Tip #41: Pricing Your Membership Site – Annual vs. Monthly Charges
February 15, 2015 
1 Comment
Many of our clients deliberate whether they should charge their members on a monthly basis or on an annual basis.
In this post we go over the pros of each pricing option and our recommendation for our members.
Why Annual Payments:
- Content dripping is less important – If you want to make sure people won’t consume all the content and leave, an annual payment will take care of it.
- You get an increased payment in advance – Larger payments can help you invest more money back into your membership site, enhance it with more services and options, and increase your revenues faster in the long run.
- Can increase commitment and engagement among members – If members pay for a complete year in advance, they would probably invest more efforts into being involved and participate, which will increase their engagement over time.
Why Monthly Payments:
- Less commitment – Allows members to experiment with the membership site and check if it’s for them or not without having to pay for a full year in advance.
- Increased Payments – Monthly charges allows you to charge more, for example: if you offer an annual pricing of $199, you can offer a monthly charge if $19 (instead of $16.5) and people may still prefer it.
- Annual payments may scare potential members away – Monthly charges are more “friendly” to the users and more comfortable.
Our Recommendation:
If you deliberate on whether to go with annual charges or monthly charges, why don’t you try both?
Just give your members the 2 options and that way you will let every member choose their favorite option.
Access the Complete Wishlist Member Tips Series
Check out our other tips to help you manage your membership site better and increase your conversions faster!
Here are some of our latest tips:
- Tip #37: How to Prevent Members from Cancelling their Subscription to Your Membership Site
- Tip #38: How to Improve Your Members Navigation Inside the Members’ Area to Increase their Engagement
- Tip #39: How to Turn Your Forum into a Thriving Community
- Tip #40: Should You Add a Forum to Your Membership Site or Not?
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