Should ScubaBoard lower the amount of donation?

[all4scuba05]

After reading this thread...

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/214161-what-s-worth-40-you.html

It seems that perhaps some wish the amount was less. It was said that if it was less, then they would donate. Perhaps this poll will benefit Scubaboard, perhaps not.

I will be making this an anonymous poll in order to get a more accurate count.

 

[bogrady]

Considering what most of us spend on gear - or even a cup of coffee - I believe that at $40.00 - this may be the best value in all of diving. I can't count how many times this board has made me laugh, or how much I've learned, or how many new dive buddies I've met here. It's well worth the full suggested retail price - with no online discount.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Always gotta be some scrooges. It is cheap enough now. Same people who would want it cheaper probably want $10 reg service as well.

 

[vanessar]

Scuba Board gives me access to more than $40 worth of info in a year. What a great resource.

Vanessar

 

[RJP]

I don't know how many people are also Contributing Members, but think about it this way:

If SB dropped the price by 50% to $20 they would need to get TWICE AS MANY contributing members in order to make the same amount of money.

That's just not going to happen. Why?

Because whether or not someone contributes is a function of their answer to TWO questions, considered in order:

- Willingness to contribute AT ALL. (Will you contribute, Y or N?)
- Degree of sensitivity to PRICE. (How much will you contribute?)

The vast majority of people who say "I'm not willing to contribute $40" are actually answering "No, I'm not willing to contribute" to the first question. For these people the second question never enters into the decision. If you lower the price to $20 they will still answer NO to the first question, so the price is unimportant.

In my 20 years of marketing experience, I can tell you that most pricing errors are usually of the "failure to charge a HIGH ENOUGH price" variety, with people regularly leaving MILLIONS on the table as they lower their selling price in order chase volume/customers they are never going to get anyway while cutting revenue from customers that were willing to pay the higher price.

Fact of the matter is, Contributing Members are already paying for something they can get for free. Accordingly, price elasticity theory would suggest the best way for SB to increase the revenue generated by Contributing Members would be to RAISE the amount, since those of us that have contributed have already demonstrated that we are willing to contribute and are not really price sensitive.

 

[all4scuba05]

Hence the reason, why I set the poll the way I did. Chances are it will prove you right. I'm guessing much fewer will pick the lesser amounts than the ones who(like you said) are willing to pay the $40.

 

[all4scuba05]

So far...

8 folks making $40 donations= $320
8 folks making $10 and $20 donations=$120

Things that make me go hmmmm

 

[DeepBound]

I couldn't answer the poll because it doesn't have an option for "My contribution to scubaboard is that I look at the ads and sometimes click on them."

 

[frankmzd]

Well, if you read any blog online , do you also make a donation ?
Maybe not, because you (in most cases rightly) assume that the business model is based on ad revenue (those little "ads by google") , not on donations from readers (although I don't think any blogger would refuse free money).

The fact that scubaboard does not constantly and aggressively solicit donations (think NPR ) leads me to believe that scubaboard is relying on ad revenue more than anything else, so the best you can do is click on those ads and buy from the advertisers (which I do, and deepbound also mentioned).

But I would gladly donate to keep scubaboard going if this was not the case, or if my assumptions are wrong .