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Isn't there a point where the service isn't worth the monthly cost though? For example, I was looking for a service to do something very specific. It was somet

Isn't there a point where the service isn't worth the monthly cost though? For example, I was looking for a service to do something very specific. It was something I could probably code in a weekend or so, but I figured there was some free or cheap site out there that could do it better. I did find a site that did exactly what I wanted, but it charged $5/month, or $50/year. Now for me, the service was at best a novelty, but I wouldn't have minded $10/year. I figured other people must be like me as well, and figured if I launched a website I could get some passive income and capitalize on that $10/year no-brainer type of thing. Now, I never expected that I'd be making thousands of dollars each month, but wouldn't it make sense that I could capture a good portion of the market with a low cost point?

JacobAldridge 15y ago
"It was something I could probably code in a weekend or so" I think that's a key point. You look at the solution, think about the effort required for the value it gives you, and $10 feels about right. For someone who can't produce it themselves, the value is usually much higher - and related to the size of the problem solved, not the amount of effort required to solve it. I don't know whether that applies in your specific case (for example, selling a 'one use' service on a subscription basis may not be the best plan), but it's a useful general point I thought of reading your comment.
MicahWedemeyer 15y ago
You can code it in a weekend (doubtful...but let's assume). Then you'll spend countless weekends trying to attract customers. Nobody attracts "a good portion of the market" by doing nothing. The technical side is always much easier than everything else involved in running a business.
- eggbrain 15y ago
  Since I made no mention of product, nor never specifically said only a single weekend, I would find it hard to believe that you could know what was doubtful to create or not, but I digress. I think for everyone, there is a level at which they will not pay for something relative to what it actually does and how much they need it. For my example, it was something fairly trivial but still useful, probably the lowest MVP I've seen in quite some time. Even if I couldn't immediately make useable money with it, I feel that a low price point would be a great way to take a piece of the market that it was in, although I will fully admit marketing would have it's place as well. I guess the better worded question would have been "Given all factors equal, what percent of the market would be swayed by a lower cost point?" And the second question I would ask would have been "Even though you will not make money at $1/month, are there not services that are not worth $5-$7 dollars a month, but are worth more than free?" or even "Couldn't there be money in making cheap apps that together don't make much money, but combined add up to good income?"
  - MicahWedemeyer 15y ago
    We have a lower cost competitor, and I've never seen that factor into anyone's decision to go one way or the other. Well, maybe once or twice, but it's not a huge differentiator to most people. By far, our biggest "competitor" is lack of knowledge. People don't know about us or our competitor. We're not trying to steal customers from each other. Instead, we just need to educate people that we exist at all. That's been my experience in most of these cases, especially for smaller apps that do one little thing. A huge amount of our effort in the beginning (and still to this day) involves letting people know we exist. Trust me, that takes a lot more work than just a weekend. As for the "doubtful in a weekend" comment, I just find it highly doubtful that anyone can build a useful app that includes billing in a weekend. Payment systems are a real bitch. Plus, it's easy to gloss over the fact that "built in a weekend" usually means MVP, or even sub-MVP. From that point you have to keep building, market, promote and make sales. It's not like you just build it, flip the switch, and sit back collecting checks. It just doesn't work that way.
revorad 15y ago
You could probably code it in a weekend. Your weekend is worth more than $50. That is the point.
- eggbrain 15y ago
  My weekend is only worth more than $50 if I didn't enjoy programming it, or it took time away from making money from another job. If I was planning on sitting around watching television, but instead spent it programming this project that wouldn't somehow make the weekend worth less, in fact I would argue that it built value, intangible or otherwise (knowledge learned from building the application that I can put on my resume/maybe a few paying customers that end up actually using it/etc)
  - joshuacc 15y ago
    "My weekend is only worth more than $50 if I didn't enjoy programming it, or it took time away from making money from another job." Or if you would have enjoyed doing something else even more. Opportunity costs. :-)

JacobAldridge 15y ago

"It was something I could probably code in a weekend or so" I think that's a key point. You look at the solution, think about the effort required for the value it gives you, and $10 feels about right. For someone who can't produce it themselves, the value is usually much higher - and related to the size of the problem solved, not the amount of effort required to solve it. I don't know whether that applies in your specific case (for example, selling a 'one use' service on a subscription basis may not be the best plan), but it's a useful general point I thought of reading your comment.

MicahWedemeyer 15y ago

You can code it in a weekend (doubtful...but let's assume). Then you'll spend countless weekends trying to attract customers. Nobody attracts "a good portion of the market" by doing nothing. The technical side is always much easier than everything else involved in running a business.

eggbrain 15y ago
Since I made no mention of product, nor never specifically said only a single weekend, I would find it hard to believe that you could know what was doubtful to create or not, but I digress. I think for everyone, there is a level at which they will not pay for something relative to what it actually does and how much they need it. For my example, it was something fairly trivial but still useful, probably the lowest MVP I've seen in quite some time. Even if I couldn't immediately make useable money with it, I feel that a low price point would be a great way to take a piece of the market that it was in, although I will fully admit marketing would have it's place as well. I guess the better worded question would have been "Given all factors equal, what percent of the market would be swayed by a lower cost point?" And the second question I would ask would have been "Even though you will not make money at $1/month, are there not services that are not worth $5-$7 dollars a month, but are worth more than free?" or even "Couldn't there be money in making cheap apps that together don't make much money, but combined add up to good income?"
- MicahWedemeyer 15y ago
  We have a lower cost competitor, and I've never seen that factor into anyone's decision to go one way or the other. Well, maybe once or twice, but it's not a huge differentiator to most people. By far, our biggest "competitor" is lack of knowledge. People don't know about us or our competitor. We're not trying to steal customers from each other. Instead, we just need to educate people that we exist at all. That's been my experience in most of these cases, especially for smaller apps that do one little thing. A huge amount of our effort in the beginning (and still to this day) involves letting people know we exist. Trust me, that takes a lot more work than just a weekend. As for the "doubtful in a weekend" comment, I just find it highly doubtful that anyone can build a useful app that includes billing in a weekend. Payment systems are a real bitch. Plus, it's easy to gloss over the fact that "built in a weekend" usually means MVP, or even sub-MVP. From that point you have to keep building, market, promote and make sales. It's not like you just build it, flip the switch, and sit back collecting checks. It just doesn't work that way.

revorad 15y ago

You could probably code it in a weekend. Your weekend is worth more than $50. That is the point.

eggbrain 15y ago
My weekend is only worth more than $50 if I didn't enjoy programming it, or it took time away from making money from another job. If I was planning on sitting around watching television, but instead spent it programming this project that wouldn't somehow make the weekend worth less, in fact I would argue that it built value, intangible or otherwise (knowledge learned from building the application that I can put on my resume/maybe a few paying customers that end up actually using it/etc)
- joshuacc 15y ago
  "My weekend is only worth more than $50 if I didn't enjoy programming it, or it took time away from making money from another job." Or if you would have enjoyed doing something else even more. Opportunity costs. :-)