I am directing this post to my streaming media colleagues.

As some of you may know, one of my other side businesses is SteadyHost.com - we do racked servers and sell a great mix of bandwidth at reasonable prices.

Let me tell you something you probably already know - there are retail prices that companies list on their website like we do, and then there are direct prices extended to particular clients in private. If shopping around, you can always try and ask for better pricing.

The single question you have to ask your provider is “is that the best you can do?”

It sounds simple, and it is. Any provider who values their service or customers will re-evaluate on the spot and see if he can offer even better. Because whatever he decides is then his commitment, almost like a final call before you start asking the competition.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes providers CAN give you a lower price - but it doesn’t make sense for them. Shaving off a few more nickels for an increased volume often does little good to providers.

What happens if we sell almost at cost is we end up with less capacity for new clients without having to run new fiber, sometimes getting new switches, etc. Any provider should make something on the deal, you want to be sure that the provider is actually interested in servicing you if you have any trouble.

But getting back to the topic…

If you are doing a lot of streaming - say 100 mbits or more - and are paying $25/mbit or more then you can definitely do better. If you’d like to know how, please contact me I’ll be happy to give you an offer on behalf of SteadyHost. We have some clients doing less than $20/mbit for large volumes just to give you an idea.

What sometimes happens though is that I always try to give great offers, and then your current provider craps their pants as they are about to loose your business and suddenly offers to match the price just to make you stay. And I can understand, staying is preventing a hassle - until next time.l 

That’s all fine and that’s how business goes. I am happy to give you the offer anyway, no harm done, no hard feelings - I want you to be free to come back to me any time when your needs expand. 

But I will pose this question to you: why did it take this long for your provider to lower the price? A good provider should give you a great price automatically, even if you paid higher before. Sometimes costs get cheaper, and why haven’t they passed on the savings to you? Is this provider worth your continued business in the long term?

Discount Bandwidth

Streaming radio is not profitable for most people I know, at least not as much as to spend a decent amount of money on bandwidth. As a result there are many providers selling what I call “discount bandwidth” - that would be your Cogent network, Hurricane Electric(HE.net), etc.. Just please don’t use anything from FDC, they are bloody awful.

Many folks are using cmpanies who resell these networks, and if you are paying more than $10 to $12/mbit for those you might be getting screwed. Your host doesn’t pay more than $10 himself, often $8/mbit.

I am not a fan of these networks, though the price is good. On good days they work fine, on bad days hell can break loose. No the connection doesn’t go down, just the routes get screwed up and many people in select places around the world start getting streaming problems and move down the dial.

If most of your traffic is within North America, you can probably get away with these just fine if you’re on a budget though.

Hope this little inside scoop helps you to negotiate better prices.