Online tickling video offer seems like a bad deal to me

[mikah912]

I'm not trying to stir up trouble or anything, but don't the online streaming tickling videos seem like a horrible deal?

You pay about 33 percent of what you would normally pay for the video, but you can only watch it for 24 hours, plus you can only watch it on a small window on your computer?!?!

Hell, I used to think prices at my local video store were extravagant until I saw this offer.

Take Ticklish Merchandise, for example. I ordered it and think it's a great video...one of the best. But I am NOT going to shell out $15 EVERY time I want to watch, and now it's not available for order.

What do you guys think? It's nothing personal against realtickling.com, because they make great videos, but I think this is little more than a glorified scam to me.

 

[bandt001]

Hmm

"I don't mean any disrespect, but you're a lousey stinkin crook...no offense."

Bottom line is, there are benefits and drawbacks to any of the options (video, streaming media, or CD). Different people will find the benefits outweighing the drawbacks for different options.

I applaud RealTickling for giving their customers more options to meet their needs. It's good for the customer, and hence good for them.

Bandit

 

[mikah912]

What would a benefit to this option be?

Just curious.

 

[Haltickling]

Well, one example: If you have kids in the house, you wouldn't want them to find that video. And even a small house safe is rather expensive... So some people might just prefer to watch those videos when the kids are away, or in bed. bandt001 is right insofar; not everything you personally don't need is useless to others.

 

[mikah912]

I don't maintain that it is. I posted this thread not to slag realtickling.com, but rather to seek reasonable opinions, even if they are contrary.

My question still is...where is the value? If someone wanted you to pay $15 for the latest U2 album on LOW QUALITY MP3 (the best analogy to a Real Video screen and watching this on a TV that I could think of) and you could only listen to it for TWENTY FOUR HOURS, would you buy that record when you can pay the same for a CD and own it forever?

Is there convenience with watching a downloadable video? Sure. Immediacy is one convenience. If you are overseas, it is a lot more convenient. I understand these things. But shouldn't the price for watching it permanently be LESS than when they actually have to pay to create an individual physical product and then pay again to ship a physical product to you?

Streaming media servers are not THAT expensive. I know this for a fact.

Why isn't there a permament watch option at all?

Emusic.com will let you hear every Mp3 they have (and they have a lot of major artists) for $9.99/month. Why no subscription model here?

 

[SuperTickler]

I guess the closest analogy would be a pay-per-view movie or sports event like boxing on TV. You pay once, you see the event once. However, one can get a group of friends together to defray the cost of a boxing ppv event. I don't think I'd want to have a group of friends over to watch a tickling video on a computer.

I have to agree with mikah912 here. Though I have almost all of their videos, I checked out realtickling's offer and was also surprised by the high price.

I don't know what the deal is now, but when I was a member of FM concepts last year, they offerd a 24-hour stream of all their videos (tickling, foot, etc.) as part of the monthly $10.00 membership fee. This seems to me to be a more realistic pricing model.

The bottom line is that, in the free market, the customers will decide. Streamed tickling videos are hardly an essential product to one's existance. Those who want to spend the money can do so, and those who don't want to don't have to. The seller will gauge customer interest and lower (or raise) the price based on how many people are actually subscribing to their service.

 

[SuperTickler]

I just checked Realtickling's site and Ticklish Merchandise is still for sale.

 

[realtickling]

Hi everyone. Great subject!
I've noticed over the years that when most tickling video companies have something negative posted about them, they seem to run and hide and act like they never saw the post. Trust me WE ALL READ THEM.

The answer to your questions are quite simple really. We added the streaming vids because many people were saying "I can't have anything delivered to my house" or "I'm in Italy and can't play your video format." So we wanted to offer an alternative to some who have no other alternative.

Concerning the price of each movie? I'm happy to talk openly about that too.

Cost of us to set up streaming server = $500 (one time fee)
Cost to purchase software to make R-MEDIA = $250 (one time)
Cost we pay EACH time we stream one movie = $7.80
Cost we pay for each biling/password/monitoring = $2.24

You can do the math from here. We charge $14.95 per 36 hour access to each title. The movies are about 230 MB in size. That's a massive download/transfer.

It's not a goldmine for us but we are proud of the fact that we have made it possible for some to see awesome tickling who otherwise NEVER could have. We realize it's not for everyone, and quite frankly only about 3% of you, but we thought we'd try it because it sounded fun.
Hope I've helped answer some things.

 

[mikah912]

I ABSOLUTELY appreciate the feedback, Kathy.

You may have noticed I just ordered some videoTAPES from you guys as well.

Like I said, I think you make great videos.

I guess after reading what you said here, my only other question would be why not let people download the files to have on a permanent basis, but I suppose you fear that some will just get together, pool their money, and not pay for their own separate copies.

Anyhoo, just by showing up here, you've done a great deal to assure me that you guys are the best tickling vid company in existence. I only have a problem with that one facet of your operation, but I still love and support you guys anyway.

 

[mabus]

soultion?

I agree fully with mikah912, yet am glad to hear Realtickling
respond. I love it! (Okay, I hate Dr. Laura, but love
Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly...why? Dr. Laura
refuses to appear or face critics, and whe she does, she's
a...rhymes with witch... Rush and Bill answer their
critics with intelligence and tact.) RealTickling answers
their critics with EVEN more tact and great respect.
Once again, this is why they are the best. This, among
other things. Stay tuned for my video critique.....

Streaming video, even with a cable modem sometimes, is
rather crappy. I've seen FM's, and a nicely shot video
comes out small screen, horrible video quality, poor or
no sound. The original was full television quality
and crystal clear. Yet I hear the concerns about videos.
(Here's a BIG one. Does everyone realize why DVD is blasting
forward? VCR's EAT tapes! My copy of The Shining, $15,
was shredded in my VCR, as was an older video. arggghhh....)
How about THIS?:
Have the video that quality (or better if you can get it,
bigger screen...) and invest in the space or technology
to make this video DOWNLOADABLE? This way, they can pay
for a huge video file, yes, but supreme quality that can
be played anytime, not just a short period....)
Always remember, QUALITY is the most important part....

 

[Darkknight]

I applaud the crew at Real tickling. Even though I'm not one
of the 3% that need the streamline videos, I always felt bad for those members that could not receive the tickle vids in
certain countries.

Also, for those that can't take a chance to have the video
found. I think you guys are great, taking care of those in the minority.
It shows me that you care about all the fans.

Though I haven't bought from you in a very long time, it's time I did.

Oh Kathy... Is Priscella back doing tickle vids yet? She needs to go to the stocks, it's been way too long to be away. (but don't tell her I said that. She's too evil a tickler)

Peace,
DK

 

[realtickling]

Awe. Thanks DK for the kind words, and Mikah912, I'm glad the feedback was of benifit to you. Now about Priscilla doing another video, ...she's not quite ready yet. She's been traveling for about a year now. Last we heard from her was in email. She was in Canada. She's probably tickling some poor (lucky) Canadian girls. That Priscilla is such a FREE SPIRIT!