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How to Lose Your Money With Premium-Rate Services

The aim of this writing is to attract the attention of those whom maybe considering obtaining a premium rate number or set of premium rate numbers in the near future.

The type of Premium-rate numbers that this blog pertains to are the ones which start with 0906/0908 and so on, the type that usually cost anywhere from 60 pence to 150 pence per minute to call.

These types of premium-rate numbers are regulated by 'PhonepayPlus' and are sold online by various premium-rate number merchants. The cost of these premium-rate numbers can range anywhere from an eye catching £24.99, to well over a hundred, and in even thousands of pounds in some cases.

When you purchase your premium-rate number, you are usually given an online account. You can use this account to monitor how much money your premium-rate number is making. The amount of money you make from each premium-rate number depends on the rates set by the premium-number rate merchant. The vast majority of premium-rate number merchants that I've come across have their rates set at about 50/50, that is, if your premium-rate number costs £1.50 per minute to call, you will receive 75 pence per call and they'll keep the rest.

So, for the average Joe, with a view to making some quick cash, 25 pounds seems like an irrefutably good punt. After all, if I'm using my premium rate number to charge my customers £1.50 per minute, and I'm therby entitled to half of that figure then, surely, I'm on to a straight-forward winner, right?

Wrong, because, as with most cases which involve making money - things are never usually straight-forward. This case is no different... having browsed this site that was selling singular premium-rate number packages for 25 pounds, I was almost about to part with my cash up until I had read the terms & conditions thoroughly (something that you should always do!!!!) to find a few important conditions.

Here is a couple of key conditions that struck my attention:


1. Payment Threshold/Minimum Payout(the amount you have to reach before you are paid)

On this particular site, this meant that if my premium rate number failed to generate 25 pounds per month, I will not be paid a penny, nor will the amount be rolled over to the following month.

They will keep any earnings I make. Ok, this may not seem too bad, but beware: there are many premium rate number merchants who have much higher thresholds thus making it very difficult to earn any money at all.


2. Line Reclamation(we reserve the right to reclaim your premium rate number)
This meant that if my premium rate number failed to generate more than 500 calls a month, for three consecutive months they will reclaim my premium rate number and sell it on to someone else.

So, let’s say, my premium rate number gets 20 calls in month one, 50 calls in month two, and 490 calls in month three; and let’s say, each call lasts on average about 6 minutes at a rate of £1.50 per minute. My premium rate number would have earned £180 in month one; £450 in month two and £4410 in month three. But here this, I won't see a penny of my premium rate number's earning in month three because I failed to generate 500 calls a month for three consecutive months. Consequentially, my premium rate number will potentially be reclaimed and what happens to my revenue? You guessed it, they keep it!

A Quick Word on Advertising Premium Rate Numbers

Advertising/marketing is crucial to the success of most businesses and in the world of premium rate number revenue, things are no different. That’s why you should bear in mind that advertising can be very difficult. Competition in the premium rate number sector (especially those offering adult services) is very fierce. Indeed, you only have to look at the back of a tabloid newspaper to see hundreds of competing premium rate number based adult services. So please bear the competition in mind when considering buying premium rate numbers.


Now, I mentioned two conditions earlier, and I’m sure that you will find more as you dig deep into those t&c’s on your travels. Incidentally, let me stress that the conditions aforementioned, may not necessarily pertain to every online premium rate number merchant; there are so many out there that it would require an investigative pursuit beyond my capacity as a layman with limited resources and time. That said, the essence of this blog is to encourage potential premium rate number customers to really scan those terms and conditions thoroughly, and thus calculate whether or not your new venture is really worthwhile.

So, now that we've covered the boring bits, we can now turn our attention to creating ideas for a premium rate number service.

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