Don't give too much away for free

PostApr 19th, 2006 | Comments (6)
Based on my experience with my gaming site, Babble, I thought I had a firm handle on what features to charge for and which ones to offer for free with the recent release of my new gaming site, Iron Sudoku.

Boy, was I wrong.

I gave too much away for free, including arguably the most attractive feature of the site - the "checkpoint" feature. As a result, no one was paying to upgrade to a "Pro" account. Yesterday I made the "checkpoint" feature Pro-only, and upgrade orders have gone through the roof.

So I guess the lesson is, don't give too much away for free, or people will have no incentive to give you money.

Comments

MattApr 28, 2006
The lesson is give it away for free. Get people addicted to build up a loyal customer base. Then start charging :)
Jamie TibbettsApr 28, 2006
I guess that theory works, too. ;)
liber8edApr 28, 2006
actually i could care less about the checkpoint, I wanted to be able to do the archives and get my points up... I think that was why a lot of people went pro.
liber8edApr 28, 2006
oh yeah, lowering the price from 19.99 to 14.99 helped too.
Jamie TibbettsApr 28, 2006
It was always $14.95, but as long as you thought you got a good deal, I guess it's a win-win situation. ;)
Michael PierceJun 24, 2006
I think the overall timing was right as well. Just enough time had gone by for me to realize that I really liked the site and was going to continue using it. So, maybe it was a convergence of timing, features and perceived drop in price! :)

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