InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Give me the karma, mama!"

Squeaky (squeaky) wrote,
@ 2008-04-18 14:30:00

Web Hosting Poll
Okay,

We are very close to picking a new hosting provider. One is considerably more expensive than the other, but what they are offering us is 100% top notch service. The problem is that if we choose them we will not be able to keep our paid accounts the same price. We will raise them to $20/6mo or $35/year. If we pick the other provider, which is not as well known, and isn't offering us the same level of service we will not have to raise prices at all.

Please fill out this poll on what you all would want. Would you be willing to pay more for a more reliable InsaneJournal. Granted the cheaper option may never go down, but we will defiantly have more room to grow with the more expensive option.

Edit: I do want to note that once we get settled in and the paid accounts are coming in at a decent pace then we will consider lowering the prices back to a reasonable level.

Please spread word of this poll around as I want to get as many answers as possible. Also, when you do spread word of it, please don't encourage anyone to vote any particular way as I really do want honest answers.

Poll #1421 New Hosting Questions
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

What hosting option should I pick

View Answers

Amazing service but have to raise paid account prices
431 (87.2%)

Good service, but not as fast or reliable, but leave prices the same
25 (5.1%)

No Opinion
38 (7.7%)

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	toimhseachan 2008-04-18 07:07 pm UTC (link)
	Those are still really good prices, and if they mean more reliability (or even if it means the hosting company isn't going to cancel the wrong things) then it's worth it. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	squeaky 2008-04-18 07:14 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, i'm just worried about having to raise them that far. LJ apparently has lowered their prices to lower than where we are right now (for automatic renewals), and will be lower for manual payments too if this price change goes through. Which is why I really want to clear this through all of you before I decide. Please spread word of this poll around. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ardath_rekha
2008-04-18 07:34 pm UTC (link)

Well, to use the "you get what you pay for" aphorism, part of what I'm paying for here is the security of knowing you're not making decisions that'll be detrimental to my accounts, and that whatever happens, you're going to be on top of it. Last year, I paid LJ $29.95 for a 1-year paid account with added userpics, which meant I had a whole whopping hundred userpics. So from where I'm standing, IJ still beats out LJ in terms of value, even if we raise the prices as indicated. $35 per year gets you 250 pics, no sneaky sponsorship crap, and the security of knowing that nobody's going to screw with your content without discussing the problem with you first.

You'll still totally be on top, IMO.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	akk 2008-04-18 08:04 pm UTC (link)
	Despite being permanently insane, I'd like to second ardath_rekha's statement. The indicated higher price is totally justified for the service, environment and community feeling IJ offers. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	keieeeye 2008-04-18 09:38 pm UTC (link)
	Hear hear! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	scorpio 2008-04-18 11:01 pm UTC (link)
	I definitely agree, especially since free users here automatically get 100 userpics. Whereas on LJ, prices are cheaper, but they only get as much of that feature that free users here get. Either way, if you're broke, you're broke, so you won't be able to afford a paid account either way... lol (Reply to this) (Parent)

	toimhseachan 2008-04-18 08:09 pm UTC (link)
	Any man and his dog can compete on price, good customer service is something you can't put a true value on. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	apotheosis 2008-04-18 09:53 pm UTC (link)
	IAWTC. Good customer service and reliability pays for itself. (Thinking about purchasing another perm account once my financial issues are resolved, so I say this as someone who will be affected by a price increase) (Reply to this) (Parent)

ardath_rekha
2008-04-18 09:24 pm UTC (link)

I was just looking at LJ's current price structure and, if you buy a 6-month paid account, it's $15, and then if you add the userpic add-on, that's another $6, bringing the cost of the purchase to $21. So for six months, your new rate would still beat them out.

Their 12-month rate is $19.95 if and only if you agree to automatic renewals (and given everything they've pulled, I'd never do that again even if I were still willing to give them my money) -- otherwise it's $25 for a year. Adding the extra userpics on top of that is $10... so look at that... unless you want to risk auto-payments, the price is exactly the same at both places... with another 150 userpic spaces here!

Now, for people who absolutely must have voice posts, I suppose it's still the place to go, but... otherwise the better value is very definitely here. And as for the scrapbook feature, I just have one word: Photobucket. I never liked the way the LJ system stored and processed images anyway and it's a load on the databses that we can all easily do without.

So I think you come out nicely ahead under the new pricing.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kaika_kaika 2008-04-18 11:52 pm UTC (link)
	I never liked the way the LJ system stored and processed images anyway and it's a load on the databses that we can all easily do without. Agreed. It's so darn irritating and hard to use! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	aristoboule 2008-04-19 12:34 am UTC (link)
	YES! Although I will admit I never bought paid time within the last few years that wasn't during the gifting promo thing with the free add-on. (Reply to this) (Parent)

randombastary
2008-04-18 11:09 pm UTC (link)

Maybe, but I feel like IJ is a much safer place to play for fandom, and I like it much more that we can contact you, and actually have our voices heard (and possibly have something done about concerns). And I know I'm not the only one who's in that boat. As such, I'm much more willing to throw money at you, but I will never put another penny toward LJ (they've burned too many bridges, and no matter of backpedaling will ever make it up).

(Reply to this) (Parent)

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