I’ve completed most of level 3 now. Level 4 will probably start showing up once I upgrade. I am curious about the lifetime subscription option; which is currently $299.
Will someone on monthly or annual plans, who eventually spends $299, be upgraded to a lifetime account? I’ve searched for the answer in FAQs, WK Guide, and forum posts.
If it is not the case, I’d like to suggest it be a thing!
I’m leaning towards the annual plan right now.
Sadly, it doesn’t. Usually, around christmas, there will be discounts if I’m correct, maybe keep that in mind.
I’ve never heard any subscription plan like that anywhere in the world. That’s a bad business model.
Well, they have already given themselves a potential subscription limit. If they wanted to squeeze max profits from the subscriptions they would not have a lifetime option.
That’s not true. A soundly priced lifetime subscription can be a great way to push people towards other subscription lengths. Take WK as an example:
WK is doable in less than 2 years. Let us round that up to two years.
In annual membership terms, that’s 180 dollars.
In monthly membership terms, that’s 220 dollars.
Both are considerably less than 300 dollars.
From what I’ve seen, people either want to finish quick when they first start (because they’d supposedly be able to read whatever the want to sooner) or don’t have the funds for a lifetime membership.
If you’re expecting be done in less than 3 years and 4 months, you’d save money by not going for lifetime.
Even with the potential discount, which rings lifetime down to 200, you’d save money compared to the yearly membership.
Then some realize they might take longer, and this is what makes this a good business model: 8 months in, you realize you may not be done when you thought and decide to go for lifetime. Now lifetime has cost you 370 bucks instead of 300.
Automatically upgrading people because they’ve spent the lifetime amount is terrible because it kills this dynamic.
Now I’m not saying WK is money-minded. I’ve never gotten that impression. But it is important to remember that this is the crux of these types of business models in all subscription services and is achieved by making lifetime more expensive than the amount people would expect to pay when they’re first starting out by paying for shorter terms.
PS. Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely is a great book which runs through these types of things in an entertaining fashion.
And WK does a lot for the consumer (see latest pricing changes as well as the unbelievable amount of free content the company offers in general). Perhaps the consumer might consider that WK also has expenses.
WK does allow you to put any unused portion of a subscription toward the lifetime if you choose to upgrade before its over, though that’s obviously peanuts if you do it with a monthly subscription.
But if you pull the trigger on yearly, and then a month later decide lifetime is worth it, you can put a lot of that yearly figure toward the lifetime.
But let’s be honest… how many people actually use the site for 3 years. And I don’t just mean “have an account for 3 years.” Like, actually using it that whole time. The dropout rate is huge.
Not that I recommend it. I think I’ve forgotten a lot of material that I burned 2 years ago. .__.
But getting lifetime was worth it for me. 
It’s a bad business model but a good consumer model?
If they had no lifetime subscription option I wouldn’t have subscribed.
You cut off the point of the post. I didn’t say the dropout rate was 100%. But we’re talking about a small collection of people among the tens of thousands who sign up (or whatever the actual figure is).
I wasn’t trying to disagree, just speaking up as someone who has been here for 3 years. Even if someone wants to stick around for life, there are benefits to finishing faster. And yes, the attrition rate is very high.
Ah, I see.
I could see myself using the site for years to come, because I’ll probably unburn things and do any new items they add, even though I got to level 60 in about a year.
Probably won’t get a lifetime membership any time soon though.
I don’t think I’d like it if it did suddenly swap to a lifetime membership because I find the monthly plan puts the pressure on to keep going.
I guess it depends on how the consumer wants to use WK too.
You could use it to motivate yourself to finish faster, or pay less in the short term. The short term path would cost less if you don’t plan to stay for a long time after completion.
If you plan to use it for review for more than a few years the lifetime option becomes the best choice. You’ll get more time for less money. If you know you’ll go this route it will save you money by starting with lifetime as early as possible too.
The catch is being able to predict how long you will use the site.
I was generally speaking, I’m in no way complaining about WK’s way of doing business, I love it here. 
For the sake of argument, I’ve seen some productivity software do this. There is this trend toward monthly fees for software products and some will allow a permanent license after a number of consecutive payments (plus the price difference), often called “rent-to-own”.
I do apologize if it seemed I was targeting you. I assure you, I was not. I was only making a counter-point with no malicious intent whatsoever.
Monthly and Yearly subscription: renting the product
Lifetime subscription: buying the product
You don’t buy an apartment by renting it a bunch of times.