Posted by
bandit, albuquerque on February 2, 2009:
I suspect that if you sold a lifetime membership for $10Mill US, you might not get many takers, but it would take very few to keep you going.
Just a thought.
(Related in a *twisted* sort of way - the joke with the punchline about "we have established what you are, my dear, we are just negotiating the price". :^)
---
Heh! Yes, I know that joke. But heck: I'll do up to 100 lifetime subscriptions at $100,000 each -- a total of $10 million. Hurry before they're all sold out! :-) -rc
Posted by
Jeremy, Sedro Woolley, WA on February 3, 2009:
Even though a lifetime subscription would be nice, I have to agree with you, Randy. I enjoy these weekly publications to not want to see you go away. Besides, where else can you get an ad-free weekly publication for $24 a year? You can't even get a paper subscription for $24 a year, and those include ads. Okay, newspapers are published daily, but you get the idea. (It's even better with the two year price.)
Posted by
Jim, Kalamazoo on February 3, 2009:
Never thought much about the downside of the long-term subscriptions, though I always wondered. Biggest problem I can see is the relatively small price that would have a hard time keeping up with inflation even if the seller didn't blow the money in the short term.
Posted by
Mike from Dallas on February 3, 2009:
Gotta hand it to you, that's some pretty insightful thinking. I've always hated those incredible cut-rate subscriptions to get new customers because, well, they're only available to new customers, not existing ones. Seems kinda like a slap in the face for being loyal, doesn't it? Here I am, spending my money faithfully on a product, and someone else is offered a large reward because he HASN'T been spending his money on it. And as a business owner, there were many times when low cash flow tempted me to offer cut-rate offers to new customers. But I didn't want to lose my loyal customers. It's hard, and I gotta give you credit if you can resist the urge to compromise like that.
---
I have offered deals before -- like 50 free GOOHF cards -- but I think every time I've done it, I've allowed renewing subscribers to have the deal too. It seems only fair, for the exact reasons you state. -rc
Posted by
Mark, New York City on February 3, 2009:
Lifetime subs are killers, I know because one of the first companies I worked for, Simulations Publications, Inc., made that mistake. They went out of business only a few years later, despite having a great magazine and a great customer base.
Don't give in to temptation, you are quite right.
Posted by
Bruce - Minnesota on February 3, 2009:
I remember when Ray Owens of Jokeaday.com offered *lifetime* subscriptions and, as a long time paid member I was tempted to 'bite' to help him out. I didn't, I maintained my annual membership to a 'premium' version to do my part. Within a year or so, it shut down and those who ponied up big time, well, the joke was on them.
Posted by
Dave, Illinois on February 5, 2009:
I remember seeing *lifetime* subscription rates in my dad's old Playboys many, many years ago. If memory serves, it was $400, which in 1975 was a lot of money. It is still today.
Wonder how many lifers there are today, and if Playboy still has that offer.
---
They send me the magazine because I sometimes write for them (how's that for a perk of being a writer?!), and I've not seen that offer in many, many years. -rc
Posted by
Bryan in Idaho on February 9, 2009:
Because his post script immediately followed his reference to laughing during the week as he remembered something from reading the issue earlier in the week, I figured he was referring to the fact that he will be able to take some of those stories with him throughout his life. And how much value is there in that?
Thanks for all you do!
Posted by
Daniel, Oswego NY on February 10, 2009:
Lifetime subscriptions at $100,000??? According to my back-of-the-envelope calculations, assuming a 50 yr lifespan (about the average to be expected, since most subscribers are somewhere near the middle of their total lifespans), that comes out to an inflation rate of about 16,000 percent. Do you know something about the "stimulus" bill currently winding through congress that the rest of us don't?
;-)
---
I've learned a lot out of Washington lately. Talk "trillion" and suddenly $800 billion seems like a good deal. Bandit in New Mexico suggested a $10 million price tag for a lifetime subscription, so I countered with a significant discount -- just $100,000! When can I expect your cashier's check in the mail? -rc
Lifetime Subscriptions? - Comments
Posted by bandit, albuquerque on February 2, 2009:
I suspect that if you sold a lifetime membership for $10Mill US, you might not get many takers, but it would take very few to keep you going.
Just a thought.
(Related in a *twisted* sort of way - the joke with the punchline about "we have established what you are, my dear, we are just negotiating the price". :^)
---
Heh! Yes, I know that joke. But heck: I'll do up to 100 lifetime subscriptions at $100,000 each -- a total of $10 million. Hurry before they're all sold out! :-) -rc
Posted by Jeremy, Sedro Woolley, WA on February 3, 2009:
Even though a lifetime subscription would be nice, I have to agree with you, Randy. I enjoy these weekly publications to not want to see you go away. Besides, where else can you get an ad-free weekly publication for $24 a year? You can't even get a paper subscription for $24 a year, and those include ads. Okay, newspapers are published daily, but you get the idea. (It's even better with the two year price.)
Posted by Jim, Kalamazoo on February 3, 2009:
Never thought much about the downside of the long-term subscriptions, though I always wondered. Biggest problem I can see is the relatively small price that would have a hard time keeping up with inflation even if the seller didn't blow the money in the short term.
Posted by Mike from Dallas on February 3, 2009:
Gotta hand it to you, that's some pretty insightful thinking. I've always hated those incredible cut-rate subscriptions to get new customers because, well, they're only available to new customers, not existing ones. Seems kinda like a slap in the face for being loyal, doesn't it? Here I am, spending my money faithfully on a product, and someone else is offered a large reward because he HASN'T been spending his money on it. And as a business owner, there were many times when low cash flow tempted me to offer cut-rate offers to new customers. But I didn't want to lose my loyal customers. It's hard, and I gotta give you credit if you can resist the urge to compromise like that.
---
I have offered deals before -- like 50 free GOOHF cards -- but I think every time I've done it, I've allowed renewing subscribers to have the deal too. It seems only fair, for the exact reasons you state. -rc
Posted by Mark, New York City on February 3, 2009:
Lifetime subs are killers, I know because one of the first companies I worked for, Simulations Publications, Inc., made that mistake. They went out of business only a few years later, despite having a great magazine and a great customer base.
Don't give in to temptation, you are quite right.
Posted by Bruce - Minnesota on February 3, 2009:
I remember when Ray Owens of Jokeaday.com offered *lifetime* subscriptions and, as a long time paid member I was tempted to 'bite' to help him out. I didn't, I maintained my annual membership to a 'premium' version to do my part. Within a year or so, it shut down and those who ponied up big time, well, the joke was on them.
Posted by Dave, Illinois on February 5, 2009:
I remember seeing *lifetime* subscription rates in my dad's old Playboys many, many years ago. If memory serves, it was $400, which in 1975 was a lot of money. It is still today.
Wonder how many lifers there are today, and if Playboy still has that offer.
---
They send me the magazine because I sometimes write for them (how's that for a perk of being a writer?!), and I've not seen that offer in many, many years. -rc
Posted by Bryan in Idaho on February 9, 2009:
Because his post script immediately followed his reference to laughing during the week as he remembered something from reading the issue earlier in the week, I figured he was referring to the fact that he will be able to take some of those stories with him throughout his life. And how much value is there in that?
Thanks for all you do!
Posted by Daniel, Oswego NY on February 10, 2009:
Lifetime subscriptions at $100,000??? According to my back-of-the-envelope calculations, assuming a 50 yr lifespan (about the average to be expected, since most subscribers are somewhere near the middle of their total lifespans), that comes out to an inflation rate of about 16,000 percent. Do you know something about the "stimulus" bill currently winding through congress that the rest of us don't?
;-)
---
I've learned a lot out of Washington lately. Talk "trillion" and suddenly $800 billion seems like a good deal. Bandit in New Mexico suggested a $10 million price tag for a lifetime subscription, so I countered with a significant discount -- just $100,000! When can I expect your cashier's check in the mail? -rc
Read the article that everyone's commenting on, or post a comment about it.