Price the relationship, not the content
Every membership site eventually learns the same lesson: subscribers do not renew because a gallery got bigger, they renew because someone answered. Your weekly price is really a promise about response time. Set it at a level you can still honour on your busiest week, because a missed reply costs more than a few dollars of margin.
Start lower than feels comfortable. A full list at $6.99 out-earns a half-empty list at $12.99, and it compounds — every renewing Friend is revenue you do not have to re-sell next week.
The four tiers, and what to charge in each
New
0–24 Friends
$4.99 – $6.99 / week
Price for volume, not margin. Your job in week one is proof: fast replies, a full gallery, and a reason to stay past the trial.
Rising
25–99 Friends
$6.99 – $9.99 / week
Retention data arrives here. Raise price only after two consecutive weeks where renewals beat cancellations.
Popular
100–499 Friends
$9.99 – $14.99 / week
Your split steps up to 50% at 100 Friends. Recurring revenue now outweighs new joins, so protect renewals above all else.
Elite
500+ Friends
$14.99 – $24.99 / week
Scarcity pricing works. Cap new spots, keep response times human, and let tips and gifts carry the upside.
The split steps: 35% → 50% at 100 → 65% at 500
Below 100 Friends, almost all of your income is new joins. Above 100, the maths flips: renewals become the larger half of every week's total, and small retention gains beat large marketing pushes. A 5% improvement in weekly renewals at 200 Friends is worth more than ten new sign-ups.
Practically, that means the week you cross 100 your split moves to 50%, so stop discounting and start protecting. Cut the promo codes, tighten your reply window, and only raise price in single dollar steps so existing Friends never feel repriced overnight.
A pricing routine that works
- Review renewals versus cancellations every Sunday — one number, one decision.
- Raise price by $1–$2 only after two straight positive weeks.
- Never raise price and reduce activity in the same week.
- Let tips and gifts, not the base price, absorb your biggest fans' enthusiasm.
- Keep a free or low-cost entry point so new members can hear your voice before committing.
Where the money actually lands
Your Friends List price is recurring and predictable; tips and coin gifts are spiky and driven by moments. Healthy creator accounts usually run roughly two-thirds subscription revenue and one-third gifts. If gifts dominate, your subscription is underpriced. If subscriptions dominate completely, you are probably under-engaging on the days people most want to spend.