VIP or not?
I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to pay for a VIP membership. Are there any other benefits aside from the extra tokens? Have there been any special "VIP only" privileges? I'm not interested in purchasing any of the commercial icons; I'm just here for the Free Deliveries.
I just can't justify spending almost $50 for an extra 20 units of imaginary currency.
(Also, since I'm curious, is there no way for an individual to delete blog entries, or do they have to be deleted by someone else?)
Get updates with RSS
Be the first to know about new products and free stuff from IconBuffet. Subscribe to our RSS feed:
Find work or post a listing at Authentic Jobs.
miklb
on Aug 06, 2007
the other benefit for VIP members that I use is that you get a discount on their $$ icons. Many of the basic icon sets are only $5 for VIP members. A great perk.
Stratification on Aug 06, 2007
There have been additional VIP perks hinted at, but nothing has happened on that front recently.
For me the decision was simple. All it took was using a set in one commercial project and the year was paid for. For most people though, the decision isn't that easy.
janmaru on Aug 06, 2007
blogs can be deleted only by the chefs...
you can update the title with [closed] or something like that...
'bout VIP you should ask yourself... you feel painful to pay $50 dollars to have only 20 extra units each month?
well there was a doctor in Bombay who had patients who would pay $50 dollars to be kicked in the a$$ by him...
ciao
jmnovak on Aug 06, 2007
Well, that's 20 units per month for 12 months, so 240 units of imaginary currency you get for your $50... :-)
elnitido52 on Aug 06, 2007
20 extra tokens per month = 240 tokens per year = 1200 extra stamps per year = 100 extra stamps per month
FallenAngel on Aug 06, 2007
It depends what you use the icons for really. As Stratification says, if you use the sets in commercial projects the VIP pays for itself. I now find myself thinking, "Hmmmm...nice new IB set, now what sort of site could I design that goes with that?" LOL!
...and of course where else can you legally have so much fun for only $50 a year? :-p
FallenAngel on Aug 06, 2007
...and if you break it down, it's only just over 13 cents a day for VIP. What else can you do for 13 cents that's so much fun?
VIP = more tokens
More tokens = more stamps
More stamps = more points
More points = more tokens
More tokens = more totally gorgeous icons ;-)
dyar on Aug 06, 2007
In the past there have been Stickers and Amsterdam High Seas for VIP's. Josh said at one point that they were going to try and do something special for VIP's each month, but that something hasn't happened in a while (since I went VIP). $48 bucks is about 8 cocktails or one dinner out. Not much in the whole scheme of things.
JBVisions on Aug 06, 2007
I'm staying VIP until the "cool" thing turns up at the very least.
dyar on Aug 06, 2007
Mine is paid up for a year. Just drink one less beer a month and you've got it covered. If you have a PayPal Debit Card use it as a credit card on the regular sign up page and get 1 1/2% cash back.
gswd on Aug 06, 2007
My reason(s) for going VIP have not all been covered here yet. Yes, the discount was a benefit, but I already had all the starter sets, and most of the Blog/CMS sets have not struck a cord with me - yet.
At the time of the relaunch I believe that I already had most, if not all, of the sets. So the extra tokens was not a factor at that point. Now it would be, because so many new sets are coming out each month, and 10 tokens would not keep me current.
My reason for going VIP was to give back to the Chefs. At that point, I felt that the icons that we had been given under the old system had been wonderful work. And then when they launched the new website, and were not asking for a membership fee, or charging for the new fun icon sets, I just wanted to let them know that their work was appreciated, and saying "thank you" just wasn't enough for me.
My only regret is that since they have launched the new site, they have been so busy fixing problems, and feeding us from the free buffet, that they have not released any new retail (or for purchase) sets.
redpoint on Aug 06, 2007
Now I live in a third world country where my whole family can eat 4 days with U$ 48, but I guess since I was a newyorker until 3 months ago I still having my american mentality because I am thiking to go VIP, nobody in my country would spend that money in icons that they never use (haven't used any set other than for fun) but what the heck... I'll do it.
bdelisio on Aug 06, 2007
There is no reason to keep the VIP membership if you decide at a future date you don't want it anymore. Your account remains the same except for the number of tokens you are allotted every month.
I paid for the VIP membership for two months when I was very active here and have since returned to non-paying status.
I think paying for a VIP membership is a total waste of money for those who have acquired all or almost all of the free deliveries, but many still do.
bdelisio on Aug 07, 2007
I would also consider the chronic service problems with this site before throwing my money into it.
FallenAngel on Aug 07, 2007
My reason for going VIP was to give back to the Chefs...I just wanted to let them know that their work was appreciated, and saying "thank you" just wasn't enough for me.
I agree. Yes, the extra tokens means you can collect the sets quicker, but for me, being able to use the icons on sites (and I'm getting very inventive as to how I can use them) saves me a small fortune. Nowhere else can you get such good quality icons for free, and $48 for VIP is a very small price for a big thank you to the chefs.
As bdelisio says though the current technical problems though are going to put a lot of people off going VIP.
JBVisions on Aug 07, 2007
I would also consider the chronic service problems with this site before throwing my money into it.
Now we know what the problem is. You keep typing the same thing over and over again and slowing it all up! ;)
bdelisio on Aug 07, 2007
Two months ago the Chefs claimed a membership of 100,000. About two months ago I did a Google search [site:iconbuffet.com/people] and came up with about 24,000 members. The same search today produces about 42,000 members.
I did a survey of 337 current members, about one-third (34.5%) of these members are VIPs. At US$6 a head that yields the following revenue:
If you use the Chefs number from two months ago, 100k members, the revenue IB pulls down is about US$200,000 per month.
From the two month old Google results, 24k members, the revenue IB pulls down is about US$48,000 per month.
From thecurrent Google results, 42k members, the revenue IB pulls down is about US$84,000 per month.
How much money does it take to keep this site up and running 24x7???
debbye on Aug 07, 2007
@gswd & FA - i, too, want to show my support for the Chef's & the current work they do, as well as work done over the years. as i have stated in other threads [i think] i've been collecting for ages & was never in a position to "show support" until recently.
& i can collect the sets faster.
& keep up with new releases.
& i can still wish that there will be speedy solutions to the speed problems!
bdelisio on Aug 07, 2007
BTW I'm available for hire :)
JBVisions on Aug 07, 2007
I have an annual VIP. There's nothing as cheap that's so entertaining. On top of that, getting good quality icons without usage restrictions and VIP surprises although I'm still waiting for one of those.
iqon on Aug 07, 2007
@bdelisio - what percentage of VIPs have annual versus monthly subscription? Annual is only $4 per month. How many chefs are on the payroll?
bdelisio on Aug 07, 2007
If you assume 50% of the VIPs are on the annual plan then you would multiply the above figures by 5/6.
bdelisio on Aug 07, 2007
I know I'm going straight to IB hell for this post. Bye-bye free deliveries!
rajr19 on Aug 07, 2007
its 100,000 + members but a lot of them don't have usernames (just user ids) this is because of the old ib.
dyar on Aug 07, 2007
bdelisio said: How much money does it take to keep this site up and running 24x7???
Apparently more than they are getting because the Site is un-useable a high percentage of every day.
renbot on Aug 07, 2007
@dyar
I think the unacceptable amount of downtime is the main reason why I'm holding off on getting a VIP membership. It's getting ridiculous.
bdelisio on Aug 07, 2007
With a budget of US$100,000.00 to US$250,000.00 per month (lets not forget ad revenue) any descent project manager should be able to keep this site up and running.
BTW did I mention I'm available??? :-)
JBVisions on Aug 07, 2007
Always an ulterior motive :0)
bdelisio on Aug 07, 2007
Had to switch to IE7 from firefox to be able to delete the multiple posts above. Anyone else have firefox issues?
renbot on Aug 07, 2007
I've had issues with Firefox on Windows, Firefox on Mac OS X, and Safari on OS X. Never tried loading the page on IE7. However, at certain times I don't have any problems at all loading the site, so I don't know if it's really a browser issue.
gswd on Aug 07, 2007
I use Firefox on Windows, Mac, and Linux without incident. I never have a clean display when I use IE 6 or 7 in Windows XP or Vista. Opera on Mac looks like it is ok as well.
I will qualify that my Firefox installs are not enhanced with any plugins for java blocking, ad blocking, site editing/troubleshooting. They are just stock FF installs.