What web services do you pay for, how much, and why?
You can include any kind of service.. I want to keep an open mind about what kind of things might fit here.
Some examples of the kinds of things you could include....
- Using a paid blogging/publishing platform like Squarespace
- Paying for added value services on a free platform like Wordpress.com
- Subscribing to an online newspaper like the Wall Street Journal
- Using web-based applications like Basecamp or Freshbooks
- Online file storage services like Rapidshare
These are just ideas to help remind you of all the possible things that could count. Don't limit yourself to them if you want to mention something that seems a lot different to any of them.
Please tell us...
- What services do you pay for?
- How much do you pay?
- Why do you use this, and why do you pay for it?
In the last part, if there are free alternatives, it would be especially interesting to hear why you chose a paid option, or choose to pay for a premium service rather than use the base free service.
Best answer will go the whichever answer provides most information and insight on why people pay for web services, and about what kind of services they pay for.
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M$7 Answers
HOWEVER
I have paid for value added services on free web based games.
www.kingdomofloathing.com
In roughly a year and a half I have invested in 5 $10 items of the month that improve the game play experience and allow for additional content.
www.battleon.com (Adventure Quest)
I have paid $20 for a program that greatly expands the amount of playable content in the game.
www.elementsthegame.com
This is my most recent donation. I donated $5 to the developers and in return have gotten a "rare" card.
In each of these cases it was money spent to improve my game play experience as well as to thank the developers for the entertainment I had been given.
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M$Everybody's happy and it works both in and out, and I use it almost every day. I'm a consultant who does, among other things, PR, advocacy and lobbying..
The toll-free number from them I probably didn't need but for $100, I just renewed that, too.
My motto is "If the Internet's Giiving, I'm Taking." efax was doing free fax numbers in Hong Kong for a while--perfect for when I co-owned an Asian furniture store and had actually been to fax-crazy Hong Kong.
I had a talk radio call-in show planned some time ago ( had to cancel because I went into hospital) but at dmclub.com I had a free number in The United Kingdom--England, Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland--that ported to the actual call-in number in...Philly? I'm in St. Louis. Do a late-night-show here, I'm the morning entertainment there.
Then there's http://k7.net if you want a totally free incoming fax number in Seattle (used to be able to pick the number from their available pool; now they just assign one)and apparently the company also operates a free, anonymous voicemail service:
http://www.laservoicemail.com/
I needed a new phone number for a recent project and found a good one at http://voipvoip.com. $6.95/mo. and I just let it all go to voicemail--no extra minutes involved.
ALL of this flows into one gmail account--voicemails, faxes, etc are all neatly pushed into folders with filters, so if the folder is highlighted, I have a message on that line.
Lowest overhead I can find, and believe me, I'm always looking.
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M$
Oh wait--I forgot the free clipart and photo places I've come across--literally thousands.
There are so many places that have clipart or better yet, photos that are royalty-free. Some sites, like http://clker.com have public domain images. I've tried searching for "clipart" and a country code, like .pl, .il, .in or .de and come up with great stuff--way too many sites to list here. But the gem of them all I found in Hungary. Yes, Hungary. And it's all in English.
I went through a stage where I was doing some web design and also designing logos for tiny community radio stations with no budget. The logos often originated in photo elements which were worked over with Photoshop..Some didn't need a model release, like the angel from the ANGEL-FM logo (if I remember correctly, it was on top of a gate at the entrance to a park), but anything with an identifiable person did.
Sometimes all it takes is a request to get a model release. Perfect example: I had begun the process of starting my own community radio station (yes, it's legal without a license if you follow FCC Part 15 Rules). I wanted a catchy name. The 800 frequency on the AM band was quiet at night at my house so it was perfect to carry the telephone idea of "800 toll-free numbers" to "AM 800 - Totally Free Radio." I found this photo of a girl screaming and thought it would be perfect--and so I tried it out to see how it looked. I liked it, so I contacted her through sxc.hu for permission to use her likeness in that logo. She sent an e-mail back giving permission, and voila! A girl named Lorraine somewhere in Canada has given me permission to use her face in one of my creations.
You can hear the ID for TFR at the end of this audio clip, which comes from another free source for image, sound, publication storage: The Internet Archive, http://archive.org
I had a free website, garyallen.talkradio.com, but it got closed by the operators of the site after 6 years open. Fortunately, I had the HTML and the images--I've relocated it.
I'm now on a different free host. Free e-mail at several radio-related sites is still there.
Free web hosts are good for "sandbox" building of sites.
Oh yeah--the free domains:
http://garyallen.mp3-archives.com
and
http://garyallen.andmuchmore.com/
which come from a free domain name service.
Pop me a direct question if you ned something specific--you don't even have to pay.
It IS all about the free, isn't it?
Sources:
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/248453
http://webalias.com
http://www.archive.org/download/JetBlueShoulda/JetBlueShoulda.mp3
I don't want lists of *free* things!
I want to know what services people pay for! :)
Your answer and comments are interesting, but it is hard to actually figure out from the way your wrote them the things that I actually wanted to know.
i.e. 1) Paid service you use 2) How much you pay? 3) What had you choose to use this paid service? (e.g. Explaining the advantages over free alternatives)
There were quite a few benefits a few years back of having a subscription - namely, that you could actually see previews of people's artwork and comments in your message center, instead of just links - but the site has gone through some upgrades and revisions since then, and I think one could browse the site quite happily now without a subscription. I use a good adblocker, so annoying ads (which are removed for "subbed" users) don't even show up when I browse. I do miss having some custom boxes to put on my profile, but they're not necessary. I don't plan on getting a subscription again in the future.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Is missinghorcrux you? :)
Sounds like maybe they decided to switch their revenue from subscriptions to relying more on advertising.
Btw, how much did you use to pay for it?
If you're into artwork or photography, it's definitely one of the largest sites to post and share it. Feel free to join up! :)
Oh, we were supposed to enlarge that second picture, were we? :)
I'm glad you put your profile link. I might give the site a try, in which case I would definitely add you as a friend.
PS You might have something to say about this:
http://www.mahalo.com/answers/what-is-the-plural-of-horcrux
Why yes, I may have snuck in a link to my profile... ;)
The prices haven't changed, at least for the past four years. The prices outlined in the second picture have remained the same since I joined.
It does really feel like they're working mainly from ad revenue, since they will also occasional hold contests that are brand-oriented, like "Design a poster for movie" and "Win a Wacom tablet."
My owner server: $24.95/month
Domain names: Average $9.00 via namecheap.com
TEToolBox: $10.00/month - cloaked tracking, banner and site rotators and more
TEControlPanel: $18.00/month - one stop panel for all my traffic exchange, safelist, and banner ad sites (manage credits, etc)
Netflix: $10.00/month - for obvious reasons =)
Pogo.com: $6.00/month - been a member for several years, they have a lot of fun games.
I do have a lot of other programs/memberships, but they are free accounts as I don't need the paid versions at this time.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Pay for:
BeenVerified (people search) $99 a year
http://www.beenverified.com
Yes, there are free alternatives, yet this is a pretty cool service.
Chemistry, Date.com, HotorNot, Match.com etc. (online dating sites) Range $4.95 to $15 a month or so.
http://www.chemistry.com
http://www.hotornot.com
http://www.date.com
http://www.match.com
Yes, there are free alternatives such as OkCupid, yet sometimes when you pay, you think you have a better chance of meeting someone (although this is not true after time trying some)
GoDaddy (for domains) $9.95
http://www.godaddy.com
There are no free alternatives.
HootSuite (social client) Bought the mobile app $4.95
http://www.hootsuite.com
Yes, there are free alternatives, yet this is a pretty neat service.
LinkedIn ($25+ a month, don't pay for it anymore)
http://www.linkedin.com
Netflix (movies) I think it's $8.99 a month
http://www.netflix.com
Yes, there's YouTube, Hulu, etc. yet Neflix does a good job.
Thumbplay (music) It's $9.95 a month.
http://www.thumbplay.com
Yes, there are free alternatives, yet it keeps a playlist and it's a good quality service overall. I feel confident when paying for music.
TrapCall ($4.95 to $24.95 a month, records phone calls and shows blocked caller ID, not sure of a free alternative)
http://www.trapcall.com
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Fascinating answer!
So you don't play any of those big-name games that need a subscription?
Interesting that you see a "donation" and "thank you" angle to your payments too. It sounds like some of the donations were totally voluntary, and others were things that had to be paid for, but you still felt that paying was in part like a donation.
I rarely do anything with monthly fees.* I have been playing Free to Play long before it was cool.
I have a bit of a personal ethic, that I think stems from the fact that I always liked the shareware model. If I enjoy something and use something, I feel good about giving to the developers. The way that the developers create interest in donations is the sale of in game content or advantages. It is a win win.
*WoW never wowed me enough to coax a monthly fee out of me. ^_^