Things to Look Out For When Joining a New Porn Site: Cross Sells
In today’s economy, porn site subscriptions are a luxury that a lot of folks are giving up (at least for the time being). Loss of membership dollars combined with the rampant piracy of adult video has put a lot of website owners in a tough position – how to make money when the people who want your product are either going through tough economic circumstances or stealing from you?
A lot of sites have recently turned to pre-checked cross sells to make up for lost revenue. If you’re not familiar, a cross sell appears on the join page of a subscription site, generally where you enter your credit card information. Usually, you’ll see a check box with an offer to join another site in addition to the one you intended to sign up for. This is an ethically dicey choice that has come under fire in the industry, especially when the check boxes appear below the join button where a consumer may not think to look.
Most of the larger porn sites now feature pre-checked cross sells on their join pages. Many of them offer nice discounts, but it’s important to know what you’re buying before it shows up on your credit card. The cross sells look very different depending on which biller the site uses, so I’ve put together some examples that should help you identify them easily the next time you join a site and want to make sure you only end up paying for the one you wanted.
Many sites have a simple billing page with a checkbox above the Submit button. Here are some examples of how this commonly appears:
These cross sells are pretty apparent if you are looking for them, even when they’re placed close to age certifications and terms of service acceptance checkboxes.
Another example that took me a few seconds to figure out was this from clubsandy.com:
A one day trial to footsiebabes.com is included even though I didn’t ask for it. After looking around the page for a little while, I saw the checkbox above the age certification/TOS that authorizes them to bill me for the trial (and subsequent recurring membership).
An example of a site where the cross sell is not directly above the Submit button is flashybabes.com. As you can see, the offer is to the right of the credit card form:
This site has a checkbox that offers an upgrade to VIP membership with an asterisk below the Submit button explaining what it is. If you opt for the VIP membership, you’re signed up for 2 additional sites.
The final example I’ll give is the one you really have to watch for. The checkbox is beneath the Submit button. This is a definite no-no.
Cross sells aren’t necessarily a bad thing if you’re aware of them. I recommend that if you’re thinking about joining a new site, check it out first with a reliable review site. I highly recommend The Best Porn and Rabbit’s Reviews. They both warn you of pre-checked cross sells so you’ll know to look for them.
Being a smart consumer means doing your homework and carefully reading everything on the join page – even the fine print at the bottom. An informed porn lover is a happy porn lover!
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Tags: buying porn, credit cards, cross sells, joining sites, porn sites, pre checked cross sells, prechecked cross sells, purchasing porn, safety, xsells
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 1:44 pm and is filed under porn sites. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
2 Responses to “Things to Look Out For When Joining a New Porn Site: Cross Sells”
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May 29th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
ropeadope says:Whoa, you know George Orwell? Too cryptic? Visitors who click on the images will see the reference. In all seriousness Alison, this post is a very informative and valuable addition to the blog. I’m positive countless individuals have been tricked into signing up for these cross sells against their intentions. The one that would have likely tripped me up was the PornPros signup page. Who wouldn’t want a free upgrade to a VIP membership? To make matters worse, falling into that trap carries a huge payload. Added to the $17.95 (proper) charge, will be an extra charge of $80.94 (39.97 + 39.97 + 1) if not caught within two days. At the end of the month you’re expecting to see a charge of $17.95 on your credit card statement. Instead, you’re hit with a charge of $98.89. Worse still, by the time you see your statement, the second month charges have already been processed (only $97.89 this time). So either you cancel and eat $196.78 in charges or you have to explain to your credit card issuer that you’re too pathetic to get a real girl so you signed up for “Jerk Your Cock All Day Long” and was tricked into additional billings for “Pussy, Pussy, Pussy” and “Transsexual FuckFest”. I completely agree with the endorsement of The Best Porn website. A ton of helpful info and many times you can get a discounted rate to your chosen site when using their link to the particular signup page.
June 1st, 2009 at 11:25 am
alison says:Rope,
I’m glad you liked the post. I definitely think that a lot of site owners are banking on the fact that no one wants to call their credit card company or bank and say they were tricked into signing up for a porn site. So they make their $196.78 and lose a customer not only for their websites, but most likely for everyone else’s for life. And while $197 is certainly a high lifetime value for any customer, I don’t think it’s worth it in the long run because you’re confirming people’s worst fears about paying for porn and making them think that the only way to safely watch porn is to steal it.