Website Membership Pricing

Website membership pricing and retention is an important issue.  Here are some things to consider.

Is it better to have someone for two months or for 24 months?

The first membership website I set up I initially priced at $99 per month.  The site included job leads, so it seemed like a great deal.  In fact, one of my first members was making $3,000 per month from the new clients he got, so it was a great value for him.

However, many people signed up and did not get clients immediately, and because $99 per month was a large amount for this particular audience, they would cancel after 1 or 2 months.

So I later updated the website membership pricing to $9 a month.  At this rate, people no longer cancelled, but eventually their charge cards would not get processed and they would not bother to renew.

This brings up an interesting point.  Are you better off making $198 the first two months and having a smaller group or are you better off making $118 over 12 months and having a larger group?

Some other factors:  At $99 I had a lot of people ask for refunds because they wanted to cancel it but forgot.  At $9 per month I simply refused to do refunds and no one has ever asked for a refund.  Much less hassle and far fewer cancellations.

From a profit standpoint, the higher rate is better.  From a management standpoint, the lower rate it better.

Currently that membership site has pricing of $27 per month.  We have not had it that price long enough to see how it will impact the various website management issues yet.

Keep in mind that every audience is different.  You need to assess these issues and do price testing for your membership website as well.