We’re going to have some work done on our house, so I decided to take a look and see what a membership to Angie’s List costs.
Default location turned up as Washington DC, with a 4yr charge of $34.
I changed the location to Chicago - $32 for 4 years
Des Moines - $34 for 4 years
Phoenix - $93 for 4 years
Minneapolis - either $70 or $93 for 4 years. It seems to flip back and forth between the two.
What the heck? It’s not like there is extra shipping involved. It can’t be related to market size.
Does anyone have insight into how Angie’s List sets their membership fees?
From their most recent 10-K it appears their pricing model charges more the more the market in question becomes penetrated.
Looking at other parts of the 10-K, the reference that their growth strategy is to offer periods of up to 24 months where a new market might get free membership to attract interest. Then it converts to a paid market. It would seem they believe once they have established themselves as an indispensable service in a market where they have many participating reviewers and participating providers they feel they can charge a higher cost as the value proposition changes.
It should also be noted from their 10-K that Angie’s List has never operated at a profit during its time as a public company.
Great. Apparently I’m in a saturated market, and Angie means to get every penny she thinks she deserves. To anyone that has a membership, are you limited to looking up providers in your registered area? Or can you register in Chicago and look for a dog-walker in Orlando?
I will say that there is some merit to putting a bad review on Angie’s list. We had contracted with a painter last summer to have our exterior washed, repaired and painted. They did not do the work, and were holding our deposit. Multiple exchanges and registered letters (unclaimed) did not get our deposit back.
If you want to save 40% on membership use the promo code ANGIE until 9/22/13. You also get another 20% off if you use paypal. Got that from a recent spam they just sent me.
Which is why I’ve never had much use for Angie’s, despite being a prime candidate for membership. I find other ways to locate qualified contractors etc.
There’s just something grasping, greedy and unpleasant about Angie’s. Finding out that the membership is WTMWB just adds to that sense.
1 year subscriptions are offered for Angie’s list.
The cost is trivial if you’re planning a $15,000 kitchen remodel. Or a $4,000 roof job. I plan on joining Angie’s list before my next big reno. I only need it for that one year and won’t renew.
The cost to fix a botched job can easily be double. Depends on how badly the contractor messed up. Did he scratch up those brand new stainless appliances? Or is the roof so poorly done that it has to be stripped off entirely? Did he lie about being insured? A worker falls off your roof and you get sued. It happens.