I started a thread in the private CoasterBuzz Club member forum about pricing for the club, which has been $20 since it started in 2001. Eight years is a very long time to go without a change in price, but it has been on my mind with rising credit card fees and postage.
I figured if anyone would give me the straight opinion, it would be the current members. To my surprise, most declared they'd pay as much as $25 and still consider it a good value. That's pretty shocking to me, given the Internet's tendency to want everything to be free. And I know from the data that a relatively small number of members actually attend our events or even post in the forum, so they apparently do it simply to support the site itself.
The club will certainly never make me rich, which is fine, but it does provide at least some measure of stability against the advertising market, which is in a constant state of sucking or sucking less. That people are willing to pay for something they can otherwise get for free really pleases me. The Internet has not killed a sense of value afterall.
"And I know from the data that a relatively small number of members actually attend our events or even post in the forum, so they apparently do it simply to support the site itself."
Maybe. I still suspect it's a cheap gateway to *other* events. Non-CB stuff. Holiwood Nights. Coastermania. Ride Warriors. That stuff.
That's what I think you're offering people. Access to that stuff...and those are the people who don't post and who aren't going to give feedback. Obviously the people using the site cite supporting the cause as a reason.
Just my take as VPPO. ;)