Recently (June 2010) the guys over at Wealthy Affiliate decided to raise the price of membership.  When the site first opened in 2005 it was $29 a month to be a member.  But it has changed a lot since then and eventually it changed to $39 per month since there were so many resources.  $39 is a lot cheaper than many similar programs out there, and I had no problem recommending WA at $39.

But now it costs $97 each month to be a member at Wealthy Affiliate…and I definitely have mixed feelings about this.

Yes, WA has grown a lot over the years and I understand wanting to increase the price again.  If they had changed it to $49 I would have been behind, but I think $97 is too much of a sudden increase.

They said that making this change would mean catering to a new crowd…the more experienced online marketers who are already making money and have more to spend on WA.  But I believe WA is catered toward beginners-meaning people who are just starting out online and have no experience and are usually on a very tight budget.  Why increase the price and possibly exclude the people that need WA the most?

I know that when I first joined the site I had no clue what affiliate marketing was, and I was in bad shape financially.  $39 a month seemed like a lot of money, but I decided to try it (and it was a good choice!).  But if had cost $97 a month then, there is no way I would have been able to join.

They tried to justify the price increase by saying that they will be adding lots of cool new features to the site.  But the newest feature (Wordpress Express) was nothing special to me.  It is a feature geared toward beginners…the people who might not be able to join WA now.  There are also existing features that need a bit of work.  For example, the Rapid Writer tool is a bit dated now, and other tools could used a remodel too.

So…I understand wanting to increase the price, but I think $97 is a bit too much of a jump and hopefully they will lower it again sometime.  I am an honest member and admit that WA is not perfect-it has new features that aren’t very special, some old tools are outdated, and the owners don’t personally interact with members as much as they used to.

However, I am still happy with Wealthy Affiliate and plan on staying.  There is still a great community at WA and people will try to help you, there is plenty of great training if you are new to online marketing, and some of the tools and resources actually are pretty good.

Despite their reasoning for the new price, I still think WA is best for beginners.  If you are making a full time income online, then WA may not be for you.  But if you are new to the idea of affiliate marketing, the training and forum at WA are sure to help you just as it helped me get started.  But with this new price, it is something to think about seriously.

WA is a great training site still, but I’m afraid fewer people will learn that once they are scared off by the new price.  I hope this helps someone with this important decision.  In the meantime, I am going to try to put together a special bonus package that makes the $97 price seem worth it.

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