Plans, packages, different pricing structures...

[WhereTolook]

It seems that everyone out there has 3-5 plans for hosting, reseller, or whatever.

What would you think of ONE plan that is inclusive. For example

$3 per 1GB of space /10 GB bandwidth

doing the math would be :

1/10 $3
2/20 $6
3/30 $9

and so forth...

I know people are always wanting discounts for larger accounts so a proviso could be included for that. Something like:

For every 5GB\50Gb get a 10% discount (with a miximum discount of 30% at 15BG/150GB) so:

5/50 15.00 - 5% = $13.50
6/60 18.00 - 5% = $16.20
...

10/100 30.00 - 20% = 24.00
11/110 33.00 - 20% = 26.40
...

15/150 45.00 - 30% = 32.50

and all following packages at a 30% discount.

I know this math could get confusing but with sales support it would be feasible.. don't you think?

Actually when I type it out it sounds confusing. What if you had a Table with the prices up to 15GB/150Gb and then stated that all packages after that would be 30% off...

OR

a dollar amount of per "Tier" ...

Not sure just trying to brain storm... :crazy2:

 

[Artashes]

Are you talking about "make your own plan" kind of thing? I have seen in before in action by a number of companies, unfortunately I don't know how successful it is.

It is not hard to implement. Pros are obvious: flexibility you give to your customers, ease of upgrading your plan by resources exactly enough to sustain web operations. Cons: higher cost of implementation (but that is a fixed cost in the startup stages).

The good thing is that you can always set-up additional special packages for people to take advantage of. Like you said, get a little be more resources, but save on monthly/yearly payments.

It would be curious to hear feedback from companies who actually have it implemented, or who have seen it done before.

Best,

 

[mrzippy]

I suspect most companies don't offer this because....

.... customers don't like to do math.



Seriously, if I have to sit there and calculate for 5 minutes what my "equivalent" price would be for somewhere else... then forget it.

People want to easily compare hosting plans with what you are offering.

However, if you are targetting a niche market, or your local market, then you might be ok to do what you're thinking.



But if you're joining the 1000's of other budget/cheap hosts with a "$3 per 1GB of space /10 GB bandwidth" plan, then I doubt you'll do very well with a "one plan, but you must calculate your own cost" offering.

 

[WhereTolook]

I'm not sure how far I agree with you there, Zippy.

I have found that people will do the math if they feel they are getting a good deal... and also I would figure on laying out the prices so that they could be easily seen too, so there's no real reason to do math too much from the low cost end.

For the higher end, these people ALWAYS do the math whether you speel it out or not.

Thanks for the feedback!@!@

 

[mrzippy]

For the higher end, these people ALWAYS do the math whether you speel it out or not.

QUOTE]
I agree with you there, but the example you provided ("$3 per 1GB of space /10 GB bandwidth") is not even close to being "higher end".

I don't believe people looking for "lowest cost" hosting, such as you described, are going to bother spending even 10 seconds to calculate if you're offering a good deal.

To be realistic, you have about 2 seconds to grab their attention and "compete" for there business before they click away to some other website. My question is, "Why would you want to make them spend that 2 seconds trying to figure out exactly how much you charge for what they think they need?"

You're competing against 10 thousand other budget hosts who will do the math for them.



I'm not saying it's IMPOSSIBLE... I'm simply saying that it's probably not a good advertising/marketing method, considering the type of market you seem to be targeting.

ie: You might do "better" if you offered 10 different packages, each with the price and specs clearly defined.. and a giant "WE ARE THE BEST LOW-COST HOSTING PROVIDER IN THE BUSINESS" sign right in the middle of your front page.