edited)

There's a site I subscribe to for podcasts that I spend $6.95 a month on. I figure it's still cheaper than going to the movies, but don't get half the enjoyment from it that I get from geocaching.

 

Before Sirius satellite radio came along I was spending $40.00 a year on live365.com. Still, I like geocaching more.

 

It's hard to put a price on something you love to do. All things considered, though I could easily see spending $50-$75 bucks a year on a site like this.

Edited by CYBret
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sbell111

+sbell111

Posted
Posted (edited)

Jeremy promised that basic membership would always be free. This is important because the site thrives on these basic members getting out there and hiding caches. It would be a mistake to ever charge for basic service.

 

Current premium and charter members are locked in at $30 a year. It would be a mistake to attempt to raise these fees. However, if services are upgraded, I think that it would be appropriate to raise the membership fees for future premium members by five or ten dollars per year.

Edited by sbell111
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J-Way

+J-Way

Posted
Posted

For the services we have now... $0 for basic and $30/yr for premium is about right, and about what I'd pay. *Maybe* up to $45/yr. However, there are tons of options available for raising funds that should be used before raising basic subscription rates.

 

- More marketing of products (T-shirts, stickers, etc.)

- Product endorsements ("official" geocaching GPSr)

- More outside sponsorships (think Project A.P.E. and the Jeep TB's)

- Add a middle tier ($15/yr) with *most* of the current Premium perks to get a few more free players to pay, and increase the perks for the Premium members.

- Add a higher level tier of services including instant download of PQ's, better searchs (think GSAK), etc. for a higher price.

- Annual party at Groundspeak headquarters. Dunk Jeremy and/or your local approver in a pool of swamp slime with live frogs ($10/throw), and other county fair style games.

 

But if pop-up adverts ever show up on this site, I'm gone. There are other geocaching sites available :anitongue:

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yawetag

+yawetag

Posted
Posted
Jeremy promised that basic membership would always be free.

 

This doesn't stop Jeremy from changing what the basic membership includes.

 

I can see the following happening one day:

- Basic Membership: Good for 30 days. For the first week, unlimited access to all features given to "contributing" members. For the remaining weeks, drop to "regular" membership. After 30 days, site locks similar to someone who isn't logged in.

 

- Regular Membership: $10/yr ($1/mo): Gives access similar to basic users now.

 

- Contributing Membership: $30/yr ($3/mo): Gives access similar to premium users now.

 

- Charter Membership: $100/yr ($10/mo): Gives more than today's premium members (see post above on some ideas)

 

I think that by giving the new users a week full of full access, it allows them the opportunity to see what they can pay a little extra for.

 

As far as answering the OP's question, I wouldn't mind spending $100/yr to keep what I have. I spend more than that in other hobbies I have.

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sbell111

+sbell111

Posted
Posted
Jeremy promised that basic membership would always be free.

 

This doesn't stop Jeremy from changing what the basic membership includes.

 

I can see the following happening one day:

- Basic Membership: Good for 30 days. For the first week, unlimited access to all features given to "contributing" members. For the remaining weeks, drop to "regular" membership. After 30 days, site locks similar to someone who isn't logged in. ...

This would make the site pay-to-play after the thirty days. Since Jeremy is on record that the site will never be pay-to-play, I don't see it happening. Further, I think that making it pay-to-play would be 'harmful to the game'.
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Team GeoBlast

+Team GeoBlast

Posted
Posted

Jeremy promised that basic membership would always be free. This is important because the site thrives on these basic members getting out there and hiding caches. It would be a mistake to ever charge for basic service.

 

Current premium and charter members are locked in at $30 a year. It would be a mistake to attempt to raise these fees. However, if services are upgraded, I think that it would be appropriate to raise the membership fees for future premium members by five or ten dollars per year.

 

It's also important to remember the recent changes to the site. There is now revenue being generated by traffic by the Google Ads. This is traffic includes a lot of non-premium members.

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Team GeoBlast

+Team GeoBlast

Posted
Posted

How much would you be willing to pay annually as a usage fee to Groundspeak for:

 

- A non-premium account

- A premium account

 

Note to all who tread here: Nothing that I have or ever will post here or on any other site on the entire Internet should be viewed or interpreted as in any way indicating that I predict, have knowledge of or in in any manner whatsoever think or believe that Groundspeak can or will ever cease to exist.

 

This is completely hypothetical in nature. Any resembalance to any Web Site, living or dead is purely co-incidental.

 

Some people! Relax already. :P:sad::)

 

Even with the disclaimer, it's a rather odd topic but I will bite.

 

I'd say that the current services are priced correctly but I'd probably overpay a bit because I'm kinda hooked. So put me down for $50.00 a year.

 

As for what would add value to the current offering of services and make me happy about paying more.

 

1. Right next to "type of container" a drop down menu where the hider articulates why the cache was placed. You can check all or some of the boxes that would include things like "numbers run" "view" "history" "park" "long hike" "unique container" and so on.

2. The capability to upload a current PQ at any time and not have to deal with having them emailed to me.

3. Outlaw puzzle caches. Just kidding.

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hukilaulau

+hukilaulau

Posted
Posted

about 3 bucks a month...

 

:)

Yeah, I was laughing too when I wrote that... then today when I tried to log on and saw "Site down for maintanence" I started sweating, my heart rate went up, and I thought, "OK, whaddaya want? $50? $100?

Just let me log on!!" Seriously though, despite my flippant initial response, I would pay 50 or 60 bucks a year and still consider it a bargain.

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