My online photo gallery - KurthPhotoPlace.com - is going to
disappear if I don't cough up additional money.
I received an email yesterday saying that if I pay by the month, my
costs will double. The email included a
recorded message from Chris MacAskill in which he calmly looked me in the eye
and explained the reasons for the price
increase. Apparently we are uploading
faster than storage prices have decreased and the pro accounts are more
expensive to maintain. He says that the
large increase is because they resisted making small increases since 2005.
I don't believe a word of it. This is a drastic change and it will get
worse. The message was sent out at 10:00
on a Friday night preceding a three day weekend. I'm afraid that additional changes are planned so this news
needed to get out ASAP or we wouldn't be ready for additional bad news as
soon.
The change included a new SmugMug level of Portfolio. The Portfolio price is about the same as the
old Pro level but you can no longer set prices and use the
other features that allowed you to be reimbursed
for your services. Interesting enough,
I've always been charged extra for the Pro level services. When my clients ordered, SmugMug skimmed a percentage of the
sales. When they sent me money that I
had earned, they kept a percentage. If I
select the Portfolio pricing, my clients will no longer be able to order on
line, so SmugMug will lose the percentage of sales they collect from their
labs, the percentage of sales they collect from me and the percentage that they
get to put my money into my bank account.
If they aren't making money on my pro account - they certainly can't
afford to lose those commissions.
Chris MacAskill said that we need to pay more so SmugMug
doesn't have to get money from investors.
Sadly, I see an IPO or company
sale in the future. The price increases
make the company look more profitable.
The higher monthly charge shows a potential for even more revenue. The unlimited uploads Chris says he wants to
keep will support future price increases or service reductions.
I started KurthPhotoPlace.com in 2007. I've invested hundreds of hours uploading and
building it. Chris is right, SmugMug is
storing more for me each year. Chris has
gambled that this price increase will not make me leave because he knows he has
me by the balls. If I leave,
KurthPhotoPlace dies. It's too big and
too expensive to move.
One of the reasons that I chose SmugMug in the first place
was that it charged a reasonable amount for its services. Other lower cost sites were available, but I
wanted to use one that would be around beyond 2012.
I'm not affected by this
price increase until I renew. I
have a year or longer to ponder my next move.
Even if I chose to stay with SmugMug, it's apparent that I need an exit
strategy. What if the 10:00 message on
a Friday night preceding a three day weekend had been that SmugMug is closing
or that SmugMug has been purchased by Adobe?
More bad news is on the way and I need to be better prepared.
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