--- title: Myth vs. Data — MemberPress.ai Blog description: Common membership-business assumptions, checked against the data. image: https://memberpress.ai/images/blog/pillar-myth-vs-data.jpg url: https://memberpress.ai/blog/myth-vs-data/ --- [Blog](https://memberpress.ai/blog/) · Myth vs. Data # Myth vs. Data Common membership-business assumptions, checked against the data. [![Low Dues Don't Buy Loyalty. Value Does.](https://memberpress.ai/images/blog/myth-vs-data-13-why-low-dues-dont-protect-renewals.jpg) ### Low Dues Don't Buy Loyalty. Value Does. Keeping dues low feels like the safe renewal strategy. The pattern across membership businesses says you're solving the wrong problem ![](https://memberpress.ai/images/team/omar-28.webp) Omar ](https://memberpress.ai/blog/myth-vs-data/myth-vs-data-13-why-low-dues-dont-protect-renewals/)[![Satisfied Members Cancel Too](https://memberpress.ai/images/blog/myth-vs-data-12-engagement-predicts-renewal.jpg) ### Satisfied Members Cancel Too Satisfaction scores feel like proof your members will renew. The pattern across thirteen years says they're not ![](https://memberpress.ai/images/team/omar-28.webp) Omar ](https://memberpress.ai/blog/myth-vs-data/myth-vs-data-12-engagement-predicts-renewal/)[![Renewal Discounts Feel Generous. They're Actually Training Members to Churn.](https://memberpress.ai/images/blog/myth-vs-data-11-discounting-renewals-trains-members-to-wait.jpg) ### Renewal Discounts Feel Generous. They're Actually Training Members to Churn. Discounting renewals seems like loyalty math. Thirteen years of membership businesses say it teaches members to wait for the deal instead ![](https://memberpress.ai/images/team/omar-28.webp) Omar ](https://memberpress.ai/blog/myth-vs-data/myth-vs-data-11-discounting-renewals-trains-members-to-wait/)[![Members Say It's Too Expensive. That's Not Why They're Leaving.](https://memberpress.ai/images/blog/myth-vs-data-10-cancel-reasons-mislead.jpg) ### Members Say It's Too Expensive. That's Not Why They're Leaving. Exit surveys tell you what members say on the way out. Behavior tells you why they really left. There's a difference ![](https://memberpress.ai/images/team/omar-28.webp) Omar ](https://memberpress.ai/blog/myth-vs-data/myth-vs-data-10-cancel-reasons-mislead/)[![Raising Prices Will Trigger a Cancellation Wave](https://memberpress.ai/images/blog/myth-vs-data-09-raising-prices-loses-fewer-members.jpg) ### Raising Prices Will Trigger a Cancellation Wave Operators sit on stale prices for years waiting for a wave that almost never comes. Here's what the pattern actually shows ![](https://memberpress.ai/images/team/omar-28.webp) Omar ](https://memberpress.ai/blog/myth-vs-data/myth-vs-data-09-raising-prices-loses-fewer-members/)[![Membership Is a Cheap Subscription Play. Except It Isn't.](https://memberpress.ai/images/blog/myth-vs-data-08-membership-is-just-cheap-subscriptions.jpg) ### Membership Is a Cheap Subscription Play. Except It Isn't. Most membership pricing isn't anywhere near bargain-bin territory. Here's what thirteen years of data actually shows ![](https://memberpress.ai/images/team/omar-28.webp) Omar ](https://memberpress.ai/blog/myth-vs-data/myth-vs-data-08-membership-is-just-cheap-subscriptions/)[![More Features Won't Save Your Retention](https://memberpress.ai/images/blog/myth-vs-data-03-more-features-more-retention.jpg) ### More Features Won't Save Your Retention The instinct to add features when members leave sounds logical. Thirteen years of patterns say it's the wrong move ![](https://memberpress.ai/images/team/omar-28.webp) Omar ](https://memberpress.ai/blog/myth-vs-data/myth-vs-data-03-more-features-more-retention/)[![The Discount Won't Save Them](https://memberpress.ai/images/blog/myth-vs-data-04-discounts-save-cancellations.jpg) ### The Discount Won't Save Them Throwing a discount at a cancelling member feels like the obvious move. Thirteen years working with membership sites says it's the wrong one ![](https://memberpress.ai/images/team/omar-28.webp) Omar ](https://memberpress.ai/blog/myth-vs-data/myth-vs-data-04-discounts-save-cancellations/)[![Longer Free Trials Convert Better. They Don't.](https://memberpress.ai/images/blog/myth-vs-data-05-longer-trials-convert-better.jpg) ### Longer Free Trials Convert Better. They Don't. More time with the product sounds like more reasons to stay. Thirteen years of pattern says the opposite is true ![](https://memberpress.ai/images/team/omar-28.webp) Omar ](https://memberpress.ai/blog/myth-vs-data/myth-vs-data-05-longer-trials-convert-better/)[![Matching the Industry Average Won't Keep You Safe](https://memberpress.ai/images/blog/myth-vs-data-07-matching-the-industry-average.jpg) ### Matching the Industry Average Won't Keep You Safe The typical membership plan runs about $40 a month, but that number hides a huge spread. Why matching the average isn't the safe call it feels like ![](https://memberpress.ai/images/team/omar-28.webp) Omar ](https://memberpress.ai/blog/myth-vs-data/myth-vs-data-07-matching-the-industry-average/)[![The Free Tier Is Costing You Members](https://memberpress.ai/images/blog/myth-vs-data-01-free-tier.jpg) ### The Free Tier Is Costing You Members Thirteen years of patterns say free tiers track with lower revenue. Free tools track with 2x. The gap is hard to ignore. ![](https://memberpress.ai/images/team/omar-28.webp) Omar ](https://memberpress.ai/blog/myth-vs-data/myth-vs-data-01-free-tier/)[![Keep Shipping Content and Your Members Will Stick Around](https://memberpress.ai/images/blog/myth-vs-data-02-content-volume.jpg) ### Keep Shipping Content and Your Members Will Stick Around More content, more value, more retention: that's the standard advice. Thirteen years of patterns say it's wrong. ![](https://memberpress.ai/images/team/omar-28.webp) Omar ](https://memberpress.ai/blog/myth-vs-data/myth-vs-data-02-content-volume/)[![The Ten-Dollar Membership Myth](https://memberpress.ai/images/blog/myth-vs-data-06-ten-dollar-membership-myth.jpg) ### The Ten-Dollar Membership Myth The cheap monthly sub is the exception, not the rule: what membership pricing really looks like, and why the outcome you deliver should set the price ![](https://memberpress.ai/images/team/omar-28.webp) Omar ](https://memberpress.ai/blog/myth-vs-data/myth-vs-data-06-ten-dollar-membership-myth/) Ready to get your own membership to its first paying member? Connect your site and tell Opal what you sell. [Connect a site→](https://memberpress.ai/connect/)