These comments aren't directed just at this forum but in general. It seems that more and more, customers are looking for hosting solutions and have extremely high expectations of not only what is in their plan but of support as well. However, they seem unwilling to pay for it. I see people coming aboard asking for unlimited this and unlimited that but only want to pay $2.99/mo.

Having run a hosting company in the past, we always tried to compete with service, support, and a relationship with the customer. We didn't compete on price and did very well.

Is it that simply times are changing or did we just happen to hit a "better" segment of the market?

While I was actively pursuing hosting customers as a business, I decided not to go for the cheap customer segment. Good customer service has to be worth something. I'd rather have (had) less clients. If I am 'too expensive' - there is a reason. Customers only looking for the cheapest deal, are not necessarily customers you want to have.

Chris

Very true nsusa. Although there were/are a heck of a lot of people in the cheap segment, it just never seemed worth it.

The companies that are hosting for $2.99/mo might have a lot of customers, but their profit margins have to be next to nothing. I think it all boils down to quantity vs. quality. Sure, these $2.99 companys may have several thousand clients, but they probably have a lot of unhappy clients that leave shortly after signing up. They just depend on their low prices to bring in 'replacement' business. But the companys with higher prices will work harder for the client because there is more at stake.

It's like buying a car. Buy a KIA. It drives you around like every other car. Buy a Mercedes or a Cadillac. It drives you around - but it is much more comfortable and of higher quality. These manufacturers don't aim at the cheap market segment (like KIA).

Similar approach for web hosting.

Chris

nsusa, the difference though is that you know your buying a kia. Your expectation are different than if you bought a mercedes. My point is that it doesn't seem consumers are aware of the difference.

It seems that hosting keeps getting cheaper. We have lowered our prices and added more resources to compete against other hosting companies. We could never go as low as some of them have gone. maybe the industry will change and things can get back to normal but I doubt it will as you have a lot of startups offering $1 and $2 hosting.

For the people who only go out to get the cheapest deal, this might be true. But many customers who are shopping around, know that the cheapest is not necessarily the best. So, they settle for a Chevy or Dodge instead of taking the KIA.

Chris

I think it has something to do with the fact that many hosting companies are now run by 12 year olds. But that's just me.