I'm interested in people's opinions on pro-rating services. As of the moment we are pro-rating services, as it is very nice from a provider's standpoint. What are your thoughts as a customer on purchasing pro-rated services. Do you like it? Do you not like it? Why?
Pro-rated services
- Thread starter SkylarM
- Start date
I'm currently transitioning out of Pro-rated services as a lot of customers have contacted me stating that they do not wish to pay on a pro-rated service as they tend to place orders the day that makes most sense for them financially. Was just interested in seeing if others feel the same way.
Skylar,
I purchased services from you earlier today, and I hated the fact that it was pro-rated. If it helps you, that is fine, but I feel like an extra $2.06 was taken from me. On a provider that I can trust, it is not an issue, but the new guys always have to go through a testing period.
I really think that until you establish a name for yourself you should not do it.
I purchased services from you earlier today, and I hated the fact that it was pro-rated. If it helps you, that is fine, but I feel like an extra $2.06 was taken from me. On a provider that I can trust, it is not an issue, but the new guys always have to go through a testing period.
I really think that until you establish a name for yourself you should not do it.
Understandable
if you want to switch your service to non-pro-rated open a ticket and I'll refund the pro-rate amount.
Indeed. see trying to run multiple brands with a ton of different billing dates.. it's hellish. Trying to get year ends done or even keep up with monthly/weekly accounts is a mess. We'll be moving over to it soon to make things easier.
As client, I think prorated services make it much easier for me to manage payments; if everything was prorated for the same day, my own accounting would be a lot easier...
It is a bit annoying that you have to pay more if you purchase the server at the wrong time. But if the limit is reasonable (say fifteen days, so if you pay before fifteen days then you pay until the end of the current month instead of end of next month) then it works fine.
That said, most providers I have VPS from are not prorated, so it's no use to me (only easier if everything or a majority of my VPS are prorated). Maybe I can request prorated?
Edit: I'm assuming prorated means that it bills everything from start of month. I looked at uses of "prorated" outside VPS providers and it seems to be a bit different (on the last bill instead of on the first bill), so maybe I'm not thinking about the right thing.
It is a bit annoying that you have to pay more if you purchase the server at the wrong time. But if the limit is reasonable (say fifteen days, so if you pay before fifteen days then you pay until the end of the current month instead of end of next month) then it works fine.
That said, most providers I have VPS from are not prorated, so it's no use to me (only easier if everything or a majority of my VPS are prorated). Maybe I can request prorated?
Edit: I'm assuming prorated means that it bills everything from start of month. I looked at uses of "prorated" outside VPS providers and it seems to be a bit different (on the last bill instead of on the first bill), so maybe I'm not thinking about the right thing.
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You would be right. How I had it setup was if you purchased before the 15th of the month you paid to the end of that month, if you purchase from the 15th onward you'd pay for the partial month + 1 full month (so if that was active and you ordered today your next invoice would be September 1st).
Would be nifty to offer clients the ability to pro-rate to a date selected by them (within reason) to pro-rate to, would be cool to find a way to automatically do that rather than a manual process but I'd be fine doing it on a per customer basis.
That sounds like a great feature request; would be the same as offering a choice of whether to "pro-rate" or not, and in that case you could also just set limit to 30 days without complaints probably.
Edit: by "would be the same as" I actually mean that it includes that and more
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wdq
Quade
I also tend to prefer billing to be prorated as a client. If I want to try out a new provider I can order towards the end of the month and only have to pay for that last little bit of the month so that I can test everything out without spending a whole lot of money.
I also enjoy being able to renew all of my VPSs from a provider at once instead of having to pay several invoices each month.
I also enjoy being able to renew all of my VPSs from a provider at once instead of having to pay several invoices each month.
wdq
Quade
Yeah, from a provider's point of view there is probably a greater chance of fraud, and customers that don't stay for long.
Clients coming before 15th of the month (or whatever date you set) would feel like he's having a discount. On the contrary, clients after the set date would feel like he has to pay more than the advertised amount.
Personally I'd rather pay small invoices several times than letting go a big chunk of my money at the start of the month. That is if all providers use pro-rated billing, but that is not the case so it doesn't matter.
Personally I'd rather pay small invoices several times than letting go a big chunk of my money at the start of the month. That is if all providers use pro-rated billing, but that is not the case so it doesn't matter.
I think that you really have to look at the segment that you are in. There are a lot of LEB providers that fail pretty quickly. If they use pro-rated billing, you are risking losing more when they don't make it. I am not mad about an extra couple of dollars, but those couple of dollars could add up for a ton of clients.
From the other side of things, I think that it is much easier for all parties involved to reduce the time frame that payments come in at. Providers just have to be good with budgeting their cash flow since it will be a feast and then famine type of situation.
From the other side of things, I think that it is much easier for all parties involved to reduce the time frame that payments come in at. Providers just have to be good with budgeting their cash flow since it will be a feast and then famine type of situation.
Ok well, here's my two cents.
As a provider, I'm in favor of pro-rating, and this is why:
- It's much easier when you're working on finances and especially better when you have to fill out the paperwork for tax purposes
- You have an expected time to accept payments and from there you can plan accordingly (instead of "is this specific individual going to pay?)
As a customer, I'm also in favor of pro-rating my invoices, and this is why:
- It's easier to expect/know when your next invoice will be due (I mean my rent is due at the beginning of the month, similar to that I know that I also have such and such invoice due, etc.)
Honestly, people shouldn't feel "ripped off" for the small additional cost for the initial invoice because (assuming the service is proper) you are receiving the proper service you paid for.
As a provider, I'm in favor of pro-rating, and this is why:
- It's much easier when you're working on finances and especially better when you have to fill out the paperwork for tax purposes
- You have an expected time to accept payments and from there you can plan accordingly (instead of "is this specific individual going to pay?)
As a customer, I'm also in favor of pro-rating my invoices, and this is why:
- It's easier to expect/know when your next invoice will be due (I mean my rent is due at the beginning of the month, similar to that I know that I also have such and such invoice due, etc.)
Honestly, people shouldn't feel "ripped off" for the small additional cost for the initial invoice because (assuming the service is proper) you are receiving the proper service you paid for.
Well you do if you cancel after a few days.
Prorating is not really something that fits well for us. We have bills with different datacenters which renew on different days.
If our bills lined up on a single day, then we would prorate to that day. But, they don't, so it makes no sense to us to do it that way.
If our bills lined up on a single day, then we would prorate to that day. But, they don't, so it makes no sense to us to do it that way.
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