but if more are "sold" as a result of the SECs then that makes them profitablet. Of course if the average cost of winning a card is greater than that for buying one the effect of SECs will be even higher.

I think we agree

I look at very simply. It's not about the price of the card sold or the number of cards sold; it is about the revenue a card generates and the time it generates revenue. In other words you can sell 10x of a card for $1,000 and have $10,000 in revenue or sell 100,000 of a card at $1 each and generate $100,000 in revenue. Totem has to figure their way on the curve selling the max number of cards at the max price. I'm not sure what my max price would be but it is well below $1,000 and even if the cards were $0.01 (1 US cent) I wouldn't buy the all because I don't want all of them. That's just me, quite obvious everyone will have their own limits.

And really it has nothing to do with the shows themselves but the credits required to buy them. It's not complicated if they are adding buyers and current members are still buying then revenue is increasing organically and if not then revenue is declining or stagnant and possibly not keeping pace with increased expenses .

I don't care about the price increase; in fact if it made the exclusives go away I would welcome it. As it is for me now, it simply means I'll skip a show or two I might have bought or spend a small precent more to get all the shows I want. The exclusive cards do annoy me so I'm not buying anything right now.

Getting back to the topic, why would Totem keep doing exclusive content if it's not generating enough revenue to avoid having to raise the price which if obviously is offending more than a few members. They are taking many of the best cards out of the catalog so those of us ***** to participate in the 'games' (for lack of a better or nicer word) can't buy them at all and shrinking the catalog. Loosing members and limiting the catalog probably isn't good for revenues so one has to hope the exclusives can compensate,

I have no insight to the balance sheet so maybe loosing a few members or some members buying less but getting more per card will work out. What is offensive is the possibility they need more revenue to pay for its latest 'game'.

They are taking many of the best cards out of the catalog

I do not think that less than 1% of the available cards can be regarded as "many".

and shrinking the catalog.

No they are not. Every week 7 cards are released for sale, if the SECs had been released as regular cards then an equal number of other cards would not have been released.

Totem has to figure their way on the curve selling the max number of cards at the max price.

Not quite correct but I understand what you mean. They don't need to seek to maximise either the number of cards sold nor the price per card but to maximise the product of the number of cards times their average price.

I highly recommend adding a "card recycling" function. I have many cards from events, but I don't like them. So I don't participate in the events now even though I really like the SEC. Because I don't want random cards anymore. The possibility to recycle a small amount of credits (10-20% of the purchase price) and remove cards we don't like from our collections would probably be welcomed by many users with OCD. And "Card recycling" could motivate users to participate in events to get SECs.😉

I highly recommend adding a "card recycling" function.

This as been requested, in various forms, several times before. It is unlikely to implemented as it would not appear to benefit Totem to do so. You could try looking for the old forum threads to familiarise yourself with the perceived pros and cons of this idea.

The increase is 12.5% for those of us who will be "masters"....but a whopping 20% for new customers. Will be interesting to see how that plays out as Istripper is already one of the more expensive porn options.

I have never wanted a full collection. The price increase will make me more selective in my purchases such that I suspect i will spend no more money here than before the increase.

With over 3,000 cards in my collection, I sometimes think about just enjoying those without further purchases.

I think Totem will be fine in any case as they reap profits from those who buy SEC and NFTs as well as huge gains from outfit auctions.

I was getting close to Triple Diamond... now there is the "Master" status ! I've still got a long way to go. 😆

I can still accept this price increase. But I hope to see the list of clips before purchasing a card, which will make it easier for me to know if this is the card I want.
Now I can only know if there is a pole dancing through categories. Some cards do not have 'pole dancing skill' in their directory, but there are still clips for pole dancing. Seeing the clips of the card in advance will help me buy the card I want more accurately.

.. now there is the "Master" status !

I wish they'd choose another name for it.

For me the Master is an evil Time Lord. 😰

I've been watching his exploits for close on 60 years so dissociating him from a new iStripper level is not going to be easy😆

@ColaAluka - if you are a fan of decent (or even half-decent) pole dancing , it is best to use the "pole-dancing skills" tag as we try to ensure this is only allocated to shows that merit it.

If a show does not have the tag but has pole clips, the likelihood is that the model simply walks around the pole and holds onto it to stop herself falling off her platform shoes 😊😊😊

As for seeing a list of clips prior to purchase, though this is not available in the app it is available if you go to the IS Workshop (www.isworkshop.eu).

For me the Master is an evil Time Lord.

Same here.

Wre you aware that before he played the doctor Jon Pertwee had previously played a villain called The Master. Like the better known Master the earlier one also had all his complicated plans thwarted.

.. now there is the "Master" status !
I wish they'd choose another name for it.

For me the Master is an evil Time Lord. 😰

I've been watching his exploits for close on 60 years so dissociating him from a new iStripper level is not going to be easy😆

👍👍👍

I wish they'd choose another name for it.

I thought it was short for Master Baiter 😆

So.. Now with 2728 cards and Triple Diamond, I have 45% discount from 25 credits which means 13,75 credits.

At 3000 cards and Master Diamond, I will have 50% discount from 30 credits, which means 15 credits.
I have to level up to pay more than I paid before and this is a big favor???
Wow!!!

I don't know how I ended up in an application full of rich people.

I have to level up to pay more than I paid before and this is a big favor

Not a big favour, but just the normal effects of inflation. Have you not noticed that very nearly everything is more expensive today than it was four or five years ago ? If you haven't noticed then it must be you that that is rich.

They are taking many of the best cards out of the catalog
I do not think that less than 1% of the available cards can be regarded as "many". .

I believe I've heard 70 or 1.5 years worth of DOLZ plus several IS game exclusive cards a month.. That may not be many to you but to me it is.

and shrinking the catalog.
No they are not. Every week 7 cards are released for sale, if the SECs had been released as regular cards then an equal number of other cards would not have been released. .

They are making cards and not putting them in the catalog .. the catalog is incomlete or not to full potential. You are correct it is not growing smaller but ***** none the less. And I think they are ***** the time value of the card by making them exclusive. I don't have any facts but I think the cards lose value (less interest/less urgency/etc) as they get older so members will be less willing to jump through hoops to get the cards.

Totem has to figure their way on the curve selling the max number of cards at the max price.
Not quite correct but I understand what you mean. They don't need to seek to maximise either the number of cards sold nor the price per card but to maximise the product of the number of cards times their average price .

'average' price is not what I meant. I'm talking about income or revenue. As the prices go up there will be fewer buyers but more income per show sold (what I think you are calling 'price'). So what Totem wants to do is get the max price while maintaining as many buyers as possible. I think the term is price and demand elasticity. Let's look at in reverse; think of a curve graph showing more buyers coming in as the price drops. You want to stop lowering the price at the point there number of new buyers are not offsetting the lost revenue. Again using my $1 vs $10 per show you have to sell 10x of the $1 show to generate the same revenue. I would buy zero shows for $10 and as many shows as I want at $1 my personal threshold is somewhere in the middle.

@dar2112v

They are making cards and not putting them in the catalog

They are making exactly the same number of cards for the store as before.

They are making additional cards as NFTs

they are ***** the time value of the card by making them exclusive

There is a healthy secondary market to buy the cards whenever you want one. Many things that are "rare" go up in value not down.

I don't have any facts but I think the cards lose value

Maybe you should do some research. To date the average value of the NFT cards has been going up. The average value of a card from the store is.... zero... because you cannot sell them. No one knows what the future value will be... it depends on many factors.

members will be less willing to jump through hoops to get the cards

That all depends on how the NFT market evolves. Many NFT providers give the holders additional benefits which have yet to be formally announced and will most likely evolve with the product.

NFT providers often re-invest some of their income into further developments.

Personally, I think it is a very interesting project. I hope it goes well, others want it to fail 😟

They are making cards and not putting them in the catalog .. the catalog is incomlete or not to full potential.

True - but that is not what you said before which was that they were shrinking the catalogue. They are not, they are making exactly as many cards for the catalog as they would do if the SECs did not exist and if they did not exist the extra cards would not have been made.

They could, of course, release more than seven cards a week but it is not obvious that that would result in increased sales.

'average' price is not what I meant. I'm talking about income or revenue.

So was I. What should be maximised is indeed, as you say, the total income which is

Income = Sum for all i ( P(i) )

where i runs from 1 to N where N is the total number of cards sold, by any method, in whatever period we want to evaluate the income over and P(i) is the selling price of the i'th sale, Note that the i'th sale may be for a different card to those before and after it, I am not limiting this to the sales of a single card. Also note that by "selling price" I am not restricting myself to those sold normally via the store but the cost to the customer of obtaining that card no matter how it was acquired. The values of P(i) will vary depending on the card,how much it was discounted and how it was acquired, but the total value given by the above expressing will be equal to N * P' where P' is the average of all the P(i) values.

I hope it goes well, others want it to fail 😟

^
|
And just how backwards is that... Wanting the project to fail?
If it fails, maybe Totem Fails with it...
Why the Heck would anyone want to wish something like that?

Shows you how disrespectful many of the members here are.
Disgusting, absolutely Disgusting that we have members that would wish this on the company !

@Evaneself

So.. Now with 2728 cards and Triple Diamond, I have 45% discount from 25 credits which means 13,75 credits.
At 3000 cards and Master Diamond, I will have 50% discount from 30 credits, which means 15 credits.
I have to level up to pay more than I paid before and this is a big favor???
Wow!!!
I don't know how I ended up in an application full of rich people.

There will be a price Increase and that will affect everyone.
Everyone will pay a little bit more.
It is LONG overdue. iStripper has NOT increased it's prices in many years...

NO ONE will see a Decrease.

But the Additional Level with the extra 5% discount, will reduce the Increase seen by Members at this Level.
Yes, an Extra 5% is a BIG Favor !


In My previous Post, I showed an example of a Member with a Full collection and Premium Subscription.
who got credits in Bulk during the 20% bonus credit offers.
If this Member gets every card in a Year ( 365 cards )
The Increase for the Full Year is $27
An Increase from $302 to $329 for the Full year of cards.

I hope it goes well, others want it to fail 😟^|And just how backwards is that... Wanting the project to fail?If it fails, maybe Totem Fails with it...Why the Heck would anyone want to wish something like that?Shows you how disrespectful many of the members here are.Disgusting, absolutely Disgusting that we have members that would wish this on the company !

Most anger is associated with not being able or willing to access all the content because of price walls. This makes people feel poor and inferior to others who are able or willing to spend hundreds and thousands on istripper perks. This by nature pisses people off. It takes humility and thoughtfulness to understand that totem is creating tiers for all kinds of customers and figuring out as we speak how to leverage the wealthiest. This new decision is one of the few that ***** the main buyers, especially new customers...most of the time us "poors" just have to deal with not getting a special event card, or a dolz set, now we see our prices rise, which is a big deal for people who do not have a lot of disposable income and are not gamblers by nature. I imagine totem can't survive long term without new customers and maintaining the hundreds or thousands of selectors that pick and choose, but in this new age of people spending 500-1000 for a dolz card, who the hell knows. Maybe seeing the wild spending on dolz pushed them to not worry as much about new or lower level customers. A risky game it seems.

It is also really bad optics to announce week after week thousands of dollars spent on dolz cards, and a new VR project just as they raise prices on istripper. I think the idea that istripper would be supported by dolz and would be maintained at the same price point kept people from boiling over.

How bout another "buy 4 cards and get your credits reimbursed for the 4th" event before the price increase lol 😜

@Wyldanimal
I know you have right.
I wish I had more money.

I wish I had more money.

Yes, I wish that everyone had more Money, or Enough Money
that they did not have to balance Food on the Table or their hobby.

And I get that some members have far less Money to spend on iStripper than others.
So this Increase affects them the most.

I wish prosperity and happiness to all.
Enjoy what you have, spend what you can afford...

I always knew one day it would happen 😄, it is not too unfair as well, as we all know the costs are increasing for everything, but on the other hand not everyone is in a better position to spend a lot, because of the disparity between costs hike and common man's earning worldwide. I really feel about it, we are all on the same boat.
I love this site and want them to continue so that we can enjoy future shows, but that has to come with a cost we all know.
My one request is, please increase the possibilites of winning SECs in more creative and newer ways. The people who have invested and/or tenured should be getting more chances of winning SECs, not sure if its a fair ask, let them be pleasently surprised with some SEC gifts for some spending.. Maybe two consecutive 500 topups in a day will reward an SEC or a Joker card. OR a Premium user gets some SEC privilege etc.. See these things are not going to ***** the business because you can always add more SECs in future for people to crave for.

I don't exactly know how you would want to device newer strategies but please look into this if possible.

@ColaAluka - if you are a fan of decent (or even half-decent) pole dancing , it is best to use the "pole-dancing skills" tag as we try to ensure this is only allocated to shows that merit it.If a show does not have the tag but has pole clips, the likelihood is that the model simply walks around the pole and holds onto it to stop herself falling off her platform shoes 😊😊😊As for seeing a list of clips prior to purchase, though this is not available in the app it is available if you go to the IS Workshop (www.isworkshop.eu).

Thanks for your answer. The IS Workshop is a good tool for me.

*Not paid for this endorsement* 😆

I've watched this product evolve for 13 years.

Case in point, the most recent app upgrade, while a bit of a shock at first, I can see small improvements here and there along with incorporation of new products. Some of the UI changes were unfortunate, but I'm an old codger. 😘

I went full in a long time ago for one reason, it's far cheaper than a single, wild night at a strip club, and you can visit any time you want, paying for more variety or simply just use what you already have. Better because the girls never get old on screen although I am almost certain that some of my oldest cards have models that have likely lost all semblence of youth, had a kid or two, and are living far different, hopefully high quality, lives. I don't know about the rest of the world, but the cost of one card here is far cheaper than a single "friction" dance at a strip club. 😉

They have likely been doing what they can to keep the cost per card level as low as possible. One example I can see from here (other side of the northern hemisphere), is the auctioning online of unique costumes worn once, or costumes that have seen some wear and were worn by more popular models. A lot of fund-raising potential every time.

Costume quality is significantly better now than it has ever been. You can see it directly if you own some of the oldest cards.

Production levels and video quality exceeds anything they did before. They appear to be keeping up with technology, that alone is expensive.

They are producing VR stuff too, on top of the NFT stuff. If I am thinking correctly, I think they also have a VR game out there, and yes, it's a strip club. 😲 I own a copy on Steam. I can't use it now, but I own it. 😉

I remember the iDancer project, and still own a copy. It was pretty cool but there was likely no way they could adapt it to the product they are producing now, despite the hopes that something more could evolve out of it. I think they had about 5 or 6 different dancers with unique styles that "danced" to some limited degree to the rhythm of any music you play on your music apps. It took a minute or two for the algorithms to figure it out and the music had to be consistent. I think I last toyed with it about 6 months ago before my PC died. No stripping, just interesting club style dancing from that time period. I think it was a usable app for DJ's at the time, if they used video displays along with audio. Yes, I had to pay extra for it, and I doubt they are even supporting it now. Just a case of how they are always looking at improvement.

I've rambled enough. 😶

Some people should come to Hungary and experience how to live with the 30-40% food inflation, or better to Turkey and experience the 80% or Venezuela and try the 2-300% etc. Nobody is ***** you to buy all cards or any. If you buy 1-2 cards less per month than you used to, you will spend the same. End of the story. I wonder if anyone would do the same in a supermarket. (This refers to some very bad and unneccessary complaints of above.)

The people who have invested and/or tenured should be getting more chances of winning SECs,

Why ?

You seem to think that peple should be rewarded for buying things that they like.

In practice the various "rewards" offererd by businesses to their customers are there to encourage people to spend more, not a way to give them more or reduce what they have to pay - why should Totem be expected to behave differently ?

As a triple diamond and premium member you are already benefiting from the maximum reward/encouragement mechanisms much more than those at lower levels of membership but, as is commonly the case, those that have most insist that they "deserve" even more.

@Altara

but I'm an old codger. 😘

Mmm, old codger, you say you are? Hmmm! Wise and experienced, you must be! But 5 years older, I am, hmmm! Age matters not, my friend. Size of your years, it does not define you. Much to learn, we all have, yes! Share wisdom, we shall, mmm! Laugh and have fun, we must. hmmm!" 🍵👴🪄