Gmail alternative idea


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Well as some of us know: Gmail isn't offering a service that can't be done cheaply. It really wouldn't cost must to give users 1 GB of email space. Even allowing 1 GB of attachments to be sent and received. So why the big fuss over Gmail? It isn't really free, its ad-based. So just out of curiosity do any of you think me starting to offer 2 GB of email space to users for say $5/month, no ads, up to your total space for attachments, AND FTP access to your email box? I'm starting a game hosting business, or at least trying to. Offering the best prices for obviously better hardware and bandwidth than almost no other game hosting company offers. Took 3 years of research, but maybe this will help get the ball rolling after I'm in full swing.

What do you guys think?

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Your target audience would have to be the tech savvy gamer only. For a standard user, there's a very big difference between offering something free and offering something for even 1 cent. For one thing, the customer has to give some sort of payment information over and place that information at risk. Also, the notion of having to pay would deter many many more users. Compounding this with name recognition (Hotmail, Yahoo and Google all have wide name recognition and a reputation for stability) which you would lack to the average email user and you really don't stand a chance at $60 a year for email.

For the hard-core gamer (IE one who would pay for supplimentary services like email) I dunno because I'm not one and don't know any who are.)

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i'd be more interested in 2gb of webspace
That's what I figured before, but usually with game server hosting you want space for a whole clan, so 2 GB webspace/email space divided by the members of the clan. This would just be a cheap way to get an individual inbox. Who knows, just asking for ideas, so thanks!
Your target audience would have to be the tech savvy gamer only. For a standard user, there's a very big difference between offering something free and offering something for even 1 cent. For one thing, the customer has to give some sort of payment information over and place that information at risk. Also, the notion of having to pay would deter many many more users. Compounding this with name recognition (Hotmail, Yahoo and Google all have wide name recognition and a reputation for stability) which you would lack to the average email user and you really don't stand a chance at $60 a year for email.

Well I know my target market would be hardcore gamers, but this would just sort of be a single different service. I know charging kills a huge consumer base, but I can't just give something away like that to a lot of people. Now maybe if I was a huge company that'd be fine, but I'm not. Besides a lot of people e-bay, so why not trust someone that uses paypal and verisign as the credit card gateway? But I know what you mean. A lot of people are still weary of online ordering. Thanks!

Edited by dotRoot
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You could and so could a lot of other people haha. But seriously nobody seems to, and "unlimited email space" usually means if you hit over 100 MB they'll say you are exceeding usage in their TOS.

Besides this is colocation at its finest. Very good hardware and very good bandwidth. Sure it doesn't mean much in email, but its quality and stability. No mail server overloads or delays and its not just off someone's home box on a DSL/Cable.

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Yeah like lhommefm mentioned normal people dont like paying for things online. So offer something like AD based 200mb trust me that will be very productive.

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Yeah like lhommefm mentioned normal people dont like paying for things online. So offer something like AD based 200mb trust me that will be very productive.

Well considering that when you swipe your debit/credit card it goes through the same online transaction system, such as verisign. Whether you like it or not your CC/debit card number is online. The difference is that you physically swipe it in the store and online you just type it in. So for you to use it offline and not online is ignorant.

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