I don't get enough volume for ad support to be meaningful, and i didnt want to ruin the experience with ads. Before subscriptions, for a long time it was a one time purchase only. Then some VC's suggested i experiment with subscriptions, and I was very hesitant and semi grossed out. But I decided to give it a try, and I was seriously amazed that my conversion was barely impacted, and the same people buying one time purchases were also willing to purchase subscriptions. From there I did price experimentation, and was even more surprised to see the results there.
Ok, that's actually quite an interesting - and remarkably specific - customer segment.
If your core customer base pulls in 4 or 5 figures a month from their own hustle, they might be willing to pay up to $15/month for features tailor-made for their needs.
If you think someone's paying customers are "debasing themselves", it probably says more about you not being the target market than a negative critique of the customers themselves.
I disagree. Many users are simply whales or people with compulsive disorders. Not everyone genuinely "enjoys" the model more so than being stuck to it.
Not saying there aren't people who truly like it. There are. But not everyone who uses it does.
> Many users are simply whales or people with compulsive disorders.
Your comment might apply to addictive games, but you are being extremely dismissive towards a creative app that isn’t designed to be a slot machine. Who are you to tell others how to spend their time or money?
Anyone's perception is $5 is affected by their economic class. Globally, there are a significant number of people who would view $5 the same way others view .50.
For me, .15 a day is negligible. I can easily imagine someone who creates memes for social media choosing to pay that, especially if they feel there is value in supporting the creator. Memes aren't frivolity any more than other content - they're one of the most popular forms of communication on the internet.
A successful meme page with thousands of followers can generate substantial income. “Fake internet points” sometimes correlates directly with real cash.
Wait, what's the conversion rate of HN karma to ducks? I haven't received any ducks at this point. When should I start to expect them? I'm fond of mallards and mandarins. Do I get a choice?
A lot of big ig pages or whatever make decent money, even 'theme' pages that dont revolve around an 'influencer' personality.
This would be a pretty minor business expense if its even a little bit useful.
I'm embarrassed to say that I never used any formal a/b testing tools. I just fully converted to subscriptions, and ran it for a few weeks, and compared it to the previous few weeks (which were one time purchase.)
You don't need A/B testing tools. Most people don't like being tested on. Trust your gut, listen to your users, and just beware of vocal minorities. It seems like you're doing well already.
That’s a shame because it seems like you did the smart and effective solution without wasting your time. A/B testing isn’t needed if the signal is clear enough (¡parachute testing!), and it is hard to get enough samples for a weak signal. Good on you.
