![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Due to feedback we have received, the IJ owners have decided to bring back the Self-Committed [paid] account type. With this we are going to introduce a new pricing model.
$10 - 6 months Self-Commited [paid]
$20 - 1 year Self-Commited [paid]
$40 - Permanently Insane
We are still offering Permanent extra userpics and Rename tokens for the same low prices that they have always been.
This change will be made Friday, July 27th. So you have until then to take advantage of the current $30 Permanently Insane price.
$10 - 6 months Self-Commited [paid]
$20 - 1 year Self-Commited [paid]
$40 - Permanently Insane
We are still offering Permanent extra userpics and Rename tokens for the same low prices that they have always been.
This change will be made Friday, July 27th. So you have until then to take advantage of the current $30 Permanently Insane price.
Actually, if the account holder has the custom comments page style turned off, their journal entry pages are served up in the default style, which includes the ads, regardless of their account status. I tried this out on
While I do agree that not having the hike will be nice, like many people I feel that the price is reasonable. It's only because I've been here for a while (like more than a year) that I feel a little irritated with the hike (because it means that I'm paying more).
I don't really care about the pricing (which I think is reasonable to increase if they need to cover the server costs or even just plain feel like it) so much as the timing and the way it was presented. I was wondering “Feedback from who, what, when, where? Did I miss an earlier announcement/request for comment?”.
I haven't been here long, so it seems a bit like they're trying to get any upcoming new users to rush to buy a permanent almost right after signup and sort of justifying it by saying “we asked around and people said that's what they wanted” (which, to be fair, it looks like they do), only without having asked in a more public place where a wider range of users could have given their opinions and they'd have gotten a better sample size of what people really wanted before presenting these things as fait accompli.
I don't know; it just feels like a kind of LJ-ish tactic and that's a turn-off for me.
I held a poll on my personal journal in a public post. I know not everyone reads it, but there is a fair amount of people who do.
I know I can't please anyone, but I only raised the perm price so the year account would be worth buying. I can't offer the year accounts for any less that $20 unfortunatly as the money they generate just isn't enough to justify it.
I am not running this site to get rich, I run it because I love to run it. Right now we are running about even on costs considering the amount of time i have to put into this site. It's really not that easy to run.
Unfortunately I am not the most tactful person in the world, I'm just a computer geek who happened to start this site at just the right time.
Like I said, I'm okay with that aspect of the price raise; it's just the short term of the “Last Chance” sale combined with the timing and the relative non-visibility of the mentioned feedback and my natural cynicism made things look kind of bad.
Thanks for your frank response. I appreciate your taking the time to explain.
Seriously though, did you know that LJ had begun collecting information about users' searches on the site and never made an announcement in news about it? In order to opt out, you had to stumble upon the old announcement in lj_biz.
Before Strikethrough happened, I was going to buy three permanent accounts on LJ. After Strikethrough though, I came here instead and bought fifteen. Not sure if you've ever checked prices, but running a site is damn expensive, especially one this size.
Of the sites that use the Danga software (LJ-type platform), IJ is the ONLY such site that has free accounts AND has a VERY responsive owner and support staff.
GJ might have free accounts, but there's no way to buy a paid account there. Don't use your account? They'll start trimming your icons out. Have an icon they decide is too revealing? Permanently suspended account. LostJournal, DeadJournal, and JournalFen ALL require either a code to join or for you to pay up front. There's Blurty, but I'm not very impressed by it.
I still think IJ is the best of them all.
That among others.
Seriously though, did you know that LJ had begun collecting information about users' searches on the site and never made an announcement in news about it?
I used to keep up with the stuff they tried to put over their userbase via no_lj_ads and that made me decide I'd never give them money out of my own pocket.
Before Strikethrough happened, I was going to buy three permanent accounts on LJ. After Strikethrough though, I came here instead and bought fifteen. Not sure if you've ever checked prices, but running a site is damn expensive, especially one this size.
I do have and pay for my own hosting, which I'd probably blog on instead if I weren't too lazy to set things up. But the thing is, like I said, I don't consider myself to be in the usual demographic for LJ and its clones.
So a lot of the connectiveness and features and stuff which are important to other users just don't mean as much to me.
But I'm glad you've found a place that suits your needs so well.
I still think IJ is the best of them all.
It does seem to be one of the nicer alternatives.