Dropbox pricing isn’t quite as transparent as I reported yesterday. I was on the 200GB plan at an annual cost of $199 and, naturally, I assumed that this would be changed automatically to the new 1TB plan at $120. I was wrong. I am still paying £199 but I get 2TB instead of 200MB. Anyone on the 500GB plan will still pay $500 but get 5TB.
This is all well and good. But, as you can see from the table below, if you decide to reduce to the 1TB plan you will be unable to take out a higher plan in the future. In a crafty bit of manipulation, Dropbox is saying that anyone who does reduce their storage will not subsequently be able to opt for a higher plan because the 2TB and 5TB plans are “no longer being marketed”.
So existing 200GB and 500GB subscribers could feel reluctant to lose either of the new higher 2TB or 5TB bands because they will fear not being able to upgrade in the future. As a result they could be paying for more storage than they currently need. This is bluff and a blatant attempt to ringfence existing income from pro users. As storage limits continue to expand and costs fall, Dropbox cannot afford to be left out of the party by not offering anything over 1TB.
If 1TB is enough for you for the foreseeable future, I suspect there is nothing lost by reducing the plan to that amount of storage. When you need more, Dropbox will be offering more for less. Don’t believe the bluff.
Great post !