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independence2 unconnected · 1 more author in those circles
applies to

b2b and consumer, no audience needed

mixed results

confidence

high

evidence

8 claims · 6 articles · 4 receipts

window

2023-10-13 → 2023-10-13

2 builders who never spoke to each other

Match the payment model to how they want to buy

Monthly billing is a default rather than a decision, and the shape that fits depends on what the customer is doing: a subscription where they are pursuing an ongoing practice, one sizeable payment with permanent access where they are chasing a single goal, a free space with individual paid content inside it. Charging separately per platform creates an entitlement mess that forces another pricing change later. For a paid community, annual or lifetime beats monthly.

The method

  1. 01

    Choose the payment model that matches how this particular customer prefers to buy instead of defaulting to a monthly subscription.

  2. 02

    Match the payment model to the community's purpose: subscription when members are pursuing an ongoing practice, a single sizable fee with permanent access when they are chasing one goal and will graduate into teaching newer members.

  3. 03

    Run a free community with individual paid content gated inside it as a third option between subscription and one time fee.

  4. 04

    Do not charge separately for each platform. It creates an entitlement syncing problem and a maintenance burden that eventually forces another pricing change anyway.

  5. 05

    Bill a community annually rather than monthly, or sell one-off lifetime access.

What it returned

  • $2.99

    Habitify went from $2.99 lifetime to $10 per platform across iOS, macOS and Android, which broke premium synchronisation and proved too troublesome to keep running.

  • Two of Bjorn's Shopify apps, Order Printer Templates and OrderlyEmails, are one-time purchases with unlimited later use, which he says made the business behave more like an e-commerce store than a typical SaaS.

  • Justin recommends annual over monthly and had recently switched MegaMaker to a single payment for lifetime access.

  • Justin runs the Product People membership on self-hosted Discourse plus Slack and recommends annual subscriptions.

Sources

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.

More in pricing

all pricing plays

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

963 corroborated plays to draw from · 3 a week

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.