Can we have different plans / price points / data combinations / plan sizes?

[Michel L.]

Hi, I find limited in the choices of subscription plans. Basic/free and Pro/110$

I'd gladly pay something like 25$ a year for 50GB and a 2 users family plan.

Considering iCloud have a 12$ plan for 20 GB and 48$ for 200GB, that seems reasonable..

[Mark]

We dont work for Dropbox - we are just users like you. However, I'd pretty much categorically state you wont ever get that as a price. And I'd be AMAZED if there was ever a price cut. If you dont want to pay it, use a different service. Competition is a great thing

Also, remember other companies have other income streams. For me I wont use Google as I dont want them putting adverts allover based on the text inside my documents!

[Ashja M.]

Dear readers,

I am Ashja and I am a student from the Netherlands studying Business Management. I am a happy user of Dropbox. One year ago I received extra space from the school spacerace programme AND I had an Galaxy S4 (which gave me around 50 gigs of storage and and 50 extra from the space race.

I am a student with a simple (limited) budget to spend each month. I am looking for extra storage than the storage I have now on my Dropbox. Soon all of my extra space will run out and I'll be left with the lousy space I had from the beginning (don't know exactly how much that is, but isn't 100+ gb)..

The thing is. I don't need 1 terabyte of storage and it's too expansive for a student like me (I have some priorities; a mobile data and calling bundle, spotify, netflix and MS office). I really want to continue using Dropbox.

I was wondering if there are plans of an upgrade plan smaller (and more affordable) than the 1 terabyte plan. Are here any plans of making a smaller upgrade bundle of 100GB for let's say.. 3-5 euro's a month? I think it would be a great idea and it would be helpful for student who have to make priorities. I see OneDrive offering up to 100gb of space extra (for two years) and Google Drive offering 100GB extra for a low price. Mega (from Kim Dotcom) is even offering 50gb of space completely free.

Now I am pretty loyal.. I like the interface, simplicity, ease of using and overall blue theme of Dropbox. I love the Dropbox app for mobile. I wish I'd rather not stop using it.

To make a very long story short..

Are there any plans of adding more upgrading options (something smaller and more affordable than the 1TB upgrade) in the near future? If there is anyone who agrees or disagrees with me, I'd like to know!

[Mark]

No. Dropbox trialled smaller plans and it lost them money.

Also until summer this WAS a smaller plan.... it was 100gb for the same price.

[Ashja M.]

Well the problem is.. I am almost positive that on the long term Dropbox is going to lose users because of their space running out. I was thinking they should give students some kind of benefit. Microsoft is really stepping up their game (100gb for anyone who leaves Dropbox, free MS Office for students and other benefits) and also Google adds more value to simultaneously work on the same document.

I am hoping for someone from the Dropbox team to reply or give me some kind of insight if possible.

[Richard P.]

I am almost positive that on the long term Dropbox is going to lose users because of their space running out.

People have been saying that now for five years. Ain't happened yet.

There are no plans for adding more smaller upgrade options, why would there be if it had been shown in the past that it cost more money than it generated?

[Mark]

They have frequently given students bonus space.

And office is not free for students.... it is a bundled deal for schools and colleges who can buy the licences for students as part of there package. Soon as they stop paying the licence on the student devices will expire (I know, I network manage my work - schools - network).

And remember Google and Microsoft have other income streams (google - adverts based on the data inside your docs) and Microsoft - Office. Dropbox doesnt.

And I can categorically state that although I dont work for Dropbox they wont comment on this. They never ever release roadmaps of features.

And maybe they WANT free users to leave? You know its costing them cash to have them as customers.

Just playing devils advocate but most new features are only coming out now for Business customers so it is almost like they dont even really want Pro users like me, more DfB.

[Mark]

Actually, I should also say that I would love smaller plans. I dont need 1TB and would downgrade in an instant to a smaller plan.

[Ashja M.]

@Richard P

I know and they have been wrong (I wasn't among those people).. I am just seeing 2 things happening. This or next year many users will lose their extra storage and other Cloud services are stepping their game up.

@Marc Mc
I don't believe you. NO COMPANY IN THE WORLD wants their users to leave like this. I can not find anything about mission/culture/vision, but I do know it's a young team with a low average age. Not shady outdated entrepreneurs that hide stuff. I somehow feel transparency is important for the team of Dropbox. I am more convinced of this because the founders of Dropbox are student themselves and I'm pretty sure they can understand or relate to (in a certain way) to fellow students! MS Office is still free for student and Google isn't dependable of the incomes they get through documents.

If their business model isn't profitable enough they should seriously look into new options! Because in a year or two, when the competition WILL get tougher, it will be much harder to manage against newcomers and big players like Google and Microsoft.

[Mark]

Why?

Dropbox is already the largest of its kind. And continually growing. It doesnt seem to be slowing down.

What makes me say that? They are heavily hammering the corporate market - 12,000 businesses now use DfB's beta products never mind the actual version. They dont release any other stat. They have also said that they ARE profitable.

And why wouldn't a company want a customer who was costing them money to either move on to a fee paying system or leave? The managers were students, they no longer are. You have no idea that Dropbox is 'losing customers' - there is no evidence to say that other than you as you want more space but dont want to pay for it.

Oh and as I said Microsoft makes money on its 'free' Office for students by charging the educational establishments for it. And the Google thing was an example - they have LOTS of revenue streams, but for me, thats the big one. I do NOT want them spying on me to give me adverts!

Maybe in a year or two this will be different but until then why would any company who's numbers are going up, are profitable etc. reduce its income stream? If you ran a restaurant or similar and were selling out every night you wouldn't reduce the prices 'just cause a student or two asked'. That would be ridiculous. You charge what you can get people to pay. If people are willing to pay it - let them! Same as loads of things. Porsche or Kia - both cars, both do the same thing but very very different prices. Should Porsche reduce there price 'just cause you'd like a cheaper version'?

[Ashja M.]

@Marc

I stand by what I said before. I personally don't have to pay a cent for my MS Office pack. More than 10 universities here offer it for 3 euro for a year and 5 more offer it free. They probably found it interesting enough to make a switch or upgrade.

If you read my post careful, you would have noticed that I am not asking for free space. I am asking for better possibilities to upgrade. There is no way I would pay 10 euros for 1tb of space, when I can get more than enough space for a much cheaper price.

That's the problem of most businesses. They think all is going find and are not aware of the competitors. If it's all going good and everything is a-okay it means the market is in their favor. Everything has a cycle. I don't see Dropbox making any kind of innovation.. No they aren't progressing at all (it's still the same as it was couple of years ago) and some might say ''never change a winning team'' but those are people that rely on a world where the games and rules don't change.

Well my original point was.. I am leaving Dropbox if there is no sign at all. I just want a confirmation on the matter. I could have also asked this as a private message which would have been much easier. But I wanted a discussion like this, it's much better to see insights from other people too or to see people with mutual thinking.

I just believe there are more people like me. I could do some small survey in my network, but that wouldn't make me any wiser. If Dropbox has good analysts they should be aware of such a thing. If they do, than all they have to do is answer a simple question of mine..which is:

Are their any plans for the upcoming future to add more variety in the premium upgrading?

I agree they are businessmen now, but I just think they have different approaches to business than what's inside the literature. Oh and your comparison is useless. Nothing indicates that Dropbox is the 'Porsche' of the Cloudmarkets. Dropbox' unique selling point is the name they have and their simplicity.

Personally I'm taking my stuff to Google Drive if all of my extra space would run out.