Membership Discussion 201207

Membership Discussion 201207

This is the discussion about membership fees and membership benefits. It began in July 2012.

Latest PRICING PROPOSAL (2012 Jul 24)

• "Simple 100" Version - 100 RMB month + bonus month
• Time Discount - 3m 250 RMB, 6m 450 RMB (same as last proposal)
• Example: If you join on July 5, you pay next at 1 Sep
  • TODO: KEVIN: Send to stakeholder list

Short explanation of consensus:

• Flat 100 is simpler (no 15 day calculation)
• Giving new members a "bonus" month -- not a big deal
• Time discount can be tested. Will any members be interested in it? If no, no loss.
• General sense is that need to think about making members feel more welcome / included.

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Previous Ideas

Discussion - 18 Jul 2012

First month proposal

• Day 1-15 = pay 150 for "two" months
• Day 16-30 = pay 100 for "1.5" months
  • Rough consensus of group members
  • Ricky thinks it is poop
  • Will send out to staff / stakeholders for comment

Time-Based Discount

• 3 Month - 250 (17% discount)
• 6 Month - 450 (25% discount)
  • Rough Consensus of group members
  • Min Lin thinks it is poop
  • Will send out to staff / stakeholders for comment

	Months	Price	P / Mo	% Base	Discount
1 Month	1	100	100		0%
3 Month	3	250	83	83%	17%
6 Month	6	450	75	75%	25%

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Discussion - 13 July 2012

• Opinions by Ricky, Lutz, Lio

• • ricky

Here's my counter-proposal:
    I would rather see a 1-2-6 structure; keeping the current monthly cost but offering deep discount for long-term member. 3 months is 33% discount [(300-200)/300] and year is 50% [(1200-600/1200)].
    I would set the price of machine room access to a one-time 100RMB workshop training
    I would lower storage to 100RMB/month with the same long-term discounts

• • lutz

I think the one month membership should not exceed 100RMB. When I talk with my colleagues about money I have to realize that Chinese employees still habe to think twice what they spend. so 100RMB is a reasonable price even for normal income...

My ideas:
1. give them a key and 24/7 access (i know about the security reasons for people we don't know but we need to find a solution for that)
2. Give members the option to bring new members and when they sign up for a year too then the first gets 1 to -n months free
3. Offer some free stuff (resistors, small components in a reasonable amount) for one year members
4. Offer them an own website (e. g. myname.xinchejian.com) for their projects only

• • lio

The 100 is not expensive. The fact that we've raised 70 members, many of which never even showed up, shows that 100 per month us a good price. The problem with the 100 is: when does it start? When you pay? Until day X next month? What is you pay on January 31st? Its too much hassle, and getting everyone aligned on the month cuts down on administration. But then the problem becomes: if I pay on the 20th, do I get the last ~10days free? If so, we can expect members to sign up at the beginning if each month, expecting to get almost two months. Now our effective price is down to 50.

Discussion - ~6 July 2012

• Basic Membership: Time Based Discounts
  • Paying more upfront is less hassle for everyone (member and staff)
  • Proposal 2-3-10
    • 200 RMB / month (Buy on July 4, get rest of July free + all of August)
    • 300 RMB / 3 months (Buy on July 4, get July free + Aug + Sep + Oct)
    • 1000 RMB / 12 months (Buy on July 4, get until end of Aug 2013)
  • Todo: send to stakeholder approvals

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Machine Room Issues

• Machine Room: 1 Year Skills
  • Authorization for access
    • Must get authorized by training workshop
  • Training with cost
    • 00 RMB for training

• • The "High-End" tools, such as CNC and 3d Printer should be qualified member-access only (Valentin.)

• • • 3D Printer -- Special - Valentin, cut for maintenance, usage fees (later)
    • CNC -- Special - Paul
    • Mill -- Special - Paul