FAQ:

Thank you! I love that we are able to move up if we need to in the future.

Great news and a great offer.

Thanks Greg

It doesn't sound like great news to me, my monthly cost will be $10.00 more per month than now.

Yes, that's not great new to me either. Guess I have to cancel my account..

I am very pleased with the new legacy pricing.  Still cheaper for me than having an e-bay store and paying all the fees....and I have a very small store.

Carolyn

with an attitude like greg has you won't be in business very long at all. I will say that the going up on the monthly price for us was not what I was promised so time ago. The price was supposed to remain at $9.95 untill I listed a certain amount of items of which I have many left to list. So it bothers me that you guys change to deal right in the middle of the ball game and not live up to past promises

This is by far and wide the best pricing for all of the features as well as the quality.  This is excellent news as I am getting ready to expand quite a bit.

Thank You!!

It may be true that the $19.95 monthly price is the most fair price on the net but it is not what was promised to me when Highwire came out with this pricing. As I recalled I was told my $9.95 monthly price would be good untill I posted a certain amount to items and then the price would go to $19.95. I think the amount of items was 500,000 items. I just believe highwire should live up to that agreement.

I'm having a hard time understanding why the standard plan pricing is based on sales volume, but "legacy" pricing is based on the number of items!

I have been asking for months about the legacy pricing, and have been told that it would be a discount from the standard rates, and must admt I am disappointed to see that is not the case.

I think with the increased pricing should come some increased services. Some to include Bing feed, better iphone app, and with inkfrog a better control of the defaults on the iimport cvs.

jmart,who told you that you'd only be paying 9.95 a month for life and only pay more if you listed more than 500,000 items? I've been reading the forums since before you joined, and I've never seen that posted. Maybe you have a copy of the email or can find it in your support tickets?

Am I missing something about the standard rates? OK, now I see. They seem to change quite often I guess...lol So, I guess if one has more than 500 items, they could just sign up for the Bronze plan. Does anyone know how we find out how many MB we are using? 100 MB seems like a lot, but my CD's that fit 700MB never seem to hold much. I see the green bar, but can't find a total used unless I add everything up. ugh.

Well, compared the the old rates where the lowest was about $25, our rates seemed good. Now, it seems like we just have a couple more unlimited checks, but will be pretty much paying what all the newbies will be paying. Suppose I'd be giddy if I sold even close to 4g a month. I wonder how many here sell that much?

I guess I can understand then. Why wouldn't they just have us at the 4,000 in sales mark to rather than do it by item count? At least then someone making 4,000 in sales couldn't really say they can't afford the monthly fee. For that argument, I'd have to agree. It doesn't make much sense unless they plan on changing the rates they just posted again.

To change the pricing the way that you did is not a big deal, but illegal. When we signed up for this service it was supposed to be $9.95. You made an offer and we all accepted - just a general principle of law. I don't think anyone would try to sue you, after all it is still very cheap, but keep you heads up :) There is a very good possibility of a class action lawsuit :)

Well actually Greg is wrong about the Legacy Users for MANY YEARS. I started here in March 2008 and at that time this was Called Buyitsellit.com and it was FREE for me and many others. Unlimited items. That was one of the Main reasons I opened a Store here. Then about 6 to 12 months into being here, the Price went from Free to $9.95. I was not too happy, but was OK with that fee. Now about a year later or so, the Price has jumped up to 300 Percent for me. It went from Free to $9.95 and Now $29.95. So for me that is a 300 Percent increase, including all of Highwire Glitches, and they have MANY!

HW has many perks there is no doubt, but are they reliable? Not really, for the 3 years I have been here it has SO MANY Glitches I can't remember them all. So Like a few others here, I am not ECSTATIC about any increase. I would have liked to seen HW raise its fees no more than 100%, but the 300% percent is Hard. This is something I will have to really consider, due to the summer months. Business for me is always slower during the Warmer months. Not sure it will be worth it. I have put a lot of work into this website and am sad about this high increase. Just like I am sad about Gas Prices being $5.00 a gallon here. It seems to be that everyone has their hand out.

Hey Tomas, I signed up in March 08, but didn't really start adding items into the store till around Aug. Sept of 08. So actually, I am not missing any year. I am curious, when did the Free Stores go to $9.95 a month. Do you remember what month and year this happened?

Greg, thanks for your reply. I guess what I was originally implying was you lead the horse to water right? Then eventually you start charging that horse for the water. Now isn't that a bummer? LOL

Not sure how long you have been with this website, but I went over to PSU and dug this up. So if you want to see the reliability of the site, you can always read this when you have the extra time.

http://www.powersellersunite.com/viewtopic.php?t=14534&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0

Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed the Website these past few years, but it's also been very frustrating. And to answer my own question to Tomas, It was around May 2009 that the increase went from Free went to $9.95 per month. So we received about 2 years of service for the $9.95 a month. So looking at this track record now. Would it be safe to guess that in July of 2013 the Price will go to $59.95, because this would be consistent with a 2 year increase at 300 percent.

I guess I could have handled the fee going from $9.95 to $19.95, but what I am going to be paying is going to be steep, especially if the sales die for the summer. Thanks again for your replies.

Can I ask Greg or Tomas, with this increase ARE WE GOING TO HAVE A BING FEED? If So, then when? I sure would love to know this. Thanks

Agreed knowing if there will be a Bing feed is a make it or break it for me. Meaning if there will be one I will be staying if not I will go to another user interface that offers the whole package and reliable glitch free service.

Folks,

I'm one of the businesses that does rely on highwire for our webstore.  I want highwire to have enough money to be able to keep our store up and running.  I've lived though the glitches like many of you have.  When highwire glitches we lose hundreds of dollars.  It really does suck when that happens.

 I've also been an inkfrog customer since before it was inkfrog.  That was before eBay had picture service available.  Inkfrog has had price changes over the years.  No one likes price changes, but the bottom line is that these folks have to stay in business and contrary to popular belief the internet is not free. 

$29.99 a month should not change your life.  If the difference between you making it and not making it is $29.99 a month then I will tell you that you can make more money working at Mc Donalds or Wal-Mart than selling on the internet.  Hopefully you don't fall into this category.  But if your margins are that thin, now would be a great time to look at your business and evaluate what you need to do to be profitable. 

$29.99 a month  is a bargain for what Highwire delivers and I wish you and highwire success now and in the future.  We moved here from Volusion and we were paying those folks over $350 a month for a very complicated and cranky system.  In addition, Volusion charged thousands of dollars if you wanted SEO and google feeds.  Volusion has since dropped their fees but they are still complicated and cranky.

Joe

I just think the big issue is with stores that have many items, so they are at or over the 500 mark but don't have many sales or sales even close to the $4,000 a month mark. I think they see it as being charged an extra $10 a month than they would if they were a newbie. Granted, there are a lot of additional features, but many don't come close to the storage max or use the staff logins.

I also think another issue is that it was stated that the legacy plans would be "discounted" from the regular plans. That seemed so until the regular plans were updated. Now, the legacy plan for those selling less than 4,000 a month really isn't discounted. For high sellers, it's a super bargain, but for those way under, it's not discounted at all just some additional features.Newbies pay 19.95 a month, legacy users pay 19.95 a month. Legacy=added perks that most don't use anyways and could be fine with a newbie plan.

No biggy to me, but just mentioning what this thread will end up filling up with. If you had kept the newbie plan at the 24.95, there wouldn't be such an issue. I don't think many have seen the new rates yet. I plan on staying under 500 anyways, and if I go over, I will be sure to list thousands and sell over the 4,000 a month......lol

Hey Greg, Not sure you read the many other threads here, but BING is a MUST nowadays. I happen to be a BING fan. I really wish HW would consider BING very soon. I am in Illinois and I am seeing more Bing Commercials than I have ever seen before. Why not give google a little run for their money. I just wish HW would seriously consider this feed and do this very soon. To me thats more important to the seller than a New Dashboard. Half the perks we have here are NOT necessary, but a Bing Feed would be. Thanks again and please consider this :)

If you really think about it though, maybe it would be wise to think about item limits on the new regular plans. As of now, what is preventing anyone from joining and adding 20,000 items to their store? Say their stuff doesn't sell well, so they never reach over the 4g mark. They have all of those items, but never have to pay more than the $19.95 a month. Is that really smart? It's a drop shippers dream though. Yes, I am getting ideas!

If I stay, I'm going to be letting go of one of my two accounts, since the "great news" about having my rates doubled is no cause for celebration. (Sorry, I see no glory in the added hunt and peck through the new glitz. If it ain't broke...)

If you're going to change us to the new plan as of July 1, then please charge me on July 1st and stop billing me on the 28th of the month. What will you do to assure my account is continuous?

I'm still debating about staying with you though, since I have a lot of books to sell and without the Media Mail option here --which PayPal permits-- it hardly seems worth it now.

Maybe this is the confusion http://www.highwire.com/pricing/ versus https://app.highwire.com/admin/account/plan/?redirect=false

Greg, you are kidding right? I think your a day late and a dollar short. People on these forums have been talking about Bing for months. Awwww brother, don't tell me NO BING TODAY. Keep trying, it's what the HW members need.

I have a problem with the pricing which is pretty much exactly what littleonlinestore mentioned I have over 1000 items with more to add, but don't sell anywhere close to the $4k mark so I have to pay $10 more than a new user if I keep my store here, which really doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

I'm one of those that has been asking for a bing feed since last year when bing started..  I'm also an approved merchant with bing and we have to go outside of highwire to get our feed uploaded.  I know many merchants on highwire already have their approval with bing even though bing is not currently accepting new merchants.  I would like to see highwire offer a bing feed and I would be willing to pay extra for it.

Joe

I don't know if you all have seen the new street pricing for highwire.  The lowest rate is $19.95 a month.  It goes up to $99 a month.  Here is the link:

http://www.highwire.com/pricing/

The advantage you have in being a legacy member is that you can move to the low cost legacy price and then when your business grows you can move up to the $29.99 plan with no penalty.  That $29.99 plan would cost a new user $99.99 a month right now.

Again, folks if you aren't selling enough to make $19.99 or $29.99 work, you really need to look at your business model.  Please take this opportunity to look at your business and figure out what you need to do to improve your numbers.  Make a goal to increase your sales.  Highwire has come a long way over the past year.  You have many new features and tools available to you that were not even thought of a year ago.  Those new features should help you increase your sales.

By the way, if you just can't come up with a way to make your numbers work because of this pricing structure, there is nothing wrong with closing up shop and moving on to something else.  That would be a good business decision.

I remember when Paypal used to be free and they would pay you $10 to sign up and $10 when you had your friends sign up.  I think I had 840 friends sign up for Paypal.   Then Paypal started charging for their service!  But I'm still with Paypal even though they actually started charging me a commission every time a customer pays.

 Go Figure.

Joe

well i'll give you folks my opinion..without doubt inkfrog and highwire have given me the easiest and best way to list items on ebay and in my own store,PLUS by far the cheapest option compared to everyone else out there..come on you lot,especially inkfrog users who have had it FREE for 2 years,what more do you want???!!!!..$30 or £18 a month is nothing really to have the features that highwire provide,go and find somewhere else who can give you the same..this really does prove that the vast majority of people want everything for nothing and i'm sorry but you should be ashamed of yourselves for moaning about it

We are totally fine with the changes to the pay plan.  Our 2 Highwire stores are simple, effective and easy to use.  And now with the new and improved interface we are even more delighted.  We sell a lot of products off of the store and the increase in price is nothing compared to the profits we are drawing.  We can absorb that is simply a good business move on Highwire's part.  They help me and I will help them.  Essentially they are a partner!

I too was a customer when it was BuyItSellIt.com and I can assure you, the customer service I have now far exceeds what is was before.  I have deal with the glitches from time to time too and they are handled very, very quickly.  Greg and the entire Highwire Staff stayed well after hours one evening so I could get my second store launched in time for a big event.   THAT is customer service!

Thanks again Greg and Highwire

Could you possibly add another third plan legacy amount for 250 items or less and make it 9.95 again? 19.95 is a big jump from 9.95. During the winter months we don't sell anything on our store due to us having a seasonal (greenhouse) business and this increase is going to be tough.

Greg -

Since you asked about "glitches", here's one that is a big problem for me.  Since late March, I have been unable to sort categories.  (To be more specific, I can drop and drag them to new locations, but when I refresh the page, they are back at their original locations.)

I created a support ticket and was told that the problem had to do with the number of categories I in my store.  (The new admin interface no longer shows a category count, but I believe I have 6-700 categories.)

I have also been told that the problem had been identified, but would have to be part of the next "major update" slated for late May.  I have been patiently waiting for several months, and hoped that the recent changes to the admin interface would recitify the issue, but it still does not work.

I have been planning to greatly expand my store offerings, but have put this on hold since I cannot sort the new categaories I need to create.  Tomas has manually resorted one category for me, but I don't want to have to create a support ticket every time I add a new category!

I can live with the new pricing as long as eveything works as advertised.

I guess I can agree with some users on here and disagree with others.  I haven't done much with my store, slowly added items, and have had some sales from it, but it was no big deal because it was basically INCLUDED with our InkFrog acct which we use quite a bit for Ebay.  I will agree, the pricing for the legacy customers isn't too bad (it sucks compared to free, obviously).  To those that say though that $19.95 isn't too much per month, you're right, but it's yet another increase on an expense that my business, and I'm sure many others on here, do not need.  We alone have seen $10K increase a month in our fuel bill for delivery on our trucks here just because of the gas prices since last year.  I guess I will evaluate whether or not we will add more items on our store to increase some business or just focus on the other projects we have currently up and rolling making profits for us.  Good luck to all.

James

Tomas -

It does, thanks!

A comment not about pricing, but about things that need attention in the newly released version. The navigation and sorting / alphabetization within the View Products area are not working as they should.

1) View Products > Sort by Category > Select a Parent Category with Subcategories > Click on Title to sort > Go to a letter for which there is more than one page of products > the items on the second and subsequent pages are not in alphabetical order, the page redisplays some items from page one, and never displays other items that should be on the second page. This worked perfectly in the previous version.

2) Using the Search Box, search for a word that will produce more than one page of results. On the first page of results, select a few items and do a bulk edit. Click on "Save and Exit." You are not returned to the results of your search to move on to the second page to continue your edit. Instead, you have to start the search over again to get back to where you were.

Thanks,  Susan

Is this 19.95 a month going to include Inkfrog still or will we be paying 19.95 + 9.95 for both now?? THAT will be impossible for me during the slow summer months .. I think I am about to go storeless .. I have loved my store and could probably do the 19.95 a month for a high wire store with inkfrog .. but if we have to pay both .. i am out now ..

The product limit is still different. For the 19.95 newbie plan, is it a max of 500 items or unlimited?

Tomas,

Why, as legacy users, are we limited to 500 items for $19.95 when a new customer will have unlimited items for the same price? Your pricing policy doesn't make much sense to me.

I also agree with  w-precision that the way you bump your prices up on us is borderly illegal.

Now I have 600 items in my store. If I want to keep it running, I will have to swtich to the $29.95 plan. For this price, I can get a Volusion store that is way more robust and offer way more options than Highwire. I liked Highwire for it's simplicity and low cost. but it seems to me that the improvement your are "selling" us are mostly cosmetic. I don't care if the admin interface look all pretty and green and flashy. I think that for the price increase, we should get some real valuable addons to the product like CRM or kit building, etc....

Stephan

www.worldwiseimports.com

www.gamekeeper.com

forgot to mention in regards to the two sites: http://www.highwire.com/pricing/ versus https://app.highwire.com/admin/account/plan/?redirect=false

I think they just made a mistake when they made the http://www.highwire.com/pricing/ page and forgot to change the sales total and volume totals for the 19.95 plan.

It's not illegal as we're monthly subscribers. Therefore, they are allowed to change their prices. Unless one can show deliberate negligence or fraud (such as they start free and within a month goto $100) it's not illegal. The only point anyone could argue would be the "discount" promised in a thread a couple months ago. However, the could then just knock the price down by a buck or something, which would legally constitute a "discount". Of course, the legal fees would far exceed any amount saved by taking anyone to court....just sayin.

@Greg: My bad, I forgot the 100 product limit on the Volusion $29.95 plan

Now could you please explain to me how the legacy $19.95 plan with 500 product is better than the normal plan $19.95 with unlimite product? As a legacy account, I don't feel like I'm getting any advantage vs a new customer.

As someone mentioned earlier, I too would like to know if this pricing is in ADDITION to any fee we pay for InkFrog.  Before, we had the BISI store included as long as we kept our InkFrog account active and paid. (Very sweet deal and a great way to get customers using both programs)

I don't use InkFrog, so do I need to cancel it when my pomotional rate ends?

If I choose a plan with a $1500 monthly sales limit, what happens when a customer tries to place an order over that limit?

Two additional questions regarding legacy vs standard pricing:

If we choose a legacy plan, how long is this locked in for?

Also, the storage limits are only for "Digital Contant", correct?  (I.e., they have nothing to do with the images we upload for our listings.)

since they are now different plans, is there a way on inkfrog to have custom csv upload files to highwire so I do not have to go into the file an edit the same cells every time before I upload.   Also I would to see the inkfrog upload pick up the traits of an item that are put in the ebay listing. IT currently does not do this. Like if it is new or used, colors, sizes.

Well, it's actually pretty easy to go over 1500 in sales even with much less than 500 items.

Tomas, you weren't the one that talked about "discounted" in the thread I was referring to.

Either way, if anyone is mad about pricing, just add loads of items to your stores and make the 29.95 a super bargain. Plus, as we've all seen, these new prices might not last very long either. :P

How do we know if we are a legacy member or not??

Even with the increase, it's still a good deal. I could never have set up a store on my own. HW is easy to setup and use.

Jodie

I'm very happy to report that the sorting and navigation issues have been fixed! This was a big stumbling block for me and I'm glad Tomas has responded and taken care of the problem. Thanks!

Susan

My ebay store only cost $15.95 per month not $49.95 and my ebay store by far produce a better net profit than my highwire or other stores did. They do have more fees and paypal fees but still yet the betters sales give me a higher net profit. I do agree that the Highwire $19.95 mo fee is a fair and competitive fee amount but still yet it is not what they had promised me so time ago. I was suppose to have listed a certain amount of iproducts before starting to pay the $19.95 and I had a long ways to go. Its like our Phone and Internet provider (Windstream) that advertizes a Life Time Price of $49.95 never increase and yet they did increase it to $54.95. And they don't share with you that with taxes and etc the bill amount will be $75.00 to $80.00.

I would still ike to know how long the legacy pricing will be locked in.

References have already been made with other store platforms charging $80 a month,..so its clear where this is all going. Im jumping 300% in my monthly fee, so now ive got to look at other options. I would be stupid not to. Its really too bad, I did like it here, and persevered through the glitches. But now a 300% raise,..and in another 12 months or 24...guess what folks...the magic $49.99 per month is a real good deal...as others charge $80 per month...just read between the lines folks..  You can go to ebid.com and for $49.99 life membership list a million items with no final value fee's. 

Sorry Tomas, I really liked what you created, but the consistent hikes will hurt a lot of us.

This is really BAD news.  While I have enjoyed being here for a very LLLLLLLOOOONNNNGGGG time, when my current month expires, I must leave.  This takes us to the same price as ebay stores (power seller)!   Tomas, PLEASE change your mind and keep the pricing the same for your GOOD customers who have supported you for such a long time!!!!   Let us know!

worldoftoycars what a fun website you have!  I'm  just curious.  If you can't afford $29.99 a month here which includes all fees except for payments--where are you going to go?  The reason that I ask is because I don't know anyplace else you can go and have a real website (without some soft of external ads) for less.  Ebay fees will kill you at the price range you are selling.

As most of us have found out there is a tremendous advantage in getting our own website away from eBay,  Amazon etc.  Remember once you get them to your website, you are not competing against a bunch of other sellers selling the same product.  They are your customer and if you can get them to buy once, they often will come back. for more.

I challenge you to add something to your website that will bring you in an extra $200 a month to cover your increase from $9.99 to $29.99.  I'll bet if you think about it, you know where you can get something to add to your website that will do just that.

Joe

usadirecttoyou.  I agree with your decision.  You honestly do not have enough merchandise on your website to stay here and make it worthwhile at any price. 

With your volume and merchandise selection, I believe eBay is a much better solution for you at this time.

What you are missing is critical mass.  Once you get critical mass, the pieces will fall into place. Try to build your e-mail list.  Once you have about 10,000 customers on your e-mail list, come back and try it again and I predict you will have much better results.

Joe

Joe,

I normally keep around 750 items here.  I made a couple of changes a few weeks ago and have not had the time (Thanks goodness I didn't) to add those items back again!!!   I've had fair success here in the past, but most of that success has been from work on my end promoting my domain.  As much as I dislike the current and past changes on ebay, they still have the best customer base.   Sad to say!

usadirecttoyou (and others).  I'm trying to get you all to look at where you are, at this time, and make some needed changes that you may have known you should do, but haven't been motivated to do so!  A price increase is a great motivator. 

Keep in mind that  these price increases are probably because highwire was losing money providing services to some sellers that were not paying what it really cost to provide the service.  Of couse when you aren't paying much for a website, you don't get motivated to maximize the revenue from that website.  That is just human nature.

1. The results you acheive here at Highwire are 100% dependent on you.  You have to build your catalog using rich descriptive keyword style titles.  You have to bring in the customers.  Highwire gives you the tools to do so.  But the customers will not happen without you. 

2.  No one comes to your website because it is a Highwire site.  Your customers do not care what kind of site you have as long as they can easily navigate your site and quickly find the products they are looking for.  I've found Highwire to be the easiest site to navigate from a customer standpoint and I've found highwire to be  the easiest site to work on from a back end standpoint. 

3.  Highwire is not eBay.  eBay gathers customers and charges a lot of money to do so. Those customers are Ebay's customers--not your customer.  Highwire does not gather customers-nor charge for gathering customers.  Highwire gives you the tools to gather customers.  Those customers are your customers..

4.  You can not gather customers unless your Highwire website is completely stocked.  That is a biggie here.  You are going to have a lot of trouble gathering customers without a complete selection of  items.  Think about it this way.  Do you go into a store and shop when the shelves are bare?  Or do you go into a store when the shelves are well stocked with a complete selection of merchandise?  It really works the same way on Highwire.

Joe.

Um toys......."You can go to ebid.com and for $49.99 life membership list a million items with no final value fee's."

Unfortunately ebid.com has gone out of business.  The domain name is available for lease for $1000 a month on a joint venture deal.   I guess all of those that paid $49.99 for their life memberships are screwed.

Folks nothing is free.   Someone always gets the bill. 

Joe

not great new to me either. Guess I have to cancel my account..

email sent i bet i wont be alone in leaving highwire

Joe,

If you are not an employee (which I suspect you are) of highwire, they should hire you.  I agree with you that nothing is free in life, but you also have to realize that this is a 200% increase in price.  If I had raised the price on movie tickets (my prior life) at one of my theatres from $7.00 to $21.00, or popcorn from $5.00 to $15.00 overnight, what do you think the reaction would have been.  I'll bet you it would be the same reaction that is being seen here!  Just a thought!

Jeff

increase yes i agree but not so much in one go just unfair wix has same price estore with flash video and mp3 can be added also

so when my months up thats where i will go as you seem to not respect legacy members enuff

To cover your cost increase, skip one cheap restaurant per month, or work just a tad harder to sell one or two more items. It's that simple.

Yeah raising the price $20.00 a month for me! When my quantity discounts wont even save and highwire never figured out why. It has made my website look unprofessional to my buyers as it says they will get a quantity discount but then they go to check out and it's not there. And I can't tell you how may hour I have wasted updating those over and over after it said it was saved and it wasn't. I kept having to update those! Highwires explanation: We don't know why..........I think I will be looking for a new website provider as well....

I would also like this feature and it would help you gain international customers.  In Australia we have a similar thing to VAT called GST.  In order to integrate this into the system you would only need a "tax included in price" check box in the tax settings page.  If that box is checked then at the checkout calculate the tax backwards.  In Australia our tax rate is 10%.  So at the checkout you could have a formula that calculates it.  If i sell a product for $100, then the actual product price is $90.91 and the tax is $9.09

As i said this would help give you worldwide appeal. Also more options in the sidebar would be good like top sellers etc

woops had to forum posts open and pasted comment into the wrong one.  

But on the price increase $20 a month is not much and if you can't afford that there must be issues with your business model.  I am with another service prover as well and they charge $100 a month and only have a few more features than highwire.  With the higher price it means that highwire will become more stable and profitable, which will mean they can get more support staff and developers.  That will in turn bring more features and help boost your sales.  So in reality you should get more sales and make more money and so should highwire, making highwire viable for the long term.  It is a situation where everyone should benefit and give all the storefronts a more professional look. It is not upto highwire to charge well below market rate just so some people can make an extra $10 a month.

Joe -

FYI - ebid's site is ebid.net, not ebid.com.  And they are still in operation.

I'm glad to hear it.  I just saved $5/ mth.  I totally agree with amartin too!

After reading everyones comments, I can't believe people are going to leave Highwire for $10 per month.  If this price increase affects your Breakeven point that much, you need to pack it in.  I think there is great value with Highwire.  I just opened my second site on this platofrm and I'm here to stay!

Keep it up Highwire team!!

There are plenty of alternatives out there. I really don't think everyone not being able to afford the increase should "pack it in".

If you take Paypal and don't take regular credit cards, you could pay $5 a month for hosting and install a simple Zen Cart. You'll have to learn how to do the install and how to update it, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be better off and learn a lot. There is also other alternatives like Vendio, which offers a free store if you don't need integration. There are marketplace sites like Bonanza, eBid even eCrater and so on where you can list stuff and only pay if it sells.

If you can't afford the bump now, there are other sites where you can list your items for free. Their prices have stayed the same for a really long time, and don't fluctuate as often as they do here. I am sure the legacy plans will stay the same for a while, but time goes by fast, so before we know it, the prices will get changed all around again. If you can't afford it now, you might as well just learn someplace new while the selling season is slow. You have enough time to transfer your store over somewhere and get it all ready for Fall.

Greg -

I appreciate you clarifying that point!  The way I read the initial announcment was that if we wanted to choose a legacy plan, we would have to do it by July 1.  I understood that we could pick a legacy plan, then later switch to a standard plan if necessary, but didn't realize we could pick a standard plan now and switch to a legacy plan later on.

David

I agree with you all that say a 300% price increase is nothing, and that in the big scheme of things its still a great price. But not every seller is in the exact boat that you are. How many left eBay because of a couple percentage points.. What everyone is missing is the rationale. The price increase is readily compared to "the other guys"  not to new services, platforms or new templates.. Yes a few new templates here n there..but what is available and can be done today, nowhere close.  Nontheless...the justification is based on the other sites..and when they raise their prices, as they will, then the door opens again here..and so on..and so on..and of course the same sellers will say, its still a good deal, as the others charge more..Of course Highwire says they have no plans to increase prices, what would they say during a current hike. But there is no guarantee even for 1 year! There is no mention of new stuff, I would consider staying...if new exciting templates were being offered, much more options on the home page, widgets, etc..ability to move things around..and before you all start screaming i can "Pay" to have a custom template made...do I pay everytime I want to change/upgrade my home page and move things..? Ummm yup. No,..the ability to move things and set up pages is easy, ive used Ning.com and they make it very easy to do so.

Like I said, I would consider staying, I do like very much what Im getting, but the writing is on the wall, and Highwire needs to assure us (at least for awhile) and make our decision a no brainer with new exciting features. As it is now ebid.net and even eBay (with huge traffic flow) is now in the same park.. Its not fair for those of you to say to pack it in if some of us consider a 300% high...when gas jumps 20% for no real reason, I bet you say its still pretty cheap..No! I bet you changed your habits and were pissed. Well,..alot of us here now must change our habits.

worldoftoycars,

I agree with you on the extra features needed.  I would be happy to pay even $49.95 (don't get any ideas Thomas ;-)  as long as we had some decent templates to work with. I don't have enough time on my hands to perfect html and java and flash to make my site look any better, but for free I can hop on wix.com and make a killer looking page that makes me look like a pro.  Just sayin, more templates and such would make the deal even sweeter for some.

Greg-

Thanks for clarifying that for me, I was concerned that once I opted into one of the standard plans I'd lose my legacy options and while I'm not going to be hitting my sales limit any time in the slow sales summer months, I was concerned about going to the much higher rate plans in the higher sales seasons which would make staying here a lot less attractive. Being able to opt back into the legacy plan is great news for me.

"If you are not an employee (which I suspect you are) of highwire, they should hire you.  I agree with you that nothing is free in life, but you also have to realize that this is a 200% increase in price.  If I had raised the price on movie tickets (my prior life) at one of my theatres from $7.00 to $21.00, or popcorn from $5.00 to $15.00 overnight, what do you think the reaction would have been.  I'll bet you it would be the same reaction that is being seen here!  Just a thought!"

Well that didn't go right.  I don't know if it was me, or a Highwire glitch! :)

I'm not an employee of Highwire, but I am an employee of amazingkeys.com.  I would love to sell you some car keys and remotes, but I can't sell you a Highwire product.

Joe