7 ms·

Announcing our pricing (including consulting rates)

31 points by dorkitude 14y ago

dorkitude 14y ago
We'd love your feedback on consulting as a piece of our business model. The main reason we're doing it is to put our customers at ease while we continue learning, not because we want it to remain a substantive part of our revenue at scale (because the linear opex is unattractive to us as businesspeople)
- larrys 14y ago
  On your plans: "What happens if I go over my plan? If you go over your plan by 20%, we simply charge you for the next tier for that month only. We'll then revert you back to your the plan you last selected." Very nice but the general idea would be to not do this so that people would tend to buy more than they need and then you make more money. From what you are doing you give don't give anyone a reason to purchase more than they have to by bumping to a higher plan. Not sure how much this matters given the tiers but I thought I'd throw it out there just the same because it would matter in other cases potentially. (Think back in the day of cell phone plans with minutes and how you were forced to buy extra minutes lest you get hit with a bigger charge.)
  - piptastic 14y ago
    What is to prevent a user from just selecting the lowest plan, and letting you automatically price them into the cheapest plan each month based on actual use?
    - ckluis 14y ago
      Shhh piptastic don't give away the obvious thing customers should do with these generous payment options.
- ckluis 14y ago
  Basing an API off a new company is scary. Especially for the Enterprise & Custom levels. Do you offer some sort of source code guarantee?
  - dorkitude 14y ago
    Totally understand that. Q: What do you mean by source code guarantee?
    - kevinpfab 14y ago
      Often times, particularly in enterprise software, part of the terms of a deal include a "source code escrow" clause. This means that if you go out of business, the customer with this term gets your platform's source code released to them so their investment into your technology doesn't implode completely.
      - mwetzler 14y ago
        Gotcha. Thanks pfab!
    - ckluis 14y ago
      @kevinpfab is right, but it can include other clauses besides just if you go out of business. For instance, a sale of your company could be an escrow worthy problem because the new company may stop development, increase prices, offer a lower SLA, etc
stormental 14y ago
Love the 128, 256, 768, 2048 prices :)
orangethirty 14y ago
The ramp from free to paying customer is too high. Either remove the free plan or add a lower bracket. The way you priced things is cute, but shows that these are numbers that you made up. People might look at them and question you, your business, and the value you provide. The standard pricing model [1] works. Stick to it. [1] - Use .99, .97, or .95 instead of whole numbers. Use odd numbers. Example: 127.99 or 129.99 for your lowest plan. .99 is for regular prices. .97 is for lowered prices (but still considered regular). .95 is for promotional prices. Special prices may include either, but are ruled by different pricing options. Edit: Don't take my word for it and test it.
- doktrin 14y ago
  > The way you priced things is cute, but shows that these are numbers that you made up What it sounds like you're driving toward is better documenting the rationale behind the cost. To my untrained eye, the costs scaled with usage in a fairly familiar pattern. What would you do to better illustrate the logic behind a pricing structure? > The standard pricing model [1] works. Stick to it. [1] - Use .99, .97, or .95 instead of whole numbers. Use odd numbers. Example: 127.99 or 129.99 for your lowest plan. When I see "x.99" prices I always think "annoying gimmick" and typically associate it with low cost consumer goods. Is there any evidence this type of pricing is appropriate for B2B products?
  - ckluis 14y ago
    I was just thinking that consumers of B2B products aren't as easily influenced with pricing gimmicks.
  - dminor 14y ago
    > When I see "x.99" prices I always think "annoying gimmick" and typically associate it with low cost consumer goods. It doesn't have to be .99 cents, but there is a reason people do this: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100119111051.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100119111051.ht...
- colbyh 14y ago
  I disagree completely. The prices act as a (slight) marketing tool giving a nod to their primary customer base, and adding .99 prices would feel like pandering. It's clean and simple, as a potential customer I appreciate that. I really commend Keen for throwing consulting into the mix - Consulting prices are typically a black box to the customer that sales teams use as bargaining chips. This sort of openness is quite welcome as far as I'm concerned.
juskrey 14y ago
For me personally, "128, 256, 768, 2048" pattern looks like a product of nerdiness to the prejudice of real value. And, since real value is likely to be less that nerdic numbers, I instantly feel cheated by looking onto these rates.
thetrumanshow 14y ago
Your rate looks arbitrary enough that it flipped my "this must be algorithmic!" flag. But, its probably not. Even if its not, it would be cool to hang a shingle as a consultant and have a variable rate based on how much work is in the pipeline. This would be an awesome visual and may actually help choose the optimum hourly rate over the long term. Edit: hah, just saw the pattern. Still, interesting idea you piqued there. Surely it must have been done somewhere.
ElCapitanMarkla 14y ago
Your pricing worries me. It looks like you have just made the numbers up and don't know what your costs are. I feel the starting price is fairly high but that's not to say it won't work for you.
- teraflop 14y ago
  I've seen a lot of comments to this effect, and I don't get it. Just to pick an example more or less at random, Mixpanel's prices [1] are all multiples of $50; how is that any less arbitrary than using multiples of $128? [1] https://mixpanel.com/pricing/ https://mixpanel.com/pricing/
  - ElCapitanMarkla 14y ago
    For me, I don't mind their pricing because it doesn't look gimmicky. I like the idea of using the 128,256,etc as the pricing model but I don't agree with it in practice.

31 points by dorkitude 14y ago

We'd love your feedback on consulting as a piece of our business model. The main reason we're doing it is to put our customers at ease while we continue learning, not because we want it to remain a substantive part of our revenue at scale (because the linear opex is unattractive to us as businesspeople)

larrys 14y ago
On your plans: "What happens if I go over my plan? If you go over your plan by 20%, we simply charge you for the next tier for that month only. We'll then revert you back to your the plan you last selected." Very nice but the general idea would be to not do this so that people would tend to buy more than they need and then you make more money. From what you are doing you give don't give anyone a reason to purchase more than they have to by bumping to a higher plan. Not sure how much this matters given the tiers but I thought I'd throw it out there just the same because it would matter in other cases potentially. (Think back in the day of cell phone plans with minutes and how you were forced to buy extra minutes lest you get hit with a bigger charge.)
- piptastic 14y ago
  What is to prevent a user from just selecting the lowest plan, and letting you automatically price them into the cheapest plan each month based on actual use?
  - ckluis 14y ago
    Shhh piptastic don't give away the obvious thing customers should do with these generous payment options.
ckluis 14y ago
Basing an API off a new company is scary. Especially for the Enterprise & Custom levels. Do you offer some sort of source code guarantee?
- dorkitude 14y ago
  Totally understand that. Q: What do you mean by source code guarantee?
  - kevinpfab 14y ago
    Often times, particularly in enterprise software, part of the terms of a deal include a "source code escrow" clause. This means that if you go out of business, the customer with this term gets your platform's source code released to them so their investment into your technology doesn't implode completely.
    - mwetzler 14y ago
      Gotcha. Thanks pfab!
  - ckluis 14y ago
    @kevinpfab is right, but it can include other clauses besides just if you go out of business. For instance, a sale of your company could be an escrow worthy problem because the new company may stop development, increase prices, offer a lower SLA, etc

stormental 14y ago

Love the 128, 256, 768, 2048 prices :)

orangethirty 14y ago

The ramp from free to paying customer is too high. Either remove the free plan or add a lower bracket. The way you priced things is cute, but shows that these are numbers that you made up. People might look at them and question you, your business, and the value you provide. The standard pricing model [1] works. Stick to it. [1] - Use .99, .97, or .95 instead of whole numbers. Use odd numbers. Example: 127.99 or 129.99 for your lowest plan. .99 is for regular prices. .97 is for lowered prices (but still considered regular). .95 is for promotional prices. Special prices may include either, but are ruled by different pricing options. Edit: Don't take my word for it and test it.

doktrin 14y ago
> The way you priced things is cute, but shows that these are numbers that you made up What it sounds like you're driving toward is better documenting the rationale behind the cost. To my untrained eye, the costs scaled with usage in a fairly familiar pattern. What would you do to better illustrate the logic behind a pricing structure? > The standard pricing model [1] works. Stick to it. [1] - Use .99, .97, or .95 instead of whole numbers. Use odd numbers. Example: 127.99 or 129.99 for your lowest plan. When I see "x.99" prices I always think "annoying gimmick" and typically associate it with low cost consumer goods. Is there any evidence this type of pricing is appropriate for B2B products?
- ckluis 14y ago
  I was just thinking that consumers of B2B products aren't as easily influenced with pricing gimmicks.
- dminor 14y ago
  > When I see "x.99" prices I always think "annoying gimmick" and typically associate it with low cost consumer goods. It doesn't have to be .99 cents, but there is a reason people do this: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100119111051.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100119111051.ht...
colbyh 14y ago
I disagree completely. The prices act as a (slight) marketing tool giving a nod to their primary customer base, and adding .99 prices would feel like pandering. It's clean and simple, as a potential customer I appreciate that. I really commend Keen for throwing consulting into the mix - Consulting prices are typically a black box to the customer that sales teams use as bargaining chips. This sort of openness is quite welcome as far as I'm concerned.

juskrey 14y ago

For me personally, "128, 256, 768, 2048" pattern looks like a product of nerdiness to the prejudice of real value. And, since real value is likely to be less that nerdic numbers, I instantly feel cheated by looking onto these rates.

thetrumanshow 14y ago

Your rate looks arbitrary enough that it flipped my "this must be algorithmic!" flag. But, its probably not. Even if its not, it would be cool to hang a shingle as a consultant and have a variable rate based on how much work is in the pipeline. This would be an awesome visual and may actually help choose the optimum hourly rate over the long term. Edit: hah, just saw the pattern. Still, interesting idea you piqued there. Surely it must have been done somewhere.

ElCapitanMarkla 14y ago

Your pricing worries me. It looks like you have just made the numbers up and don't know what your costs are. I feel the starting price is fairly high but that's not to say it won't work for you.

teraflop 14y ago
I've seen a lot of comments to this effect, and I don't get it. Just to pick an example more or less at random, Mixpanel's prices [1] are all multiples of $50; how is that any less arbitrary than using multiples of $128? [1] https://mixpanel.com/pricing/ https://mixpanel.com/pricing/
- ElCapitanMarkla 14y ago
  For me, I don't mind their pricing because it doesn't look gimmicky. I like the idea of using the 128,256,etc as the pricing model but I don't agree with it in practice.