Are these crossed out prices on the buy credits menu a forecast of Virtuagirls new pricing to come?! seems to me that virtuagirl will lose a fair amount of membership by pricing yourselves out of the casual members price range that they are willing to pay. I understand it takes money to offer your products, etc. but given the recent trend towards small breasted euro-chicks with little to no dancing or performing skills, this just echos my former comment about price to qaulity ratio. if you were having girls like Marta and Rebeka and the other full breasted hitters coming back I might be ok with this. and the technical issues with the lighting and poor definition are not helping your case, Totem. my old cards actually look better than the brand new cards coming out. I can honestly say that with those proposed prices, my own future purchases will soon be coming to an end. sorry Totem, but to me, the product coming out lately does not justify that big of a price hike. too bad, as up until recently I have enjoyed the product. but, it seems that like Microsoft, your motto seems to be "let them eat cake".

Judging by the fact that you can get up to 50% off I'd say no... looks more like a promotion.

The crossed prices are not a forecast of any new pricing.

This is only a display of what the price would be without the discount at reload for a better understanding, but we have no plans to change them.

As for the quality of the cards I agree with you. Lots of changes have been made to the studio, lights and post production, you'll see the first results of that in October.

Aye, listing the 'Real Value' is a marketing gimmick which only purpose is to make you very, very angry. Kinda pisses me off every time I see prices listed like that, which is quite often indeed.

Sane people buy in bulk whenever feasible to be more cost effective. The bulk package then sets the 'real value' and when bought in lesser amounts there should be listings how much you pay extra for picking small packages. Ofc that will never happen but using the smallest package to determine a 'base price' is just an attempt at obfuscation.

Did you ever get that angry in the supermarket and did security have to escort you out? ;)

The amount you pay is listed at the top of the bill under;

Secure Purchase
Per Unit Billing: purchase of {X} credits

You could work out what kind of better deal you're getting with a calculator (or a computer).

All the legal stuff is in the Terms and Conditions and Billing support is underneath if you have any concerns.
Totem is a registered company, which means you could always ***** to the European Fair Trades Association if you're still not happy. That's your right.
Rex is a CEO of the company and he's possibly taken time out of a busy schedule to answer you personally. I'm pretty sure there is no conspiracy here.

By the way Rex, the T&C's still contains subscription information and may need updating...

To Rex-

Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to clarify that for me. I understand it better now. thanks again. looking forward to the changes.

To those who left snippy and/or unhelpful comments, sorry for being just a working guy who usually can just buy the small packages, that's why I have built my collection up over a few years. after all, we can't all take time out of our busy schedules to make snarky on someone that had a brief misunderstanding of something that, gotta admit, looks a little dodgy at first glance. also, said schedule does not allow us all to print in triplicate the EULA (yes, I even know what it means) and have our lawyers go over it in mass, or sharpen my word finding skills. so, once again, so sorry. maybe if I sell my home in spain, I could afford to buy my girls a hundred or so at a time. hell, maybe if I sell my boat (sorry, to dumb to spell yacht) I can buy in to the company. just a thought.

lets not get nasty please.

yes a few of the comments were a bit on the sharp side, but that is because a number of members are getting peeved with the complaints whenever Totem start changing, just about nearly anything.

You must admit, your own comments were a bit sharp to begin with.

Now lets all be peaceful :)

Absolutely Cartref, and it is pleasing to see that the OP realised how it may have sounded and made amends.

Once you strip away all that though, I can see the point he was trying to make.

When Rex said "The crossed prices are not a forecast of any new pricing" and "only a display of what the price would be without the discount..." I can understand why it can be seen as an irrelevance and a marketing gimmick.

Laws exist in the UK, and maybe the EU too considering our joint legislature on a lot of matters, to ensure that claims as to the cost of something are not misleading. If you announce something is 50% off it has to be proven to have been sold at double that price for a certain period prior to that.

If I understand what Rex said, the uncrossed price is only based on a purely theoretical amount it would be charging under other circumstances. That's not exactly in the spirit of truthful marketing. I think it would have been far better to simply leave the prices as they were. It would have caused no comment at all.

I apologise if my comments came off as snippy or offensive, they were not meant as such.

"..... and the technical issues with the lighting and poor definition are not helping your case, Totem. my old cards actually look better than the brand new cards coming out".

I agree with OP of this thread.
......................................

I didn`t follow some time this forum and I don`t know what are the news,but IF I understood well,from October we shall see some changes at the product and Totem will announce the new prices based on status of each member(diamond,double diamond,triple diamond).

I checked also the lately cards(VG and DB) and that`s why I wanted to say I agree with what said OP of this thread regarding technical issues(especially the poor light of some cards and the size of them).Like I said,long time I didn`t buy new cards,because I wait to see what will be the new prices for faithfull members(those discounts announced by Totem for the members with largest collection).Like I said I won`t agree to pay a full price just like a new member who will install the software for the first time.

October is close.I can wait to see the changes announced by Totem:)

Totem,please remember it`s not enough to have released 7 cards with good light and after that to release another 7 cards with poor light.
If you want to keep your faithfull members,you should have the same quality at the all cards,not only some cards.

I want to come the day when I can say "Yes,indeed Totem released all cards(or most of all) at the same quality".

I`m dissapointed regarding at the poor light of many cards released lately.I didn`t check all,but are plenty from my carousel with poor light and that`s why I felt to post here and to express my opinion which are the same with OP of this thread regarding technical issues of the cards.

Well,I read what said REX above and I will wait in October to see if the quality of the cards will be the different or same like the new cards released lately.

Regarding at the small breasts,I don`t mind small breasts if the girls perform good and if they are on my taste.
Too bad,I saw lately girls only few for my taste(Ava Dalush,Naomi Nevena,Silvie Luca,Lyen Parker,Susana Melo,Lola Taylor,Subil Arch for VG)

The new prices are roughly $2 per credit, so $4 per card. Out of my collection of nearly 1,300 cards, I'd say that I'd be willing to pay $4 for maybe twenty of them. On the other hand, the prices are still what they've basically always been, given the discount off that high price. Were they to get to the $4/card arena, I'd probably cut my buying down to a card a week or less unless my review sites suddenly went ballistic and I started making enough in affiliate to pay for this. I doubt that'll happen.

Anyway, it is inducement to buy more credits in one swoop, which I just did since I was out anyway and am looking forward to the new Niky cards entering my carousel. :)

by doubleDiamond WyDude - 1 hour(s) ago
The new prices are roughly $2 per credit, so $4 per card. Out of my collection of nearly 1,300 cards, I'd say that I'd be willing to pay $4 for maybe twenty of them.................
...........................................................

Seriously...
Your Post makes it Sound Like Totem has Doubled their Pricing all of a Sudden...

Fact is the Deals are Better or about the same as then they were before.

The Credit Prices are about the same as they have always been...
Totem removed the buy 1 credit for 2$ option..
Totem increased the minimum Credit purchase to 4 credit for $7.
That is the Deal that went up in Price...
3 for $5 ( 16.5%) vs 4 for $7 ( 12%)

The Third Deal is a Better Value than Before, 40% now vs 37.5% before, and the 50 for $50
is still 1 credit for 1$

Card Pricing has not Changed...
Credit Pricing is Better or the Same in Quantity

So really... what is the Complaint?

Wyld, I think he was saying that its not worth it to buy points in small amounts anymore which I would agree with and I would take it as a statement more than a complaint. I had already greatly cut back on my entertainment spending and the change didn't help, I understand it but it is a fact. I buy way less often but in bigger amounts now. I just bought fifty tokens but that was after saving for six months.


And for the record the crossed out numbers threw me for a loop as well for second, I saw that when I went to buy the fifty tokens and went WTF! lol

by tripleDiamond supernatedog - 1 hour(s) ago
Wyld, I think he was saying that its not worth it to buy points in small amounts anymore which I would agree with and I would take it as a statement more than a complaint.
......

Well I did not read it that way at all....

He started out with making a Statement about the NEW cost of the Cards is NOW $4.

Which is the Price the Cards have always Been for as long as I have been A member.
Since mid 2008!

Cards have Always been priced at $4 to $6 per card. ( 2 or 3 credits per card )

So to me, that Post is Just intended as a way to FLAME the Thread.

I posted the FACTS of the old Credit Price and the New Credit Prices to Show there is little Difference.. and NO need to *****...


.....................................

by tripleDiamond supernatedog - 1 hour(s) ago
...
And for the record the crossed out numbers threw me for a loop as well for second, I saw that when I went to buy the fifty tokens and went WTF! lol
.....................................................

I'm really stunned by that...
To me, it's was Most Obvious that the crossed out Price is What the Full price would be, without the Discount.

I don't know where you all shop.. but Here where I live In the USA,
Almost Everything that has a Discounted Price, also has the Original Full Price marked and crossed out. A way to Show you how much you are saving..

Maybe not everyone is familiar with that concept, a Price Discount..
but for me, It was very obvious.

I buy credits in bulk in euros so I've long regarded cards as only costing me 1€ because I have bought nearly every single one of mine from the carousel or from booster packs. So with the removal of the carousel pricing that will at least double the cost of my cards if I buy them individually at 2 credits. Obviously if the price per card is more than 2 credits the jump will be even higher.

I'm hoping however that the option to self-select a set of cards and purchase them together at a discount, as Rex has suggested will be offered, is going to help me reduce the cost of my card buying. Certainly looks like it as there is now a decimal in the display of remaining credits on our account.

And sorry to disagree WA, but 50 credits, to my knowledge, have never been priced at 100$ or €. So suggesting that 50 is a discounted price when that has always been the price for 50 credits is disingenuous at best. It's a shoddy marketing trick to suddenly say "This is the real price so look how much you are saving!". Why not pull an even larger theoretical price out of thin air and say the real price is 200 so you are saving even more?

@Bad4Good, because that larger theoretical price would be false. If you look at both the old and new pricing, they both say you are saving 50%. Which means that 50 credits has always been priced at $100.

1 credit = $2

50 credits = $100

Thanks go to Bad4Good for helping me state better what I was trying to say, and the others that were thrown off for a second as well.
The other part of my original post still stands, and I see that others agree as well. and that is, that no matter how much of a theoretical discount there APPEARS to be, the qaulity of the cards has gone down drastically at ANY price. and I still stand by what I said, that my older cards are far superior to the newly released cards in regards to what I'm getting for my money. Rex has promised changes to this in the near future, and we shall see in time. but I can't help but wonder that if Totem was able to release such better qaulity before, then what has changed so much since then at the studio or in post production? Granted, I have only been a member since 2009, but even when I first downloaded the software it was VirtuagirlHD. as Bad4Good also stated, and what I was originally trying to convey, was that the pricing should have been better off just as it was displayed before, without the "supposed" discount shown, unless it can be proved that it actually was that much at one time. my original post has generated far more backlash (both bad and good) than I intended, and I may get flamed even further but it's a fact that qaulity has fallen a lot and it can be seen by anyone with a large enough collection to compare old with new. this has been supported above in this very thread. so I will finish on the note that at any price, theoretical or otherwise, I expect more for my money. so far, i have not seen it in the new releases. we shall see come October. thank you.

by doubleDiamond Bad4Good - 1 hour(s) ago
And sorry to disagree WA, but 50 credits, to my knowledge, have never been priced at 100$ or €. So suggesting that 50 is a discounted price when that has always been the price for 50 credits is disingenuous at best. It's a shoddy marketing trick to suddenly say "This is the real price so look how much you are saving!".
..............................................

Where did you all learn to do math?

If 1 credit = $2
What does 50 credits Cost??
50 x $2 = $100
Answer: 50 credits = $100

Is that Clear enough????
http://datas.virtuagirl.com/customdata/forum/2014-09-26/1132923_1411767226.png

50 credits has always had a value of $100, and Totem has always discounted the 50 credit purchase by 50%

And as far as I know ( last night I just purchased a card ) the Card Discounts on the Carousel are still there...
so you are still purchasing your cards for 1 credit each from the carousel.

We have to wait and see what the New Card discount structure will be..

Groan - Come on WyldAnimal. If you read what I wrote you'll realise that I said '50 credits, to my knowledge, have never been priced at 100$ or €'. I don't ever recall a time where I had to buy 50 credits for 100€.

So I stand absolutely by my assertion that the higher price is a fiction designed entirely to make us think what a good deal we are getting.

You previously said "Here where I live In the USA,Almost Everything that has a Discounted Price, also has the Original Full Price marked and crossed out."

Well, here in the UK we have consumer protection that outlaws the use of false claims about higher prices to make the current price seem a good deal. Unless some VG historian can point to a time when 100 was the price for 50 credits then I still regard this as a phony marketing ploy on Totem's part.

@The3LeggedMan - if it was never sold at 100 then it is a false price, just as any other amount would be, so I don't accept your argument.

I will apologise however that my comment about the removal of the carousel single credit price was misleading. I was of course talking about the future removal of the carousel discount. I absolutely accept that at present I am able to still purchase cards for 1 credit. Just a shame that so many of them on there at the moment are recent cards of girls I have no interest in whatsoever.

by doubleDiamond Bad4Good - 15 min ago
Well, here in the UK we have consumer protection that outlaws the use of false claims about higher prices to make the current price seem a good deal. Unless some VG historian can point to a time when 100 was the price for 50 credits then I still regard this as a phony marketing ploy on Totem's part.
.......................................

we also have the same in the USA.. a vendor has to have proof that the Discount is a real discount.

Totems, Discount is Not a phony marketing ploy..

If 1 Credit is Sold for $2, then 50 Credits would sell for $100.
It Does not Matter if Totem Never Charged $100 for 50 credits purchased at one time.
If a member purchased 50 single credits then they paid $100 for their 50 Credits.
even if they paid for 1 credit a week for a year..


What Matters is that Totem has established that the Price for a Single Credit
is $2. That has been Established, and there is no Disputing that a Single Credit has a value of $2.

Any amount of Credits then would have the Same Base Value of 1 credit is $2.
So it is factual and truthful that 50 credits has a value of $100.

And If you Take notice on the Old pricing.
the 50 Credit Purchase was also Discounted 50%

You can view it how you want, but the Fact is, 1 credit is $2 and 50 Credits has a value of $100, purchasing them in bulk gives you a 50% discount.

There is no deception going on. no Phony pricing..

I believe it is Just a flame war by members to suggest that there is.
I'm just pointing out the Facts so members can see the Facts and not be swayed by the Flames..

See the Facts for Yourself.
http://datas.virtuagirl.com/customdata/forum/2014-09-26/1132923_1411767226.png

@Bad4good, if you buy each credit individually(1 credit for $2), then if you buy 50 credits, how much money did you spend? $100.

The 50% discount is simply saying that if you buy each credit for its original price, you would be paying $100. Its the exact same thing as the old pricing. Nothing has changed, where do you see phony pricing?

To all of the Members here...
Please don't feel like I am Attacking you or anyone in particular..
That's not the Intent of my posts.
While My posts are Direct and to the Point..

The Sole purpose is to spread the Facts, and Dispel any false information.

All it takes is one member to misunderstand the new pricing and make a statement that isn't accurate.
and before you know it, other members join in and then we have chaos on our hands.

Each time I see a post with misinformation, I try to Quote the post, and then show the Correct facts.

So If I've quoted your posts..
It's only because I believe the Information you used is not Accurate.

Either way, I will post a correction.

double posting the same misinformation,
well that just makes me suspicious of your intent..
and I'm sure no one here is intentionally trying to stir things up...
at least I should hope not..

@Wyld: Seriously...
Your Post makes it Sound Like Totem has Doubled their Pricing all of a Sudden...

Fact is the Deals are Better or about the same as then they were before.

===

Except that's not what happened. Read what I wrote - try to get past that first sentence you got ***** up on there, Wyld. You seem to have seen what I said as some kind of negative or as a dis on Totem. What I pointed out was that IF the new prices were to go into effect as they are shown (crossed out) and if the carousel prices go away, which Totem has said will happen, then cards will rise to $4 each. At that point, they are more than twice what I'm paying now. My choice will be to cut my spending by half (i.e. buy half the cards) or double my spending and remain as I am.

Nowhere did I fault Totem for the possibility of changing prices. I run a business myself and I know how things work. My own income has not risen to beat costs with the economy being the way it is despite my income-per-sale going up. In other words, like Totem, I am in a position where I can either keep going as I am and see fewer profits or raise prices. Totem has to, however, consider that many of those of us who've been around for a long time will have to cut back. The good news for them is that with higher cost-per-card, they actually make more money because we will be buying fewer cards at the same dollar figure, thus cutting their costs down (server, bandwidth) while profits rise. Again, this is how business works. I do not fault them.

So, Wyldanimal, read what I wrote. You obviously didn't before. And try to read past the first sentence this time.

Small point: you can no longer buy 1 credit for $2; the minimum purchase is 4 credits for $7. Following the recent changes the 'discount' percentages have become meaningless (and potentially misleading to new members).

Ok. I'm giving up. I accept the logic that 1 credit used to sell for $2 and so theoretically 50 credits would have cost $100, and that charging $50 is therefore a 'discount' of 50%.

But I still think that putting a crossed out $100 against the 50 credit price can easily give the impression that $100 had been the price for 50 credits at some point and the charge now is only $50. Especially where it isn't clear that the $100 is based on a single credit for $2 price which (as Albionhunnter points out) is no longer available or shown on that screen.

Perhaps if the savings quoted were stated as being on the basis of buying a larger number of credits in one purchase it would be much clearer. That's all I was saying.

This thread has become so pedantic that I'm gonna throw up! Who cares what the old prices were? Today's prices are still fair imho and not very different to the old ones. I have NEVER seen a card for sale at $4.00. Who came up with that one? The max to pay is still less than 2 dollars/euros as the single card purchase has gone. Who the hell wants to buy one card at a time anyway??? I'm a sporadic buyer and only buy credits at 50 euros for 50 credits. This, to me is a very good deal!

To those who are used to subscriptions at an even better rate, I say, you've had a good time, guys. Enjoy while you can but don't bitch about it when it ends :)

Unless something changes drastically, pricewise, I will remain a loyal fan and member of VGHD! :)

OK, I've held back from commenting on this thread topic yet, but I gotta throw my 2-cents out after reading it up to now.

What in the heck is everybody ***** about? And why?

VG is not your typical "Adult Entertainment" website. People here seem to be ***** that they are getting "ripped off" by Totem with the price changes. C'mon...let's get real.

VG has been around for over a decade. The current "version" of it has over 2000 individual "cards" or "shows" a member can purchase. That would cost a member $2000 if each show was only $1, and $4000 if each show was $2...but ONLY if they wanted to be a "collector" of ALL the cards.

VG is NOT a typical adult website where you can pay $19.95 for a month's membership then do a "site rip" and download the entire collection of model picture sets and videos from that site. VG is a totally different concept.

If you view yourself as a person who wants to be known as a "collector" of the entire VG product...an owner of ALL the available cards...you SHOULD expect to have to spend a large amount of money to do that. It would be no different than any OTHER type of "collector", whether it be stamps, coins, antiques, baseball cards...whatever. "Collecting" things has never been inexpensive if you want to own an "entire collection" of something.

On the other hand, even if it costs me $2 to purchase a model card here, I get an entire show for that model that is mine for (for all practical purposes) the rest of my life. Sorry, but I find it very, very hard to understand how someone thinks I am getting "ripped off" at that price for the product.

This is an ADULT entertainment site. If it takes you 6 months to save $50 before you can purchase 50 credits for $50, you are "*****" because your "adult entertainment" budget is so limited you can only spend $8 a month on your adult entertainment. If your adult entertainment budget is that limited, I would have to question what the heck you are doing spending money here in the first place? Or money on "adult entertainment" to begin with. For only $8/month, you aren't going to be able to "acquire" much more than a bottle of hand lotion and a centerfold magazine. Go to a dark room with a flashlight and have at it. ;-)

Totem can't GIVE their product away for free. For a long, long time we've been able to purchase their shows for LESS than $1 per model card (using a subscription) or for $1 a card if you could afford to spend $50 at a time. If you couldn't do either one of those, then it cost you $2 per model card.

Even IF $2 per card now became the LOWEST price per card, are you seriously gonna ***** about that for what you get? Is your financial situation so bad that you have to ***** about a price increase (IF IT HAPPENS!!!) of a product that has been around for an entire decade??? Show me ANY other product for consumer purchase that hasn't had an increase in price in the last 10 years...just be reasonable about your comparison, OK?

If you join VG today as a totally NEW member, you have a decision to make. Do I want to purchase ALL of the model cards and become a "collector" of the entire product? If "Yes!", then you NEED to plan on spending the money to DO that. And obviously, you will need the MONEY to do that too.

Nobody should expect Totem to give their product away at a loss in revenues. Everybody should expect prices to increase on consumer goods over time.

Welcome to the real world.

I'm a loyal fan and supporter too, but I'm also an old pedant and I think it was valid to say they shouldn't put a crossed out price next to the actual price because if you saw that on a price tag of an item in a store you'd rightly think they had been charging the higher price.

That's all I wanted someone to admit to - the possibility that there had been ***** caused by electing to do this crossed out price strategy. It wasn't much to ask, but once again it seems the defences go up and they argue the toss instead of saying 'sorry if that caused *****" and THEN explaining what they meant.

"Deception" is in the mind of the individual when it comes to advertising. And sad to say, modern advertising is loaded with BLATANT deceptive practices to try to separate consumers from their money. Did Totem INTENTIONALLY do it? I don't think so. As Wyldanimal explained, the BASE price for a model card has ALWAYS been $2 per card. So using the referenced "$50 for 50 credits" graphic that showed (implied?) that a purchase of 50 credits for $50 was actually WORTH $100 of the product based on the BASE price isn't really a deceptive practice. Some people can interpret it that way if they want though, I agree.

There are plenty of REAL deceptive advertising examples in the world today, and consumers fall for them all the time. Modern TV infomercials are full of them. "Buy one, get one FREE!!! Only pay Shipping and Handling for the second one!" Yeah, right. The FIRST one is over-priced to begin with, and the additional "shipping and handling" price is so over-inflated it equals or EXCEEDS the actual cost of the product AND the shipping and handling. But my all-time favorite one is "Buy the product and we will give you FREE LIFETIME refills for it! Just pay shipping and handling!" So I buy the *****-whacker with one supply of *****-whacker cutting strings for it. Then when I need to order new "Free For Life" cutting strings, all I have to do is pay another $19.95 for the "shipping and handling". Strange...I could go to my local Wal-Mart and buy the same replacement cutting strings for $4.95.

Consumers are gullible. Tell them something is "FREE!" and they will jump on the bandwagon, grab their credit cards, and blow money away like they just met the Tooth Fairy.

There is NOTHING "free" in this world. It ALL costs money one way or another. It costs businesses money to produce something, and it costs consumers money to acquire the business's product.

Honestly, for only $2 a model card AT MOST for Totem's product...a product you make a one time purchase cost for and get to keep for life...I simply can't understand all the ***** about the price of it. If someone's "adult entertainment budget" can't afford that price for the quality of the adult entertainment Totem is producing, they aren't being very realistic about pricing for adult entertainment in today's world economy.

Totem didn't LIE to anybody about their prices or price increases using the $100 for 50 credits example. It did reflect the fact that for $50 you got $100 worth of their BASE price for their product. Maybe the way it was PRESENTED was *****, but to say that Totem was trying to be DECEPTIVE about it is simply not a true statement. Deception involves false claims. There was nothing false about the $100 value a customer received when purchasing 50 credits for $50.