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Ask HN: Why do people expect free trial on a $9/mo subscription

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Re: Ask HN: Why do people expect free trial on a $9/mo subscription

#11
Providing another meal uses up human labour, ingredients, and seating. One-off costs, like designing the menu, typically make up a smaller portion of the business's costs.

Providing another subscription for an app is often just a flip of a bit. One-off costs, like developing the app, typically make up a larger portion of the business's costs.

It's therefore generally (though not always) more feasible to provide a free trial of digital services/apps than of physical goods.

Re: Ask HN: Why do people expect free trial on a $9/mo subscription

#12
> You know how people don't usually ask for free bites of food at restaurants?

If restaurants had anything like the tech industry’s track record of delivering either nothing whatsoever or actual shit instead of food, you’d better believe we’d all ask to try before we buy.

Offering me a subscription, no matter how cheap, for a product I don’t know I want, don’t know I need, and don’t know for certain you can even deliver doesn’t, in any way, establish trust in your audience. A free tier or trial does.

Also consumers know that companies have to pay money to run and maintain software, they just don’t care, and they shouldn’t. It’s called Cost of Doing Business and it’s the business’s job to pay that money, even if they can’t secure enough interest or trust in their product to continue to pay the costs they have incurred.

So, no, if you put much thought into it at all, it’s not weird.

Re: Ask HN: Why do people expect free trial on a $9/mo subscription

#13
Why would I buy something if I don't know if it will meet my needs? Particularly if it involves a subscription.

The price point doesn't really enter into it. I also don't expect a free trial at all, but if one is offered, then it makes it much more likely that I'd take it for a spin.

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