Webmaster started this discussion ·
For those of you who haven't purchased the lessons. Why do you choose not to? We've had loads of feedback on what makes our lessons great. I feel like we're stuck in a bubble when trying to market and make changes and I'd love some feedback on what we can change and improve.
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BkM1 ·
I enjoy reading the message posts so much, but I would prefer a long free trial period or a better yet a steep discount on the first year for the lessons to make sure it is something I will actually use. I have paid for subscriptions to websites before and then realized there wasn't as much to it as I thought. If the website was something I used a lot it would definitely be worth the full price upon renewal. There was a pole studio in my town, so the online lessons weren't really necessary before, but the studio went out of business. Now all we have are aerial silks which is still fun, but, not as good as a pole! So I am thinking about Studio Veena again. Wishing for a 1st time customer sale...
BkM1 ·
Or a trial period/ serious discount even for just the first 6 months would be great. That gives plenty of time for me to know if the lessons will be a habit for me or not!
My fiances thing (as he pays) is he has to make a paypal, there's no option for using just a card :( which would be awesome so he could buy them for me!!!
BkM1 - What do you consider a serious discount or trial, price wise? We give everyone three free days that gives you unlimited access to all the lessons and at $99 ($79 if they are on sale) you get far more content than you will out of any DVD set that will ring up for a much higher cost and doesn't offer a free trial.
Alexis Corinne - That's an interesting suggestion. We have definitely considered it but we have concerns over the storage of financial information. Currently, despite the bad rap it gets, PayPal is actually a much more secure and far less loss prone way to pay than a standard credit card. When you consider the security breaches at multi-billion dollar companies like Target I hesitate to put StudioVeena at the legal risk that is possible when you handle card information. How do you feel about the storage of financial information? After having my card number stolen I actually find myself trying to use PayPal (which is connected to my card) everywhere I can online to prevent the theft of said information again.
PayPal should have the option to have those who don't have paypal to use their card I know that. Maybe look into it I guess? It would be super totally much easier I know that. Hmmm I'm sorry to hear about your card being stolen.
BkM1 ·
That's a good question. I don't want to sound like an unappreciative "bottom feeder" by saying what I am really thinking price-wise (that was what we called customers who would ONLY buy with major coupons at the web marking firm I worked for way back when.) I do think that $79 is an entirely reasonable price for what you are offering, especially considering how expensive other pole DVDs can be. I DON'T look at the SV price and think "ooh, they are charging too much" or anything like that. And I'm sure you offer even more than I realize since I have never actually gotten a paid membership. I was only offering my personal answer as to why I don't have lessons, or what would make me sign up for lessons, and that is a super cheap intro for a few months (more than 30 days!). That would make me sign up, and I wouldn't mind my card being used once for an "auto-pay" at the end of the trial period. There are so many things in the world I would like to buy and only so much money to spend so being able to fully experience and verify the value of something to me takes some anxiety out of the commitment! Others might feel differently. Or maybe I just have commitment issues, lol. Paypal does seem to be a more secure place for transactions, as I've had my credit card info stolen before, but nothing is perfect or completely "hack proof" so I would probably still check out on your site directly if it were offered.
BkM1 ·
Paypal does have an option to check out as a "guest" without creating an account. The three day trial is perfect for looking around and getting a good idea of what is offered, but what I am thinking is a trial period to see if I would actually really use those lessons on a regular basis. I don't know that after 3 days. So, again, maybe I'm unreasonable but I'm just answering for me since you asked. :)
PayPal does offer the guest option on physical purchases, like a pole for example. On digital purchases they don't. I think it has to do with the intransigent nature of the purchase and their need to control funding to a more precise degree. Essentially its a protection for the buyer, that way if there is a complaint PayPal can simply shift the funds back to the buyer's account and avoid the chargeback process completely.
I may be being naive here but what would be stopping anyone from just signing up with PayPal to use a credit card through there? When I signed up for my account it was free and I have credit cards, debit cards and a bank account attached. I have had paid lessons in the past but as I go to a physical studio I found i wasn't using them just because my at home pole time was about practising what I learn during the week at lessons rather than learning new things. Next year I might be moving somewhere with only one pole studio and rather than going there I'm considering using SV lessons instead as I won't be working full time and it's much better value for money plus more convenient. Also, I'm super unco so I feel more confident learning from online lessons now that I have a better grasp of where my body is in space and on the pole.
marithim ·
Just letting people know that you can sign up for a paypal account with just a credit card. That's what I do at least and it works fine. That's what I did for my membership.
Meagan because he just doesn't want it. That's why lol. He's stubborn! It's the marine in him. Hahahah
Anzia ·
I'm a paid-up-and-totally-loving-the-lessons member, and I'll be keeping on renewing. My only suggestion is to offer a pay monthly membership. I'm fortunate that I can pay a yearly fee in one go (though I was very grateful for the $20 discount - thank you for running offers so regularly). However for some people $99 or even $79 is a steep outlay all in one go. A monthly fee giving (30 days?) access for, say, $9 would perhaps be helpful. This also gives people an affordable but good length 'trial period' for their first membership that they can choose to keep renewing or not. Another site I'm on (not a pole site) offers monthly, three monthly, six monthly, yearly and two yearly options. That's probably more than is needed here, but the number of more-or-less permanent members on there, who are all using a variety of membership periods, shows that smaller but more frequent payments works better for a lot of them. And this seems a good opportunity to say thank you again to you and Veena for creating and maintaining such a fantastic community and lessons. Thanks so much for the work you put in!
Anzia - You are in luck we actually have 30 and 60 day recurring memberships as well :)
Anzia ·
Oh! Okay, my mistake :)
The reason why I don't have them is that I already have trouble finding time for everything I want/need to do during the week. If I had gotten the lessons I would find myself with hundreds of vids which would be tempting to watch. And that would simply make things even more complicated than they are now, time-wise. I don't doubt the lessons are good (I have watched a few when there was a free video day) and I don't think your prices are high.
I used to and loved them. I leveled out knowing just about all of the moves....now I see that there are new routines etc but I can spend any money on me right now. I take care of my family and am the only one paying the bills. I know the price is low but I can't even spend 20 on pole shorts etc. everything has to go to bills. I got behind from an accident earlier this year and for me it's just budgeting because times are very tough...but shouldn't be for long.
I had tried the lessons for a while back when I first joined SV, and I didn't stop because I have an issue with your pricing or anything like that. It was more about cutting out any unnecessary costs in my own budget. I don't actually tend to work on a whole lot from home. And when I do, it's in random clusters - I could practice at home for a few days one week and then not again for several weeks. I prefer to use my friend's studio when I'm able just because the space is nicer and I can give myself the freedom to experiment more with movement. If I had more space at home and consistently trained new things at home, the SV lessons would probably be something I'd consider getting again (although I'd have to peek because I seem to remember feeling as though I knew how to do a lot of the tricks and combos, which is what I tend to look at when I check out recorded lessons). I think the content on this site is awesome!
Rylonn ·
I want so badly to want to buy the lessons, but at my level (intermediate-advanced) there arent enough advanced moves left for me to learn from the lessons to warrant 99 dollars. More advanced moves, like Janeiro, and even move combos and transitions (between intermediate and advanced moves), and I would subscribe in a heartbeat
There are LOADS of intermediate advanced combos and ideas hiding in the 'routines and combos' section - I only found them yesterday because I thought that was a section just for work outs! If you keep scrolling there's all sorts of stuff (thanks Veena for telling me about it when I was moaning that I always end up free styling the same stuff)
Zureili ·
I've had nothing but issues with PayPal as well. I tried to create an account with PayPal for them to tell me I already have an account, which I don't with my email address. Afterwards I got an email from PayPal stating how they had a security breach and I needed to change my password in order to not have my credit-card information stolen and compromised. As far as I know I did not have any card information stored with them. So in short I would be extremely satisfied with any payment method not connected to paypal. I've lost count how many times lessons were on sale for $79/year and I couldn't get PayPal to work for me :(
kasanya ·
I've purchased your 1 year subscription at least 2 or 3 times over the years, because Veena's lessons are by far the best I've come across for learning all of the tricks I consider foundational at the beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. I've allowed my subscription to lapse though because new content is so slow to be added.
ferrous ·
I have bought the year-long subscription, and love it. And the regular specials are great. I think it's a great price, and I'm very glad that my budget is now at a point where I can afford it. My only suggestion is that I think the three day trial is a little short. With family and work commitments, I found that the three days were gone before I really had a chance to explore a lot. I had the impression already that Veena's lessons were totally worth it, but I can see that plenty might need more convincing, and I think maybe a week long trial would give people a proper chance to explore the site and to fit that exploring around family and work.
For me it is because right now I don't have my own pole plus that I don't have internet in the house where I live monday to friday. But I am working on both:) I really like the discussions and videos so I check the website almost dailY (at my parents house or at school:) )
I received your special offer but now I am out of my budget because I am preparing and planning my wedding. I'll hope that I will have a chance to use your special offer after 3 months from now. May be for example for me is better to pay something from month to month because my salary is to small and I must plannig my expenses. I think this web page is fine and also the price is very nice because in my country the price of 1 h lesson is 15 - 12 € (with teacher) or 4 - 7 € (with out teacher). The price of course there is around 80 € for 8 h. And pay to someone 80 € for course in one month is for me too much because that is more expensive for me. But when I will pay from month to month around 5 - 10 € it will be better for my budget. Sorry for my English.
