SG is like a street market
So I've left SG twice. And now I realize that the business side of SG is run very much like a street market. Haggling and hardball apparently result in better deals.
The first time I left SG, they brought me back at $48/year. That was a deal then, but they soon extended it to everyone, which is cool.
This time when I left, they tried to get me to renew at $48/year, but I wouldn't go for it. Two weeks after my account goes dead, I get an email with a new offer. $29/year. Yep, just $29/ year! How could I say no?
Now, this is the reason I dislike street markets; I almost always feel like I'm getting ripped off. All you have to do is haggle a bit or threaten to walk away from the sale and they'll lower the price. Of course, since I don't really enjoy haggling, the price gets lowered usually when I've actually decided to walk away rather than act like I'm walking away as a ploy to get the price lowered. And then when the price suddenly goes down, I might buy whatever the vendor is selling, but I no longer trust anything the vendor is saying. After all, just a moment ago he/she was telling me that there was no way they could go below that price. Not possible. Now suddenly I see that's not true.
Of course, the big difference with SG is that you're not free to haggle. But what is disappointing is that I'm suspecting many of you out there who are huge fans of the site and renew consistently do it at a higher cost than me and yet you are the more valuable customers. The economists will possibly laud this result because it's an example of maximizing income via market segmentation (if I'm remembering my economics). But to me it still feels a little wrong to give the slacker like me the cheap price.
At any rate, it's nice to be back. Apparently half of my friends are no longer on this site, so I might need to try and be social or something.
So I've left SG twice. And now I realize that the business side of SG is run very much like a street market. Haggling and hardball apparently result in better deals.
The first time I left SG, they brought me back at $48/year. That was a deal then, but they soon extended it to everyone, which is cool.
This time when I left, they tried to get me to renew at $48/year, but I wouldn't go for it. Two weeks after my account goes dead, I get an email with a new offer. $29/year. Yep, just $29/ year! How could I say no?
Now, this is the reason I dislike street markets; I almost always feel like I'm getting ripped off. All you have to do is haggle a bit or threaten to walk away from the sale and they'll lower the price. Of course, since I don't really enjoy haggling, the price gets lowered usually when I've actually decided to walk away rather than act like I'm walking away as a ploy to get the price lowered. And then when the price suddenly goes down, I might buy whatever the vendor is selling, but I no longer trust anything the vendor is saying. After all, just a moment ago he/she was telling me that there was no way they could go below that price. Not possible. Now suddenly I see that's not true.
Of course, the big difference with SG is that you're not free to haggle. But what is disappointing is that I'm suspecting many of you out there who are huge fans of the site and renew consistently do it at a higher cost than me and yet you are the more valuable customers. The economists will possibly laud this result because it's an example of maximizing income via market segmentation (if I'm remembering my economics). But to me it still feels a little wrong to give the slacker like me the cheap price.
At any rate, it's nice to be back. Apparently half of my friends are no longer on this site, so I might need to try and be social or something.
Hey, apply to SGLA. In case you want to hang out with those people once in a while. Or just see what's going on.