Listing Upgrade Question

[MrGForce +]

I had put in a listing and added ALL the extras to it such as Featured, Highlighted and Bold to see how it all looked and acted. All went well.

Then I went in to "My Listings" and clicked on the "Upgrade" link, and told it just to renew the listing for another period at x$ and left the other extras alone, where they indicated "No Thanks. After going through the checkout, my listing was extended time wize, however, the bold, highlighting and feature extras were gone. I went into the database and double checked, and they each indicated "N" in those fields for that listing.

That shouldn't have happened, should it. If the customer had just paid for those extra features, and now don't have them, simply because they wanted to extend the time their ad ran, they'd probably be upset, and I may loose them forever. I don't want to do that.

Is there a way to fix this in the "Upgrade" form, so that when someone comes in to Update their listing(s) that it doesn't re-write the special field information that's already in the listing? Or can it simply be made to ignore those feature fields or simply not show them at all if they are still active and paid for?

[Eric Barnes]

It is all in how you look at it. It was created this way so users who didn't purchase an extra option can then choose to do so when they are upgrading. Those that have elected the extra options have the choice to continue with them or take them off.

Whatever they choose here is what is stored for the ad details.

[seymourjames +]

This is the default behavior - if I understand correctly you upgraded time wise but said no thanks to the bold, featured, highlighted etc. Therefore it dod not give you those things because you did not request them. If you did it the other way, people could not then remove the extra options which they may wish to do.

[MrGForce +]

Thanks Eric.

What I'll do then is go in and add text to that form telling customers just what that upgrade form is for and how it works so they don't make the same assumptions as I did.

[MrGForce +]

Seymour;

This is one of those areas I don't see the logic in. If I had just purchased one or more of those special features, and paid to have them, why would I want to go in and remove them? Just a little confused here. Sorry.

[Mike-N-Tosh +]

The renewal price that was charged should be the renewal price as you set in the Ad listing package set up. When you went to "Renew/Upgrade" that listing, what price did it charge? Most likely you will see that it charged just the renewal price and did not add for upgraded features. It doesn't charge you the price that you initially paid for the listing with the upgrades.

Example:
Ad listing Package - single photo ad for 7 days
Price: $5.00
Renewal Price: $4.00

Upgrades (For the record why would you highlight and feature???)
Featured: $2.00
Highlight: $1.00
Bold: $1.00

Customer purchases this listing and adds ALL upgrades and is charged $5.00 + $2.00 + $1.00 + $1.00 = Total $9.00
Customer Renews/Updates this ad and does NOT add any upgrades. Customer total = $4.00
Customer Renews/Updates this ad and adds all upgrades (again) Customer is charged $4.00 + $2.00 + $1.00 + $1.00 = Total $8.00

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that I am.

[MrGForce +]

I think you're absolutely right Mike, except for the part concerning the special features. Right now, if I place an ad right now with all the extra features, and paid for those extra features, then go right back in to renew the ad to get the extra time and I pay the renewal fee, I will loose all the special features that I just paid for a couple minutes before.

But I now know why that takes place, because the extra features would need to also be purchased if you are purchasing extended time. I finally got that. I'm a little slow. Sorry.

I may simply remove that Upgrade link for now till I can figure out something that works in all situations. I don't want irate customers. I want happy ones.

Thanks again guys.

[seymourjames +]

I can see the logic both ways. That is just how it was designed. I suppose the best solution (from a sales and marketing perspective) would be for those attributes to be set by default to on and would need to be turned off if the customer wishes to remove them. Likewise, the initial checkout could be done this way as well. Its a bit more aggressive but many companies take the approach of customers having to opt out of things as opposed to opting into things. Generally speaking many people find it harder in a sale to have things taken away.

[MrGForce +]

Your right Seymour;

I'm just trying to think like the average visitor. They may like to start off with a free listing and then immediately want to add some or all of the other features.

My way of thinking would be to not allow renewals of the basic listing package until the # of days just before it expires. But, with that said, I still think it would be good for a customer to be able to say, buy more photos, more space, or whatever someone is offering in the higher end packages at any time during the listing period.

For me, I would like to be able to offer links in the Update for

1. More space
2. More photos
3. Feature, if not already purchased
4. Highlight, if not already purchased
5. Bold, if not already purchased

and not even offer the time until it's time for renewal. Then they can do it all over again if they want to.

This whole thing started because a Member created a Free listing, and within 3 days asked us how he could upgrade to one of our higher packages to be able to upload more photos and more description space. We thought it would be a simple operation, and as you can see, it has basically no solution at the present time except for getting another listing and starting all over from scratch, using cut and paste from the old to the new, which he's not doing. I know we can do it for him and just assign it to him in the admin, but we didn't want to have to do that for everyone.

We'll figure something out.

Thanks again guys for all your help and suggestions.


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[metroweb +]

MrGForce I would like the latest information you have made on a work-around on the "Upgrade" issue.

I am presently offering a free time period for visitors to use my site. I really prefer to get them to upgrade by paying for longer time periods and more features.

As it stands a visitor can try a free time period classified ad and then simply keep hitting the "Upgrade" link and adding more and more free time periods at no extra cost. Not good.

What is the effect if I just disable the "Upgrade" link? Can people still renew their ad from the email they receive notifying them their ad is about to expire?

I would like for the free time period ad takers to not be given an option for free upgrades and that once the ad taker has used the free option, he can't get another one.

Here are some sample rates charged by a small town newspaper:



Keep in mind those rates are only for "line ads".

With all the features in this software why does everyone feel they have to give everything away??

Here is the price structure I have in place. I would like any and all feedback on this post.



Sorry for the long post, but I really would like feedback from members.

Thanks for all help and suggestions.