Is fastmail too cheap? - Page 2

kander · 18 Feb 2004, 12:35 PM

I'm not really in favour of upping the price...

If you feel like spending more money on FM, why not donate it to the Fastmail Helping Hand Project? That way you actually do a good thing for someone else as well as helping Rob and Jeremy through the chilly Australian winter...

--K

jolycu · 18 Feb 2004, 12:38 PM

The price of the member account has gone up once. It was $9.60 when my husband and I bought our member accounts two years ago. Now it's $14.95, which is still a great bargain IMO. I think even if it were $19.95 it would still be a good value considering it's a life-time account. But I have been impressed with the way J/R do business from the start and want to support the "little guy."

LrdVader · 18 Feb 2004, 02:09 PM

Maybe there should be a limit of one member account per person, the way there is with free accounts? I can certainly see the argument that if a person needs multiple accounts, they're a power user who really ought to be on a higher plan.

s a · 18 Feb 2004, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by LrdVader
Maybe there should be a limit of one member account per person, the way there is with free accounts? I can certainly see the argument that if a person needs multiple accounts, they're a power user who really ought to be on a higher plan.

excellent point.

FMRocks · 18 Feb 2004, 02:49 PM

Andrew,

I believe your worries are unfounded. The people who run Fastmail.fm are quite good at working out a good business model, and as of this moment they're profitable. The US dollar is weak, and I can understand how that's not terrific news for foreign businesses that have customers here. However, do remember that FM runs an efficient business without much overhead. Also, because the dollar is cheap, most of the costs are cheaper as well. In other words, taken in AU dollars, yes they're making a little less money on a per user basis - but taken in AU dollars, the cost of doing business has also dropped.

I am with kander, and would NOT want a price increase in FM service. The awesome value is what draws people to FM. Some people (as I did for a year) at FM keep a Full or an Enhanced account even though they don't need one. Why? Because they see that FM is trying to offer best value, and they want to help. I now have 2 Member accounts, and I don't really need a member account.

If you would like to spend some extra money on FM - I believe you can donate Member accounts for those who cannot afford - FM has a program like this - ask Jeremy or Rob.

kander · 18 Feb 2004, 05:18 PM

*cough* That's the Helping Hand program I mentioned, of which I am the current maintainer... You could just get it from the horse's mouth too by asking me.

--K

SusanUKF · 18 Feb 2004, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by LrdVader
Maybe there should be a limit of one member account per person, the way there is with free accounts? I can certainly see the argument that if a person needs multiple accounts, they're a power user who really ought to be on a higher plan.

I have three member accounts and don't need the extra features that are in the full and enhanced and would have a hard time budgetting the funds,or talking hubby into it...the first account was my birthday gift,the second one I bought secretly and the third I convinced him to let me have for Valentine's Day...he wouldn't understand paying a yearly fee...he took some convincing to pay for an email to begin with...he doesn't use the net except to look up sporting scores(which I do for him)he has never typed on it himself,has no idea because he's never tried and has talked to my friends on Skype and watched posts I have been making or will come over to see what I am doing,to read a joke,and so on,but eitherwise has very little concept of all of this...the member accounts are really neat for me -- and I don't require lots of storage as I delete a lot of things,and keep my 4 mail.com accounts for spam and as accounts to give out for non-essential things.So I guess all this depends on your finances and situation.

Susan.

stumcgoo · 18 Feb 2004, 07:53 PM

I dont think the service is too cheap.

I would however pay double for a service that had a method of sending/checking email while CPUs are down or while upgrading etc. And I do realise that I would be paying just for piece of mind since FM is rarley down.

My perception of downtime is probably exadurated since we are always told when and for how long we can expect downtime.

Cheers
Stu

bplat · 18 Feb 2004, 08:02 PM

Maybe we should strip Fastmail of most of its useful features, add HTML editing, rebrand it NotMail and triple the price ...

-bert

iansz · 18 Feb 2004, 08:48 PM

It is certainly cheap for us folks in the UK, I've just renewed my subscription for 5 years.

**gdg** · 19 Feb 2004, 03:07 AM

I honestly think the member accounts are too good to be true...though that is what I currently have. I will be upgrading to the full level at least, but wanted to get member first to make sure that was my bottom level if for some reason I did not renew the full subscription at a point in the future.

This thread is much like the other thread talking about the future and stability of FM, and there was talk about having one-time fees for storage ditched, or only available for enhanced users. I don't think that is a good idea. I could see restricting the one-time fee for storage to full and enhanced, but not to enhanced only. That type of memory is usually not that expensive to maintain.

FM has to consider the competition in pricing, as has been much discussed in this thread, and I feel it is priced appropriately. Take Mailsnare for example:

MailSnare.Net

The pricing is less than FM, the bandwidth is much more, and for someone taking first look at either service, Mailsnare looks more professional, inside and out. You can also buy extra storage with Mailsnare for a one-time fee, and the fees are less expensive than FM (about half) for a comparable amount of space.

Now, for reasons unmentioned, I prefer FM, but someone taking a first look may not, and understandably so. The advantage FM has to get many people in is the guest account. I cannot for the life of me understand why there is a member account, when any of the other services I've looked at has nothing like that.

IMO, the member accounts should be kept for people that already have them, to ensure not offending current customers, but I see no reason to continue having member accounts for future customers, especially if the goal is to get users to subscribe to one of the higher levels.

I really think that is where FM is missing much of the potential annual revenue. I have read time and again in these forums how people have member accounts, and have no intention of moving up because it ends up supplying all of their needs, but over time, I highly doubt that one-time fee is paying for FM's cost, especially when the members have less incentive to upgrade since the storage space is available to them as a one-time fee.

In summary...no member accounts for future customers, and no one-time fee increases in storage for member level or below (even current ones, beyond what they currently have bought).

I think that may give more FM customers the incentive to move up...because where else would they go to get the same deal anyway (which could be used as an argument against what I've written, but I did address the fact that the member one-time fee is probably not enough to pay for the long haul of usage)?

**Sherry** · 19 Feb 2004, 04:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by LrdVader
Maybe there should be a limit of one member account per person, the way there is with free accounts? I can certainly see the argument that if a person needs multiple accounts, they're a power user who really ought to be on a higher plan.

I think that's an excellent idea. I do think the Member accounts are good because no other service offers something like that. As a person uses their Member accounts and learn the features FM has (especially those not offered at that level) and their needs grow, if they can't buy more MB size or own another Member account, they would do what FM intended with their 4 levels. They would move up a level...

Sherry

SusanUKF · 22 Feb 2004, 10:11 AM

This includes us in Canada,Dan...the member accounts came to about $23 on the credit card.

Susan.

Spin · 22 Feb 2004, 10:34 AM

I really like fastmails prices. The member account of 20$ a year is really a good deal for what fastmail offers, but I wouldnt mind if it was 30$ a year, or 25$ a year, It would still be worth it.

__________
Spin

FMRocks · 22 Feb 2004, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by kander
*cough* That's the Helping Hand program I mentioned, of which I am the current maintainer... You could just get it from the horse's mouth too by asking me.

--K

Oops, sorry kander, I didn't know. WOW. Great job!

19 Feb 2004, 03:07 AM	#26
gdg Moderator Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 2,308	Maybe modifications are desirable... I honestly think the member accounts are too good to be true...though that is what I currently have. I will be upgrading to the full level at least, but wanted to get member first to make sure that was my bottom level if for some reason I did not renew the full subscription at a point in the future. This thread is much like the other thread talking about the future and stability of FM, and there was talk about having one-time fees for storage ditched, or only available for enhanced users. I don't think that is a good idea. I could see restricting the one-time fee for storage to full and enhanced, but not to enhanced only. That type of memory is usually not that expensive to maintain. FM has to consider the competition in pricing, as has been much discussed in this thread, and I feel it is priced appropriately. Take Mailsnare for example: MailSnare.Net The pricing is less than FM, the bandwidth is much more, and for someone taking first look at either service, Mailsnare looks more professional, inside and out. You can also buy extra storage with Mailsnare for a one-time fee, and the fees are less expensive than FM (about half) for a comparable amount of space. Now, for reasons unmentioned, I prefer FM, but someone taking a first look may not, and understandably so. The advantage FM has to get many people in is the guest account. I cannot for the life of me understand why there is a member account, when any of the other services I've looked at has nothing like that. IMO, the member accounts should be kept for people that already have them, to ensure not offending current customers, but I see no reason to continue having member accounts for future customers, especially if the goal is to get users to subscribe to one of the higher levels. I really think that is where FM is missing much of the potential annual revenue. I have read time and again in these forums how people have member accounts, and have no intention of moving up because it ends up supplying all of their needs, but over time, I highly doubt that one-time fee is paying for FM's cost, especially when the members have less incentive to upgrade since the storage space is available to them as a one-time fee. In summary...no member accounts for future customers, and no one-time fee increases in storage for member level or below (even current ones, beyond what they currently have bought). I think that may give more FM customers the incentive to move up...because where else would they go to get the same deal anyway (which could be used as an argument against what I've written, but I did address the fact that the member one-time fee is probably not enough to pay for the long haul of usage)? Last edited by gdg : 28 Jun 2004 at 10:53 AM.

18 Feb 2004, 12:35 PM	#16
kander The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 4,112	I'm not really in favour of upping the price... If you feel like spending more money on FM, why not donate it to the Fastmail Helping Hand Project? That way you actually do a good thing for someone else as well as helping Rob and Jeremy through the chilly Australian winter... --K

18 Feb 2004, 12:38 PM	#17
jolycu Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 80	The price of the member account has gone up once. It was $9.60 when my husband and I bought our member accounts two years ago. Now it's $14.95, which is still a great bargain IMO. I think even if it were $19.95 it would still be a good value considering it's a life-time account. But I have been impressed with the way J/R do business from the start and want to support the "little guy."

18 Feb 2004, 02:09 PM	#18
LrdVader The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: USA Posts: 2,550	Maybe there should be a limit of one member account per person, the way there is with free accounts? I can certainly see the argument that if a person needs multiple accounts, they're a power user who really ought to be on a higher plan.

18 Feb 2004, 02:49 PM	#20
FMRocks The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: FM does NOT refer to Fastmail (anymore). Posts: 4,034	Andrew, I believe your worries are unfounded. The people who run Fastmail.fm are quite good at working out a good business model, and as of this moment they're profitable. The US dollar is weak, and I can understand how that's not terrific news for foreign businesses that have customers here. However, do remember that FM runs an efficient business without much overhead. Also, because the dollar is cheap, most of the costs are cheaper as well. In other words, taken in AU dollars, yes they're making a little less money on a per user basis - but taken in AU dollars, the cost of doing business has also dropped. I am with kander, and would NOT want a price increase in FM service. The awesome value is what draws people to FM. Some people (as I did for a year) at FM keep a Full or an Enhanced account even though they don't need one. Why? Because they see that FM is trying to offer best value, and they want to help. I now have 2 Member accounts, and I don't really need a member account. If you would like to spend some extra money on FM - I believe you can donate Member accounts for those who cannot afford - FM has a program like this - ask Jeremy or Rob.

18 Feb 2004, 05:18 PM	#21
kander The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 4,112	cough That's the Helping Hand program I mentioned, of which I am the current maintainer... You could just get it from the horse's mouth too by asking me. --K

18 Feb 2004, 07:53 PM	#23
stumcgoo Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 127	I dont think the service is too cheap. I would however pay double for a service that had a method of sending/checking email while CPUs are down or while upgrading etc. And I do realise that I would be paying just for piece of mind since FM is rarley down. My perception of downtime is probably exadurated since we are always told when and for how long we can expect downtime. Cheers Stu

18 Feb 2004, 08:02 PM	#24
bplat Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Netherlands Posts: 507	Maybe we should strip Fastmail of most of its useful features, add HTML editing, rebrand it NotMail and triple the price ... -bert

18 Feb 2004, 08:48 PM	#25
iansz Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 109	It is certainly cheap for us folks in the UK, I've just renewed my subscription for 5 years.

22 Feb 2004, 10:11 AM	#28
SusanUKF Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 5,428	This includes us in Canada,Dan...the member accounts came to about $23 on the credit card. Susan.

22 Feb 2004, 10:34 AM	#29
Spin The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Tampa, FL (Cincinnati, OH in the Summer) Posts: 2,446	I really like fastmails prices. The member account of 20$ a year is really a good deal for what fastmail offers, but I wouldnt mind if it was 30$ a year, or 25$ a year, It would still be worth it. __________ Spin