Can we prepay for several years in advance?

[realdocBBQ]

I'm just curious... what if I wanted to pay for, say, 5 years in advance? Or maybe you could offer a "lifetime" subscription or something?

If it's a hassle, well, no biggie. I just always worry about the annual subscriptions to all this stuff I've got, and forgetting about them and getting hit when my account is low. I know on here, I'm getting a message that I was going to be up for renewal - but then I went to my membership page to see if I could just tell it to charge my card NOW, and there wasn't an ability to do that - it was ONLY to automatically charge it on my renewal date.

I'm forgetful. Thankfully my wife is the one who handles most of our bill payments... or my credik would SUK.

[Meathead]

We have thought about this and I don't think it can happen. Our member management system is all custom coding (Thanks RayJ) built into vBulletin and it occasionally hiccups. I would rather not add another layer of complication. We did do 3 years for the price of 2 a few years ago when we needed to raise some cash in a hurry and it caused some grief.

Besides, as a businessman I have long been opposed to discounting a product. Devalues it and can cause customer dissatisfaction. Ever board a plane to find out the person next to you got her ticket for half the price you paid?

Also, from a financial standpoint, an annual membership is a renewable resource. Our finances are strained, so even though a lifetime membership gives an upfront jolt of cash, in the long run, we lose money.

Our price is our price and hopefully we won't have to change it for a long while.

What we do need is $5,000 new members. THAT would solve a lot of problems. Ask your friends! Give gift memberships!

[N227GB]

I just purchased a gift membership for someone!

[SmokingSteve]

As a former business owner I agree with you wholeheartedly Meathead.

[Meathead]

Thanks N227GB !

[STEbbq]

Maybe buy a few gift cards for the site and then use them as your renewals arrive?

[Finster]

I was actually wanting to pay early as well, or rather have one of my kids do it as a Christmas gift.
When I checked, it looked like it can only be set up to renew with the card on file. Don’t really want the kids having to do that…

[Elton's BBQ]

a few yrs ago we could pay for 3 yrs ahead

[realdocBBQ]

I was THINKING I remembered that... thought I DID it, but apparently not.

Or maybe it was longer ago than I THOUGHT... lol.

[RAYMBO]

There was a 3 year special at the end of 2018. Paying for 2019, 2020, and 2021.

[Santamarina]

I signed up for that 3-year extension, and I’d do it again if offered!

[Jerod Broussard]

Pay me for 150 yrs if ya want. You'll be "set it and forget it."

[texastweeter]

I don't plan to live that long. As soon as I'm a burden on my family, I'm gonna go hunting, bring a good bottle of whisky, but leave my rifle at home, lol. You gonna assume the mantle of teaching my army of kids how to que?

[Jerod Broussard]

texastweeter give me a good Webcam to drool into

[RAYMBO]

I will bring this up with the boss. A multi-year or lifetime membership seems like a good idea. Numbers need to be crunched to determine the viability.

[FireMan]

When I first read it I thought I read members would have to be crunched. Really caught my interest, numbers not so much.

[mrichie1229]

"I want you to kill all the gophers on the course."

[RAYMBO]

Members, numbers, something needs a crunchin'.

[Huskee]

Historically it was a no on this due to it being a big tech expense. The systems aren't in place to just simply 'pay for 3 years' or more. When we did it before as a one-time special thing it required the system to be built to do that. That requires an expense to pay someone to build the system to do that.

[realdocBBQ]

Ahhhh I wasn't aware this was a thing. Ok. Well, it's not a major inconvenience - just I thought I would ask.

[Meathead]

We have thought about this and I don't think it can happen. Our member management system is all custom coding (Thanks RayJ) built into vBulletin and it occasionally hiccups. I would rather not add another layer of complication. We did do 3 years for the price of 2 a few years ago when we needed to raise some cash in a hurry and it caused some grief.

Besides, as a businessman I have long been opposed to discounting a product. Devalues it and can cause customer dissatisfaction. Ever board a plane to find out the person next to you got her ticket for half the price you paid?

Also, from a financial standpoint, an annual membership is a renewable resource. Our finances are strained, so even though a lifetime membership gives an upfront jolt of cash, in the long run, we lose money.

Our price is our price and hopefully we won't have to change it for a long while.

What we do need is $5,000 new members. THAT would solve a lot of problems. Ask your friends! Give gift memberships!

[N227GB]

I just purchased a gift membership for someone!

[SmokingSteve]

As a former business owner I agree with you wholeheartedly Meathead.

[Meathead]

Thanks N227GB !