Hacker News Reader

Comment by turtlebits | Hacker News Reader

Why would credits expire? I like the idea of pay per use, but expiring credits plus the ability to only purchase in preset increments is a really bad idea. Even worse is paying more for credits that lasts longer.

Extremely customer hostile pricing structure.

View on HN

Expiration because selling something that never expires is a permanent liability.

My friend had the idea that I could make all credits expire in 2 years (for the liability issue) and simply discount the cost/credit for larger numbers purchased at once, perhaps that would make it less confusing with the 7 days and 30 days options available currently? Perhaps combined with an option to repurchase the same amount automatically once your previous purchase expired/was used up would be better?

Thanks for the feedback, I thought the structure was actually customer-friendly (no subscriptions and lots of choice depending on your usage), but obviously I'm wrong from the feedback in this post. I'm definitely hearing that that's something I need to change.

"_*Permanent liability*_" Are you insane? You have the cash in-hand. The customer has made an interest-free loan to you. You're ACTIVELY trying to *DISCOURAGE* positive cashflow!?!?!?!?!?!

You should execute the exact opposite pricing scheme: provide discounts to your most loyal customers who are willing to provide you cashflow long in advance of your incurring an expense to provide services to them in order finance your operation.

I'm just trying to set explicit limits on liabilities. The alternative as I see it is to accept money to provide a service indefinitely, but have terms clauses that any purchased credits may be forfeited for any reason. Perhaps if that clause reads after more than 2 years from purchase then maybe that's fine. I'll think about it, thanks for the feedback.

I'm actually curious though, do many online platforms allow you to buy credits that never expire? The stock photography websites were one of my inspirations for the pricing scheme, and their credits certainly expire in a year or so.

Why not just let them be a permanent liability on the business?

Are you worried about claims in bankruptcy court or something?

It just feels wrong to perpetually owe many people with very little benefit for accepting that burden. I don't think there's much practical difference between forever and 2 years for a purchase like this, but for the business the difference is huge.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com