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| Porn Users Forum » Is the price of porn going up? |
| 1-20 of 20 Posts | Page 1 |
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| 02-11-11 06:12pm - 5062 days | Original Post - #1 | |
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rearadmiral (0)
Active User Posts: 1,453 Registered: Jul 16, '07 Location: NB/Canada |
Is the price of porn going up? I’ll admit right off that my sample is really limited: I check out sites reviewed by the reviewers at TBP and by you at PU, but it seems that the average monthly subscription price is up a bit. I used to think $19.95 was the typical rate, but it seems that $24.95 is a lot more common now for a site with exclusive content. Am I just basing this on a small sample, or are prices on the way up? | |
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| 02-11-11 06:21pm - 5062 days | #2 | |
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Tree Rodent (0)
Active User  Posts: 708 Registered: Oct 29, '08 Location: UK |
It may be true, but I think that it may also be a good thing. I have hardly been a shill for the industry in the time I have been here, but there are now so many sites that aren't updating and just reissuing old material, I think realistically we are going to have to, and should pay a little more. For the price of a round of drinks for just a few friends you can download porn that would have cost thousands, thirty, twenty, or even ten years ago. | |
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| 02-11-11 06:52pm - 5062 days | #3 | |
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rearadmiral (0)
Active User Posts: 1,453 Registered: Jul 16, '07 Location: NB/Canada |
I hadn't thought of it that way, TheSquirrel. Good point. I'm always willing to pay for quality, I guess I just got it stuck in my head that the highest price I'd be willing to pay was $20. | |
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| 02-11-11 07:04pm - 5062 days | #4 | |
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pat362 (0)
Active User  Posts: 3,575 Registered: Jan 23, '07 Location: canada |
Any amount under 30$ is more than acceptable for a quality product with regular updates. Sites that have low price membership make money by either having a large paying fan base of members or they have to save their cost. I find that they will cut cost by reducing the nummber of new content. Long live the Brown Coats. | |
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| 02-11-11 07:21pm - 5062 days | #5 | |
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mbaya (0)
Suspended  Posts: 891 Registered: Jul 07, '08 Location: new jersey |
Over the past few years, I have felt that $29.95 is about right and that $19.95 or so is cheap. Maybe it is just that I like niche content. I haven't seen too many sites at $19.95 and even fewer that were worth my while. | |
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| 02-11-11 09:17pm - 5062 days | #6 | |
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slutty (0)
Active User Posts: 475 Registered: Mar 02, '09 Location: Pennsylvania |
I agree with mbaya, it seems as though most of the sites I have joined lately were $30 or so "retail", aside from the DVD sites, this seems to have been more or less the going rate for a while... Bunny Lebowski: I'll suck your cock for a thousand dollars. Brandt: Ah hahahahaha! Wonderful woman. We're all, we're all very fond of her. Very free-spirited. | |
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| 02-12-11 01:46am - 5062 days | #7 | |
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elephant (0)
Active User  Posts: 585 Registered: Jan 11, '07 |
I agree with this, yeah anything over 30 are usually sites that are not looking at the long haul or customer satisfaction with people re-subscribing and just want as much money as they can in one swoop, knowing that their site isn't really worth it. You see lots of sites with poor previews that say $35 or even $40. That doesn't mean all sites over are not worth it, I'm sure there are a few that are priced over on a network or simply unique content that is worth over $30 bucks. "Women are like tricks by sleight of hand, Which, to admire, we should not understand." WILLIAM CONGREVE | |
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| 02-12-11 07:26am - 5062 days | #8 | |
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Drooler (0)
Disabled User  Posts: 1,831 Registered: Mar 11, '07 Location: USA |
"The price of porn has just gone up, and your old lady has just gone down." I wonder if Frank Zappa would have said that. I wanted something new, so I left England for New England. | |
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| 02-12-11 10:04am - 5062 days | #9 | |
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Ed2009 (0)
Suspended Webmaster  Posts: 509 Registered: Sep 12, '09 Location: Wales, UK |
So far I've resisted putting the price of StripGameCentral.com up (Still $19.95 for month 1 then $8.95 each month from then on), but to be honest that's only been possible because the US Dollar has recovered some value in the past year or so, otherwise with higher running costs I would have been forced to charge more. Watch out though, if Obama messes up and the US Dollar drops like it did under Bush then all my sites will be getting more expensive.  Webmaster of StripGameCentral and A Measure of Curiosity. | |
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| 02-12-11 10:04am - 5062 days | #10 | |
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Ed2009 (0)
Suspended Webmaster Posts: 509 Registered: Sep 12, '09 Location: Wales, UK |
Based on some of the comments in this thread, is my pricing for A Measure of Curiosity too low? (Ignore the review here - it's been out-of-date for ages, still trying to get it updated). Webmaster of StripGameCentral and A Measure of Curiosity. | |
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| 02-12-11 10:32am - 5062 days | #11 | |
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anyonebutme (0)
Active User  Posts: 294 Registered: Aug 23, '09 |
 or on the flip side you could wish for David Cameron to f-up the value of the Pound, thus giving you the better exchange rate. Or wish for George Soros to short-sell the Pound again. Or hope the Chinese government doesn't sell off their dollar holdings to boost their economy. There's a lot more there than just "if Obama doesn't mess up like Bush did." The U.S. President has some control to influence value, but so do a lot of other people. A weaker dollar would mean stronger U.S. porn sales worldwide, cheaper prices for the Europeans on this site. | |
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| 02-12-11 10:35am - 5062 days | #12 | |
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otoh (0)
Active User Posts: 159 Registered: Sep 17, '10 Location: UK |
Good point. On one hand, we all have bills to pay and most of us have a relatively limited budget for porn; but on the other, as you say, even 10 years ago getting this much material would be unthinkable - my local, er, boutique sells DVDs for £30 which is shocking. Of course, the situation is different now too - the internet has made porn a bigger market and more easily consumed; as such we likely consume more of it and/or get through it quicker than 10 or 20 years ago, so they need to stay competitive. Overall, I think $30 is easily fair for a big site with a lot of content; and I'm happier to pay $15-20 for a smaller/newer site. One thing I wonder is why so few sites seem to offer rebills at lower rates, Eg I'm unlikely to stay subscribed to a $30 site; I may join once and then again in six months or so if I liked it. But if it updated often, and rebilled at $15 or $20, then I think I'd be far more likely to stay. | |
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| 02-14-11 04:12pm - 5059 days | #13 | |
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Ed2009 (0)
Suspended Webmaster Posts: 509 Registered: Sep 12, '09 Location: Wales, UK |
I guess that raises the question of "What is deemed a lot of content?" Webmaster of StripGameCentral and A Measure of Curiosity. | |
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| 02-15-11 06:57am - 5059 days | #15 | |
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PinkPanther (0)
Active User  Posts: 1,136 Registered: Jan 08, '07 Location: Oakland, CA |
Prices of sites are all over the map - Met Art, Twistys, 21st Sextury - are some sites with the highest amount of content out there, but also offer some of the best low-price deals, especially if you join for a longer term. I don't find prices going up overall - I find the opposite, mainly. | |
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| 02-15-11 10:37am - 5059 days | #16 | |
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Thomas20 (0)
Active User Posts: 60 Registered: Dec 27, '09 Location: England |
I think prices are static. Ed, large or small content depends on the type of site. This is my impressions. It's not meant to be scientific. I think we have become conditioned to thinking that a site is not good value unless there are 100s ands 100s of scenes, without giving a lot of thought to whether the scenes are really any good. So I look at it from two points of view - relative and absolute. On a Mega site (Reality Kings etc.) and DVD site for 20 to 30 USD most people will probably download 250 or so scenes that they consider based on their tastes to be of very good, or better, quality (quality means the girls and filming etc. not the resolution /bit rate etc. of the image). There will be more scenes on offer but I'm supposing you download the best you like and ignore the rest. If you join again a year later then I suppose you would download another 50 or so scenes. Site size alone does not justify a lot more than this price because Videobox etc can easy put up 20 dvds in a week but a lot of it will not be appealing. Not may companies can compete with this ratio of good scenes per USD paid. There is no need to. There are only a few of these sites and most buyers will want to look elsewhere in between visits. General sites. That is, not niche sites. Some smaller sites offer passes (join one get membership to 7 independent other site etc.) Either a stand alone site, or small group pass, seem to offer anything from 100 to 900 scenes of about 15 to 25 mins each. Using this info to start to answer Ed's question, I think 100 scenes of 15 to 25 mins is on the small side. 900 scenes is obviously a lot. So I'd guess that 'a lot' in relative terms probably starts at about 300 scenes. Size is only one factor though. Quality of content is paramount. It is because every buyer is different when they assess quality of the scene, and there are so many variables, that you just cannot get 100% strike rate across the site. I think 35 excellent to good scenes from a site is an excellent return for a price of 20 to 30 USD based on experience of what is out there. I usually download a lot more than the excellent scenes, as a good or average scene can be ok sometimes and you might be in the mood for it, but most of us know when we see it what category a scene will fall into in our collection. I have not done any maths but my instinct is that most sites turn around about a maximum 20% of excellent to really good scenes compared to total scenes on the site. But even with a tour you don't know it is actually going to be 35 excellent scenes before you join and that's the problem. A general site with 50 scenes is almost guaranteed to return only a strike rate of around a dozen good scenes. It is because most people know this is likely to be the case that it is hard to get someone to try a site with under 100 scenes if the price is as high as 20 to 30USD. For 20 to 30 USD, on a general site, I want to see at least 100 scenes, ideally 200, on offer to stand any chance of getting 35 scenes of good or better quality. If that is not on offer I will probably see what else is out there before thinking about the site further. I would think about it, and I have joined several sites of under 100 to 200 scenes and will join more, but they are further down the shopping list. Of course, the better the scenes look from the tour the more flexible I am on this. If most of the scenes looked really good then I would definitely sign up for a site with under 100 scenes for 20 to 30 USD. You also have to take into account also that size of site can mean lots of old material that does not cut it today. A lot of Reality Kings material is fuzzy, stutters and is unwatchable by today's standards. So a 100 scene site going since January 2010 is going to be a better bet than a 100 scene site that stopped updating 4 years ago. A small resolution / fuzzy scene cannot by my definition ever be an excellent scene and so it can never get into my target of 35. My target of 35 scenes is based on and conditioned by what the market seems to offer when comparing the competition and 'relative' value for money. It has nothing to do with whether the actual cost per scene is high or low. Why should 35 excellent scenes be good value, and 20 not good value ? Of course, it is arbitrary. So what I have just said is just a starting point when weighing up a site before joining it. Indeed a nice amount of good to average scenes gets weighed into it as well. I do not think 20 to 30 USD is actually a lot to pay for even 15 excellent scenes which is well under 50% of my target of 35. You are going to watch them loads of times and keep them years and get a lot of enjoyment out of them. More enjoyment long term I think than one blockbuster Hollywood feature film for 15 USD. So, compared to what else you might buy for the money even 15 excellent scenes for 20 to 30 USD is good value. But going back to 'relative' values from one site to another, I doubt it is easy to sell a lot of subscriptions to a general site that looks like it is offering under 100 scenes of 15 to 20 mins length because there are much bigger sites out there. There has got to be a special reason to go for a small site. It may be that it the buyer is really into a girl who appears on the site. You can't plan that of course. You just get lucky to pick up some extra sales. I would pay 15 to 20 USD to join a site that offered a few scenes of someone I really wanted to see because I still think it is good value for the enjoyment. But that high ratio of USD per scene is very much an exception. The exception aside, in my opinion to sell the smaller sites you have got to be either better quality content across the board (which if its general adult stuff is statistically unlikely) or you have got to offer niche content. With a niche scene you are going to be more likely to get the video into the good to excellent category for the buyer, as you have got head start. The scene has already got something extra about it the buyer wants. Also, I would be prepared to pay a bit more USD per good or better scene for niche scenes. Looking at niches site the figures I have joined then I have seen from 100 to 350 scenes. So 100 is on the small side even for niche content. As before, the better the general quality of the scenes the better the ratio of good scenes per USD so 100 scenes could still potentially convert into excellent value. The chances of it doing so are better on a niche site than a general site, but a site of 100 niche scenes is still a bit of a risk on the value of money stakes. It also faces a lot of competition to get people through the door from other niche sites with more content. In my experience, many niche sites are not very well executed so I have to say what you get in theory with the upside of nice niche content (for whatever your particular niche is), is often lost in the quality of the filming etc.. Ed, I have looked at your Strip Game Central site. Your numbers of video scenes are low in my experience (81 I think) even for a niche site but if there's to 20 to 30 scenes that are excellent to good then it is still potentially a good deal. The question is will it be a good deal ? That depends on the buyer. For me, I am not sure yet although it does have some good things going for it - the fun scenarios and choice of models for a start, including a couple of the best girls from the UK scene at the moment. I intend to email you a couple of questions about the content if that's ok to help make my mind up about whether the site is for me or not, might be a bit too much on the soft side. In the meantime, what I do think is that with other niche sites offering more scenes all fighting for the same money (albeit different niches) 20 USD is as much as I would rush to pay for 81 scenes plus photos, subject of course to finding out a bit more about your site content. If I am typical, then putting the price up might not make you any more money due to fewer buyers. I know some people put a lot of weight on photos, including some forum members here, but I honestly don't think the majority buyers out there decide to join sites based on amount of photo sets. Thomas Edited on Feb 15, 2011, 03:23pm | |
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| 02-16-11 04:10pm - 5057 days | #17 | |
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Ed2009 (0)
Suspended Webmaster Posts: 509 Registered: Sep 12, '09 Location: Wales, UK |
But that would seriously damage the exchange rate with the Euro - I want the Pound as high as possible against the Euro. Sorry if I oversimplified the situation - I wasn't trying to enter into a serious discussion of international markets and currency influences. Certainly no offence was intended. Webmaster of StripGameCentral and A Measure of Curiosity. | |
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| 02-16-11 04:21pm - 5057 days | #18 | |
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Ed2009 (0)
Suspended Webmaster Posts: 509 Registered: Sep 12, '09 Location: Wales, UK |
Thank you for your extremely detailed reply, Thomas. It makes a nice change to get that level of feedback. Thanks. Weirdly I had to put the price up to $19.95 in order to make sales. I keep trying lower prices but it always kills my sales. I tried $11.95 once but that was a total disaster. It always seems funny that I am a one-man operation trying to run a very niche site, but there isn't exactly a different market to operate in. Everyone gets compared to the big guys with offices, employees etc. I really try to offer something different, but often in reviews I get attacked for just that. StripGameCentral has moved from photos over to a much greater proportion of videos in recent months, but I'm not about to let go of photos yet. My other main site (A Measure of Curiosity) is still predominantly photo-based but I fully expect that to change as time goes on. Again, thanks for the feedback, it is much appreciated. Webmaster of StripGameCentral and A Measure of Curiosity. | |
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| 02-16-11 08:05pm - 5057 days | #19 | |
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turboshaft (0)
Active User Posts: 1,958 Registered: Apr 01, '08 |
Ohh! I was hoping it would keep going. Reading Thomas20's last post was like shotgunning a heart-wrenching cocktail of Viagra and Cialis! Seriously, when's someone going to come out with a fetish site where nothing but hot ladies sit around and discuss economic theories and policies, and then, I don't know, have hot, nasty, "invisible hand" sex afterwards?!  "It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hardcore Commie works." - Gen. Jack D. Rippper, Dr. Stranglove | |
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| 02-17-11 10:45am - 5057 days | #21 | |
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jberryl69 (0)
Disabled User  Posts: 1,000 Registered: Nov 27, '10 Location: neverland |
Interesting stats - and wondering how it might affect pricing: "Adult entertainment boomed after the advent of home video in the 1980s. But declining DVD sales and the availability of free porn on the Internet has battered the local industry: The number of major porn producers in L.A. has fallen to about 30, down from approximately 50 three years ago, said Alec Helmy, president and publisher of XBiz, which bills itself as the Variety of the adult entertainment industry. “The industry is struggling in a big way, but as far as the local market goes, we still get tons of DVDs dropped off at our office every day,” Helmy said. About 6,000 adult films are shot each year, with the majority of them in the San Fernando Valley, according to industry estimates." http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/02/on-location-adult-entertainment-studio-among-top-ten-sites-last-year.html If it ain't grits, it must be a Yankee. If you're going to lay her head over the pool table and fuck her throat, get your fucking hand off her throat! | |
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| 02-17-11 12:33pm - 5057 days | #22 | |
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Wittyguy (0)
Active User  Posts: 1,138 Registered: Feb 04, '08 Location: Left Coast, USA |
I think that prices have somewhat stabilized. For years you had to pay about $30 for a high quality site with decent amounts of content. Now, you can often find networks offering lots of goodies and good quality for that or less. I think we are seeing fewer trial rates than were being offered a year or two ago but that's just an off the cuff observation. Other than that, I think that Thomas is pretty spot on regarding his observations for what the smaller players have to do to stand out from the big boys in the porn world. | |
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