Due to inflation and price increases across the board, we are going to have to raise membership prices this year.
We’ve never raised the price once in 13 years until now. According to the official US inflation calculator, $50 in 2012 (when we started) is worth about $71.50 today. Media Mail shipping was $2.89 when we first shipped books, and it’s $5.22 today, almost double. As a reminder, we offer free shipping throughout the US, so that cost is built into the price. Printing costs are rising. Website hosting costs have increased as well, due to the site’s popularity and expansive decade-long photo collection, but new Premium memberships are very slow these days due to suppressed gas prices and low media interest. We’re not to the break-even point yet, but it’s within sight.
Starting immediately, prices are as follows:
Book + 6 months: $75
Book + 1 year: $150
Lifetime membership: $300
(Membership upgrade is still the difference in price.)
Yes this is a 50% price increase. I don’t take this lightly. But we need to stay financially viable.
To soften the blow for our loyal members and anyone reading this who was considering a membership, ACT NOW - the below discount code will take 30% off the new price, which gets you roughly back to the old price. This discount is good through Feb 1, so share it with friends, get a spare copy, upgrade to lifetime, whatever you like. We don’t generally do discounts, this is a one time deal to help with this price increase. So don’t wait.
Discount code: FORUM30
Thank you all for your support over the years, hopefully this update will keep us afloat for many years to come.