Subscription Renewal & New Members.

[Darren]

You don't have to have a PayPal account to make a one-off payment so that shouldn't be an issue but I'm not convinced that many would bother donating?

I've opened up this thread for discussion on where we go with the Lifetime Subscriber offer with a link in tomorrow's Newsletter. We can no longer afford to give away Life memberships as the numbers of lifers are too great. Without income the service won't survive and were we to reach that point, any Life membership award would be meaningless.

Current suggestions are we move to a one year free membership, or we award 6mths credit for every qualifying camera up to a maximum of two years.

But I'm open to other ideas. What is certain is that at some point we will need to remove the Life member offer for new subscribers.
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Darren Griffin

[adambone]

I must have been one of the very earliest lifetime freebies and have therefore done very well out of the deal however I would rather start paying again than losing the service. Maybe making it 1-2 years woud be more appropriate.

[Darren]

Just to be clear, we have no intention of removing the life member benefit from those who already have it. Just need to decide how to best change it for the future.
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Darren Griffin

[hypnosis]

I think a 6 months membership is ample reward.
Personally I dont think any reward should be given.The fact you have continued to support a service that is second to none should be reward enough.

[tomtomgoer]

On a personal note, and having been a PocketGPS member for a long time, when I finally was rewarded with a Lifetime membership it was like winning the lottery

Juvenile maybe but what it did do was secure my unswerving loyalty to PocketGPS World and focused me on trying to find more cameras that were not on the database.

From a business perspective though I can fully appreciate the need to maintain a viable business model. Why not do two things:

1. Invite existing Lifetime members to contribute a one-off donation to offset the costs; and

2. Change the Lifetime membership to only being awarded after a certain number of validated camera submissions from an existing subscriber.

Hope this helps the discussion.

Tony

[glospete]

I've always believed that the Lifetime Offer is too generous - and I think a one year free subscription is sufficient. I think all of us who report cameras do so to help all the members rather than the financial incentive. As support for that theory look at the number of existing Lifetime members who still report new cameras. If it was purely for financial gain they wouldn't bother.

[almat]

i have been a member for a long time now and never find a new camera and have no hope to do so. My £20 a year is very reasonable payment for such a great service so no problems with paying.
I feel you guys should earn a living out of this site/service so my suggestion would be a one year free subscription only. That would be ample reward in my view.
al

[vdeknock]

Having benefited from life time membership and having it on my GPS plus iphone I think the system is worth something. I understand the issue you face and would rather give you a few dollars to see it continue than not have access. I have data from the map providers on GPS plus iphone nav apps and they are a waste of time and money.

I live in Australia and do try to ensure that all new fixed and redlight speed camera are correct as the government is working very hard to get me to part way more money than the 40p a week for a bit of excess speed.

I like the fact that I get it for the whole world but could accept I only get it for free in Australia and if I want access to the UK database (which I will next year) then I need to pay some money. I would still see the benefit it reporting new cameras, adding to my membership but accept for access to other parts of the world I need to pay.

Please ensure you work out a system that works to keep it going as once you use it I feel driving without the warning a rise to my wallet.

[brucebb]

£20 a year is cheap for a dynamic database that is as up to date as possible, especially when compared to say tomtom subscription, a tank of fuel or a speeding fine.
Lifetime membership for being lucky enough to drive past a new camera is over generous but there must be some incentive.
The balance between over complicated admin and a more reasonable award tends to suggest a year free may work, after all life members all started as paying subscribers so your not dragging people kicking and screaming to the database.
Some form of payment for the app to non subscribers may generate new members, perhaps after a short free trial.

[K13ehr]

Before anyone can discuss the pros and cons of a free lifetime membership (FLM) it would be useful to know how much revenue the site earns from paying members and how much it loses to the camera submitting members attaining this worthwhile perk.

I assume that these free members contribute in other ways too, through forum help etc.

Has it occurred that some may only post new cameras because they can get a free membership, or at least become more vigilant.

I used to be a courier and did 50k plus but only managed to report one new camera and did gain the free membership, which now I'm retired and on a very low fixed income, the FLM is extremely valued, not so much for the speed cam data but the excellent POI lists.

There will be a revolt when any perk is removed, and I think if at all possible it should stay, as it might also encourage some to actually join in the first place, I have mentioned it to other large mileage drivers who consequently have joined, they may not have done so had there not been an incentive to be diligent, at least two of them now have FLM.

I may have missed it but saw no mention of what happens to existing the FLM

I continue to watch out for new cameras as I'm sure most of us do, but due to lack of miles I haven't seen any new unreported ones for ages so the FLM incentive works so please don't end it especially in these hardship ridden times.

Kev.

[andy2407uk]

First posting on here, not a lifetime member, but another vote for keeping things as they are. Seeing the list of new lifetime members in each weekly email gives me confidence that the data is as good as it could be.
I have concerns that the quality of the database will diminish over time if this incentive is removed.
I will however add that the finances of the situation must play a massive part in this - and a discussion without access to them is difficult.
Are there any figures in the public domain? How many paying subscribers and how many lifetime members?

[Darren]

[TVRGRIFF]

I understand the need to keep enough money coming in to run the service so perhaps you will consider giving say 1 year's free membership for introducing a friend and perhaps 2 years free for for camera info or something like that instead of lifetime membership.
Hope these thoughts are of some use.
TVRGRIFF

[Cotnam]

I am lucky enough to have been a life member for a few years now and I still submit new and seen again camera locations. I get no extra reward for doing this ( and don't want any), I do it just to help keep this excellent database up to date, in the end it is me that benifits from doing this.

It is my oppinion that perhaps a free year might be given as a reward for fixed camera locations and perhaps create a smaller reward for first reports of mobile sites as they present exactly the problems, I do realise that veryfication might be a problem with mobiles, but it is just a thought. This action would I feel will still cut down on free life memberships but give more of an incentive to people to report any new camera sites.

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