Guys, we’re not going to change anybody’s mind here.
I’m not the biggest fan of the practice of giving new purchasers a free trial for a time period immediately when they buy, because too many of them don’t read it, and aren’t aware that it is just a free trial. (Which I hope they are notified of when they are set up. If not, they do need to be…in VERY BIG TEXT.)
Then it’s pretty freaking scary when you don’t know what exactly you’re going to be losing when the subscription expires.
Maybe doing it a month or two out would be better to give them something to compare to, so they don’t think they’re going to lose all functionality. Let them do it the regular way first, then let them try it with the Premium to see if they like it better, and think it’s worth buying into? Don’t know.
@yelobird…the functionality that has been demonstrated on all of the videos and Live Streams is the functionality that comes with the machine, without having to purchase the subscription. They are demonstrating how the machine functions on designs that were created using other programs, and they even show designs being created in other programs in the Live Streams. So the argument that they are advertising functionality that they then are charging for, without describing it as part of the Premium package, isn’t correct.
There is a 50% off Black Friday sale on the Premium subscription that expires on December 31st…if you haven’t made up your mind yet about trying it without the subscription, that is a way to extend your trial for a month or two at only $24.99, and that might help you to make the call on whether you want to keep the subscription. (If you don’t use the Premium tools, just cancel later.)
When I bought my Silhouette Curio (a year after the GF), it also came with some monthly subscription thing right away. I think I had 30 days to cancel or I would be charged. I don’t really know what came in it, I just know that when I first got it and had to set up my account, I had to enter my card info. Then it informed me of the monthly service…I canceled right away so I wouldn’t forget, but I think putting it up front is a common practice, especially among crafting machines.
So the 300 posts in this single thread show Nobody else sees this as wrong? Trust me it would be 1200 but like most the Glowforge Militia comes on strong to prove they and their opinion is wrong lol. There is absolutely No justification for this $50 monthly ($600 annual) tax to get all of the functionality this Very expensive product is capable of. Everyone likes to throw around the Buy it or don’t. It’s not for sale, it’s for rent and the rent Will increase with the attitudes around here with every minut improvement. Wink smart hub tried this business model premium shift, they will be out of business in less then a year.
That is my primary issue. Let the Consumer decide if This is the Ecco system they wish to invest in Up Front! You shouldn’t need to prowl forums for weeks to find these changes post sale? If they believe this is nothing or something people wouldn’t care about why not have Some type of pricing and write up On the website for consumers to review at purchase?? May be no big deal to some of you and that’s fine, I see it as very dishonest wether needed or not.
Yeah, I had a Cricut for a day, same thing. (I asked for a Silhouette Curio, husband got sucked into a Cricut at 2.5-3 times the price). I returned it the next day, but as I recall it was the same process, credit card setting up my account for a free trial of a monthly premium service I didn’t need, so I canceled that right away too (wasn’t even planning on keeping it, just wanted to see if I should).
The monthly fee was for their Design Store which is not needed to use it. My daughter has one and loves it and never has used the store, she designs her own…
Does it even function without the subscription? (The Cricut.) I never bought into that because of the cartridges. (In this case the laser works without the subscription…it’s optional.)
(Never mind… @gamn1958 answered while I was typing…)
I didn’t know they had a monthly premium service for either Cricut or Silhouette until I received the machine and was required to set up an account with my credit card in order to use it. I canceled right away. Glowforge is the same thing, I had it longer than the premium service existed, but I had the option to cancel this service too. And with most of my free trials, I’m able to use my free trial until the service cancel date. I do the same thing with Netflix or Hulu. They require a credit card, but I can cancel before then without getting charged and continue to use the service until the trial ends, just to see if I change my mind and like it or not. I don’t see a difference.
I know, that’s my point, none of these are needed for use of the machines. But they are added subscriptions I never knew about until I got the machine and set it up for the first use. I didn’t see an issue, none of the functionality for any of these machines has been changed, I just chose not to buy the extras.
I also returned the Cricut, not because of the design store, but because I really didn’t want it. I wanted the Silhouette Curio I’m stubborn that way. I learned about the Curio through these forums and I wanted it.
After buying the Curio…I bought all these extra things for it…I’ve had them for a year and have never opened them…like, how do I even us a PixScan mat??
October 6, 1997: Michael Dell makes an infamously bleak appraisal of Apple’s fortunes. Asked what he would do with the struggling company, the founder of Dell Inc. says he would “shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.”
Apple just became a $2 trillion company. Here’s how it came to rule the world, from its early struggles to beat Microsoft to the launch of the iPhone.
Yeah, I was never in the market for a Cricut, so I never even looked at their website. It was a total shock when I got it…because I thought it was going to be a Silhouette.
Interesting example. And one of the first industry taboo things Apple did was eliminate the annual operating system upgrade costs to improve their products and community support! Crushed the Microsoft mandated upgrade Premium strategy lol.
Also objectively false. A GF is a completely functional lasercutter without the premium subscription. You have your choice of design software, there are many free and paid options including the premium offering from GF.
I think you’re just not getting what everyone is trying to say…
Do you actually buy something like a car depending ONLY on what add-on features (like Sirius radio) might be offered separately for a fee? Wouldn’t you first choose the make and model you want for basic reasons like transportation, fuel mileage, etc…then decide whether you want to pay for extras? That’s all this is about.
Buy the tool for what it DOES do and if you want the extras, pay for them. This is not complicated.
Apple most certainly did via App contributors and customers that offered to sell their work and Apple managed a percentage profit for hosting their application. Interestingly, Just like the Glowforge file store! Where customer can Buy what they need.
