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+--- Thread: HUGE news for IML and you! (/Thread-HUGE-news-for-IML-and-you)
HUGE news for IML and you! - Shannon - 08-15-2021
For a long time now, I have been trying to find solutions to the issues that have progressively plagued us here at IML for years and years now. Several months ago, I was presented with something that turned out to be what I had been looking for, and we who could started working on it. I could not have done this without Steve or Michael. Steve was a moderator here for a while, and Michael is working hard to make some of the changes we are about to make possible. Many thanks to the both of you!
So I'm making this announcement in response to the unexpected response to the announcement that I made at the beginning of this month that we will be raising our prices to where they actually should be on 5.75.xG subliminals, instead of leaving them artificially low as we have been forced to do so far as a result of the pandemic. When I announced that we would be raising our prices, I did so out of excitement for us all, not realizing that you guys didn't yet know what was coming. I apologize for handling that poorly. So what's the secret project we have been working on so much and so hard?
A completely new store! That's right, we will be transitioning from our current store to a brand new one. The old one has been lagging way behind in updates for reasons that I'm not free to get into, but was until recently unable to do anything about. But when I was presented with this new opportunity, it basically meant that we would be solving all of the issues in one fell swoop. I jumped on it. We have been working behind the scenes on this for several months, with various delays. It was originally supposed to open in April. Now I'm trying hard to open it on my birthday, as a gift to me and all of you.
And while the prices will be going up (5.75G subs and up only), we will now have the option of subscribing to and streaming your choice of subs 5G and above! Because they are old tech and therefore lower priced, 3G and 4G will still be purchase only. This means that you will have the prices for 5.75.xG and up subs rise, but you'll also have the option of a much lower priced monthly subscription option as well. I have been trying hard to find such a solution for those of you who aren't having an easy time of it, but I couldn't find one that checked all the boxes until this one.
Now when the new store opens, if you buy a subliminal 5G and above, it is a one time cost, you can download it, use it whenever and wherever you want, on whatever player and you get access to FLAC and MP3 formats. But it costs more and takes up more space. You can see what the prices of those subliminals will rise to when the new store opens because we have them listed in the current store product description, with $114.95 being currently set as a "sale" price.
And if you subscribe, you can stream it to any device that has Internet access and a web browser. The player is designed specifically for subliminals, and allows you to set the number of loops you want it to play. You can choose which track to play by clicking on the track name and it will give you a drop down list of which tracks are available. It also shows you how long you have been listening, and how much time is left in the loops. Play or pause at any time. Now we don't have to worry about our choice of devices or player apps screwing up, shutting off, looping forever, etc. It will always loop exactly the number of times you specify.
Pricing for each month of subscription will be as follows:
5G subliminals are just $10.99 a month.
5.5G subs are just $17.95 a month.
5.75.xG subs are just $34.95 a month.
Because the numbering conventions got a little crazy with 5.75G I have decided to set all levels of 5.75G subs to $34.95 a month as a subscription price, even though they don't all have the same Buy It Now price. The models chose a subscription price that was lower than what I had in mind for things at 5.75.5G and higher, but whatever works.
Subscriptions are streaming only, so we only offer MP3 tracks through this option. This helps to minimize bandwidth usage for people who have bandwidth limits. With streaming, you don't have to use space to store the subliminals, and because the (custom) player is web browser based and is universal, any web browser should be able to play it, regardless of the platform, OS or device. Phone? Computer? Tablet? Pad? Gaming console? It should all work just fine. You just need Internet access and a web browser.
We also will no longer have to manually approve orders because we won't have the issues with PayPal that we currently have. In fact PayPal is not going to be the primary way you pay anymore, although I am working on making it one of the ways you can pay. We will be moving more to credit and debit cards instead. Cryptos may come later, but I'm not sure if that is a good idea just yet. We have to wait and see.
I have tested the subscription service, and it works well and makes your subscriptions available for you to actually use even faster than downloading them. I was able to subscribe to and start listening to a test program in 1-2 minutes. Downloads are also easily accessed. And one thing I'd like you to know is, we made it easy for you to pause or cancel your subscriptions at any time. You don't even need to contact us. Just go to your subscriptions and click "Pause" or "Cancel". You can resume your subscription at any time. However, we will not be offering any refunds on subscriptions, so please keep that in mind when you are making your choice between subscription and purchase.
All in all, we have tried to solve every issue we could think of. I have also removed a lot of programs from the store - mostly 3G and 4G, but some higher ones too, because I did not have confidence in them achieving their goals.
The new store means a lot of new improvements and changes, and I think it looks a lot better too. We spent a lot of time trying to make it look nice. Our goal is for the store to be more visually pleasant, make it easier and faster for you to find what you want (a VASTLY improved set of sorting options) and get what you want with more options that better fit your needs and life. It will still need some work visually after it opens to make everything perfect, but it's important that it opens ASAP as well.
Please be aware, however, that this is a completely new store for us as well, so while we have been working hard to make sure everything is as it should be and needs to be, we may have occasional things not set quite right or maybe they aren't configured fully because we aren't fully familiar with the store just yet. Please help us find and stamp out any such issues, and make the store all that it can be!
Lastly, I'm not entirely sure when the store will open. We have a few more things to finish taking care of, and I'm not in control of all variables concerning timing on this. Some of the people I am relying on have health issues, COVID and others, that mean they may have to go at a different speed than I would otherwise require. So we will be shutting down the store soon to transfer the changes to the database since it was last transferred to the new store (which was originally supposed to open in April 2021, but we all know how things go in a pandemic). I don't know exactly when the store will shut down, or when it will re-open. I was trying to keep all this a complete surprise to open the new store, hopefully on the 17th of this month, but then the fear of prices rising made me realize I can't do this without giving you guys a heads up to allow you to choose what to do: Buy now, or wait until you can subscribe. So here is your heads up. Do your thang.
This has been long overdue. Thanks to those who have been helping and making this happen, specifically Steve (once a moderator here) and Michael, who is behind most of the dirty work of transferring and setting up the store back end. I can't tell you guys how grateful I am for your continued help and how much you both have gone above and beyond to make this new store happen! And thank YOU, our loyal customers, for sticking with us through all this.
Happy birthday, IML!