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Where I live, most people will hesitate to buy into a yearly plan. I'd suggest to make it possible to gift someone x years of your service, because that's some
by choeger 2y ago
Where I live, most people will hesitate to buy into a yearly plan.
I'd suggest to make it possible to gift someone x years of your service, because that's something many people will happily do. The only thing to avoid here is any kind of automatic retention. One year is one year, period.
- satvikpendem 2y agoWho is going to gift a SaaS to someone else?
- mejutoco 2y agoAn example could be an uncle to a nephew interested in something educational.
- koolba 2y agoThe same idiots who give gift cards rather than fungible cash.
- tombert 2y agoI “idiots” is a bit harsh. If I give someone cash [1], then they might just spend it on their power bill or rent or groceries or just let it live in a bank account. This is “fine”, but it doesn’t really feel like a “gift”. If I buy them a gift card to Best Buy or something, they’re kind of forced to buy themselves something fun. You can’t really pay your rent with a gift card, it can’t sit in a bank account, you’re kind of forced to get yourself something you’ll enjoy. I am not saying it’s the best gift or anything, I just think “idiots” is harsh. [1] and assuming that the person is in an economically alright position
- fragmede 2y agoUsing the word idiots reveals GP's level of thinking. Gift cards are a less useful gift than cash. The first principals reasoning would say the more useful gift is worth more than three less useful gift but this is human psychology we're talking about so first principal reasoning isn't enough. Gifts are about having thought about somebody, and cash is the equivalent of saying I couldn't be bothered. Hence, gift cards. I thought about you for half a second longer and gave you money to spend at a store off my choosing. Under that framing, calling people idiots because they give gift cards indicates an inability to grasp or accept that cultural norm. So, it makes it easy when someone telegraphs their mental shortcomings to you.
- Retric 2y agoI seriously dislike getting gift cards and rarely used them. It makes checking out take longer, and you need to remember you have them etc it’s just a worse experience.
- lotsofpulp 2y ago>Hence, gift cards. I thought about you for half a second longer and gave you money to spend at a store off my choosing. That half second costs me far more time and effort to keep track of a gift card, especially if a balance remains on it. Either get the actual gift you want to give the person, or give cash. A gift card only benefits the merchant who gets to hold onto cash and earn interest.
- ThrowawayR2 2y agoI'm mildly annoyed by merchant-specific gift cards when I receive them. They're strictly worse than cash because rarely does the merchant have anything I want at a price that I consider reasonable.
- ghaff 2y agoIdeally you know the person well enough that you at least know "fun" stores they'll be shopping at anyway. Or give something like an Amazon gift card which really is more or less like cash for most people. (Though Amazon knows this and their conversion rate is generally worse than most retailers who are more specialized.) That said, I'm not a huge fan of gift cards. It's one more thing to keep track of but, hey, they're probably better than some gift you don't want and cash just isn't really acceptable in all cases.
- bryanrasmussen 2y agoright, giving your daughter an annual netflix subscription when she moves out is idiotic but giving her money she can spend on a party and get drunk is a next-level genius move!
- gumby 2y agoThis is good advice. In the first case she’s just sitting at home alone while in the second she’s out building her network. A gift that can change her life.
- bryanrasmussen 2y ago>A gift that can change her life. Hey Dad, I'm pregnant.
- ghaff 2y agoIt's somewhat of a cultural thing. Giving cash can seem tacky whereas if someone has just got a house, a gift card from a home improvement store or, if they're an outdoor sports type, somewhere like REI might seem somewhat more thoughtful even if you don't know exactly what they'd like.
- dylan604 2y agoMy first license of 1Password was a gift, although, this was before it was a SaaS. You can gift Neftflix and similar. There's a lot of things that can be a decent gift.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 2y agoNetflix, Xbox/PSN, Roblox, etc would all be valuable subscriptions to children who are dependent upon others with funds.
- miki123211 2y agoCan you subscribe to any of these via PaySafe, or any other kind of card that you can just pick up in a grocery store for cash?
- j5155 2y agoYes, I believe all of those services have gift cards in stores.
- ghaff 2y agoBack in the day, gifting a magazine subscription like National Geographic was very normal.
- bartread 2y agoAnnual plans aren’t for the most part aimed at individuals though: they’re aimed at corporations. Corporations regularly sign annual and even multi-year contracts for all manner of services. There are many reasons this can be desirable, but budgeting and discounts are often big factors.
- withinboredom 2y agoEven as a corporation, we are often given some discretion on spending through expenses. I may not be able to expense an entire year, but I can expense a whole month at a time. If it's valuable, then I will get permission to expense an entire year ... but I have to be able to prove it's value.