Global Depression, Going Broke and Diamond Membership

First, I have greatly enjoyed being a Diamond member, and do believe that for what I get in the way of chess education, it is an excellent value.

With so many countries broke, or going through harsh austerity measures, and my own country 16 trillion dollars in debt - well - these are hard times. 

With my wife losing her job, my pay cut in education, more and more money pulled out of my paycheck each year for health care costs - I think I have, like many other middle class families - went down a class or two - lower middle class - or something.

Once chess.com sees my request for a refund, from Diamond to free, you will see my status change, but not because I didn't like the services.

Since many families in Europe and America, and elsewhere, are slipping from middle class to lower middle or worse, I wonder if chess.com can think a bit about this global mess, and perhaps lower the cost of memberships for a year, or two. Just a thought.

It is their business to run, and be able to make payroll - not mine.  So maybe chess.com can't lower the price any lower than it is right now.

Here is an idea. Could chess.com offer an extra fee structure - a seperate fee for each premium service, i.e., 10 dollars for unlimited tactics trainer, 10 dollars for unlimited video instruction?  

I would be open to the idea of paying 10 dollars for unlimited tactics trainer for one year, during these hard times. At least chess.com would be making some money from me.

Is anyone else in the same boat as me, where you have had to cut back on expenses?

What do you think about some of my ideas, and are we headed for a global depression?

A la carte? Interesting idea.

First up, sorry to hear about the rough patch and hope it's only temporary for you and your family.

I'm not sure if you considered this strategy or not (as some just disregard it without a second thought just because after the year it ends up being a higher number,) but sometimes, you can use creative financing to help you achieve your goals -- even if over time you paid for the ability to stretch out the year's payment with smaller monthly increments over an entire year instead of one big sum up front if it is easier for you.

If renewing for the year at the $99 is too much "all at one go" right now, you can try the $14 for the next month and continue as long as you can.

Sometimes it's easier to come up with a quick 14 bucks to buy you an entire month to come up with another fraction 30 days later for a whole new month instead of needing the $99 all at once.

That's exactly what I'd do...keep it going month by month and pay as you go until the income situation improves and things return to normal so you don't even miss a beat.

Just throwing out a suggestion in case you hadn't seen the pay as you go option yet and hope you can keep it going!

It's a good idea, but right now, I am deciding not to spend $14 dollars a month so that I can afford things like cheerleading practice for my daughter. She comes first, I come second.

Yes to TheGrobe. A la carte would be cool for things like tactics trainer. 10 dollars a year for unlimited tactics trainer? What do you think?

Have you tried couponing? It saves alot of money.

We are just starting to use coupons in a much bigger way, for groceries. It's still really hard to get by. My wife made about as much as me, so our family income has been cut in half. No amount of coupon clipping can make up for that huge loss of income. We have had to say no to a lot of things that we used to spend money on.

No matter what the news says, the real unemployment rate in California, counting all of those who gave up looking, is about 20%, which is 5% off of the Great Depression. When you factor in all of the under employed workers in California, those that went from middle class paying jobs to minimum wage jobs, with no medical benefits and fewer hours, you can say that California, and other states in America, are going through a great depression.

I can't stand it when economists say that the Great Recession ended in June of 2009.  Using figures from the GNP does not accurately reflect what people are going through. These are really hard times, and I don't see it getting any better for the next four years, no matter who is our next president. The national debt is way too high (16 trillion dollars) for enough jobs to be created to significantly lower unemployment.

Maybe chess.com will go out of business if it does not get a bit more creative with the premium packages, to allow more members to pay for services in a more affordable way, like a la carte, say, 10 dollars a year for video instruction, 10 dollars a year for unlimited tactics trainer, and 10 dollars a year for chess mentor.

Chess.com has over 5 million members. What would chess.com earn if 5 million members paid 10 dollars each? 50 million dollars! I serious doubt that chess.com earns 50 million dollars a year!

If I and the other 5 million members paid for two a la carte services, say tactics trainer and instruction videos, a total of 20 dollars each, chess.com would show earnings in one year of 100 million dollars!!

I would like to hear what members who majored in business/marketing have to say about the idea of a la carte, taking into account that most people in America and Europe (the bulk of chess.com members?) have less discretionary income today than 4 years ago.

Bottom line, the middle class has gotten poorer in the last 4 years, so don't most businesses become more competitive and lower their prices to keep customers? Has chess.com seen a loss in profits in the past 4 years? Would a restructuring of the premium packages increase profits?

I am not the business guy, so I toss the question out to the experts, and everyone, of course.

Just ask the site. You are a loyal member and maybe they can offer you a deal on the tactics and the videos. Diamond membership is in essence just the tactics and the videos, but we can all find ourselves in a rough patch. If i was chess,com i would give anybody that requests it with a reasonable explanation like yours one year discounted membership for every 3 years you have had. This would give you some time to deal with the issue.

Think of chess.com as part of your entertainment budget.  Consider that playing chess online as a diamond member is cheaper than a trip to the movies.

And if you have a problem with your heating or plumbing ask the student :-)

why diamond why not just go Gold: $5/month or $29/year ?   

Musikamole, are most jobs in your place are of a contractual nature. Meaning it can be terminated anytime? Are there no such thing as "Security of tenure"? Well if so i guess you have to be financially flexible then like lowering your standard of living, like for example you eat 5 bozes of pizza a week why not two times a week?. Here in our country which is by far much much poorer than yours "free" is a necessity like chess.com. Why not try investing your money  on "liquid" things letting fund managers take care of your money (but of course they must have great portfolios which gives at least 8 to 10% return. Sometyhing like that. Or you could try KCO's advice go down Gold.

Sorry to hear about your position "Musikamole".

The whole situation with the US Economy was caused by the desease called greed, and part of that cancer was due to spending more than the country earns. On an individual level, you are currently facing the same problem...your income has been halved, yet you are talking about spending on what is classed as a luxury. My advice to you sir, if I can, would be what any financial manager worth his pay would say...you need to adjust your spending downwards...by more than half, in order to meet your expenses and have at least some bit saved for unexpected situations.

You need to take a long hard look at your situation and realise that until your wife regains employment, you sir are the one to make ends meet. With this being the case I would suggest that your first task would be to list all your income sources, then all your expenses...the gap between each is where you are short, and the worst thing you can do is cover this gap with debt (credit cards)...so don't do this, don't make the same mistake your country made. Instead, you should explore options to do two things-

1. Increase your Income, and at the same time,

2. Reduce your Expenses

The most important area here is the Expense side of your Balance Sheet. Identify fixed expenses (which you cannot avoid), and variable expenses (those than can be eliminated). The fixed ones, you may not be able to avoid, but the variable ones (like chess.com payment) you can. It will be hard to adjust, but you need to cut your expenses to match your income stream without going into debt (or going deeper into debt).

In a nutshell, I am suggesting that you cut out any expenses classed as luxuries (including chess.com), until you obtain your "balanced budget"...and you stick to this budget.

I know my advice is sound, and will be of great use to you and your family, if you decide to take it. I am also making myself available to you for a more detailed evalution if you desire, at no cost to you.

All the Best My Brother.

Sorry to hear that your hard up.  I hope things look up for you.

Unfortunately I don't think the present situation can be readily changed.  It seems to me that the underlying reason is a simple one.  The machine now generates enormous wealth for us all without requiring much labour.  And it is not just manual work in farms or mines or clerical work in banks and offices which has been replaced but all work.  I practiced law for 40 years but machines are starting to do what I did.  My brother recently underwent a prostrate cancer operation - it was carried out by a robot.

What has not kept pace with the technological advance is our ability to distribute the wealth amongst ourselves equitably.  We continue to rely on the wage structure to do that and, with so many jobs disappearing, it is failing to do so.  Thinking back to the early 20th century and before II suspect that it only actually did so for less than a century - while technological advance was, briefly, creating many well paid jobs.

Anyway, good luck.  Perhaps your wife could create her own job?  Some tiny business?

I think the problem with a la carte services is precisely that many diamond members would take a serious look at what services they use and the total revenue might drop significantly. 

I'm a diamond member only because of one service I use regularly, and given the option to spend less and get that same service, I'd jump on it. 

Sorry to hear but in England middle class people are also getting poorer. Food has gone up and petrol and car insurance has gone up £100s of pounds a year. This goverment is only for the upper class and the rich. Times for me and my family have got poorer so I've cut down on the beer and goodies. I was also a diamond member and had to cut back to a lower membership but chess is my hobby and is the one thing in life that gives me pleasure in this troubled world.

but there is me, living on a tight budget since the recession 2008, I had some good times as well since then, but lost my job again a while ago. My budget cannot include 99$ per year or 14$ per month. But I could ajust that to 10$ per year for unlimited tactics (I'll call it b-day gift). Otherwise I would never ever pay to play for something, or anything else that is not a need.

So yeah, chess.com might lose with you (or more like you) but people like me are ready to jump on for the right price. There could be a balance. Or maybe not. 

//Offtopic, but don't want to start another thread, is there anywhere on this forum I can request help with an online chess game that is still going on? 

@Musikamole

Firstly, I am really sorry about what happened to you. It is true that in these times, one has to prioritize, and thus you are losing your Diamond membership.

I think there should be a chess tournament with cash prizes so that more people will take Diamond Membership in the hope of winning a prize.

Do realise though, that you are one of millions of people affected by this. The US Economy is the basis for many countries, so when the US goes down, so do they.

And be happy you aren't a country in the eurozone because they're having the worst of it, especially Germany because it is the only country with the economic capability to bail out countries, so even the countries that do well are being pulled down by the collapse of the others due to the unfortunate circumstances.

Think optimistic though. Things can and will change. More jobs will be available, things will be cheaper and you might get your Diamond Membership back.

All the best!

@jesterville

Agree with you, greed is the cause of all of this. If only we had the empathy and compassion to go back to barter!

I also talked to someone in Germany and another in East Europe and it's just the same. I think it's like that everywhere. I had to give up my car because insurance and everything proves to costly vs public transportation. (I absolutely love driving, I would be a stunt driver if didn't have a family). Since wages did not increase to keep up with the prices, I will have to be creative enough to find ways to cut back. Good thing, I live in a city where car-sharing is available, just in case I need a car.

Erm, no. That's called cheating.

Being a poor student I also gave up Diamond membership. I'd probably pay $50/year for unlimited TT/Video's though.