Monthly update - November 2023
Introduction
As mentioned in the newsletter that introduced these new monthly updates, there are some limitations with the Substack platform that make it challenging to control the way historical articles are presented.
This monthly update will serve a number of purposes going forward - providing links to historical newsletters that I feel would be interesting for both current, and new subscribers; a summary of watches that I currently have available for purchase; and detailing any key updates/changes to the site going forward. This month, I will kick off with that latter purpose, since there are going to be some major changes implemented from the beginning of next month.
tl;dr
From December 1st, there will be three membership tiers, with each tier receiving the content and benefits as described below -
Free membership
The monthly update newsletters in full
First Friday newsletter of the month paywalled (the paywall break will be inserted after I have detailed the first of the recommended watches from that week’s Yahoo Japan Auctions)
Watches for sale - 1 week delayed publication subsequent to offering to those with paid subscriptions
As an incentive for those currently with free subscriptions to upgrade to a paid membership, until December 1st 2024 I will be offering a 20% discount on the annual paid subscription membership cost.
Paid membership - $5 a month/$50 a year
All content currently published (the Seiko Catalogue articles, ‘Primers’, product details articles, reference index to the Friday newsletters - note, all of these articles will be paywalled by December 1st 2023 at the latest)
All future content as it is published - this includes the regular Friday newsletter, plus feature articles, watches for sale, etc.
10% off the listed price for any watch offered for sale with no time restriction on when the discount can be applied (this can be applied retrospectively to watches offered for sale in the past that remain available, up until such time as I reduce the original list price for all).
Founder membership - $100 a year
All the benefits detailed above under “Paid membership”, plus -
An additional 5% off the listed price of any watch offered for sale, with no time restriction on when the discount can be applied (this can be applied retrospectively to watches offered for sale in the past that remain available, up until such time as I reduce the original list price for all).
An invitation to join a bimonthly (every two months) ‘Zoom’ call to meet up with one another and discuss anything related to vintage Grand Seiko.
Upcoming changes to The Grand Seiko Guy Substack
Background
When I first started this Substack, there were very few watch related “stacks” being published. In the last couple of years however, more and more writers are recognising the benefits of publishing on Substack and moving a significant amount of their content to it.
From the outset, I decided to implement a two-tier membership scheme, with paid subscriptions priced at what I hoped was a “no-brainer” level of just $5 per month, or $50 per year, with the paid subscription providing a couple of added benefits - a weekly newsletter on auctions for vintage Grand Seiko, and a discount and ‘first dibs’ exclusivity period on watches I offered for sale.
The concept behind the paid membership was not actually to try to generate any significant income stream (I anticipated that maybe at most a couple of dozen people might be interested enough in what I was writing to consider paying for it), but more to ensure that I stuck at the Friday newsletters - even if there was just a single paid subscriber, I had a duty to continue to publish them. Without the motivation of knowing I was obligated to fulfil my promise to my paid subscribers, it is extremely unlikely that I would still be here, more than two years after starting out on Substack.
Looking at other watch related publications, it has become very evident to me that the $5/$50 paid subscription rate is extremely competitive - particularly when you consider the very niche target market for the content I produce.
The other thing that I have come to realise is that I am being even more generous to my free subscribers. Free subscribers receive all the content that I publish, with the only difference being the Friday newsletters are delayed by one week. In discussions with paid subscribers, it is evident that, whilst getting the heads-up on live auctions has significant benefits, it is actually in the educational aspects of the content that they feel is the substantial value lies.
When I first started out, the Friday newsletters were only sent to paid subscribers. Sometime earlier this year (I can’t recall exactly when it was), I thought I’d try an experiment to see if I could convert more free subscribers into paid ones by releasing the newsletters to those with free subscriptions so they could see what they were missing out on. Having now run this for a few months, it actually looks as though it has reduced the conversion rate, and I do feel that it is perhaps not fair to those who have supported me with paid subscriptions to see all this content made available for free.
Changes to free and paid subscriptions, and introducing founding memberships
From December 1st, there will be some significant changes to the content and benefits that will be received by those with free and paid subscriptions. Additionally, I will be introducing the Substack concept of “Founding members”.
The bullet point list of the content and benefits for each membership level are detailed in the introduction - here I will just explain in general terms.
Free subscribers
The biggest change will be for those who currently have free subscriptions. By December 1st 2023 (this process will commence this week), all existing content on the Substack - except for the monthly summary newsletters, and watches for sale - will move to behind the paywall.
Going forward, those with a free membership will receive the full monthly summary newsletter, watches for sale posts with a one week delay, and the first Friday newsletter of each calendar month, on the day it is published, with a paywall break after the first recommended listing.
Until December 1st 2024, those with free subscriptions can upgrade to a regular paid membership for a 20% discount off the regular annual cost for the first year of membership. Please click on the following link for details -
Paid subscribers
One of the things that I was very keen to ensure on implementing the Founding Member tier was to not take anything away from those who have kindly supported me over the last couple of years with their paid subscriptions. Whilst there is the ability to publish newsletters just to Founding Members, with the exception of the Zoom calls and communications regarding them, I do not intend to ever create content that is not available to those with regular paid subscriptions.
A couple of members also expressed to me some frustration that historically, the 10% off the listed price of watches for sale was only available for the first seven days after a watch was listed. The arguments against this made perfect sense, and so that time restriction is lifted immediately (and is lifted retrospectively for all watches currently available for purchase, up until such time as I reduce the original list price for everyone).
The cost of a paid subscription will remain the same, at just $5 per month, or $50 per year, and I undertake to not increase this subscription rate at least for the whole of 2024.
Founding member subscribers
Substack describes the concept of a founding member as -
“The ‘founding member’ option allows readers to pay more than the listed price as an extra show of support, similar to a donation.”
In discussions with my paid subscribers, several of them highlighted the fact that they felt that the content provided to them was worth more than they were paying. The founding member option simply provides a completely voluntary way for someone to show additional support should they so wish.
As mentioned above, I wanted to make sure that on introducing this tier, absolutely nothing was taken away from those with ‘regular’ paid subscriptions. I do not in any way want anyone to feel that they are obligated into taking out a founding member subscription.
However, I did feel that I should offer at least something to those kind enough to chip in a little extra, and so will be offering an extra 5% - making a total discount of 15% - off the price of any watch listed for sale. As with the change to the paid membership benefits, there will be no time limit applied for this discount, and it is available retrospectively on all watches currently listed for sale, up until such time as I reduce the original list price for all.
Secondly, I am committed to at least trying out running some live video group chats. I have absolutely no idea how these will turn out, and they could be an unmitigated disaster and embarrassment, but what the heck - let’s give it a go!
These ‘virtual meets’ will be available only to Founding Members, and whilst I intend to run one a month, due to timezone challenges the timing of the calls will alternate each month. Exact timings will of course be very dependent on where Founding Members are located, and we will just have to muddle through the organisation of these between ourselves. Hopefully it will be fun!
I am hoping that the first of these calls can be scheduled for the first half of January 2024.
I am also very much open to any suggestions from subscribers as to additional benefits that could be offered to Founding Members, but please note that I will not take any existing benefits (nor existing content) away from those with the $5/$50 subscriptions.
Actual physical get-togethers in real life are not out of the question. I will definitely be visiting Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan in the next 12 months…
The suggested cost of a Founding Member subscription has been set at $100 per year. It is not possible to sign up on a monthly plan, although it is possible to enter a higher amount if you so desire!
How to change your subscription tier
If you are currently a free subscriber, and wish to change to a paid tier, you can follow the guide here.
If you are currently a paid subscriber, and wish to change your subscription plan, please follow the guide here.
Watches for sale
On most Mondays I am now publishing a newsletter to paid subscribers detailing a watch available for purchase.
Paid subscribers get a 10% discount on the original listed price of a watch, and Founding Members get a 15% discount on the original listed price of a watch. There is now no cut-off period for how long these discounts are available whilst the watch is listed at its original price.
Should a watch hang around for a while and I’m still looking to find it a loving new home, I will use this monthly newsletter to announce any permanent price reductions. Any reduced prices are the prices for all subscribers - no further discounts at this stage for paid or Founding Member subscribers.
The following are links to newsletters detailing the watches that - at time of publication - are currently available for purchase. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me should you have any questions about the watches, or if there is something specific you are looking for that you don’t see here. This is just a small fraction of what I have in the collection.
No price reduction. Listed at $2,800. Paid subscribers can take 10% off, Founding Members can take 15% off.
No price reduction. Listed at $5,000. Paid subscribers can take 10% off, Founding Members can take 15% off.
Originally listed at $13,500, now priced at $11,000. No further discount for paid or Founding Member subscribers.
Originally listed at $1,700, now priced at $1,200. No further discount for paid or Founding Member subscribers.
Reference articles
I have published a number of reference article here, which can be easily found should you be viewing Substack in a browser. For ease of reference for those who read primarily in the Substack app, here are some links to those articles, along with a brief description of their content.
Note - all the content linked to here will be paywalled by December 1st 2023.
Each Friday I publish a newsletter highlighting auctions of interest on Yahoo Japan for collectors of vintage Grand Seiko. These newsletters have been published for over two years now, and the article above serves as a reference to every listing ever featured (and that is a lot of watches!). I typically get around to updating it once a month.
An index page to a long series of articles covering every instance of a vintage Grand Seiko being featured in the Seiko catalogues of the time, as well as detailing every known legitimate vintage Grand Seiko that does not have a catalogue appearance.
Primers
An occasional series of articles providing a “deep dive” into a specific area of interest for those who collect vintage Grand Seiko.
Thanks for reading!
Ok that’s it for this month.
As mentioned earlier, I would very much welcome any and all feedback. Unlike many who publish on Substack, I’m not by an stretch of the imagination a professional writer - I just felt it would provide a more connected and interactive way to share my passion for vintage Grand Seiko than a simple website, and to date, I’m very happy with the way things are going.
I appreciate that I am announcing some pretty significant changes to the way that I will be distributing these newsletters going forward. Please do feel free to provide comments and any feedback in the comment section below.
I’m not even a GS aficionado, but I dig what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. FWIW anyway. Plus I learn along the way. Thanks 🙏
Okay, the decisions have been made and sufficiently explained. Looking forward to the possibility of some raucous meetings