Are there any plans to make membership less expensive?

[gjcarew]

I'm also a member of GSAS. For $15 per year you get:

- Breeder's award program

-Horticulture award program

- Conservation award program

- Access to video archive of speakers (many of the same people that Aquarium Co-op has)

- Monthly newsletters

- Checking out aquarium-related books and DVD's from the club library

- A club PAR meter

- Monthly auctions

- Moderated facebook groups and a separate buying and selling group

- Annual home show

 

I realize with Aquarium Co-op's decentralized club idea some of these can be harder to pull off, but $5 per month/ $60 per year is not even in the same ballpark as other aquarium clubs in terms of value. I know YouTube has a flat "channel membership" fee, but it's too high for me to justify. 

Forgive me if this has already been discussed, but any thoughts?

[Streetwise]

I hope that some of my membership fee goes towards hosting this excellent forum.

[CT_]

For a while you could get 6mo for 20$ iirc.  I don't know if thats still a thing.  its up to youtube.  I think different people value things differently.  GSAS is a bargain IMO.  I think the general idea is that Cory wants to keep all the highest value things as public as possible so that its not money gated to the less well off.  So I think it's up to you if you value silly updates, some talks, and whatever else bonus happens.  Personally, I won't judge anyone for thinking its too expensive for them, but I know a lot of people are happy to pay.  To each their own.

 

Side note: its the 20$+ super chats in Cory's live streams that blow my mind.  They must be high rollers 😉

[Ken]

I consider my membership to be a Thank You note for all the information I have received from all the YouTube videos, blogs on the website and this forum. After the tanks are up and running buying some food and EZ Green ain't going to keep the bills paid and the info flowing. 

[Cory]

No intention of making membership cheaper. We only plan to keep adding more benefits over time.

[CT_]

I'm not sure what you're getting at.  Just take the "free" and buy from coop or don't and if the member only perks aren't good enough for you then don't sign up.

 

 

[Atitagain]

I feel like the $5 per month is a bargain for the type of knowledge I receive. The excellent way it’s delivered, and the perks that come with it already and future. But the best value of it IMO is how much of it goes back into education and promoting the hobby. 
C.A.R.E.

[StevesFishTanks]

I am a member of a few local clubs.  They are $15 to $20 per year usually.  Some things to take into consideration is that at local clubs you can auction fish and plants. Even the BAP fish are auctioned off, usually as a 100% donation to the club. The local clubs keep a percentage of the auction sale price and it can also get a percentage of goods sold on their facebook groups depending on club rules.  The local clubs are staffed and managed by members who are donating their time, more than just showing up to a meeting, to the club.  

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I would pay 10 a month if the fee didn't go through youtube. 🤢

[Scapexghost]

On 11/17/2021 at 5:48 PM, gjcarew said:

I'm also a member of GSAS. For $15 per year you get:

- Breeder's award program

-Horticulture award program

- Conservation award program

- Access to video archive of speakers (many of the same people that Aquarium Co-op has)

- Monthly newsletters

- Checking out aquarium-related books and DVD's from the club library

- A club PAR meter

- Monthly auctions

- Moderated facebook groups and a separate buying and selling group

- Annual home show

 

I realize with Aquarium Co-op's decentralized club idea some of these can be harder to pull off, but $5 per month/ $60 per year is not even in the same ballpark as other aquarium clubs in terms of value. I know YouTube has a flat "channel membership" fee, but it's too high for me to justify. 

Forgive me if this has already been discussed, but any thoughts?

Membership doesn't provide newsletters or a moderated forum, those are free. If and when the co-op provides the 5% discount to members, it will be impossible to justify financially any less than $5 a month, especially when you consider youtube's cut. Regular costumers would practically get membership for free.

I would love to see a breeder's award program. Where i am you could drive 12 hours in any direction and not find an aquarium club, so the ability to participate online would be fantastic. I believe cory mentioned something like a leaderboard for the bap, and that would be a ton of fun. 

[Cory]

On 11/17/2021 at 9:03 PM, Scapexghost said:

Membership doesn't provide newsletters or a moderated forum, those are free. If and when the co-op provides the 5% discount to members, it will be impossible to justify financially any less than $5 a month, especially when you consider youtube's cut. Regular costumers would practically get membership for free.

I would love to see a breeder's award program. Where i am you could drive 12 hours in any direction and not find an aquarium club, so the ability to participate online would be fantastic. I believe cory mentioned something like a leaderboard for the bap, and that would be a ton of fun. 

The discount is already in for members via discount code posted once a month. The integration is the part lagging behind. We are in the final stages though. I believe once a developer is back from vacation, and makes 1 wording change, we'll start letting members try it out then release to all members.

 

A perk I didn't see mentioned was the goodie bags at local events. At our store event, members got $25 in product for being a member.

[Streetwise]

The YouTube channel provides a lot of value. I have been analyzing all my streaming subscriptions, and my watch time, which helps me think about this in context.

The forum is gold, and unlike my previous aquarium forum, I don’t have to pay for more image storage, and the image quality here is better. I had to get a paid Flickr account before, and jump through hoops to embed images. Not here!

I also don’t have to see any ads here. The automatic embedded links go to the Aquarium Co-Op store, and are not intrusive at all.

As a moderator, I donate my time, not just to keep this place friendly and non-judgmental, but also use some of my IT skills in the background.

The forum has been great for my mental health and that of other members, not to mention keeping our wet pets alive! Top value in my book.

[Torrey]

On 11/17/2021 at 5:48 PM, gjcarew said:

I'm also a member of GSAS. For $15 per year you get:

- Breeder's award program

-Horticulture award program

- Conservation award program

- Access to video archive of speakers (many of the same people that Aquarium Co-op has)

- Monthly newsletters

- Checking out aquarium-related books and DVD's from the club library

- A club PAR meter

- Monthly auctions

- Moderated facebook groups and a separate buying and selling group

- Annual home show

 

I realize with Aquarium Co-op's decentralized club idea some of these can be harder to pull off, but $5 per month/ $60 per year is not even in the same ballpark as other aquarium clubs in terms of value. I know YouTube has a flat "channel membership" fee, but it's too high for me to justify. 

Forgive me if this has already been discussed, but any thoughts?

I am disabled. I can't afford the monthly fee.... but I can afford to fill out Google surveys (about 15 minutes a week) and other 'tasks' to 'earn' Google bucks (which I collect every Friday), and that's been a surprisingly easy way to pay my membership fee each month. 

I have to say, for the quality of the Co-op videos, $5/month is cheap. I can't think of any other membership that has yielded the same caliber of information, much less *friends* as my Co-op membership. 

As someone who is currently relearning editing (now that actual cellophane is no longer cut and spliced back together) and I have mad respect for Jimmy's skills. Most people don't realize that for every 2 hour live stream there is a minimum of one hour prep-work, and for every 15 minute 'short' there's a minimum of 15 hours of prep/filming/editing... and the DaVinci full software is not cheap...

So huge thanks to Cory, Zenzo, Candy, Jimmy, Dean, Robert and everyone else who make the streams possible, who make the videos, and who keep improving the Aquarium Co-op experience, regularly. 

Most businesses get comfortable, and then rest on their laurels. 

The Co-op is one of the few businesses I have seen, maintain a family atmosphere with employees while also pushing the parameters to be an ever improving business. 

Thank you