Membership Punch Card
Thu, 07/02/2009 - 08:31 — mplonski
I have a suggestion for a new type of membership: a punch card.
For $100 ($120?) you get ten "days" worth of membership. Every time you come in, a staff member "punches" out a day on your card (either literally or figuratively on the computer). The card expires in a year.
Advantages:
1) Less intimidating than buying a reoccurring membership.
2) Don't have to cram in everything you can think of into a single month if that is all you can afford.
3) Allows you to bring in a friend for a single day (provided they've taken the appropriate SBU, of course). They simply use one "day" off of your card.
What do you think?
Matt
Wow. From a consumer POV,
Wow. From a consumer POV, that's a great idea. I am trying to figure out what the downside would be from a business POV and if you'd want to put any limitations on it, but ...
at face value, it's really neat.
Downside
The downside would be that there might be people who would buy more than one month over the course of a year that would only buy one card. My instincts are that there are more people who would buy a card who normally wouldn't buy a membership at all.
Matt
On the whole, a good thing, I think...
All in all, I think it would be a good thing to offer, as it's a way to get more people in the door and trying the facilities. If people feel they can try out TechShop with a minimal outlay, they'll be more willing to give it a shot. Of those people that do, some we'll never see again, true. Some will likely buy punch cards (and take SBUs) on a "once in a while basis". And some will realize that TechShop is just what they've been looking for, and will sign up for a membership.
There are a few nice things about this:
* Due to the punch cards, TechShop will have gotten *some* revenue from each of those three groups of people versus none from any of them
* Any person that signs up as a member after "kicking the tires" of TechShop via punch card is a person that TechShop might never have reached, and a membership that TechShop might never have sold.
The reality is that members will come and go, and that coming up with ways of getting people aware of TechShop and encouraging them to walk in the door is going to be vitally important to TechShop's long-term prospects. This also has the benefit of being "advertising" that brings in some dollars instead of being a net expense...
Ed
I'm very interested in Tech
I'm very interested in Tech Shop but don't believe I would use the facilities enough to justify the high cost of a recurring membership. The idea of having a punch card like this where I might used 10 days out of a 4 month period (arbitrary numbers) seems to me a much sounder investment.
Tangent: Matt Plonski, formerly of BOPS?
Depends
Depends on who's asking...
Matt
To add to magnus' question, I
To add to magnus' question,
I know at least 2 or 3 folks that would take advantage of that plan. Or even a less expensive monthly membership, but say limited to a number of days per week.
Membership Punch Card
I know I would be very interested in getting a punch card membership. The monthly membership is to high for me as I would only be able to come out once a week as I have two small kids at home. I would love to join, had a great tour of the facility but $99.00 for four visits is way to much.
Let me know if you ever decide to add this type and I will join up.
Thanks,
Philip
GREAT idea
For weekend warriors, a punch card at the right price point is perfect. I usually have several, very small projects throughout the year. Most could be completed in one or two days of shop time. The convenience of coming in several times during the year would be a no-brainer. Sign me up. My guess is that your potential clientele is loaded with a BUNCH of frugal engineer-types (no offense... but you know who you are). ;) These people are generally obsessed with the concept of value to the point of trying to squeeze a year's worth of projects into a single month's membership. As Matt indicated, I'm sure many people are turned away because they simply don't have enough projects to warrant even a month's membership. If the price is right (for TechShop), this seems like a great membership model.
Really? $25 for a day's
Really? $25 for a day's access to $300,000 worth of tools is too much? Most people spend more than $99 a month on their cable bill. TechShop's not *cheap* but if you make it a priority then it's fine.
If the frugal engineer-types are so "obsessed with the concept of value" then maybe they could just plan ahead and buy a day pass where they can get everything done they need to. You know, efficiency and all that.
I thought it was $30 for a
I thought it was $30 for a day pass.
Didn't work
TechShop Menlo Park tried the punchcard idea. It didn't work for many reasons. Right at the top is that with that scenario, they got folks who did not feel they were really part of TechShop and tried to cram as much into one day as possible. This led to not cleaning up and abusing machines.
There was more, but this was enough for me to decide it was not a good idea. Some lessons we do not have to learn ourselves. Both this and the no music in TechShop we learned from HQ.
Punch Card
I too can not justify $100/month for a membership when I would realistically only be able to stop by there a
few times a month, and some months not at all.
I do appreciate that the Tech Shop has a very nice collection of equipment. For those who have the time to
use it more frequently, $100 a month is a great deal. However, there is no granularity in the pricing
between the power user who shows up every day and the occasional light user who may show up a couple times a
month.
I think Tech Shop should reach out to both groups. The occasional tinkers may not bring in a lot of steady
revenue but they bring in no revenue if they sit on the sideline. There is always the chance that they will
later buy a longer membership as their hobbies or free time grows.
As far as business value, punch card members will still need to take the SBU's before doing anything. This
brings in revenue and also some commitment to the shop, as they will want to return after investing in one or more
SBU costs.
PS.
By the way, if people do not follow the rules, such as not cleaning or abusing the machines, they should be
warned and asked not to come back if it is reoccurring (whether full time or punch card member). I do not
think punch card members would have any less respect for the shop than a month to month member.
"Right at the top is that
"Right at the top is that with that scenario, they got folks who did not feel they were really part of TechShop and tried to cram as much into one day as possible. This led to not cleaning up and abusing machines."
As an argument, this makes no sense. A punch card is essentially a series of one-day passes, packaged together at a "bulk" price like a 12-pack of Ho-Ho's.
A single one-day pass would be even more prone to attracting folks who do not feel that they are really a part of TechShop, and who try to cram as much into that one day as possible, even more than with a punch card member, who at least have motivation to keep coming back for the life of the card. Yet unless it's changed since last I heard, you still sell one-days.
Doesn't make much difference to me; I signed up on Day One for a year, but that argument doesn't follow.
JC
$100/month is a bargain
Due to a full work and family life I get out to TechShop usually once a week and an occasional day off. Let's say I use it about 25 hours per month on average. That's $4/hour.
Suppose I wanted to RENT a laser cutter for just 4 hours. Anyone think I could do that for less than $100? How about a ShopBot? What about a day with a MIG welder? Not to mention having all the other tools I need for a job immediately at hand.
Ever notice how a project at home that should take an hour often turns into a day + 3 trips to Lowes? PLUS the cost of all the extra tool items you needed for a one-time job?
Even if you only get to be an occasional user, I can vouch for the fact it is very much worth the price!
Days per Month
Wow, this thread has gotten heated.
For me, it comes down to how many days I can make it there per month. I have a family and an intense job, so I'm just not going to be one of the people who can make it to the TechShop more than a handful of times per month. A day pass is $30 and a month is $100. If I think I'm going to be able to make it in more than 3 times in the following month, I'll buy a month membership. Anything less than that and I'll buy day passes. Due to business and family travel I only made it in twice in December, so I bought day passes both times. To me, a punch card should show management that I'm interested in being part of TechShop so much so that I'm paying for my day passes ahead of time. I'm willing to give you my money in advance to save a couple of dollars.
But the punch card appears not to be an option, so let's move on. If you can make it to TechShop more than three times in a month, buy a monthly membership.
I know that with a day pass I still feel like a member.
Matt
For what it's worth, I think
For what it's worth, I think that the punch card sounds like a good idea. In a way, the annual memberships work like a punch card anyway. Buy a year ($1000), get two months free!
12 month punch card
In a way, the annual memberships work like a punch card anyway. Buy a year ($1000), get two months free!
A punch card would be like a 12-month membership where you can pick any 12 individual months over the course of two or three years. Useful for people who live in the area only part of the year (if you spend your winters in Florida, for example). The TechShop would get the money in advance.
Anyway, it seems like some bad apples in California have taken this off of the table for us. I'll be in to buy my January month in the next few days, probably early next week.
Matt
Please
I do not see the conversation as being heated. I am glad to get the input. What our members think and what they want is of utmost importance to me. this is not my TechShop, it is yours.
I frankly don't remember the rest of the things HQ cited, but will go back to them and ask.
More than anything I would like to be a member at TechShop and use the tools, equipment and space to do and make cool things. Once we get it running smoothly, it is my intention to do just that. So every decision I make is designed to keep TechShop open, and set it up like I would like it if I were just using it. One of the most important things about that is that it remains open and the "stuff" here is in good condition, so making it profitable and being anal about cleaning and putting things away and generally treating the place with respect is also at the top of the list. That is why when HQ told me of the way the punch card people in general used the place, it was easy to make the decision.
But lets re-think the situation and see what comes of it. I will get you better answers, or at least more complete answers in either case.
Thanks,
Scott
I agree with you
I agree with you lintqueen.
Michaela
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