Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Ancestry.com Raises US Subscription Price to $99 for 6-months

Ancestry.com has raised their price for a 6-month U.S. Discovery subscription to $99. Here is a screen shot:


Previously, The price was $19.95 per month and $77.70 for a six-month subscription.

It appears that the World Explorer subscription price has remained at the previous $34.99 per month and $149 for six-months.

I believe that the per-month price for the U.S. subscription will increase in mid-September to something above $20 (my guess is $22.99).  There is a "special pricing note at the top of the screen, and the small print at the bottom of the page says:

"*Offer ends on September 17, 2013 at 10pm ET. You will be charged the promotional price of $19.99 plus applicable tax for the first month of your membership. Subsequent months of your membership will be billed at the then standard pricing."

No one likes price increases, and Ancestry is very likely to suffer a significant drop in their number of long-term subscribers if they get angry and frustrated by the price increase for the U.S.  It may also drive some U.S. subscribers to go for the World subscription because it is only $50 more every six months.

At $99 for six months, that is 54 cents ($0.54) per day, which is a pittance to many people if they use the service on a near daily basis.  I do, and I will pay the increased price, since Ancestry.com remains a vital resource for my daily research efforts.

Now I'm wondering if I can subscribe to Ancestry.com for longer than six months.  Can I subscribe for one year?  How about two years? Ten years?  At the $99 for six months price?  Will they give me a discount for longer term?  Most companies will.

I was alerted to this event by Katherine Rudolph's post on the Transtional Genealogists Forum mailing list today - see Katherine's message at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM/2013-08/1377619875.  Thank you, Katherine, for being sharp-eyed this morning!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/08/ancestrycom-raises-us-subscription.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I sent a message to Ancestry via FB and asked them if the military records are being moved to the World subscription. It looks like it when you look at their comparison chart. I posted a screenshot with my question.

Anonymous said...

I just got a response. Here it is:

"Hi Michele, Sorry for any confusion caused by this. With a U.S. Discovery subscription, you'll be able access U.S. military records. We'll pass your feedback along to the appropriate department."

Debi Austen said...

I already subscribe to ancestry on an annual basis. I wonder if there are any changes to that price?

Andrew Hatchett said...

Ancestry hasn't increased yearly rates in quite some time. As long as they remain below$365/yr I'll stay-after that it gets "iffy"

christy said...

We can only hope that with the increase in price will come an improvement in the site. Lately, there have been man issues. (This is me trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.)

T said...

OH, dear. This is not music to my ears. I have a hard time paying for it as it is.

I was considering not renewing anyway because every search I do for my family turns up the very documents that I already have on my tree and all the photos, too. There hasn't been anything new for several months. I'm stuck going backwards and ancestry doesn't even have the years or places I need. I'm also very annoyed that after paying for the subscription I still have to pay for a vital record to even see the details. I won't do it. My ancestor information is scarcer than hen's teeth and I've already spent too much money on people who aren't mine.

Add this price increase to the $25 they want for FTM software update and it's totaling up to be real money. I think I'll stick to feeding horses as a hobby and wean myself off the genealogy.

Thomas MacEntee said...

Randy - I made an inquiry with my contacts at Ancestry.com about the price increase and here is the response: "Ancestry.com continually tests it’s pricing, which is an ongoing, important strategy for any subscriber-based business. As our pricing evolves, we continue to focus on delivering our members the valuable family history resources they have the gained from our services, including access to billions of records, site and mobile features that make family history easier, development of proprietary technology to digitize and preserve historical records, and onsite training for every level of family historian."

Unknown said...

My subscription was up for renewal in September when I received an email from ancestry.com in regard to it. I was given a "one time" special. $155.40 for the US version renewal and $199 for the US and World subscription. I grabbed it! Seems to me I've had this special some time in years past. It will be interesting to see what happens next year. I, too, was considering not renewing this year, but the special made it worth the while.

Anonymous said...

"No one likes price increases..." Very true, although I think we all realize that they're necessary from time to time. Many, though, would prefer to have smaller increases more frequently.

What bothers me with this announcement is the way they're borrowing from the cable TV industry: showing a promotional rate, but not a word about what the "then-current" rate will be after that first month (and this is only a month away; if they don't already know what that rate is going to be then they get an F grade as businessmen).

Ancestry.com isn't alone, of course, but businesses need to remember that openness is the name of the game. If customers don't feel that you respect them -- and remember, they are the ONLY reason your business exists -- then they will go elsewhere.

Dave L

jdonalds said...

I have a Family Tree Maker database of 602 names. This is all based on family photos and documents, plus a few letters from here and abroad. I've avoided going outside of family documents until I had recorded everything in my possession (20 years of on and off effort).

Today I decided to determine the cost of an Ancestry.com subscription and was shocked at the prices. I'll be holding off for some years before I do that.

I've had a SmugMug photo site for many years at $40/year. I have over 11,000 large photos stored there. It was that price range that I expected to see when I peeked into ancestry.com.

jdonalds said...

I tried the "free" peek into ancestry.com today. It turned out to be a tease rather than a true free peek.