The base price should be $299 for the unit and $50 per month.
Figure 15 minutes a day, 31 days in a month = 465 minutes
$50/465 minutes = 10.75 cents/minute
Seems about right
Well, really it seems expensive but if pay per view porn is successful at $0.08 per minute, $0.11 seems okay since you already had to fork over $299 for the device.
The price it is now would cost $465/month if you didn't buy the 200 minute pack and $232.50/month if you kept planning ahead and buying the bulk minutes.
I almost forgot. Watching the promo video I see there is a 2.7 ounce lube reservoir that needs to filled each use. Lube is over $1.00 per ounce if get a good deal. So figure $3.00 per orgasm just for lube.
31 orgasms/month * $3/orgasm= 93$/month on lube alone.
So the price as it is now after purchase of the unit itself is:
Between $325.50 and $558 per month depending on how many minutes you buy at a time and based on use of once a day with 15 min per use. Figure that over a year and it comes to between $3,906 and $6,696 again depending on the minutes bundle you buy.
From a business perspective, there is no way this can build a sustained user base. People may buy out of impulse but when those free minutes run out they will quickly realize the device is not worth it at that price. Also, the exclusive pay per view business model is scarcity mentality on display. The next company who offers own-able movies is going to come out on top. Make it more like a videogame system. $399 for the console and $59.99 per game.
I'm sure the thing feels fantastic and I'd like to get one myself but not at this price. I'll wait for the next competitor with realistic pricing.
Of course I have to be heavily behind this. I really think I would like to try a realtouch, but at the current pricing model, I never will, and if I do, I'm going to wait until there is a way to circumvent the pay-per-minute approach they've taken and then they'll get nothing. I just don't see how they can feel that the current costs are appropriate for marketing a successful product.
Even realdolls only go for about $5,000 and that's a one-time fee for a specially made and costly to produce lifesize silicone doll, and they think they can get away with charging that much per year assuming a rather average rate of use? Nonsense.
A model that has been working for the past 10 years:
Virtual Sex Machine $439.69, includes 5 clips totaling about an hour's worth of entertainment.
Price you must pay to use the machine over, and over? : $-0-.......ever.
You will eventually need to buy more lube, but it's design doesn't "consume" lube. One application of lube per session is usually enough. (Just enough to make a "seal" for the vacuum pump.- and you really don't need that, it just adds comfort) In any event, any water based lube can be used. So you aren't restricted to an expensive "this lube only" situation.
You get free lube and cleaner with the product that will last as many as 36 or more sessions.
If you decide you want new experiences, you can buy them at $39.69 per disc, usually having at least an hour's worth of content.
Do the math: 66 cents per minute to BUY the content...you own it FOREVER. NEVER have to pay for it again. If you do the math on that, you actually can't calculate it, as it quickly approaches -0- cents per minute over time.
Now, that's not to say someday you won't be able to buy per minute content, especially now that the door is open on that field, but it will not affect the content you OWN.
And, after 10 years......(Longer than almost any adult product of any kind) I think we can call that revenue model a success.
And one thing that will matter to some: made in the United States of America, by American Workers, and always was.
Its still new. Just look at the cost of other electronics and services. The price will go down as the users go up. Costs are always higher in the begining. Even though I have talked about ways to use the RealTouch without paying I would never sell my ideas or give them away as it would cause the product line to fail. My ability to modify is my own. I still will use the service and support it. As the prices decrease I will use it more. I want the technology to advance and improve. The way to do this is for the first users to pay a little more. Most would not have bought a large screen at 6000+ and I did not hear as much complaining and demands for them to charge less. We all knew the prices would drop in time. Same here. Everyone has their price point, some higher and some lower. Time and the market will decide and adjust. The product is good and will keep getting better if supported.
While I completely agree with the core idea, and I strongly would encourage AEBN to offer videos to *own* (either always available for streaming or downloadable; I'm guessing the former would be easier; like a permanent rental), I do see a couple issues with the core arguments here, at least from my point of view and the way I'm using RealTouch (I'm sure others use it differently).
First of all, I really think you have to work with the "bulk" minute rate, not the smallest package rate. Yes, it's more expense up front, but when you think about it, most people already do this with other products, just on the cheaper end of the spectrum. Sure, if you're really thirst, you might buy a can of soda for $2.00 from an overpriced vending machine, but it makes a lot more sense to buy a more economical 24 pack even though you're not planning to drink all 24 right away, yes? RealTouch is the same. Yes, it's still pricy, but it's a night and day difference comparing the price of the smallest package to the largest. They initially announced $1.00 a minute, and the biggest package brings it to just under half that, which frankly pleasantly surprised me. I realize money can get tight, but if you're going to be using RealTouch anyway, I just can't really understand not going with the biggest package. Also, personally I'd say average time per session is only 10 minutes instead of 15, but your mileage of course may vary.
Secondly, I've discovered it actually works best for me (no clogging, etc.) if I *don't* fill up the lube reservoir each time - I just get enough in there to get some running down the belts plus a little more (and some lube on myself also). And if I need more, you can also apply to the belts directly as Haptic Encoder has mentioned, though I've never personally needed to do this. So I'd say lube isn't quite this expensive either once you get the hang of it.
Finally, I truly can't imagine using RealTouch once a day every day. For me, it's a treat I use a few times a month to at most 1 or 2 times a week. So I think a lot of how people react to it is going to be based on *how* they use RealTouch. There are several reasons for spreading out use from my perspective. I think RealTouch is pretty aggressive (a good thing mostly), so I think it would be desensitizing if used every day for one. Two, I don't want to clean up something every day - sometime I just want to get off. Three, I have other toys (TENGA, A10 Cyclone, my hand, occasionally a partner, etc.) I like to alternate between - variety is the spice of life. Just a bunch of reasons I don't use it every day and save it up for when I want a true interactive porn experience that I don't control. I realize everybody's different and some are going to want to use it much more than I do, which of course does present more of a problem, but I guess I just want to point out for those who use it similarly, the pricing doesn't end up being that bad.
All that said, I do agree with the core point though. RealTouch is a pricey piece of hardware, and it's not unreasonable to expect functionality that can be accessed anytime such as rent-to-own movies. I truly hope RealTouch adds this to their lineup - I know if they offered the right movies, I'd certainly be interested.