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Stripe migrates Stripe Subscriptions users to more expensive Stripe Billing

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Re: Stripe migrates Stripe Subscriptions users to more expensive Stripe Billing

#221

Post by klinskyc »

enahs-sf wrote: post #31
klinskyc wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're doing significant volume, which I assume Streak does, you can negotiate significant volume discounts. You have been leaving a ton of money on the table if you have not done that.

Could you define "significant volume" a bit more specifically? Wondering if I too, have been leaving a ton of money on the table. What is the approximate scale that this makes sense at?

This link says 80k/month, which matches our experience -> https://www.fool.com/the-blueprint/stripe-payments-review/

Re: Stripe migrates Stripe Subscriptions users to more expensive Stripe Billing

#222

Post by dang »

jb775 wrote: post #121

I love how a Ycombinator company can quickly get a HN story title changed to censor the whole "price increase" aspect being debated here.

Literally anyone can quickly get a HN story title changed if they let us know how an existing title is inaccurate. This is bog-standard moderation which we do all day every day, and it is certainly not limited to YC cos.

The intention is to have a front page with accurate and neutral titles. Call that censorship if you want to (as far as I can tell, that word is just a pejorative for editing that someone doesn't like) but it seems a bit weird to speak of "censoring" titles for being misleading.

As I said elsewhere in the thread (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25074261), if anyone can suggest a better title (i.e. more accurate and neutral) we'd be happy to change it again.

Re: Stripe migrates Stripe Subscriptions users to more expensive Stripe Billing

#223

Post by iffycan »

pc wrote: post #93

(Stripe cofounder.) Hi folks -- as Edwin points out elsewhere in the thread, the article title isn't accurate. (I'll update or delete my comment if it's fixed.) [Update: it was changed. It used to read "Stripe is now charging 0.5% more for recurring charges."] You can happily make recurring charges yourself and no additional fees are incurred. Lots of Stripe customers do this and we don't charge anything extra for it…

When I first signed up with Stripe years ago, it was a breath of fresh air. Stripe did one thing exceedingly well, at an understandable price and took minutes to integrate with.

I could sell Stripe to my developer friends (and did, a lot!) in a single sentence: "You can add credit card charging to your site in about 15 minutes for 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction." I can't do that anymore. Stripe is no longer a single-sentence sell.

Stripe still does good work. But the air is getting murkier. I'll point to some objective changes, but mostly Stripe is just starting to feel different.

- Several years ago, when I saw announcements that Stripe started supporting ACH payments (and later international payments), I thought, "Great! This is Stripe! I'll just be able to flick a switch and turn those on." Not so. I understand that it's complicated from their end. It's just not the same "Stripe is so easy" experience. "Stripe is supposed to abstract away the complexity, not expose it to me."

- The pricing page is a big sign of the added complexity. There used to just be one or two numbers on that page [1]. Compare that with the current pricing page [2]

My suggestion to you, pc: Start a little company within Stripe to disrupt Stripe (i.e. re-simplify) in the same way Stripe disrupted the industry 10 years ago. Or keep getting bigger and become just as complex as the things Stripe replaced.

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20111216054911/https://stripe.co...

[2] https://stripe.com/pricing#pricing-details

Re: Stripe migrates Stripe Subscriptions users to more expensive Stripe Billing

#224

Post by JoshTriplett »

jdreaver wrote: post #109
radihuq wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks pc! OT: You're very active, and usually one of the first to get involved, in Stripe-related discussions on HN. I'm curious how you manage this. Do you lurk HN all day like me and spot the new Stripe-related threads, or do others at Stripe let you know when they see a Stripe-related thread?

I've always wondered if there is a business opportunity here: a company that monitors social media for all mentions of your business and pings you about it. Maybe this already exists?

https://f5bot.com/

Re: Stripe migrates Stripe Subscriptions users to more expensive Stripe Billing

#225

Post by nfm »

pc wrote: post #189
nfm wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Long term Stripe customer across multiple companies here. I'm ok with paying for services like this that provide loads of value. I expect there's increasing diversity in terms of Stripe's customer base and how they use the product, and trying to pick a single percentage price point that works across all of them is no longer feasible. That said, I'm quite unhappy with Stripe's pricing as an AU customer. We're paying e…

Yep, heard loud and clear. We've been investing a lot in USD (and other currency settlement) in various markets (and actually just released it in Singapore). We're working on it in Australia too.

Thanks for replying, I'm very excited to hear it's in the works!

Re: Stripe migrates Stripe Subscriptions users to more expensive Stripe Billing

#226

Post by thesimon »

GeneralTspoon wrote: post #187
PaybackTony wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much of the interchange rate is charged directly by Visa / Mastercard. The merchant bank will then add basis points to that, and often you get another mark-up by the individual ISO (independent sales organization) in a typical set up. So, then, why do card processors charge percentage? Well, when you see those Capital One commercials where you get 1% cashback on this type of purchase or 2% cashback on this, that's wh…

Just to note, interchange in the EU is capped at 0.2-0.3%. Stripe charge 1.4% + €0.25, so that's not the full story (there are scheme fees too, but I assume Stripe is still making some margin on the % fee - but open to correction on that)

Though only for consumer 4-party scheme cards.

If you have mostly EU customers, then it would make sense to switch the acquirer and probalby get an Interchange++ rate.

If you have customers from all over the world, using mostly business cards or cards from Amex, then the Stripe rate might be okay.

Re: Stripe migrates Stripe Subscriptions users to more expensive Stripe Billing

#227

Post by marcinzm »

sigwinch28 wrote: post #49
globile wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same thing has happened for Radar for example. We set up our whole infrastructure with their beta 3DS and Radar products, and then one day (a few months back), it is $ 0.07 per txn in Radar as well as no returned fees on refunds. Stuck with nowhere to go. Not against improving margins, but customers that have walked hand in hand with Stripe for so long and seen them thru their early growing pains should definitely be…

Why should they be grandfathered?

Because it creates a reputation that choosing Stripe is a safe move for a business. Like how AWS never increases prices. It allows businesses to lock themselves into the platform with little worry which makes the platform owner profit in the long run. Businesses don't want sudden costs one day that they couldn't budget or plan for.

Re: Stripe migrates Stripe Subscriptions users to more expensive Stripe Billing

#228

Post by marcinzm »

jm20 wrote: post #117
loceng wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to believe this is Stripe leadership pumping up the revenues/profits to look peachy for their IPO, so they can all get a considerable exit while raising a war chest - meanwhile competitors will come along and try to take market share while Stripe can spend more on acquisitions and feature development for the same price. I think this play as part of the VC industrial complex leaves them more vulnerable than is…

If the Stripe leadership wanted to exit and be set for generations they could’ve done it years ago. I agree it could be a revenue boost to prepare for IPO but this isn’t some personal greed thing

Personal greed doesn't magically end just because you want $5 billion instead of $1 billion. Greed is greed even if the only point of it is having a larger number in your bank account or higher social standing from it.

Re: Stripe migrates Stripe Subscriptions users to more expensive Stripe Billing

#229

Post by hugoromano »

adrr wrote: post #217
hugoromano wrote: post #32

5¢ made sense, 0.5% is a parasitic approach, the tech stack and engineering costs them 0.1¢ per recurring transaction.

There's a fixed cost to put a transaction onto the card brand networks. Recurring includes dunning management which retries failed auths. If you rolled your own, you'd be paying for the declines.

Stripe is charging extra 0.5% for the billing feature, so a billing charge goes in the US with stripe 3.4% + 30¢. It could be done for 2.9% + 30¢ + 5¢, stripe will still get the its cut, but not the extra 0.5%.

Re: Stripe migrates Stripe Subscriptions users to more expensive Stripe Billing

#230

Post by rexreed »

pc wrote: post #156
merlinbeard wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don’t need to do any work, but you just need to pay more ;)

You don't need to! The pricing doesn't kick in 'till next year. We want to give people time to migrate away or to implement a billing system manually. (And if anyone wants more time to do that, we're happy to grant it.)

Yes - we need more time. This is a bit of a surprise. How do we get an extension, and how long will this extension last?
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