(Member images used with their permission.)

Before you buy premium... read what premium members have said about it.
(Just scroll a bit farther below...)

(Also see "5 Reasons To Get Premium")

Question: Why is it necessary to have premium memberships?
Two reasons, both having to do with bandwidth. 1) It saves bandwidth when fewer guys are downloading. 2) The premium membership fees offset bandwidth costs. The fees are low. We don't make any money doing this, but it covers all the various costs of maintaining the community. So far only around 2.5% of members have purchased premium. If more and more do, and we raise more than we expect, we'll beef up the free areas of the site.

Question: Aren't you worried that some guys will leave the site?
Well, if they don't think that full access to all areas of the site is worth 10 cents per day (13円ぐらい) then they don't value the site much, right? So, the guys who take the 11-day free trial and still don't see the value, they can go. There is no good reason not to take the free trial and check out all the functions linked below in this post.

Question: What do I get during the 11-day free trial?
Everything. Every function on the site including all the premium features and functions listed below.

Question: Do I have to give my credit card information to get the free trial?
No. Not for the free trial. Only at the payment stage, later on, which is optional.

Question: What happens after the 11 days?
Your account reverts to a regular (non-premium) membership and the little gold star next to your name disappears.

Question: Will I automatically be charged after the 11 days?
No. Of course not.

Question: Who sees my private information?
NOT JGUYUSGUY. Your private data is seen only by a secure database at Groupee Inc. in Seattle. We don't have access to your information. We don't even see your name.

Question: Is it difficult to order?
No, it takes only two minutes. Start here.

Question: Is it expensive?
If you order a year for $36.99, that's something like ten pennies or 13 yen or 0.07493 Euro per day. Not much when you consider all you get for it! Everybody can afford that.

Question: Do I need a credit card to pay for premium?
Yes. To send money, you'll need it. (But not for the free trial.)

Question: What will it say on my credit card statement?
It will say either GROUPEE INC. or INFOPOP CORPORATION. (It will not say "JguyUSguy" on your statement.)

Question: Will Groupee Inc. automatically renew my membership when my premium term ends?
No. They will email you a notice to let you know that it's time to renew. If you don't renew, your membership reverts to regular status.

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Premium members have spoken
We sent a questionnaire to your premium brothers

In the email we asked them why they chose premium.

The idea is to help the undecided decide. Consider this like a consumer report. If you pay for premium, we want you to know what you're getting.

In the emailed questionnaire, we made a point to let the premium guys know that we wanted honest feedback, and we got it!

Below, we present all of it. Mostly positive. Some mixed feelings. Plus one or two very negative responses.

It's all here. Nothing has been withheld.

Main question:
Why did you purchase premium membership? I.e., why (or how) do you value it?

quote:

First of all, coz i wanted to use the INSIDE FORUM. I was using so much of the website, I wanted to have full access to everything it provided.

quote:

I became a member for many reasons, firstly I felt welcome and love the many topics that are posted for comment.

quote:

I have been enjoying the site for along time for free. I know a lot goes into making and maintaining the site and the premium is a reasonable price for all that is offered by Jguy and USguy. I have been in two LTR with Japanese men one for seven years and the current one for 13 years. This site has been informative and has helped me to understand the dynamics of these relationships. It is great to read about others experiences as well.

quote:

Well, I would like to say I find lots of sex friends here, but actually only now and then. I think I purchased the premium thing for three reasons: I want to contribute to the site because I get lots of enjoyment out of it; the new bargain rate for lifetime membership is hard to pass up; and although I enjoy the free areas a lot, I don't want to miss anything by not being a paid-up member.

quote:

I purchased a life-membership -at the then full price- because I believe in paying for services received from individuals, as both Jguy and USguy unmistakenly are.

quote:

I did not purchase premium membership per se. I don't think I would have paid for premium membership, and premium membership was not a factor in the decision to donate money. I wanted to donate money to the site for a long time, but wasn't in a financial position to do so. JguyUSguy means a lot to me, since it opened up a world of possibilities for me, and helped me realize who am I am and that who I am is something to be proud of. It really meant a lot to me at that time to know that there were lots of other guys out there just like me. As such, I wanted to contribute to the continued existence of the site so that it might help others in the same way.

quote:

Loyalty to the JguyUSguy community. I'd hate to see the site go belly-up, or for the eponymous JguyUSguys to spend all their hard-earned loot keeping it afloat.

Areas that premium guys like
We asked premium guys: What premium areas do you use most often? Why?

quote:

I like it to read all the threads and to have access to everything without restrictions. Also of course the ones with the porn links from Taddy :-)

Greetz from the Netherlands

quote:

Blush blush. I guess the porn stuff. But not so much anymore. Really, what I most wanted was the ability to post goofy pictures wherever I wanted. Bandwidth hogs R us.

quote:

I mostly use the areas with pictures. I also enjoy reading some of the groups, especially those pertaining to relationships. I will most definitely renew.

quote:

Probably the INSIDE FORUM the most?! I get to have access to all kinds of interesting information.

quote:

Well, I do enjoy the pictures now and then.

quote:

All of them actually. The threads are more interesting there because of the pics and comments.

quote:

I'm not sure if I've used any of them? Unfortunately, I don't have much free time lately, and participating actively on the site in a meaningful way is difficult given my other commitments. I'm kind of shy, anyways.

Other comments
We had said in the email that we wanted their true feedback and that we were not looking for them to flatter us. One member responded,

quote:

Damn, I was in the mood for flattery.

We also explained that we wanted to hear only from paid premium members (not the members who earned their premium status by volunteering, in this case). Here are some overarching comments premium members made about the premium areas of JguyUSguy.

quote:

Damn straight. No different from any other paid service. I pay the bucks, I get something for those bucks. Besides, you guys didn't whine when I used your site to plug my books. S'least I could do. Of course, if I were slobbery rich like some FRENCH DUDE I know, I'd be ponying up a lifetime membership. But, alas...

quote:

PS I just sent 30,000 yen to the furikomi account number I was given a while back with the intention that it should pay me up as a new permanent member (at the new bargain rate) plus a small contribution besides.

quote:

Overall I think it's great, and I'm glad I paid for the premium membership! But I was not certain whether to pay for a life long membership yet. Wanted to try it out for a while first, then decide.

One respondent was very disappointed. It seems that he expected lots more porn than is currently traded in the premium areas. You can see here that he didn't get what he expected:

quote:

No I wont be flattering - I am so disappointed in this membership. But i justify it by thinking that i am helping in a small way to keep jguysusguys alive. i have also been thinking about getting the new lifetime membership for just that reason. but i am on the fence about it Why? because what you offer in terms as to what i want is not worth going to the site and that is "Porn" i want good porn. I with you didn't offer me anything and just come right out and ask for a $$ contribution instead . its almost silly for you to say " Look what you get with a premium membership" - oh wow ! disappointment thats what i get. Do you know for instance that "Porn Tube" link/Bookmarks - does not have the links it offers in other groups? such as the Thai links. So i went and signed up ells were - plus i have two other pay sites. I think you should go all out on the porn and charge a monthly fee. What i do like - everything else.

We want members to keep in mind that we don't produce porn, and JguyUSguy is not a generalized "Asian" website.

In the premium forums, members post images and links. Some of the links will rock your world. This is content from guys who know Japan, Korea and Taiwan very well. But we don't aim to present "Asian boys." We don't know South Asia at all. We're in the north, y'see. There are commercial porn sites that offer you "Tokyo boys" and what you get are obviously Thai boys in the jungle. There is no jungle in Japan. So, if you're looking for an "Asian boy" fantasy, better to use some other site. But if you're looking to explore Japan/Korea/Taiwan male reality, you'll meet knowledgeable men in the JguyUSguy community.

Here's what you DO get in JguyUSguy premium:

• members trade pictures and links
• you meet members who are knowledgeable about this part of East Asia, especially Japan. They are able to distinguish Japanese material from Korean and Taiwanese, etc. But there is also material for East Asian guys interested in Western pics and links. Yes, that's right. Half of JguyUSguy members are interested in non-Japanese guys.
• members inform each other about all sorts of things - sex, cruising, culture...
• the Inside forum is a space where members feel free to be more open about their lives than they would be in the public areas. It's a cool space.

quote:

I want to thank you for the work you guys have done. It is an important service and more then just a site for looking at hot cute Asian boys! The issues discussed are real and important to those experiencing a different culture and relationships of all kinds across cultural lines.

quote:

Being a great admirer of Japanese guys this site has everything one could wish for, and the membership fee is very good value and well worth supporting. I greatly appreciate the hard work you guys do to keep things running.

quote:

I definitely would not renew the premium membership for the sake of having premium membership. I like just plain old JguyUSguy the way it originally was, totally free and open. But, I totally understand the huge financial burden that the site has placed on you guys, and charging for premium membership makes a lot of sense as a necessity. So, I'm not knocking you on it. But, personally, I wouldn't have paid for premium membership if it hadn't been for the reasons I explained in answer 1!

Some members will be able to get value directly out of the added access they get with JguyUSguy premium. But, if you have a busy lifestyle and won't use Inside and the porn threads, it may not be worth it. Note, though, that every respondent mentioned that they wanted to support the community. If that's your only reason for purchasing premium, go ahead! Consider the extra access as icing on the cake.



Premium and "Insider" content

Porn
http://gay-japan.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x/a/frm/f/3091055451

Inside
http://gay-japan.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/frm/f/8941073444

Male beauty
http://gay-japan.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/frm/f/4491055451

Video cam chat
http://gay-japan.infopop.cc/camchat-beta/xyz.html

Members' chat
http://gay-japan.infopop.cc/groupee/chat

Member profiles
http://gay-japan.infopop.cc/eve/members?user_sort_order=2

Photo albums
http://jguyusguy.org/indexb.html

Review your own current personal permissions
Members who have been on the site a long time may find that they have access to many (but not all) premium functions. You can find out what your own permissions are, here:
http://gay-japan.infopop.cc/eve/personal?x_myspace_page=permissions

Get premium membership
http://gay-japan.infopop.cc/eve/premium

Manage premium membership
https://sitepay.groupee.com/


NOTE regarding email. Emailについて。
We honor the mail opt-out only when we mail to the whole membership. On other occasions we usually send mail within two different parameters:

• Members who have recently logged in and have logged in over 50 times
• Members who have joined in the last month

Or sometimes we use a more complicated algorithm like: logged in in the past week AND accessed at least 30 times AND joined in the past year

The logic: We don't ask members to pay anything for non-premium access the most of the site. JguyUSguy is not a business. Over ten years our investment of time, money and effort has been WAAAAAAAY higher than the small amounts we get back from premium memberships, ads and sales of this and that. That's fine. The intention is simply to keep the community going, not for profit. But we ask at least that frequent or new users accept promotional mail from us in order to remain members. Think of it as your "payment." It's not asking much, is it? Most members don't mind the mailings, and the mailings serve to direct regular users to interesting new items they may have overlooked.

We don't really know what to do in the case of frequent visitors who don't want any mail. (Or recent visitors who WERE frequent in the past and now don't want any mail.) If you want, we can of course delete your account. But then you won't be able to access most of the site. If the site's not really important in your life, that might be the right solution.

An alternative: You could create a special gmail account just to dump JguyUSguy mailings. That would just require switching the email address on your Groupee account.

So, it's up to you. Do you prefer no mail and no access? Or do you prefer access along with (sometimes a little too much) mail? If having an empty mailbox is more important to you than being a member of our community, see below.

Sorry if you dislike this policy! Contact Jguy and USguy if you want your account completely deleted:
http://jguyusguy.org/contact/contact2.php