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Matterport 2019 New PricingMatterport KerfuffleSneakyTransfergate

Matterport Cloud Pricing News for Matterport Classic Pricing Customers13738

WGAN Forum
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DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user


Matterport eBlast received 8:36 am EST Tuesday, 8 December 2020

Hi All,

From a Matterport eBlast sent Tuesday, 8 December 2020:

1. “Classic” plans aren’t going anywhere. Our community would not be where it is without the early bets placed by the charter members of our community who subscribed to our “Classic” plans. We will therefore continue to support these plans fully. If you are happy with your “Classic” plan, rest assured we are not taking them away. We are happy for you to keep using those plans, with one caveat, which we are spelling out below:

2. The ability to transfer spaces from “New” to “Classic” plans for free will be removed, effective 1/31/21. Our new plan subscribers represent the majority of Matterport customers. As such it is important we keep parity of features between both sets of plans but that we also maintain fairness across our customer base. While the ability for “Classic” plan holders to transfer over spaces from “New” accounts for free has technically existed for a while, it created an unintended exploitation of our commercial terms that undermined the value offered to the majority of our customers. As such, we will remove this ability for all “Classic” plan holders, effective January 31st, 2021.


Your thoughts?

Dan
Post 1 IP   flag post
Houston
briangreul private msg quote post Address this user
This is what should have happened 2 weeks ago. Better late than never.

My only gripe with the new plans is the expensive hosting. If they would acknowledge that sometimes clients need extended hosting I'd be fine with it.

It's a sore spot because it always feels like I'm shaking down clients for hosting costs when more established MSP's give it away.
Post 2 IP   flag post
Hartland, Wisconsin
htimsabbub23 private msg quote post Address this user
If they want to keep it fair then then should allow us to use the new cameras on the classic plan. That was part of the original agreement. I am completely happy paying the fees of my classic plan but would like to use the Z1 without additional/alternative fees. These stipulations lead me to believe that don't value us.
Post 3 IP   flag post
Expertise private msg quote post Address this user
Are they actually so stupid that they didn't foresee that allowing people to process for "free" and then inventory tours in Classic plans was a massive loophole for larger MSPs?

"While the ability for “Classic” plan holders to transfer over spaces from “New” accounts for free has technically existed for a while, it created an unintended exploitation of our commercial terms that undermined the value offered to the majority of our customers."

We have made business plans, subscribed to "new" accounts, priced our new offerings and PURCHASED ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT based on the subscription offering they rolled out. Now- everything is turned upside down again.
Post 4 IP   flag post
Expertise private msg quote post Address this user
Also- what part of this is "exciting"? Lol
Post 5 IP   flag post
Hartland, Wisconsin
htimsabbub23 private msg quote post Address this user
@Expertise I can't agree more. It seems like everytime I have a solution to make a little more money they pull it away from us without notice or any recourse. I would of never went this direction if the classic plan supported the Z1 the same way it does my matterport pro cameras but they decided to put additional fees on that, again screwing the loyal customers over. I know they need to make money but the saying goes, don't bite the hand that feeds you.
Post 6 IP   flag post
WGAN Standard
Member
Boxborough, Massachusetts
toddwaddington private msg quote post Address this user
@DanSmigrod, I'm not sure what the Jan. 31 date is all about. Are we now permitted to transfer spaces from new to Classic plans? Because I had to sign on as a collaborator with a client who has a classic plan so that they could accept my scan. Did they open it back up until 1/31?

Also, @Expertise. Exactly. Their branding is usually pretty good, but this one is flimsy. I'm not excited, neither am I devastated.
Post 7 IP   flag post
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DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by toddwaddington
@DanSmigrod, I'm not sure what the Jan. 31 date is all about. Are we now permitted to transfer spaces from new to Classic plans? Because I had to sign on as a collaborator with a client who has a classic plan so that they could accept my scan. Did they open it back up until 1/31?


I could imagine that Matterport re-enabled transfer to Classic from New now through 31 January 2021.

It's unclear if Matterport will STOP transfers - or CHARGE - for transfers to Classic from New after 31 January 2021.

Does this change affect your client pricing? Business plan?

Dan
Post 8 IP   flag post
dave3d private msg quote post Address this user
The only thing consistent in business is change.

Before 2011 there was no Matterport. Their oldest C-level employee has been there since what 2017? Matterport is changing their plan. If that impacts your revenue model, and makes it unsustainable, it's time for a new plan. What Matterport is doing is over and done. Don't expect another rollback. Now it's time to decide what your new model is going to be. (Unless you're OK with a profit drop from 2020 on the hosting side.)

Time to bury this dead horse and look for your next mode of transportation. Change from Matterport? That's an option. Charge for hosting? Could do that. Whatever plan you come up with don't think it's permanent.

VRBO went from no cost to a high percent on both sides (customer and property owner) when Expedia acquired them. I can still hear the screams.... But it's done, and there's still a VRBO, and people still make money from renting spaces. Airbnb just said what - they're going from 3% to a 15% cut of the rental with their IPO? Changes like this happen all the time. Time for some thought...make a 2021 plan and be ready to change it in 2022. (When they retire Classic completely for instance.......)
Post 9 IP   flag post
Gerhard private msg quote post Address this user
@dave3d you working for Matterport ? One word Self-hosting, the solution to all the problems.
Post 10 IP   flag post
mori private msg quote post Address this user
@dave3d - the answer is always "depends" on what you are doing for business. As a pro 3D due to the Matterport restrictions on all levels, we only use it for "quick capture self promotion" and no budget projects.

For everything else, we use professional solutions.

I really hoped for a change, especially due to the SDK until I got this eMail with "Update on Matterport Dev Tools API and SDK": If you use dev tools for commercial applications, you will be subject to a revenue share agreement.

Conclusion:
a) get some cool guys from my EUrope network (TUM munich, TU Delft, Alice Vision, Europeana, SprinD ...) together and completely replace Matterport with an open source based made in europe alternative. May take a while ...

b) Focus only on higher budget projects with pro laser scanners

c) Cover low and no budget projects with my iPhone 12 Pro
Post 11 IP   flag post
Houston
briangreul private msg quote post Address this user
@Dave3d - I think you called it right. The new Csuite at Matterport and the investors have other plans. My uninformed guess is that profitability and sustainability are high on that list. From what I understand MP has never made money - on anything. Unless you are Elon Musk that's unsustainable. The only reason he gets away with it is he has a patent on Dream Creation and Sales. He manages to sell two new dreams for every one dream that is burning money faster than indigenous people at a bonfire trying to stay warm in a blizzard.

What doesn't make sense to me is the wholesale giveaway in the form of free phone scanning and hosting. Freemium models are rarely highly profitable.

Ultimately, my crystal ball says they are trying to get the fundamentals in place for an acquisition. Matterport was originally a maker project and there are very few of those that go on to be commercially viable projects. They normally don't get as far as Matterport has. Normally someone buys them for the IP and kills the offering while integrating it into something else they already own.

Matterport is worth around $207 Million according to a quick Google on Tech Crunch. I could very easily see them being acquired by Amazon as a move to invade the Real Estate market. $250M is chump change to Jeff. He'll burn that getting even with someone for printing his naughty pics.
Post 12 IP   flag post
WGAN Forum
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DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by @briangreul
Ultimately, my crystal ball says they are trying to get the fundamentals in place for an acquisition. Matterport was originally a maker project and there are very few of those that go on to be commercially viable projects. They normally don't get as far as Matterport has. Normally someone buys them for the IP and kills the offering while integrating it into something else they already own.

Matterport is worth around $207 Million according to a quick Google on Tech Crunch. I could very easily see them being acquired by Amazon as a move to invade the Real Estate market. $250M is chump change to Jeff. He'll burn that getting even with someone for printing his naughty pics.


@briangreul

From April Fools Day 2017

WGAN Acquires Matterport for $1 Billion

Be sure to watch the video in the post.

Dan
Post 13 IP   flag post
WGAN Standard
Member
Boxborough, Massachusetts
toddwaddington private msg quote post Address this user
@briangreul, interesting speculation, and @DanSmigrod...now is your chance!
Post 14 IP   flag post
dave3d private msg quote post Address this user
Agreed Bryan,

Their plan? Who can say.

Wanna guess?

When their CFO is a cum laude Harvard J.D. who's done two IPOs, raised over a billion in equity and debt capital, and was a Silicon Valley CFO of the year?

Nah, forget what I said, I don't agree, couldn't be acquisition.....
Post 15 IP   flag post
justinv private msg quote post Address this user
I mentioned the other day I only upload to customers accounts unless it is going to be hosted no longer than 60-90 days. The changes come way too fast to always change your pricing. So the MSP ends up eating the cost. I would love to be able to get rid of my account and only use clients account but I am not sure that will be possible unless I totally cut out residential RE.

There is nothing exciting about the new plans except to use it as a pass through account. Luckily, I was too cheap to sign up for an extra account and just use friends when in a pinch.

What are MSP's going to do with both accounts? I do not see 25 models in a new account very profitable? $309/month for 100 models is kinda high compared to classic model with 100 spaces is about $60-70.
Post 16 IP   flag post
Houston
briangreul private msg quote post Address this user
I'll tell you who would be a good candidate to buy them. Verisk. Verisk is the company behind Xactimate which is the defacto insurance estimating software. They also own ISO, which provides alot of data and analytics to insurers. It would be a good fit for them and an excellent way to counter their rival which makes Symbility. Symbility is made by CoreLogic and CoreLogic powers most of the MLS systems.

Verisk does alot of business with contractors, so acquiring something like Matterport would fit well with their Xactimate offering and help them wade deeper into the RE Space. Lots of synergies there.

and $200MM is chump change to them. They've done acquisitions of $2B USD.

They got burned hard by the adoption of Drones in insurance because they didn't think it mattered. That spawned Hover and EagleView who siphoned substantial sums out of their ecosystem with insurers.
Post 17 IP   flag post
WGAN Fan
Club Member
Queensland, Australia
Wingman private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanSmigrod


WGAN Acquires Matterport for $1 Billion

Be sure to watch the video in the post.

Dan


How many members do you have Dan? Just Following that joke... if every member chips in $1000 will we it get us any share as a group to stop some nonsense in Matterport? :-)

Back to the topic, it is not that they may not earn much on disabling transfer, they are also blocking ability to archive spaces for classic plan holders. Sure you can still transfer to new and archive but you cannot transfer back when it is needed. Also not sure what plans my partners have but I may not be able to do tours for their clients and transfer it to my partners.

Such a mess all these high management decisions. I am the one who has "exploited" their system and I can explain a situation. Opened a second account with a new plan to save about $150 on classic for processing a few big models. Then did very little for a few months. When I looked back at how much I paid for the second account I was considering myself an idiot. That saving of $150 made me paying well over $500 in subscription for the new plan. So getting extra $350 for Matterport is bad for them and must be stopped? Are they fighting for morals, principles or for profit trying to cut it off?

Then covid started and things got for me better(they are slowed down a lot now). And I made about 50 tours over a few months. Half if not more are less than 100 scans. Another half from what's left could be made with less 100 scans but I was trying to make the best models for my clients and was scanning to eliminate any void in mesh.

My classic plan has 3 model processing for free which I have not been using since I got a new plan. That's more than a year ago. That's 36 models that have not been processed by Matterport under my classic plan. 50 vs 36 and Matterport needs to explain what is their fuss about with "exploding" while I have paid them extra $840 for subscription fee for the new plan and technically I can say that they have not been free processed because I could do it under my classic plan allowance. The only "exploiting" that I have done may be 5-6 that were over 100 scans.

I will still stay with them as I have a lot of models in hosting now. At least as long as I can use my classic plan and can extend it for extra $19 for each additional 50 models. If I had access to new plans only I would quit or simply has not started it.
Post 18 IP   flag post
Expertise private msg quote post Address this user
UNCLEAR is kinda their thing. #idiots

Quote:
Originally Posted by DanSmigrod


I could imagine that Matterport re-enabled transfer to Classic from New now through 31 January 2021.

It's unclear if Matterport will STOP transfers - or CHARGE - for transfers to Classic from New after 31 January 2021.

Does this change affect your client pricing? Business plan?

Dan
Post 19 IP   flag post
Expertise private msg quote post Address this user
Self hosting is not a solution to this problem. At all.

How many hours would we have to spend a month as support staff for agents trying to figure out how to set up their accounts? They would even call me when they lose their password.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerhard
One word Self-hosting, the solution to all the problems.
Post 20 IP   flag post
WGAN Forum
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WGAN-TV Podcast
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Atlanta, Georgia
DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user
Hi All,

It's January 27th! Are you Matterport accounts in order for the change?

Dan
Post 21 IP   flag post
WGAN Fan
Club Member
Queensland, Australia
Wingman private msg quote post Address this user
My understanding they are blocking it to stop people avoiding paying fees for processing. However I do not remember that they have actually said that spaces transferred from old to new accounts & then transferred back to old avoid anything. There may be a need to archive some spaces sitting on old accounts and bring them back online after some time.
Post 22 IP   flag post
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