March 30
New Pricing Plans
Changes, they’re a coming April 30, 2011. They’re all good, and will make recurring billing easier, and cheaper to get started. First, a quick overview of what’s going on:
What Changes?
- Paypal integration
- Hosted payment pages
- Quick start wizard
- Lower entry price
Why
To make it easier for startups to get started up, we’re significantly lowering the barrier to entry for our recurring billing system. We’ll make the billing side of your business as automated and simple as possible, so you can focus on what you do best.
Who
All of our customers, but especially those of you who are just starting out and need to spend your time focusing on your core business instead of billing and customer management.
When
All upgrades and new pricing options will be released April 30, 2011.
Details
Paypal
We are integrating Paypal so you can start billing customers within hours or even minutes of signing up, instead of weeks or days. Paypal will be available to customers using our API as well as those of you who choose to use our new hosted payment pages.
Hosted Payment Pages
In order to alleviate the pain caused by PCI compliance, merchant account applications, and API integration, we’re offering a super-simple Hosted Payment Page option. All you do is plug in your pricing plans and billing solution (Paypal or merchant account if you have one), and you have a live billing site up and running in no time.
Setup Wizard
To make setting up your account easier, and faster to dive into, we created an elegant Setup Wizard for CheddarGetter. It makes the experience of setting up your billing system a lot more enjoyable. It’s quick and painless.
New Pricing Plans
All existing customers will be grandfathered on their current plan. “Free” plan subscribers may stay on that plan indefinitely as long as they have fewer than 20 customers.
- Starting Up
- Paypal integration
- Active community support forum
- Hosted payment pages
- Setup wizard
- Unlimited customers
- Unlimited transactions
- Up to $3,000 monthly revenue
- Cost: $19/month and $0.25/transaction
- Blowing Up
- Free gateway included (save up to $20/month)
- CheddarGetter service team priority email support
- Multiple gateways and merchant accounts supported
- Paypal integration
- Active community support forum
- Hosted payment pages
- Unlimited customers
- Unlimited transactions
- Unlimited monthly revenue
- Cost: $79/month and $0.20/transaction
- Enterprise Level
- All “Blowing Up” features plus:
- Bulk discount rates
- Elevated support
- Cost: Contact us for rates
* Beginning April 30, 2011, Starting Up plans will be discounted to $9/mo from the actual price of $19/mo. Those customers who sign up at the discounted rate will pay only $9/mo in perpetuity. That is the flat monthly rate; transaction charges are not discounted.
Current Customers
What does this mean for current customers?
If you’re not paying us anything now, you can continue not paying us (as long as you remain below the current 20 customer threshhold). Before April 30, 2011 you can feel free to lock in any current plan we offer. If you feel that your business fits well in any of our current pricing models, you can lock that rate in before April 30, 2011 and we’ll grandfather that price for the life of your account, until you decide to change, or until you exceed that plan’s limitations.
Can I switch to the Starting Up plan and still use a gateway?
If you’re currently using CheddarGetter to bill customers, you will need to either stay on your current plan or switch to Blowing Up. The Starting Up plan does not provide access to gateways, only Paypal.
What happens after April 30, 2011?
After April 30, 2011, all new customers will start with a free account, and will then need to choose Starting Up or Blowing Up plans when they are ready to go live and start billing customers. After April 30, 2011, our current plans will not be available to anyone who did not subscribe to them by April 30, 2011.
Why Are We Doing This?
CheddarGetter was founded by entrepreneurs, and we understand the challenges associated with starting a company. We also understand that with SaaS, you don’t need a building full of people to start a company. In fact, some of you probably only have one or two co-founders and a shared office. You definitely don’t need a billing department or even a dedicated billing person. If you do, we’re probably not the right tool for you.
Simply put, CheddarGetter, and billing automation in general, allows freedom. Whether this is your first home-office or your tenth LLC, your vision can be realized much faster by using tools like CheddarGetter, Google Apps, Basecamp, and a whole host of cloud-based services that are designed to cut down on infrastructure requirements.
Questions and Answers
Are you making all existing “Free for First 20” customers jump to the $19/mo + $0.25/tx plan as of April 30, or are they grandfathered?
NO, NO, NO! All existing customers will be grandfathered on their current plan. “Free” plan subscribers may stay on the that plan indefinitely as long as they have fewer than 20 customers.
If grandfathered, will these free customers be able to make the leap to the new $19/mo + $0.25/tx plan when ready?
Yes and no. You may move to any plan which fits your usage and is available at the time you wish to make the change. The Starting Up plan does not include support for credit card gateways – only PayPal. If you are currently using or plan to use a traditional credit card gateway, you must be on the Blowing Up plan if you make the change after April 30, 2011. If you want gateway support, you might consider moving to the $39/mo plan before April 30, 2011.
Is the CheddarGateway still priced the same? ($20/mo and $0.15/tx)
Yes, but only if you’re on a legacy plan (available plans prior to April 30, 2011). The CheddarGateway monthly and transaction fees will be included with the Blowing Up plan. CheddarGateway will be available at no extra charge when subscribed to the Blowing Up plan. Monthly credit card processing fees, per-transaction fees and cardholder data vault fees are included. Other gateway add-on services (e.g., iSpyFraud service) will still be an additional charge.
How does the free trial interplay here?
All plans will continue to include a one month free trial. In other words, once you sign up for a paid plan, you will not be billed until one month after signup. If you cancel your account before the end of the first month, you will not be charged.
Pricing Plan Scenarios
Here are a few possible pricing scenarios with associated revenues and costs:
100 customers paying you $10 per month with Paypal
$1,000 revenue
$19/mo + $25 transactions = $44 in costs
100 customers paying you $25 per month with Paypal
$2,500 revenue
$19/mo + $25 transactions = $44 in costs
500 customers paying you $39 per month with Credit Card
$19,500 revenue
$79/mo + $100 transactions = $179 in costs
1000 customers paying you $10 per month with Credit Card
$10,000 revenue
$79/mo + $200 transactions = $279 in costs
1000 customers paying you $39 per month with Credit Card
$39,000 revenue
$79/mo + $200 transactions = $279 in costs