Hello,
few days ago I was chatting with my epoch assistant (Cristiana, a really cool person… I love her!) and she advised me to avoid to use $1 trial cause lots of CC companies could consider the transaction as a “charging/validating test” instead of a real sale. My question is: why $1 trials are so popular?
thank you
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
deception and greed 666
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
I suspect that some simply use it as a means to get a valid email address and to feed their exit consoles. I’m sure a few use $1 trials legitimately as well, but I don’t think it’s smart!
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
No good can come of it. It isn’t a trial. It is a trap. Is there anyone that produces quality exclusive content that would try such a gambit?
It makes us all look bad and negatively impacts the adult industry.
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
[QUOTE=AlexManifestMan;36591]No good can come of it. It isn’t a trial. It is a trap. Is there anyone that produces quality exclusive content that would try such a gambit?
It makes us all look bad and negatively impacts the adult industry.[/QUOTE]
If …
… you can afford as program owner $1 trial. It’s all about numbers.
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
I know there are a lot of bone head consumers in the world or we would not have to tell people not to use electric lawn mowers when it is raining. But I have to believe that most thinking people would know there is a catch to anything that you would buy for $1.00 using a credit card that will rebill in a day or so with a 3000% increase in cost.
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
[QUOTE=AlexManifestMan;36591]No good can come of it. It isn’t a trial. It is a trap. Is there anyone that produces quality exclusive content that would try such a gambit?
It makes us all look bad and negatively impacts the adult industry.[/QUOTE]
I have to disagree on that one.
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
Um which part do you disagree with? This could be very interesting whistle
Especially when you see the following code on a signup page with no TOS
<input type=“checkbox” name=“signup[xsell][]” value=“12” checked />Special Offer</TD>
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
$1 trials are popular because affiliates feel they can sell lots more of them.
funny thing is that it often isn’t true by much, and all the clients i worked with who had a single site rather than a network started making much more money when they removed the trial.
btw, there are plenty of exclusive content sites that make tons of money using the $1 trial. some use a limited trial - trial members get access to only one full video or no full videos but only the first clip of several videos or only to the pics. they have to click a link that upgrades them to a full membership to see everything.
and there are some exclusive content sites that are very large or part of a network of sites that give a 1 day full trial for $1 that convert well.
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
Not sure how interesting it is, but I would disagree with the the statement that “Is there anyone that produces quality exclusive content that would try such a gambit?”.
Yeah. There is actually. If someone joins Broke Straight Boys for $1, they get full access to the site for three days, two updates of exclusive content a week on Broke Straight Boys, a weekly update of exclusive content on College Boys Physicals, and a weekly update of exclusive content on Straight Boys Jerk Off. That’s four updates a week of exclusive content.
The reason that many companies have $1 trials is because they actually work. Some of the whales only want to market sites with $1 trials. So, you either offer $1 trials and get their sales or you don’t and another program gets their sales. It’s really about reaching the largest audience as popular.
In my “previous” life as an affiliate, I use to send all my un-filtered traffic to a page that offered multiple sites for $1. “Get X sites for $1”. It converted a surfer that had no intention of joining a porn site into a buying member. Those pages convert very well.
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
If we have to address the lowest common denominator and make everything as easy for surfers to understand as possible, we have to look at what the general understanding of what a $1.00 trial would be. An inexperienced surfer would expect that for $1.00 they would get full and complete access to a website for a specified period of time.
A trial that allows a surfer only partial access should not even be called a trial. It is a sample, essentially a preview that the surfer pays for. And it should be specified in big red letters: GIVE US A BUCK AND WE WILL LET YOU WATCH PART OF A VIDEO AND THEN IN TWO DAYS WE WILL GIVE YOU ACCESS TO A BUNCH OF OTHER CONTENT AND SITES FOR AN ADDITIONAL $85.
Surfers don’t understand which browser they are using and certainly are not going to follow the fine print or below the scroll information that makes these things work. When they get hit with the additional costs, they scream and believe we are all running some kind of scam. I don’t know how many of us have actually spent time on the phone with surfers and polled them extensively, but I can tell you that most of them believe that porn sites are run by shady characters that they are loathe to even give credit card information to.
If we put material out there which indicates that the material is worth only $1.00, why wouldn’t they think that is was so valueless that they shouldn’t bother paying at all.
But then again, I suppose if one knows their customer base, they know what works for them. I know that if you want the fewest possible chargebacks and the best possible retention, you have to avoid anything that has a whiff of ‘scam’ to it. Everything has to be very very easy to understand.
Just because something is easier to sell doesn’t make it smart in the long haul. We can look at many of the problems we have today and chalk them up to short sighted choices that were made in the past.
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
[quote=basschick;36618]btw, there are plenty of exclusive content sites that make tons of money using the $1 trial. some use a limited trial - trial members get access to only one full video or no full videos but only the first clip of several videos or only to the pics. they have to click a link that upgrades them to a full membership to see everything.
and there are some exclusive content sites that are very large or part of a network of sites that give a 1 day full trial for $1 that convert well.[/quote]
When the member signs up is their a TOS page so they know what they are really getting?
I came across site today, on a network of program sites we all know, and the join page had a pre checked cross sale with no TOS on the join page. When you signup and uncheck the prechecked cross sale, the confirmation page has the cross sale checked again!
I can understand why programs and affiliates take advantange of these opportunities as processesors allow it, but minimally can’t we fully notify the surfer of what they are getting without sticking it to them later… or is that bad for business?
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
[QUOTE=AlexManifestMan;36621]If we have to address the lowest common denominator and make everything as easy for surfers to understand as possible, we have to look at what the general understanding of what a $1.00 trial would be. An inexperienced surfer would expect that for $1.00 they would get full and complete access to a website for a specified period of time.
[/QUOTE]
Which is exactly what we offer. They get full access for $1 for three full days to a network of sites that offers 4 updates of exclusive content per week.
I agree that those that offer limited trials should be more transparent about it as it would most likely help our conversion rate on the $1 trial.
But, many things in this industry can “upset” a surfer, like charging $25 for a site that rarely updates or charging $30 for a site that you can’t download the videos.
We have a high percentage of recurring members that have appreciated the fact that we gave them a $1 unlimited trial and allowed them to download the videos (even during the trial).
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
[QUOTE=abostonboy;36620]
Yeah. There is actually. If someone joins Broke Straight Boys for $1, they get full access to the site for three days, two updates of exclusive content a week on Broke Straight Boys, a weekly update of exclusive content on College Boys Physicals, and a weekly update of exclusive content on Straight Boys Jerk Off. That’s four updates a week of exclusive content. .[/QUOTE]
Actually the number of updates per week is not material to the cost of the trial. It depends exactly on which day they join as to whether or not they get updated unless the stars align and their join time hit when every site was being updated on day two. I went to see exactly what you meant and I couldn’t find the $1.00 anywhere. I did find the 3 day trial for 3.96 as well as the 6 day, 11 day and 20 day trials.
But in no case is this a $1.00 trial. I do see where for an extra $1.00 on top of the $3.96 you can get access to Ass Lick Boys and 5 Bonus site that will rebill at $24.83.
So if I pay $4.96 cents and get access to all this material, I will then be billed $54.79 if I do not read the fine print or fail to cancel in a timely manner.
I have to most respectfully disagree on how good this approach is for the business overall. If I went to a gas station and they sold gas for 20 cents per gallon for the first gallon but put indicated (in 10 point type at the bottom of the pump) that should I put more than .672 gallons in my car I would be charged $6.00 per gallon, I would consider that pretty much the same thing.
Sites should be sold on quality and quantity of content. Short term success is certainly no judge of what is healthiest for the industry.
But this is a discussion that is sure to get more than one individual’s panties in a big wad.
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
Alex,
Webmasters have the choice if they want to market the site using the $1 trial or not. Some do better with the $1 trial others do not. We don’t use $1 trials on type in traffic as the higher priced trial convert better for us on type in traffic. But, members get the same level of access no matter what membership option they signup for.
Re: Updates. I was just stating that there are sites with exclusive content that do have $1 trials. Not only exclusive content, but a regular update schedule of exclusive content.
Basically it appears that your issue is not with $1 trials as much as it is with trials in general and X-sells?
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
My issue is with anything that doesn’t make it super clear from day one exactly how something is going to work or that relies on the lack of action or information on the part of the customer to succeed.
I believe that these sorts of trials only work because people forget to cancel. I understand that if someone can get a member on the hook for a couple months of $50+ subscriptions, that it is to their benefit in the short term. But I believe this is part of what trains surfers to join and cancel the very day that they subscribe. They have been trained to do so by the trial method of sales.
If Time Warner simply sold their cable packages at one price and one price all the time, it would be far better than charging $29 bucks for month one till three and then $79.00 with a $150 stop service fee.
I think it only works at the expense of the customer and many companies use it in an underhanded way to the detriment of all of us. If we had all thought hard about the long term effects of ‘download all you want content and keep it forever’ we would not have some of the problems that we have now. What is best in the short term is not always best for an industry overall. GM sold a huge number of very large and very expensive SUVs and I certainly bought my share of them. But had they not ‘responded to the demands of the market’ in that way, their current problems would not be so great.
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
One of the reasons surfers choose to only join sites with a trial is because they have joined sites without trials and for whatever reason have not been happy. I am sure there are some that have joined sites with limited trials and will only join full price sites now. One model feeds the other.
But seriously. If one wants to be as transparent as possible on the tour do sites that don’t allow surfers to download the videos state that in big letters all over the tour?
But, then now we have three issues:
So, basically unless a site is full price, has no X-sells, and protects it’s content from downloaders, it’s bad for the industry?
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
I have no problem with x-sells, if they are not used to get one more dollar and then hit the surfer with an additional $30 dollar charge if the member doesn’t cancel within 72 hours. I do have a problem with anyone who produces content and then sells it at a price that is artificially low.
Note that makers of the highest quality goods almost never sell them at a discount. It devalues the brand and sets expectations that waiting for a better price is better than purchasing now.
And yes, whoever started the “Golden Corral” business model in membership sites has a lot to answer for. If surfers had not been taught to believe that they own the entire contents of a site, they would not be so eager to post it all on tube sites. If an entire content library is available to download and keep, there is no way that a smart surfer would ever retain as a member. Get 100 videos for 20 cents each when you join and then pay $5.00 each for them when you retain? That makes no sense. “Take the trial, cancel even before you look at the content, download it all and go back in a year” would be my advice to every surfer in that case.
Our site retains beautifully and our chargeback ratios are .02 percent. That is not 2 percent but 2/10 of one percent. We make it as difficult as possible for someone to download out library and give it all away. We also produce a lot of Live Content that must be experienced live to be enjoyed.
Regardless of how much I may respect someone else’s experience, I know what is and isn’t effective in the long term health of an business regardless of how wide spread a practice may be. There is not a single retail store that says: Buy something today for $1.00, use it for three days but if you don’t bring it back (after giving it to all your friends to use) we will charge you $100.
Strong and successful business practices cross industry lines.
If I join a trial, download everything that interests me, there is no reason to retain since any decent content library is going to have more porn than I could watch in 100 hours. I do not have 30 minutes to watch recreational porn for 200 days in a row.
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
I got a free Godiva chocolate in the mall yesterday.
Re: Why lots of sponsors have $1 trial?
What a rip off!
You mean they didn’t charge you a dollar and give you three days to take all the unlimited chocolate you want? 