Is Gay Porn Under-Priced?

I've been doing a lot of comparison shopping lately and it seems that gay sites are clearly behind the pricing of str8 sites. 34.95 or 39.95 are common price points. I still see gay sites at $12.95 and $19.95 everywhere!

Even the some of the big gay sites are a meager $24.95 pennies a day for every live gay feed, a bazillion photos and videos--someone is leaving money on the table folks.

I realize you don't have to charge a lot if you have a nice size member base, but come on, where is the "get what you pay for" pricing. Isn't exclusive content worth more than $19.95 a month?

My theory, you price too low and people don't consider your content valuable, and your site and gay porn becomes a commodity.

Lets discuss.

I think a lot of revshare sites are priced at that level simply because thats what sells overall.

We have experimented with a range of different price points over the last 5-6 years and, the price point that works best for us on a revshare basis is $14.95 for the initial signup then rebilling at $29.95 a month after that.

When we did some trials on the PPS business model, we found that $29.95 seemed to out perform the $14.95 price point as long as that price remained constant from the initial full membership through to each rebill.

One thing i would like to see a processor try however, is adding a third tier for recurring billing so you have something like this in place..

Initial - $29.95
Rebill - $29.95
2nd R/Bill - $19.95

If one of the processors were able to implement that kind of rebill structure in to their system im pretty sure surfers would retain past the 2nd or 3rd billing period on both revshare and, more importantly, PPS based paysites :)

Regards,

Lee

Thanks Ren,

You echoed my thoughts. I am constantly surprized when I see really cool gay sites and they are priced way too low. Just as amazed as I am when I see how much some of the straight sites that look like shit are charging.

I dont want to drive my members away, but as you said, when you are providing them with exclusive content, they really do have to pay a fair price. Our sites are currently going for 29.95 a month and I seldom get any flack from anyone over the price.

Also, it is really hard to find affiliates that will take all the time and expense to prote a site when they are only going to get half of 12.95 or even half of 19.95. I tried promoting sites in that price range for a while and was never able to make anything, because of all the bandwidth that got used by people that didnt sign up.

Another thing I try to do is think from the surfers point of view. If I go to a site and they have a low price point, I figure it is a crap site and dont even bother.

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Originally Posted by Lee

One thing i would like to see a processor try however, is adding a third tier for recurring billing so you have something like this in place..

Initial - $29.95
Rebill - $29.95
2nd R/Bill - $19.95

If one of the processors were able to implement that kind of rebill structure in to their system im pretty sure surfers would retain past the 2nd or 3rd billing period on both revshare and, more importantly, PPS based paysites :)

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Lee, I've been contemplating the same thing lately (reducing the price down at month 3)... It seems to me like retention would be better if that were the case. Some people join sites, cancel and possibly join again later (there's no incentive built into the price structure to deter them from doing so). But, if there's an incentive to stay (lower rates at and past month 3), they may just stick around rather than go through having to pay the higher prices at months 1 and 2 (proivded the site's content is worth it and the price drop at month 3 is low enough to be an incentive!). Of course, this is just an idea I've been throwing around in my head lately and it hasn't been tested. It seems logical to me though... Anyone who's actaully seen these results, please lemme know!

Interesting that you bring up "loyalty discount" pricing.

I am working on that very project right now. ibill has the ability to adjust rebill rates at 30 day intervals after signup.. I'm trying to get the pricing structure figured out, and then how to clearly 'splain it to a guy while he has his dick in his hand. LOL

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Originally Posted by MWCren

I realize you don't have to charge a lot if you have a nice size member base, but come on, where is the "get what you pay for" pricing. Isn't exclusive content worth more than $19.95 a month?

My theory, you price too low and people don't consider your content valuable, and your site and gay porn becomes a commodity.

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MWCren, I think pricing is very important. In business in general, it's one of those factors that is so crucial, it can make or break a business. Price too low, and people think something's wrong with your product. Price too high, and they bail.

Personally speaking, I get put off from sites that charge more than $30/month. I rarely signup for sites and when I do, it's the sites in the $24.95 range that I find most attractive (irrespective of how hot or exclusive the content is). I don't know if most people share my mindset, but if they do how can a site charge more without putting people off (especially if the industry average seems to be in the $24.95 range)?

There's one site in particular that I'm thinking about as I write this... I really like it and I think it's hot, but what they're charging is someting in the ~ $40 range and that's put me off repeatedly in the past. What's interesting is that I just noticed a pricing change on their site today--their recurring drops down significantly (to ~$18/mo). This new change seems like it would improve retention and I just might finally join.

I can only speak for myself but I often wonder if alot of people share my mindset.

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Originally Posted by BrianDN

There's one site in particular that I'm thinking about as I write this... I really like it and I think it's hot, but what they're charging is someting in the ~ $40 range and that's put me off repeatedly in the past. What's interesting is that I just noticed a pricing change on their site today--their recurring drops down significantly (to ~$18/mo). This new change seems like it would improve retention and I just might finally join.

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Ooooh, I need to see how they word that. Can you PM me the join page or the url where they explain how it works?

there is a point to which a consumer will pay for a non-essential regardless of mainstream or adult , once you have established this figure your sales will reflect that.
in regards to gay porn being "under-priced" my analysis shows me that too many sites are using the same "stock" and in an effort to recoup are lowering their prices to promote sales , this will only drive the gay market down by not utilizing a price standard!.
i could go on and on...but it's lunch!

sincerely ~ ..."i will still be here long after your price-wars!"... :goof:

Our recurring price is at 29.96 monthly. We were at 39.95 about 4 years ago but lowered it to 34.95 then to our current price. I saw TopBucks was charging over 40.00 a month now. I read somewhere that over 80% of gay people have an income of over 60k. I don't think we would lower our prices though we do have a cancel discount which works very well. It is currently at 19.96 a month and brings down the price alot. I would think it would be better to offer the higher price and then email a special offer and have a discount price to grab those surfers that don't want to pay that much.

Mark

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Originally Posted by IntenseCash.com

Our recurring price is at 29.96 monthly. We were at 39.95 about 4 years ago but lowered it to 34.95 then to our current price. I saw TopBucks was charging over 40.00 a month now. I read somewhere that over 80% of gay people have an income of over 60k. I don't think we would lower our prices though we do have a cancel discount which works very well. It is currently at 19.96 a month and brings down the price alot. I would think it would be better to offer the higher price and then email a special offer and have a discount price to grab those surfers that don't want to pay that much.

Mark

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I find it ironic, funny, distressful, whatever, that people can't seem to even agree on the % of GAY MEN From 2% to 10%) in the general population (and gay women), but can turn around in a second and say "80% of all gay people make more than 60k a year!" Good grief! lol

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Originally Posted by Slade

I find it ironic, funny, distressful, whatever, that people can't seem to even agree on the % of GAY MEN From 2% to 10%) in the general population (and gay women), but can turn around in a second and say "80% of all gay people make more than 60k a year!" Good grief! lol

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Very good point slade. :)

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Originally Posted by IntenseCash.com

Our recurring price is at 29.96 monthly. We were at 39.95 about 4 years ago but lowered it to 34.95 then to our current price. Mark

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I'm sorta liking the 29.95 price point. I started my site there in '99 and have been all over the map trying to find that place again. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one playing price point roulette.

There is a psychological barrier at $30 that I'm very nervous to cross. Of course a porn tax would be the perfect time to cross that bridge. Then we could blame it all on the feds. :)

Anyone tried wallyworld pricing? Odd and unusual prices like $27.88?
I was considering a price like that for the non-recurring. $34.88 for 30 days.

I know justusboysclub has some creative pricing... would love to hear the background on that.

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Originally Posted by MWCren

... wallyworld pricing ...

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:P I am glad I am not the only one using that term, Wally.

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Originally Posted by MWCren

I'm sorta liking the 29.95 price point. I started my site there in '99 and have been all over the map trying to find that place again. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one playing price point roulette.

There is a psychological barrier at $30 that I'm very nervous to cross. Of course a porn tax would be the perfect time to cross that bridge. Then we could blame it all on the feds. :)

Anyone tried wallyworld pricing? Odd and unusual prices like $27.88?
I was considering a price like that for the non-recurring. $34.88 for 30 days.

I know justusboysclub has some creative pricing... would love to hear the background on that.

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We have tried a few different prices ($0.00, 4.95, 9.95, 19.95, 29.95, 36.12, 39.95 and three-months for 72.24).
$0.00 ... WOW what a mistake!

We found $29.95 to be a price not high enough to scare people and not so low
it makes the potential buyer leery.

One price fits all really doesn't apply here. Every site is different and it's members have particular tastes, desires, and expectations. Price is important but higher prices do not automatically translate into higher sales at the end of the day.

My best sponsor is Next Door Male, they pay a modest $9.97 per sale on a $19.97 membership but they outsell everyone else 3/1 so I end up making more with them than I do with the higher priced sites.

Straight guys are used to shelling out the dough. If they want to find a girl, or whatever, they have to spend money on dinner, movies, etc, etc,. and that still doesn't mean that their sexual appetites will be fulfilled.

Gay guys can just find a hookup site and that is our real competition here. That's probably why we have to price our sites lower because let's face it, it's easier for gay men to hook up for casual sex.

although we saw amazing sales at sites who charge $14.95, we seem to do well up to $24.95. that was the first price break for us - sites with smaller niches or 100% exclusive content do well up to $29.95. sites will LOTS of exclusive niche content did okay for us up to $34.95, but there aren't enough of those sites.

there's no point in talking about high str8 site prices without knowing how they retain. a lot of larger programs don't make their money off retention, they make it off popups and upsells. in fact, often they deliberately make worse tours because they would prefer the surfers didn't join as with popup income, the program doesn't have to pay an affiliate.

our epoch rep told me that over $29.99 there were more chargebacks and noticeably less retention.

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Originally Posted by basschick

sites with smaller niches or 100% exclusive content do well up to $29.95. sites will LOTS of exclusive niche content did okay for us up to $34.95, but there aren't enough of those sites.

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What if there was a niche site with exclusive content that was mainly focused on pictures (with a small, modest collection of video clips that will eventually grow)... What do you guys think would be a good price point for such a site to start at? I'm thinking $19.95 but I wonder if the price point could be pushed higher...

BTW, Mark I liked your idea of a cancel discount. That seems like a great way to suck 'em back! Or, invite them back in the future ("we missed you, join again" kinda thing)...

BrianDN

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Originally Posted by MWCren

Anyone tried wallyworld pricing? Odd and unusual prices like $27.88?I was considering a price like that for the non-recurring. $34.88 for 30 days.

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I always think back to informercials when I think of prices like these. It's always been those items priced at the $19.95's and $29.95's that have always sold so well. It's almost as if people expect to see these numbers (like they're used to paying that amount and have gotten over thinking about it) and when they do, it's like a conditioned response to whip out their credit cards. Maybe enough exposure has led people to see those figures as 'deals' whereas something like $27.88 comes off as foreign (psychologically speaking) and that makes them stop for a second and think about how much they're actually paying and whether what they're buying is worth that dollar amount.

Strangely enough, I can think of many instances where I've even done this!! LOL

BrianDN

We shoot all our own content

We don't sell, hire or lease it to anyone.

You will only see it on CuriousCash sites

So YES it is underpriced

We have to be compeditive on price even though our content blast most sites away.