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6 Comments

Is it a smart move to give out discount for academic purpose?

I run an API service and was recently contacted by a professor at a university asking for a discount for a subscription with my service. They are asking for more than 1 million request, which would run for about $1k. However it would only cost me about $100 in server cost. I want give it to them for $1 so I have some kind of record and accountability if my service gets abused.

What are the pros and cons? What would you guys do in my situation?

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    Personally I'd go to it, get to know the professor, and possibly learn about other professors (within his network) that may need my product.

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      Thanks! I went ahead and gave them a price that would cover my expenses for running the server.

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        Maybe give him a wink: "Please don't tell your colleagues that I gave that much discount". It'd be nice but devastate if other professors give you the same bargain

        Do you mind sharing what you're working on?

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          Lol, yea it wouldn't be smart idea to give out discounts to everyone that ask.

          I run a Google Search API service https://goog.io. The professor works in the business department. My guess is that they want to perform analysis of companies based on Google searches. They want to run over 5 million quires.

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            Ah, good service. Also really nice web design.

            I think there is a small typo on the footer “ Designed and coded with by Gooio”. Should it be googio?

            Thanks for sharing a @tuangeek

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              Thanks. Nice spot, I'll fix it.

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