Companies that reduce their cost of membership

[Utopia]

Just curious what peoples feelings are about companies that reduce the cost of membership, especially after only being in business for less than a year.

Do you think that they realize that their opportunity is overpriced so they have to adjust their thinking to stay competitive?

Do you think it is more of a thing where they are not getting the signups that they thought they were going to get and reduce the price to get people into the business because their product/business wasn't as good as they invisioned?


Personally I feel that when companies reduce their price of membership they are saying "we can't compete" at what we were charging and we have to do something to attract more attention to our business. I just feel that it devalues the opportunity/product.


What say you?

[m2cmentor]

My feelings on this are, if you are going to charge me a fee to join, No Thank you.

Some companies are catching on to this. Eliminating sign up fees. So it could be they are trying to do something along those lines.

[Utopia]

I can certainly understand wanting a free opportunity, but technically that isn't even free when you have to advertise,market, buy promotional items, etc... I wouldn't say that there is a true "free" opportunity. There will be costs involved in any successful business.

[Kaaren360]

[img]smileys/smiley1.gif[/img] Edited by: Kaaren360

[NItawanita]

Perhaps the response to the company's product/roll-out was stronger than they had budgeted, and they are simply reducing the price because they can afford to?

A reputable solid company ideally should only be charging as much as they need in order to cover administration* and distribution kit costs. Their profits should mainly come from sale of PRODUCT.

*Computer programming, marketing, administration, CUSTOMERSUPPORT, design, research, etc. might all be part of this, especially in the beginning.

~Anita in Georgia

[Utopia]

Interesting concept.

I am not sure there are many companies that would lower their cost of membership if their response was strong. Companies are in the business to make money and dropping the cost goes against that principle even if business is good

[AlisonMSmith]

Anita, I think that's the most reasonable approach. Charging to cover administrative and a kit makes sense because if you do NOT charge the person enrolling for those things, the money will still come from somewhere.

It's kind of like impact fees for city developers.

Alison

[Yogi]

often when they reduce the signup fee, they add fees somewhere else. Maybe charge more for a marketing website. Charge more for CD/tools. Razor Blade business model.... Edited by: Yogi

[philena30]

Originally Posted by m2cmentor

My feelings on this are, if you are going to charge me a fee to join, No Thank you.

Some companies are catching on to this. Eliminating sign up fees. So it could be they are trying to do something along those lines.

That's right.. many companies don't see the point thanks to the internet. I mean, even the solar energy business made sure not to do that, because they want to set an example by not waste trees with business kits, brochures, and producing CD's. So many people have CD burners and IPods for mp3's, then what's the point of needing that overhead? Like the other poster said about the cost of marketing and advertising is enough, so let the marketers budget themselves right.

The internet is suppose to help eliminate that need, and companies are suppose to take advantage of it, and keep the majority of the commissions from the actual sales of the product and/or services.

When I see companies lowering their start up fees, it usually means that they wising up to the need for it, competition, or they don't want to fall into the trap of being a recruitingMLM instead of a retailMLM. RetailMLM's last longer, and they may want to keep the focus on that instead of earning commissions off recruiting only, so they lower the start-up fees. Many companies don't even charge for duplicate websites, so you have to look at all the options and where the majority of their net profits are coming from.

[JessicaByers]

Originally Posted by Utopia

Just curious what peoples feelings are about companies that reduce the cost of membership, especially after only being in business for less than a year.

Do you think that they realize that their opportunity is overpriced so they have to adjust their thinking to stay competitive?

Do you think it is more of a thing where they are not getting the signups that they thought they were going to get and reduce the price to get people into the business because their product/business wasn't as good as they invisioned?


Personally I feel that when companies reduce their price of membership they are saying "we can't compete" at what we were charging and we have to do something to attract more attention to our business. I just feel that it devalues the opportunity/product.


What say you?

I am just curious as to what company has reduced their membership that made you think about this?

I personally don't mind if a company reduces their membership as long as my paycheck is not touched.