Monday, October 4, 2010

Xmarks Going Out of Business... Maybe Not?

More than a week ago, I wrote about a free bookmark-syncing service called Xmarks.  A few days later, the Xmarks blog reported that it was going out of business because it could not sustain itself in its current model.  Lack of advertising and a method to capitalize on it were the major factors.

However, shortly after that announcement, users of the popular add-on pledged that they would pay for Xmarks if it meant that the service could continue.  Xmarks now has a link on PledgeBank where people can commit to paying $10 US a year for the service: http://www.pledgebank.com/XmarksPremium

According to Xmarks, if they can get 100,000 people to pledge, the company can stay in business.

As for me, I enjoyed the service while it was free; however, there's no way I'm paying for it.  I can revert to other free, bookmark syncing services.

What are your thoughts on this?

150 comments:

Joshua said...

I think I commented on it saying Firefox 4 beta has a sync button anyway and its easy to backup bookmarks...

AnbuJustin said...

i heard about this and immediately thought about your earlier blog post. sucks that they couldnt sustain it. I too would probably go the free route though.

Rezden said...

It's hard to compete against free services. If they have superior features, then maybe it would be worth it.

J. Antonio said...

The problem here is that here's a lot of good free services and stuff to handle with those things....

Ps.-nice blog

MC said...

meh, i wouldnt pay for it either

Willow said...

I liked the service, but FireFox sync will do some of the same things...

CaptiveAudience said...

I've never even heard of xmarks.
___________________
purpma.blogspot.com

Randy said...

I wouldnt pay for it! Screw that!

mast3rcloak said...

haha wow... i was expecting like 10,000-25,000...100,000 just seems ludicrous

Aeacus.Warden said...

I use xmarks myself.. I'll just have to transfer to the new firefox syncing service.

Anonymous said...

Not worth it. Plenty of free stuff out there.

dolan duck said...

I think I'll stick with the free thing but I still hope they can stay afloat.

Pandor42 said...

Personally, I use 2 browsers on 2 computers, and visit different sites with each one, I don't need or want my bookmarks synced. But yea, most add-ons are free, so I doubt they can compete with that even with a $10 yearly charge.

SaviorSelf said...

yeah, paying for a service you could easily find for free doesn't seem very appealing. too bad for x-marks. such is the world of business. good post man

darkmanx said...

I wouldn't pay either, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free or lead a horse to water, or was it teach a horse to fish..

Don't pay for that sh!t man.

Kikino said...

too bad for them. but they shoul've known you dont usually pay for such things

Archivist X0042 said...

who cares bout bookmarks

RonNiebOy said...

i say why pay when you can use something thats free and it does the same thing...just my two cents

FrostedHeretic said...

Excellent post, man. Can't say as I'm much into anyone storing my info for me, even if it's just my bookmarks, so these types of "services" are lost on me...

killerkun said...

I would only pay if I weren't living in Mexico, internet transactions aren't really trustworthy here lol

Chris said...

Yeah, as you said, it's not worth it should they charge for it.

Liv said...

I wouldn't pay, maybe thats just me being cheap but oh well

the grim said...

free is allways better

Anonymous said...

i dont think i would pay for something like that, but i hope they can figure something out soon enough

Bublee said...

Almost everything you can obtain for free on the internet, why spend money on something? They have to understand the mentality of common internet users to thrive.

Bryan Anthony said...

No need for syncing bookmarks for me, so I certainly wont pay for it.

Longkid said...

I used to use it..kinda stopped though. No way i'm gonna pay for it though. Sorry xmarks D:

Anonymous said...

Not worth paying for.

Solovino said...

i would never pay for something like this...i wonder if there's 100,000 people out there willing to pay for it?

melinko said...

yeah i dont see this one lasting lol. so if they dont get 100000 people do you get your 10 bucks back?

yuyiuyi said...

I really don't know.

Naj said...

i can somehow see their point here.

thecatzpajamas said...

mightaswell die

Ishu said...

I've never hear of that before...but do you think they can get 100,000 people to pay 10 dollars? Very cliche uh? 1 million dollars to continue on business...wow...or maybe that's just a marketing tactic?

Sweeeeeetas said...

plenty of other (free) alternatives and I they also came too late into the game..

zG Chris said...

Sounds like a cool program. too bad I have no need for it.

Saffire said...

xmarks should just auction off their code to the highest bidder. They should get a pretty good amount.

comradejoker.blogspot.com/ said...

LOL I agree bro, it was good while it lasted but no way I'm going to pay for this service.

The Greater Spartan said...

Just wanted to thank you man XD

The Square Circle said...

i use xmarks. great stuff. i will contribute.

Shane said...

bad news good news i guess

Ultimate Banana said...

Never really used this

J.Name said...

i really hope it doesn't, i use it a lot.

Dr. Phun said...

Never really understood why this would be usefull.

Rage Rageman said...

What exactly am I getting for my money? I won't be quick to discount a pay service, if the benefits exceed the benefits of the free service.

Jehabbi said...

I have to agree with the other ones, why pay when you can get almost the same thing for free? Seems like a lot of companies these day mess up!

Admin said...

Interesting post, thank's

Telia Tuli said...

Firefox ftw.
Why pay for service you can get for free.

remzi said...

Best things in life are free

Lizard said...

i would never pay for that either.

SilverWind said...

Never used it. :)

tonyman33 said...

If there people willing to pay for it then go ahead but me personally think sites like these should stay free. Id rather use delicous then xmarks anyways

daniel. said...

thats a shame. its a good idea.

Anonymous said...

i dont have xmarks

AnnoNeuvo said...

Why pay when you can get it for free?

Slumph said...

Thanks for visiting me, not a bad post of yours either.. doesnt seem like they should be around tbh.

Cowbellrocker said...

Never used it, so I wont be paying for it.

Barry White said...

meh, i wouldnt pay for it either

Come At Me Bro said...

This is sweet!

i_love_weed said...

always sad to see a small company go out of buisness

Kevorkian said...

No way.

ShredGuitar said...

Haha, cool.

The Music Dude 23 said...

I wouldnt pay for it

Felshy said...

never used it myself

miecak said...

Glad I don't depend on it.

El Furo said...

Aw man, I hope they don't go bust :(

Deso said...

I recently got an e-mail notifying me of this. I used it, so now I'm going to need to find an alternative. Although I hear Firefox's system is good.

Splash87 said...

Yea, I was disappointed when I got that email. Well I guess Ill just have to move on.

lucas said...

ya i dont really pay for anything on the internet, not gonna start now

Sir Strokington said...

That would have to be one awesome bookmark service to make people want to pay for it...I'll stick to free...

That Which Haunts said...

It seems like its curtains for Xmarks as some the reasons show in the comments. Pandor`s especially.

the grim said...

free is better for those who are cheap (ie me)

LoreBlogger said...

I'll have to try this out.

Troy said...

Well? How many people have pledged?

Hidden Blogger said...

I've heard that this was a good service...

Flippy said...

How ironic... they get some little bit of exposure from you.. next day they die! You may be contagious haha :D

Hello! said...

Hello, this was a great blog article!

Velociplum said...

Lol I just put my bookmarks into folders n stuff

yuyiuyi said...

Hmm, I like free stuff! :D

EightRocket said...

Bookmark syncing? Seriously?

http://thegiannamichaels.blogspot.com/ said...

I think they are gonna have a difficult time finding a 100,000 users who are willing to pay for a previously free program. Sounds like some poor business management IMO

Slumph said...

Thanks for popping by <3

Wondergecko said...

Cool, but I wouldn't pay for it.

Anonymous said...

a lot of people are demanding a new post! this stuff is really good!

Unknown said...

10 dollars a month for bookmark synching... why would you need to synchronise it anyway?

OC-STEVEN said...

i use firefox's default system for bookmarks... never got too into them and it works great for me

hunter time said...

yea its always tough going from free to pay. but maybe others will pay the money and you could still use it afterwards

Red Baron said...

never heard of xmarks till today

Abigale Consulting said...

I would look for another service. Go for free.

Anonymous said...

Sorry I've been absent but this is awesome I love your updates

Pig Disgusting said...

i don't use xmarks. so it's whatever to me.

ikatashi said...

i lost my bookmarks once, it sucked hardcore

Sk8rjwd said...

I don't rarely use firefox (Google Chrome all the way) and have also not heard of Xmarks.

Quinn Electronics said...

I say move on. Use Google sync for free.

nick said...

not worth it..

doomboom9119 said...

lol, id rather do it myself

The Blind Prophet said...

Nice blog! :D Very interesting.

Koniworld said...

ya... pay for that seems bad
nice post

Michael Casspir said...

The problem is that if you can't provide something that is so different from competitor's products, you're not going to survive. Marketing is huge, as you mentioned, but there has probably got to be an intuitive difference between products. They were offering something for free like everyone else, and now that you've got to pay for it, choose another free one.

Sucks to be them, but the market is a fickle mistress...

Koniworld said...

yeah.. to them is very hard.. anyone want free

pixel said...

i use xmarks, but would not pay for it

Skimbosh said...

$10 bux a year seems small, but still, good luck to them.

kokojesta said...

Dont know much about it to be frank, but paying for stuff doesnt really appeal

Crammarc said...

oops, shouldve had a better model

Pope Smurf said...

no way i'm paying for it.

Undertaker said...

I agree, paying for something while you can get the same quality for free somewhere else is ridiculous. That's like, paying for a whore, while you have a girlfriend who is good in bed as well. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Lord Humungus said...

Naw, just get a different program man.

MikeNeuman said...

I don't know. I feel like if people pledged a total of $1 million dollars to me, I would do a lot of things.

Burning NJ said...

It could go either way..

Igloo said...

nevver heard of this :o

Per S said...

$1m to continue something so "simple", a bit much eh :P

Abul said...

im a huge apple hater...but things like this still interest me.. good work on the post.

stocald said...

yeah, I dont use this service and I dont think a lot of people use it.

stocald said...

yeah I dont see a lot of people paying for this service.

Bernard said...

i agree $10 is still to high for just a bookmark addon

Sadistic said...

I never pay for anything lol.

kmartsmartsuperstar said...

I wouldn't. Just check out the other free alternatives!

Acou said...

same here; no way i'm paying for this. it's quite easy to find other _free_ services with pretty much the same capabilities. :)

McClane said...

I don't think it's worth paying for it, you can get even more from a free alternative.

Zerron said...

personally i find pc easier to use and macs always end up blowing up in my face almost literally in a couple cases

KnT said...

Never heard of it, and it's too late to start using.

Olivar said...

fair enough i wouldnt have bothered
good blog titled, i saw it and laughed

aZZo said...

they need $1,000,000 to run an internet business? sounds legit.

Allen said...

why would I pay for this... i only have like 10 bookmarks anyway.

RandomlyRated said...

aw, that's sucks, it was a good service

Unknown said...

Money is what makes the world go 'round though?

I make software (that is Free) and I would hope that some people would see it as superior if I was to go out of Business (which when you are dealing with 100% FREE software... meh! won't happen) people would help out!

Ultimate Banana said...

Can't really find out how it works tho

Alex Sebastopol said...

I dont think I would pay for it, there are so many other options. Interesting thoughts anyhow.

Telia Tuli said...

never heard of xmarks either.
checking em out.

The Guru said...

Sounds like a good marketing plan, give somthing for free, then charge for it, people will pay if it's worth it.

Engelhart said...

What the hell is a bookmark syncing service? :S

Ohelig said...

I agree with SaviorSelf.

Also, what does Xmarks need with 1 million $$ per year?

Jack Frost said...

bad for them , althouh i haven't heard of Xmarks

aGas said...

pro tip: opera comes with build-in bookmark-sync.

Max Steel said...

Yeah I wouldnt pay $10 a year

Mez said...

not worth it

Archivist X0042 said...

i knew it would go under. why pay for something i can cut and paste

Sykefu said...

never heard about x-marks, but i wouldn't pay for that as there are many free things that would do it out there.

bruno said...

I liked your perspective in this one... I'm going to have to agree with you

Ryukai said...

I'm the same bro, love Xmarks, not paying for it. There's free options about.

iMonei said...

itäs just not worth the money tbh

godmodeus said...

well nothing of value was lost

Barnacle said...

sad when free things become expensive :(

Ruhmreich said...

never have ever heard of them

Primitive said...

very informative, keep up the good blog, supporting you!

SMOKEDANKALLDAY said...

Dang I actually really liked using xmarks.. Helped me find sites which are similar to sites which are hard to find. What are some similar websites I can use for this same type of thing?

Fayan said...

don't care about bookmarks enough to dl, but might for kicks and giggles. interesting, nonetheless.

dolan duck said...

This is a really post, keep it up looking forward to more.

nick said...

agree

nick said...

loking forward to more posts like this

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