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Ask HN: My startup has more annual subscribers than monthly. What to make of it?

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Re: Ask HN: My startup has more annual subscribers than monthly. What to make of it?

#51

Post by alanpearce »

hurflmurfl wrote: post #43
NikolaNovak wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dunno, in a lot of europe, though credit cards are readily available , most of my family (I have relatives in Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia) doesn't have or want them. They have forms of payment which are strange to me but basically are some form of bank debit card, accepted everywhere. Or fancy phone / app payment methods we can only dream of here. I didn't read the OP as necessarily implying technical or cult…

When a form on a web-site says CC (Credit Card) I can always pay with my debit card. (Unless you're talking about another sort of debit card that isn't what I call a debit card - "a MasterCard/Visa/etc with no overdraft). To me it seems like some people use the term "credit card" for any bank card, while some actually mean the "credit" part. While "credit" (non-debit) cards don't seem to be THAT popular in the Europe…

Yes, there's a different kind of debit card. I usually use a different term that's country-specific (like the cards themselves).

For Germany, a German debit card (the "other sort", as you put it) isn’t the same as any other. It doesn’t have Visa or MasterCard co-branding like other countries’ debit cards, nor a 16 digit number, so it can’t be used online. I might also use the term "bank card" for this, because there are actual debit cards with Visa/MC co-branding which are available in Germany, but less common than other types.

It's also common for Germans to use "Kreditkarte" to mean anything with Visa/MC co-branding, which probably spills over into English. This also leads to the hilarious term "echte Kreditkarten" (real credit cards) for cards that actually have a rolling line of credit attached (these are rarely offered).

However, in the UK I recall that people are usually specific about whether they mean a credit card or a debit card.

Re: Ask HN: My startup has more annual subscribers than monthly. What to make of it?

#52

Post by frosted-flakes »

banana_giraffe wrote: post #50
hurflmurfl wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When a form on a web-site says CC (Credit Card) I can always pay with my debit card. (Unless you're talking about another sort of debit card that isn't what I call a debit card - "a MasterCard/Visa/etc with no overdraft). To me it seems like some people use the term "credit card" for any bank card, while some actually mean the "credit" part. While "credit" (non-debit) cards don't seem to be THAT popular in the Europe…

For what it's worth, what you have is a Visa Debit (or Mastercard Debit) card, though the branding on them isn't consistent. Debit cards that can't interop with the Visa/Mastercard networks do exist, I have one .. mostly because I'm lazy and haven't asked for a change. Dunno how rare they are, I suspect rare, but I can't find any numbers with a quick search.

All of Canada uses debit cards that don't work over the credit network. Some banks allow you to request a VISA number that's linked to your chequing account (for online use only), but debit cards use the separate Interac system.

Re: Ask HN: My startup has more annual subscribers than monthly. What to make of it?

#53

Post by PicassoCTs »

Reward early adopters by keeping there prices the same, up the prices for all who come afterwards, generate fear of missing out when it comes to word of mouth.

After all, the early adopters got it for "practically nothing". Allow early adopters to bring in one friend a year at their price..

Re: Ask HN: My startup has more annual subscribers than monthly. What to make of it?

#54

Post by banana_giraffe »

frosted-flakes wrote: post #52
banana_giraffe wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what it's worth, what you have is a Visa Debit (or Mastercard Debit) card, though the branding on them isn't consistent. Debit cards that can't interop with the Visa/Mastercard networks do exist, I have one .. mostly because I'm lazy and haven't asked for a change. Dunno how rare they are, I suspect rare, but I can't find any numbers with a quick search.

All of Canada uses debit cards that don't work over the credit network. Some banks allow you to request a VISA number that's linked to your chequing account (for online use only), but debit cards use the separate Interac system.

Interesting. I should have been clear:

I suspect debit-only cards are rare in the US. Outside the US: No clue at all.

Re: Ask HN: My startup has more annual subscribers than monthly. What to make of it?

#55

Post by xemdetia »

graeme wrote: post #31
znpy wrote: post #3

Two things: 1. you could keep you customers happy by changing nothing. 2. if you have a money-back policy on your annual plan (eg: pay in january, cancel in june, get ~50% back on what you paid) that effectively means that you're giving a discount for an only apparently sure earning. I'd give a look into that.

Number 2 is actually pretty common. Maybe not as an advertised policy but if you write to cancel reps will often give a pro rates refund. This may happen more in businesses which figure you may be back someday.

I would go further and expect number 2 to be the norm. If I pay for a service and I'm allocated and the service is up and available for 6 months and I have 6 months left I would expect the refund to be 6 months and not from the beginning of the contract. They've already spent the money and you've already earned the money at that point.

Re: Ask HN: My startup has more annual subscribers than monthly. What to make of it?

#56

Post by nicolas_t »

graeme wrote: post #31
znpy wrote: post #3

Two things: 1. you could keep you customers happy by changing nothing. 2. if you have a money-back policy on your annual plan (eg: pay in january, cancel in june, get ~50% back on what you paid) that effectively means that you're giving a discount for an only apparently sure earning. I'd give a look into that.

Number 2 is actually pretty common. Maybe not as an advertised policy but if you write to cancel reps will often give a pro rates refund. This may happen more in businesses which figure you may be back someday.

What I've seen that can be effective is to not have a pro rated refund but have the ability to pause the account. This means that the discount for the 1 year commitment still makes sense but shows that you're willing to work around the customer's life or issues.

Re: Ask HN: My startup has more annual subscribers than monthly. What to make of it?

#57

Post by aasasd »

matco11 wrote: post #47

Because the discount rate of the yearly plan is financially very attractive (17% off), there are really two main reasons people go for the monthly option: 1) they are unsure if they are going to like your product enough to be willing to go for the bigger commitment of the yearly subscription 2) they can’t afford the yearly payment upfront (this is especially valid for very expensive subscriptions) On the yearly subsc…

> On the yearly subscription, do you charge for the entire year upfront?

I mean, to my knowledge, that's the whole reason to give a discount for the yearly payment. Isn't it?

Re: Ask HN: My startup has more annual subscribers than monthly. What to make of it?

#58

Post by AdrianB1 »

traceroute66 wrote: post #11
glacials wrote: post #4

Where are your customers in the world? Many non-US countries have little/no credit card presence, so if you don't have an international-friendly payment option like PayPal your customers may be using "gift card credit cards" purchased from a store. It's easier to do this once a year than once a month. Ultimately though, talk to your users! That's how you'll find out.

> Many non-US countries have little/no credit card presence Was that statement accidental horrible wording or did you actually mean it ? If the latter, then you must be one of those many Americans that needs to travel more. The rest of the world are not neanderthals who've never heard of credit cards. Go to Kenya (Africa) and the only reason you might struggle to pay by credit card is if the merchant has decided to p…

Availability and usage is not the same. In Europe credit cards are widely available, but in some countries they are not used for various reasons, it can be cultural (ex: Germany) or bad conditions from the banks (ex: Romania).

Re: Ask HN: My startup has more annual subscribers than monthly. What to make of it?

#59

Post by throwawayboise »

If it's B2B, it's easier for business customers to get a once-a-year expense paid than to get authorization for a monthly charge to a corporate card. Many organizations don't like having their corporate card numbers enrolled in open-ended recurring charge plans.

Re: Ask HN: My startup has more annual subscribers than monthly. What to make of it?

#60

Post by atat7024 »

DamnYuppie wrote: post #48
ajaimk wrote: post #10

2 months off for paying annual pricing is a very good deal for someone who plans to use you product on the long term. I personally have a few items I pay for annually because I don't see myself stopping from using it AND there is no obvious replacement. I would NOT recommend changing the 2 months off; you'll annoy your most loyal customers.

He can keep that pricing tier/billing plan for existing customers and create a less generous one for new customers. I would keep reducing the discount until sales fall way off.

What metric confirms that correlation?
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