Tuesday, March 20, 2007

A price is a price?

I grew up in one of the world's most stable economies, Denmark, so it is nearly hard-wired into my head that a price is a price. What is on the sticker is what you pay. And it will probably be pretty much the same next year too.

But I'm learning, through running my own business, that this is not always so. And in the era of Digital Life, this is even less so. Everything is virtual.

Just to illustrate this, recently I "sussed out" that web hosting has gotten a lot cheaper in recent years. I figured this out by cunning reasoning and by somebody telling me this was so. :)

So I renegotiated with a couple of digital services for my commercial site, and the result was that I got both bills cut by 70%! It's a savings of over $2,000 per month!

Just thought I'd mention this by way of inspiration.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!

Buying web hosting services is tricky. The standard, low-traffic personal/small-business hosting is commodized for a small monthy fee.

If you are a high traffic but technically simple website (such as DOMAI) it pays off to renegotiate yearly.

The tricky situation is if your hosting needs are complex but relatively low traffic. I run a couple of websites of this nature. The only choice really is to rent a cable and host yourself. This is what I've been doing for over 10 years now.

So, Eo, how are your going to spend the extra monthly cash?

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Hooch and easy women!

I dunno. Competition is sharpening, and while I still have a very healthy business, I figure it can't hurt to trim fat here and there and build up reserves, save some worry in the future.

Anonymous said...

Competition is sharpening, and while I still have a very healthy business, I figure it can't hurt to trim fat here and there and build up reserves, save some worry in the future.

I tried to negotiate a smaller member fee so I could join DOMAI but you refused. So you feel good at getting a lower price and when others try it and are denied it's okay because you're not saving.
No offense Eolake, but think about what I said. Thanks.

Monsieur Beep! said...

Dear terry,

remember it's Eo's business, and he's fixing the price which people obviously are willing to pay.
It'd be even legitimate for him to raise the price to a point as the first customers are no longer willing to pay.
To his credit: there's a bargain subscription until the end of March for all of us, so there's no need for him to make exceptions for just one or two (wouldbe-)members.

I ended my subscription after half a year or so, I simply had downloaded enough pics, wasn't prepared to pay any more money for the material. Today, like you terry, I stick to the high quality newsletters and accompanying pics, which are for free .

It's all within the rules of the market.

Aaaaaaand: Quality women do have their price :-)

Monsieur Beep! said...

Correction:

for all of us
should read
for all new memberships

Anonymous said...

So you feel good at getting a lower price and when others try it and are denied it's okay because you're not saving.

Hey Dude, some just call it greed. Some call it business. What do you think? Don't say it, I already know and so does he.
I'm just wondering if he'll even publish this? Probably not because he never answered your post.

Anonymous said...

terry wrote: "I tried to negotiate a smaller member fee so I could join DOMAI but you refused. So you feel good at getting a lower price and when others try it and are denied it's okay because you're not saving."

Do you think that DOMAI is not worth the fee Eolake is asking?

If yes, all you have to do is wait a little. The laws of free market will take care of the problem for you. Either Eo will lower the price for everyone, or a lower cost but otherwise equal alternative will enter the marketplace.

Or, do you think that in general DOMAI is priced right but you just can't afford to pay that much?

In this case the problem is with you, not with DOMAI. Instead of harrassing Eolake, why not direct that energy in to improving your financial situation?

Eolake was able to lower his hosting costs for a substantial percentage because the market price for that service had gone down and Eolake had neglegted to renegotiate --- as a savvy entrepreneur should.

In August, 2006 I discovered I had made this exact same mistake and was then able to cut my upstream Internet service provider bill by 50%. It would have been much savvier to renegotiate a -10% every year.

Anonymous said...

In this case the problem is with you, not with DOMAI. Instead of harrassing Eolake.

There is no harrassing going on. Stop assuming this. It's not your place to answer for Eolake, it's his show. Remember you said that earlier. Live by what you speak mister.
I offered to pay him 10 dollars per month on my card which equals 120 dollars per year and he refused.
I offered him what he asked for with the exception that I'd pay 10 dollars per month instead of the yearly lump.
So before you start attacking me get the facts. You comprehend?

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

It is not possible technically to make a special price for one customer, with the billing system I use. I would have to make a whole price setup which would get its own number on CCBill's server, and which would apply to everybody.

Otherwise, and for loyal customers, I would be happy to bill ten bucks a month.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

I figured out a way to do it, see my new post called "Only in March 2007".

Anonymous said...

Hey, what would be wrong in some savvy piracy, anyway? I've lived like that all my life, now they've made it into movies, and I'm a glorious hero to the young generations.
But showing beautiful naked women, that I never would've dared. (Not on TV, I mean!) I prefer to stick to rotting skeletons and staggering zombie squids and british hanging parties. Blood'n'guts : much more politically correct, eyh?
You would never believe how much I had to pay to buy my soul back. Jones was asking for interest, after only 20 years, can you imagine that? The nerve! Highway robbery, that's what it is!

Oh, Terry, matey, congrats on your success. I've tried, and I'm quite the smooth talker, but paying in a different manner than the one set up by a business can be a great bother.
This is why I had to eventually STEAL my first boat. Much less hassle, no first deposit, no regular payments.
Of course, now the price is on me head! {P-)