Is a 2-tiered membership model a good or bad idea?

[vaqueros]

My partners and I are planning to start a membership paysite in about 6 months. We will shoot all of our own exlusive photo and video content in Argentina, where (honestly) there are more gorgeous guys per square meter than just about anywhere on the planet.

Before I pose my question, I'd like to thank all of the posters here. In the past few days, I've read over a year's worth of postings to glean the accumulated knowledge and experience of this community. It's been a great help!

In light of the miserable economy now, what do you think about a 2-tiered membership model? By this I mean offering two membership plans:

• Deluxe: the standard $20-30 "all you can eat (view/download) buffet" for one monthly fee. Total access to everything on the site is included.
  
• Basic: a smaller monthly fee (perhaps $10-15) and would include complete access to most features (photos, news, forums, blogs, etc.) and a limited number of video viewings/downloads. To view/download more videos, the member would purchase non-expiring credits as an additional charge and each video viewed or downloaded would be deducted from his balance of credits.

I haven't seen much of this on other sites but I saw something similar at Bel Ami Online. Granted they're poised on the top rung of paysites but would this business model help other sites to retain members that otherwise would be lost as people try to cut down on expenses?

I'm also not sure if this is even possible with the third-party payment processors like CCbill and Epoch. They seem to be geared strongly toward monthly fees and may not be able to process an optional credits purchase.

[basschick]

this sounds like a limited trial. if you're charging that much, why not just go for a full membership at $24.95 and not complicate things?

[Lee]

I agree with Patti here, it sounds like an enhanced 'limited trial' type deal.

I could see how this could work well in terms of member retention and member spending though.

Perhaps you could offer the lower priced deal for the first month only then, when the member rebills, give them access to the rest of the content?

Regards,

Lee