Fight Back - Increased Pricing = Canceled Radios

[Sworntwofun]

The only difference is after cancelling AOL after 10 years of being worried how was I gonna do my mail for my business...now the aol mail is for free....you cant do that with sirius.. They do offer discounts for second radios....as a listener and investor I think its ok to raise their prices if it keeps them alive and now its time to make money...what subs have to understand is where are they gonna go? We all know and soon everyone else will know SiriusXm is the best...and as it growing and will keep growing like its doing now...it will be everywhere, on cell phones, portable tv in the car...The cost are gonna be incresed just like everything in life...but the difference it will be worth it....and your really getting your monies worth...

[SiriusBuzz]

I think the AOL analogy is spot on. AOL was more then just email it was the internet with training wheels. I know people who left AOL and were completely lost because AOL was a self contained application that used the internet... it was far more then email for some and they were still willing to let it go. When AOL hiked those prices, competitors were lowering... then there was a mass exodus.

People keep saying that its only $2 more per month but its not just $2 its a yearly rate plus one sub, so you then have to ask yourself... is it all worth $260 and change, per year.

Before people yell at me... I would pay $50 per month for my sub... but, I am not your average fan. I am in my car 2 hours per day and sit at a computer for another 8.

[just sirius]

C'mon Mr Sirius Buzz

The radio is already paid for...You can't figure that in. The people complaining about the $2 are already subscribers and have the radio. we're talking and extra $24 per year! However, that extra $24 maybe the breaking point for some people. If so, then SiriusXM will have to live with it. Most are not talking about dropping all of their subs... just the add on family plan. IMHO

[just sirius]

JWG

glad to see that you checked your math and dropped the extra $3 per month from your scenerio from the Seeking Alpha blog. We're talking $24/year per sub. Do you whine and complain when you pay $5-7 to Starbucks, or $1.50 for a freaking bottle of WATER, or how about $4-5 for a gallon of milk! You claim to be a shareholder..IMHO you are not, or you would see the increase as a way for the company to increase cash flow and begin to compete with it's growing competition and help to pay off debt to increase YOUR SHAREHOLDER VALUE!

[Newman]

Or how about this: You could pay upfront for a year or two and lock in current prices for that amount of time. Even if you put it on a credit card, you would not end up paying $24 in interest on that amount over a year.

[SiriusBuzz]

C'mon Mr Sirius Buzz

The radio is already paid for...You can't figure that in. The people complaining about the $2 are already subscribers and have the radio. we're talking and extra $24 per year! However, that extra $24 maybe the breaking point for some people. If so, then SiriusXM will have to live with it. Most are not talking about dropping all of their subs... just the add on family plan. IMHO

What can't I figure in? When I said "plus one radio" I meant plus another sub... looking back it wasn't super clear so, I changed it from radio to sub. My cost mentioned above is for the cost of the service only... and like it or not... as a lump sum fee... its a lot of money for some people. The avg household income is something like 48k per year and the avg for a single person is less then 30k.

What is the unemployment rate right now?

I wonder if they would have increased their net by dropping their price... $9.99 per month might have got them a few million more listeners. Imagine if they actually had an iPhone app and the service was that cheap? We might be talking about 25 million subscribers instead of 19.

[imromo24]

This could stem from the expected reduction in new subscribers caused by the state of the economy. So its not a deterrent because those affected by the economy aren't free spending now anyway. Even a decrease wouldn't attract that group.

[jwg]

JWG

glad to see that you checked your math and dropped the extra $3 per month from your scenerio from the Seeking Alpha blog. We're talking $24/year per sub. Do you whine and complain when you pay $5-7 to Starbucks, or $1.50 for a freaking bottle of WATER, or how about $4-5 for a gallon of milk! You claim to be a shareholder..IMHO you are not, or you would see the increase as a way for the company to increase cash flow and begin to compete with it's growing competition and help to pay off debt to increase YOUR SHAREHOLDER VALUE!

I am indeed a shared holder, have been since 2003, seen the good and the bad. I stated in my post the best way to add value for shareholders is to lower prices, not raise them. They need to open the paper and see what is going on in the world. Vendors everywhere are cutting prices to retain customers, and Starbucks is closing stores everywhere as people are cutting back on expensive coffee. The spending binge is over, at least for now.

As a share holder, I hope you are right. I'm certainly not a share buyer now because I don't believe you are.

[john]

Charles, With all due respect being frugal is a life style not entered into over night. My point being, that if someone is going to try and tell me that they had 2,3,4 or more radios and the subcriptions to go with them just for the convenience, then they are not going to cancel shit. Here is the logic behind it, coming from someone who is cheap (frugal). You would not catch me having anymore radios then needed I would have bought the right one that could be switched from place to place from the beginning. Believe me I know plenty of people that spend more then needed, it is impossible to get them to change. The point here is if they are going to pay 14, 21, or even 28 dollars already a month for radio (for god sake) then 2, 4, or even 6 dollars is not going to be enough to change that. You see it is a progression if you are spending 7 more then 2 more wont matter, if you are spending 14 more then 4 wont and so on and so on. So when you use that, it is not a matter of just 2 dollars a month, it is 24 a year, well those people were spending 84 more a year then they needed to anyway. It works the same way for as many radios as you want to figure in, and in most cases it takes away from your argument the more radios you have, because it is even more money wasted the more radios/subscriptions you have. So in general people have what they think they need and it will be alot harder for those to stop just like that, because it is not in their nature.

[SiriusBuzz]

Um... I don't know were to start because this isnt a matter of opinion. The fact is, people are canceling. People are canceling more now then there were a couple of months ago. People are also citing the price increase and their frustration for the reason in which they are doing so.

Have you ever not purchased something because the company which sells the product or the sales person aggravated you? People are pissed at Sirius right now. Plenty of people who came for some niche programming only to have it removed and the price of the service jacked up ar leaving. Its not my opinion, its fact.

and again... its not just $2 more, its the total price of 4 subscriptions vs the times we are in right now. Unemployment is high, there are foreclosures galore, people are taking paycuts, and people with money lost a ton in the market. If you gave me a choice of making my car payment so it doesnt get repoed or paying my electric bill so the lights dont go out or paying $xxx for satellite radio... I think the choice is clear.

BTW, when I was a kid and we canceled AOL. The only reason was the price. Times were tough and there was cheaper competition.