Thanks for the reassurance. And I totally understand SQ reasons for looking for a solid financial partner, specially if we benefit from it :). At first, as you know, I was happy with the merge. 

To clarify, Smugmug does have customer support for my customers too. And is extremely good. And to their photographers client they have 24/7 support, including online chat support. 

My concern with Pictage is that the way they explained their reasoning for the hike felt like they were trying to fool me into believing it was a decision made to help me when in fact was a purely financial decision to increase their revenues. They adorned with "things that we are giving you" when in reality they were things to increase their profits even more. I rather then just been honest and say we just cannot make any profit with this so we have to charge you more and leave it at that instead of trying to make those that did not agree like cheap photographers that could not spend just $10 more a month.

The bottom line for me is that Pictage is a premium service that does not offer premium service. If Pictage wants my business they have to offer me something that is worth what they are charging. And honestly, they do not any longer. Smugmug may be "prosumer" but gives me premium services that Pictage does not offer for a lower cost allowing me to keep more of my profits. 

My support has been and is to you guys, the real ShootQ.  

Ha ... Well.  I don't drink much Kool aid myself so I'm not terribly interested in convincing anyone else to drink it.  Andrew is correct. There is no plan to increase ShootQ pricing for many reasons.  The first is that the base price is already high enough.  The second is that ShootQ offers no services that are of interest to non-professionals.  (ShootQ doesn't offer prints, books, canvases, acrylics, albums, etc).  So we don't have the same challenges in this environment that we've had on Pictage.

Finally, rather than paraphrase my words I figured I'd go ahead and explain our justification here as well.  The $19 Starter price point on Pictage attracted a lot of folks who were not professional photographers.  Some were experimenting with the idea of becoming pros and some had no intention at all of being Pros.  The challenge for us was how to tell the difference.  Additionally, these clients dramatically increased Pictage's customer service costs through both photographer and their consumer generated issues (having nothing at all to do with Pictage - issues such as images being out of focus, a photographer not calling their customer back, etc).  We had to find a way to drop these clients from the service in order to focus our resources on the clients who are a best fit for our services.

I did not want us to be making subjective judgements about one client's viability vs another.  So the solution that David suggests, where we would somehow decide whether or not a client is qualified, was considered unmanageable.  We'd much rather put our clients in a position where they decide for themselves whether or not the services we offer are a good fit for their business.  If they are, great.  If they aren't that's ok too.  There are a lot of other service providers out there who offer different things and something else may work better.  I'm a big believer that if you try to be all things for all people then you are likely to end up truly serving no one.

These things always foster some frustration and there are always folks who have a different perspective.  I understand that.  We listen.  In this case we know that the decision we made is the right one.  Many will quit.  As someone eloquently pointed out on the Pictage forum, Pictage is not trying to be the biggest service provider.  We're trying to be the best at serving the customers we serve.  Ironically, many of the customer service challenges that David points out in his post are created by the very problem we're trying to solve.  If I'm spending time on the phone explaining to someone what the various controls in Lightroom do then sometimes it's hard to answer the phone when another client has a question.  Eliminating these challenges gives us the chance to focus on those who we serve best.

I will never convince everyone that I'm right and I'm not really interested in trying.  I just wanted to make sure my point of view was clear.  That way you can either agree or disagree on a factual basis.  And know that while I may not always respond or respond in the way that you would like, I always listen.

JC

BTW - The things we added to the package - as evidenced in the customer reaction on the Pictage forum post, are the things that were most commonly requested by Starter users.  So adding these to the service was a way to make the price increase more tenable.

Again, there are always different ways to view these things and David obviously has an alternate view and is making his choice.  We are also dedicated to the "real ShootQ" and have continued to grow and support the service offerings as Andrew points out.

My concern with Pictage is that the way they explained their reasoning for the hike felt like they were trying to fool me into believing it was a decision made to help me when in fact was a purely financial decision to increase their revenues. They adorned with "things that we are giving you" when in reality they were things to increase their profits even more. I rather then just been honest and say we just cannot make any profit with this so we have to charge you more and leave it at that instead of trying to make those that did not agree like cheap photographers that could not spend just $10 more a month.

I think this is an unfounded and unnecessary concern.  In my experience Jim has always been very direct and upfront with the reasons for Pictage's business decisions.  I believe the reasons for this were very well articulated over in your thread on the Pictage forums, by another member who will be leaving because of the price change.  The price change is so that Pictage can hone their services and focus on who they are in business to serve, professional photographers; not to say that you aren't a professional but there are a lot of folks in the starter plan who are obviously not.  

Based on the Pictage forum responses, the overwhelming majority of Pictage's forum user base is in full support of this price increase and the strength and focus it will bring to their business partner, Pictage.  I used to work at a movie theater and many people would complain about the price of the enormously large popcorn they would buy however, they would still buy it which means it was obviously worth it despite the price.  If what Pictage offers is worth it to you then you'll continue to pay for it and if not then you'll go elsewhere to find someone who will offer a suite of services that meets your needs at a price point that fits your budget.  However, I don't feel that your concerns that Pictage is being dishonest and trying to fool you are not inline with the character of the company or its leadership.

Jim, let me see if I understand you right. 

Problem: Too many non-pro increase cost for Pictage. (I guess those non-pro never created profits for Pictage to offset the cost of servicing them).

Solution: Increase cost so those non-pro go elsewhere.

Problem solved: Pictage cost lowered.

And in the process Pictage made a hefty profit from the increase.

The Problem Jim, is that you are solving YOUR problem by passing the buck to the Pos. lol. Of course, I am no fool, and totally understand that those 5,000 starter users (just to use a number) created an extra $50,000 a month for Pictage. 

Yes, Jim, I agree. If Pictage is not a fit for someone business there are choices (thank God) and we are free to go wherever we feel work best for us. But what sadden me is that a company that I trusted and liked try to justify a business decision to solve their problem by making it look as it is good for us. It is not.

Those products you added to the starer group are nice but does not represent a real offset to the increase expense. For most of us is a placebo. 

In my opinion, all those things that Pictage did the last few years to convince me that Pictage had changed were shattered in just one email. 

I was a Pictage Pro level and downgraded down to starter level convinced by your own website guidance that it was the right price point for me. And by the number it was, spite of the outrageously high 20% commission fee and higher print prices. In your website I had even considered to stick around and not complete my move to Smugmug, that is until your email hit my inbox. 

Although is hard to perceive tone through a post I assure you I am not writing any of these as a rant or to discredit Pictage. I always recommended Pictage for those who wanted to focus on online sales as the best tool for that.  ANd my decision to go else where was not motivated by the email or the increase, that just sealed the fate, but purely a business decision of concluding that Pictage is not the only game nor the best in town but a very expensive one. And the increase just confirmed it that, even at the lowest level.

Finally, I wont get into a discussion why Smugmug or any other service may be better or not. I think your numbers will eventually show you if your decision and the mindset that motivated it was right or not. I will only let you know as I know many has already told you, I think it was a bad decision.

Wish you all the best. 

Ben, I guess while there those that are willing to join the kool aid club companies like Pictage will thrive. Only a fool will celebrate when they get a price increase and nothing real in return. 

Wait....Pictage offers kool-aid now too?  That's a joke by-the-way.

I wouldn't say I'm a kool-aid sort of person.  I do, however, understand the business decision.  Culling our client base is exactly what we've been working hard to do in our own business as we've been phasing out all the low-end clients who ended up being more of a cost to our business than a benefit.  Our most demanding and entitled clients have always been those who could barely justify paying for our services.  Raising our prices has enabled us to focus on delivering better service and helped to garner the type of clients that we wish to do business with.  In this case, I don't see a price increase as getting nothing in return.  I'm sure my words mean nothing to you and I'm just wasting my time especially based on the rant you just posted over in the Pictage forums and that's ok.  You have a business to run and need to make decisions based on what you believe is best for that business.  I sincerely wish you the best in finding another place and partner.