Did gas prices suck the life out of adult sites?

[Leslie]

Do you think gas prices are behind the decline in membership sales across the country?

All the fun money is going to pay the other pump!

[Star Man]

Yes.

[Beaver Bob]

Its gas prices, its the summer slowdown, but most importantly its all the copyrighted content accessible for free at the illegal tubes sites, torrents and surfer boards.

[Cleo]

Money has gotten tight for many and it comes down to eating or buying porn memberships. Personally I think that many are too fat anyway.

[Toby]

FWIW, I'm on a pace to have one of my best months ever.

[Star Man]

Right now I got a site that used to do around 1:1200.Now it's doing 1:5575.I don't know if I should promote something new or if this is just because of the money situation.

Once I get around to building sites in the format,I'm hoping that might boost sales for me a bit but for now,my stuff just ain't biting.

[Simon]

Money has gotten tight for many and it comes down to eating or buying porn memberships. Personally I think that many are too fat anyway.

Yes... and to help combat the 'obesity epidemic' here, what America really needs is a candidate who'll encourage people to surf for porn and masturbate whenever they feel hungry.

Hmmm ... wondering now about how to build some kind of niche site to capitalize on that idea.

[Mr. Blue]

Originally Posted by Toby

FWIW, I'm on a pace to have one of my best months ever.

Actually this month has been pretty decent for me as well. However, I completely changed up what I was doing and I'm working more hours than I used to.

As for the topic...I always say porn is a cheaper than a date and it doesn't say no...there will always be a solid base of members.

I think if you're pushing any of the mega-consolidated-evil-empire-quietly-owning-a-tube-site on the side type sponsor...you might want to switch and see if you do better with the mom & pop type sites (no, not old people fucking, even though...hmm).

[Toby]

Originally Posted by Mr. Blue

...you might want to switch and see if you do better with the mom & pop type sites...

SSSSHHHHhhhhhhh, you're giving away one of my bestest secrets.

(it's also not a coincidence that over half of my traffic is non-US)

[Mr. Blue]

Originally Posted by Toby

SSSSHHHHhhhhhhh, you're giving away one of my bestest secrets.

(it's also not a coincidence that over half of my traffic is non-US)

*zips lips*

Like anyone is going to listen, lol, they're too hypnotized by a promo offering $1000 pps (I know in my lifetime I'm going to see someone offer that).

[ArtWilliams]

I was just finishing a blog entry and, as I sometimes do, I wanted to look up some info about the ladies in the scene. When I went to Google and after typing in their names I got the requisite tube and file sharing forum listings.

Having read this thread early this morning, I thought I would try and see how easy is was to get the scene I was flogging. Well, it was pretty easy. I joined the forum, replied thanks to the thread in question and was then given access to the file sharing site where the WMV file was located. Now, my free download is going to take over an hour to download but its free. No CCs, no money and if my experience is common -- no hassle!

I grew up in a world where you paid for things -- CDs, movies, etc. I've tried to instill that in my son. He said to me a month ago, "Dad, when I told a friend about a CD I'd bought, she looked at me like I was crazy. She said why would you buy something that you could get for free." I guess my point is, rightly or wrongly, most people will take free porn rather than pay for it.

Now, I am not saying you can't make a living at selling smut. Apparently, a lot are but the bar is being raised higher with each new tube and file sharing site.

[T Pat]

My sales suck and my little paysite's chargebacks are already 3 times what they were last year

[Cleo]

I guess one of the things to do is to try to find stuff to promote that can't be found easily on tube sites.

[ArtWilliams]

Wise words Cleo!

Funny, but I said to my wife yesterday that even if I wanted to I couldn't steal my music from file sharing sites. I like Jazz and Big Bands, and except for a few big names, you can find a whole lot of that on those types of sites. I think there is a lesson to be learned here that is applicable to the world of porn!

Originally Posted by Cleo

I guess one of the things to do is to try to find stuff to promote that can't be found easily on tube sites.

[hashbury]

This has also been one of my best months. Im on a very positive trend, the last three months my sales have only been increasing.

[Useless]

If the price of gas is stopping someone from purchasing porn, then maybe it's time for them to re-allocate some cash from their monthly cigarette, baseball cap and clever anti-gun control slogan tshirt budget. My 2 cents.

[plateman]

I think everyone would agree that there ratios arnt what they should be

yes I do believe that high everything prices except porn is the major thing holding things back a bit

put your self in the shoes of the average US consumer and aug is a bad month for most places except retail clothes and school supplies ect.

I remember when I first started working on cars at the dealers and other shops that aug was every year the worst for biz

my wife took my girls shopping for school clothes and she told me you wouldnt believe the deep discounts the stores had to get people to buy, and most stores she was in (not walmart) good quality clothing stores and she notices that everyone was buying only what was needed

and believe me the average US family that has kids is gonna be saving for xmas extra early this last quarter of the year

so you gotta work extra hard in the next few months to glide over the dips that come in this biz

promote under promoted sites and programs, target different people that have money left on there cards

the problem imo came years ago when credit was to easy to get and most over bought and now the last few years after you buy your everything expensive now and pay your 4 or 6 credit cards and people see month to month that after they pay those cards not much play money is left if any

things will get better, but google isnt helping much by showing the surfers the tube sites and such, but you really can't blame them

sales are way down for me this month, but I took a traffic hit

also my brother married and divoriced a stripper and a popular stip club in my town and even from what he tells me that the girls are seeing way lower tips from the drunk customers there, since the extra cost of gas, then most of those customers are smokers and cigs are taxed high so that = less money for the girls

same thing in our biz right now, unless you can find something that will sell with better richer surfers

[SheepGuy]

Traffic is up for me, sales are up as well, but not as much as they should be with the extra traffic. I think that economically the day of reckoning is at hand, but I don't think it will affect porn as much as it will affect sales in every other area of the economy. When times get tough and people can't afford to buy new toys constantly they'll play with the toy they were born with and porn is a very cheap accessory.
That said, if you're not marketing something unique or hard to find you'll likely be in for a slump.

[Lucifuge]

Originally Posted by T Pat

My sales suck and my little paysite's chargebacks are already 3 times what they were last year

Hi T Pat,
In my 'normal' biz, we do a hella lot of credit card transactions and get chargebacks usually from impatient people that can't stand to wait for a refund or exchange (we do a lot of eBay selling). Are chargebacks that common amongst people that subscribe to adult sites? How do the sponsors handle them? And how are you 'penalized' (if the case may be) for such transactions?
Thanks

[elKabong]

Tube sites have to have something to do with decreasing sales...

Just do a google search on "porn", "free porn" and "sex".

I wonder why google allows illegal sites to show up in the search results...

[T Pat]

Originally Posted by Lucifuge

Hi T Pat,
In my 'normal' biz, we do a hella lot of credit card transactions and get chargebacks usually from impatient people that can't stand to wait for a refund or exchange (we do a lot of eBay selling). Are chargebacks that common amongst people that subscribe to adult sites? How do the sponsors handle them? And how are you 'penalized' (if the case may be) for such transactions?
Thanks

I don't think chargebacks are any higher in adult, I do think money is tighter for my paysite's target market.
I use Verotel for a processor, there is no penalty for refunds (insufficient funds or ask Verotel for a refund)
A Chargeback is when they dispute the charge with their credit card company for that there is a charge of $3.80 (if I remember right) and if your chargebacks go over 2% my account can be suspended or additional security deposit or holdback percentage added.
I lumped my refunds and charge backs together to get the 3 times last year figure
I'm actually running 1/4 insufficient funds, 1/4 not happy with content, 1/2 chargebacks.
Expecting a Dear Pat letter any day now

[Bobc01]

I'm wondering how the 70% rise in gas and electric prices here in the UK will effect things, it's already tough enough for alot of people with the credit crunch, this is just adding insult to injury.

I don't think it's all down to tube sites, look at all the porn satellite channels that are springing up for as little as 4p per night with free access to their sites aswell.

[Leslie]

Wow, great replies...

The only thing positive we can think of about these "tube sites" stealing business is this:

Tube sites offer free images and quick free satisfaction, BUT, the resolution is very poor. I know that doesn't mean much now, but, when the general public is so used to bad visuals, they will come back to sites with good visuals and resolution.

Getting off to porn, is by "the image" not just the action of the image. A weak image and bad resolution offered by free tube sites will never take the place of better resolution of a content pay site provider.

Tube sites are popular now, cause they are free... but, they are not better than the source.

Stay strong for the long haul.

Tube sites sell "the sizzle" of the steak... but, their steak sucks. People will always come back for good steak...

Just like digital special effects in movies... sure, they look good, but people want the real thing.

..and if you want to see some real SIZZLE...and the real "steak" to back it up....

[SirMoby]

I think the end of summer and the Olympics had a bigger impact then gas prices. Both of those things kept people home. High gas prices keep people bored. Women's beach volleyball gave many plenty of long legged nudity to keep them happy.

Olympics are over. School is starting. In about 2 weeks things should be on the rise again.

[Star Man]

*I got those summer time slowdown blues *do*do*do* |band <- (playing slow)

I hope things pick up pretty soon.If not I'm going to be forced to drop a sponsor I love working with and find a new one.That could be a pain in the ass.