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  Announcement   
  

  Title & Description Date:
Start/End		 Status Code Status Affected Systems

New Image Hosting Pricing In Effect
X00343    

We hope that you are benefiting from the new and improved Image Hosting service, including the addition of permanent image storage, the most widely requested feature added. The ability to store images indefinitely with no use, however, required us to review and alter our fees policy for Image Hosting.

As of September 30, 2004, Vendio implemented a different pricing method for Image hosting as detailed in our revised Fees Policy. This change was announced several weeks ago and followed up by email.

Essentially, we have moved from usage based pricing to storage based pricing, a standard pricing method used by other providers. We have maintained, however, our philosophy that Sales Manager and Vendio Stores should include a generous level of free image hosting (unlike other providers). As a result, the majority of Sales Manager users will see no change in their monthly pricing. Only those with a substantially higher number of images stored than normally required for their sales may see an increase. Also, large sellers spending $49.95 or more each month for Sales Manager or Vendio Stores will see no net change in their pricing. For customers using stand-alone image hosting, our plans still offer more for the money than our competitors.

This pricing change enables us to offer permanent image storage while providing an incentive for individual users to delete images that are no longer useful or needed. Without this incentive, systems may become needlessly and unexpectedly burdened by old images, affecting the performance of our image hosting systems for all sellers. We have set and proven very high standards for reliability and speed that we intend to keep.

How the New Image Hosting Pricing Works
Flexible image storage levels determine baseline monthly image hosting fee
Your peak image storage during each billing cycle determines the baseline monthly fee according to the following six levels. For example, if your peak image storage is 4 MB in the current billing cycle, your Image Hosting fee will be $4.95, a plan that includes up to 5MB of peak image storage.

Monthly Fee Monthly Peak Storage Used Approximate Image Count*
$2.95 3 MB 60
$4.95 5 MB 100
$9.95 55 MB 1,100
$19.95 135 MB 2,700
$34.95 500 MB 10,000
$49.95 10 GB 200,000
*Image counts assume 50KB per image

To find your current storage level, visit any of your Standard Image folder pages and look to the right of the 'Upload Images' button.


Note: ZoomStream Images do not count toward this peak storage calculation.

Free image hosting still applies for Sales Manager, Tickets Manager, and Vendio Stores customers
For Sales Manager, Tickets Manager and Vendio Stores customers, the amount of image storage establishes a monthly minimum, and is not additive. Most Sales Manager customers will not see any change in fees as their Sales Manager fees already exceed the minimum dollar amount established by their monthly image storage.

Here's how it works:
At each billing cycle, if your Sales Manager, listing, final value, and/or Vendio Stores fees exceed your monthly minimum Image Hosting fee, you will not be charged for Image Hosting or pay any additional fees. We will automatically credit back your Image Hosting fee at the end of each billing cycle. In the majority of cases, you won't pay any more than you do now. Please see our examples below or visit the Fees Policy for complete details.

To estimate whether you will be impacted by the monthly minimum, use these 3 simple steps:
  1. Estimate your average monthly fees for Sales Manager, Tickets Manager and Vendio Stores combined by reviewing your past statements. The specific fees to include are subscription fees, listings fees and final value fees.
  2. Find the Image Hosting plan that would cover your current image storage.
  3. Compare the numbers from Step 1 and Step 2. You will pay the HIGHER of the two, NOT BOTH added together.
The following examples should help clarify this:

Sales Manager User
Step 1:
monthly subscription = $12.95 for Variable Rate Premium Plan
listing fees = $5.00 for 100 listings at $0.05/ea
final value fees = $10 for 100 listings sold for $10/ea at 1% final value fee
Est. monthly fees = $27.95 = $12.95 + $5.00 + $10

Step 2:
peak image storage = 100 MB (that's 2,048 images at 50 KB per image - plenty for 100 listings/month)
Image Hosting plan = $19.95 for 135 MB

Step 3:
$27.95 > $19.95 so this user will NOT pay more for Image Hosting

If this user's storage was at an unusually large 300 MB, in Step 2, Image Hosting plan = $34.95 for 500 MB, then: $34.95 > $27.95 so this user would be billed $34.95, or only $7.00 more for using three times more storage!

Sales Manager User with Annual Subscription Plan
The only difference is estimating a monthly subscription in Step 1. You can do so by dividing your annual fee by 12.

Sales Manager and Vendio Stores User
The only difference is in Step 1, where the user would use both Sales Manager and Vendio Stores monthly subscriptions, listing fees and final value fees in the calculation.

Tremendous value for any size seller
For standalone image hosting, Vendio provides a tremendous value. Compare our new prices to others and see the savings.

  3MB 55MB 135MB 500MB Over 500MB
Vendio $2.95 $9.95 $19.95 $34.95 $49.95
eBay $9.99 $19.99 $39.99 Plan not available Plan not available
Andale $3.00 $42.50 $65.00 $240.00 Plan not available


What to Expect on Your Statements
Your online statements have changed to reflect the new pricing. You can see your online statement by logging in and clicking to Online Statements in My Account.

New to Current Account Status
Your statement now shows the following in the Current Account Status section of your online statements:
  • Image Hosting Plan - This is the current plan you are on.
  • Current Peak Usage - This is the highest level of image storage you have used during the billing cycle.
  • Monthly Minimum - This is your Image Hosting plan fee that serves as a monthly minimum for Sales Manager, Tickets Manager and Vendio Stores users.
  • Image Hosting Credit - This is a running total of any Sales Manager, Tickets Manager and Vendio Stores fees that count toward your monthly minimum. When your credit equals your monthly minimum, you will pay no extra for Image Hosting.
Your Current Online Statement
In your current statement, you will see the following new line item as a result of the new pricing taking effect. Don�t worry, if you are a Sales Manager, Tickets Manager or Vendio Stores user � free image hosting is provided at the end of your billing period when you receive your Image Hosting Credit.

Screenshot: Sample line item that will appear on the first bill for a user on the 5MB plan.


At the end of your billing period, two additional line items may appear:
  • Image Hosting Credit (only SM, Tickets and Stores users) - This is the credit shown in the Current Account Status section being applied to your bill to provide free image hosting.
  • Image Hosting Plan: xyz MB - This is the Image Hosting plan fee that serves as a monthly minimum for Sales Manager, Tickets Manager and Vendio Stores users.
    Note: Wherever you see a , you can click it to learn more about that item.
Your first bill with the new pricing may appear higher only due to the fact that the Image Hosting plan fee is precharged like our other plan fees. Your subsequent bills should return to normal.

Subsequent Statements
In subsequent statements, you will see the same two line items appearing at the end of the billing period:
  • Image Hosting Credit - only Sales Manager, Tickets and Stores users
  • Image Hosting Plan: xyz MB

If you still have questions, please visit our Image Hosting Pricing FAQ, or read the Fees Policy, which contains complete details. You can also contact us if you have additional questions.

Sincerely,

The Vendio Team


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