Libsyn outgrows PayPal, looking at prepay alternatives |
When it comes to paying for something online I like things being kept simple and hassle-free. Libsyn entered and disrupted the podcast hosting scene with a handy, recurring payment unmetered bandwidth podcast hosting plan, but an email received this morning indicates they are considering disrupting this model:
We have noticed since, oh… we started, that the billing model we were using (PayPal subscriptions) was limiting and we would one day out grow it. That point has long since passed, and we have been researching better models for several months now. The problem that exists today, is that while becoming an online merchant has been made easy, secure, or cheap.. continually charging customers over time is still very difficult and there are not as many options for small businesses.
The official forum thread on Libsyn is available for discussion. I’m not completely sure whether or not after reading that thread or the original thread if it will still be possible to be on the monthly recurring payment option. We’re not talking about a lot of money prepaying and in fact I don’t mind doing that for small payment options, at the same time I like the convenience of paying monthly and not having to worry about it.
Take too much of my time to return and have to make a payment decision every 90, 120, 180 days or more I may just say screw it and switch to their competitor audioblog which now offers non-metered plans too.
Has PayPal stopped taking recurring payments for larger accounts or does Libsyn just need more money? If they need more money for monthly plans why not just raise prices? I realize PayPal recurring isn’t for everybody, but for those of us who like it, why change? Something isn’t adding up here. Don’t forget your roots, Libsyn.
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[…] The last time I checked in with Libsyn, which hosts all our Hmmcasts and some of our other audio files, they were flirting with the idea of getting away from accepting monthly PayPal payments, which to my knowledge never happened. This acquisition is interesting because Libsyn never struck me as someone trying to build and flip. Rather, they seemed like a group of guys putting together a useful podcast hosting company in their spare time. […]
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