InstaMember for a membership site?

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Hi Warriors,
I got an email today about special offer for InstaMember. It's a Wordpress plug in that allows you to run membership sites. The price looks appealing ($27 for a single site) in comparison to other membership site plug ins and scripts I've seen recommended.

I'm wondering if anyone has checked out or used InstaMember and can provide any feedback.

Thanks!
#internet marketing product reviews & ratings #instamember #membership #site
  • I just bought it, as the price seemed too good to pass up. I watched a few YouTube vids on it and it seemed like a competent program.

    But it'd be nice to hear from somebody who's actually used it and can offer an unbiased opinion about it.
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    • I'm leaning towards the multi-site license, it seemed like a good deal as well. Let me know as you go along if you like the plug in.
  • I've also just purchased the InstaMember as I'm launching a product/WSO soon. Before that, I was just completing my site with MemberRocket which I was quite happy at the speed of setting it up. But the features for InstaMember make it impossible for me to pass it.

    I'm leaning toward InstaMember because of its features. But I'm a bit confused about setting up the Member Home (ie. as WordPress page). MemberRocket set up the Member Home area for you while for InstaMember, we've got to create/design the Member Home? Anyway, I've just submitted ticket to InstaMember's support.

    Secondly, I've tried to install the wp-launch and InstaBeauty themes (bonus) but both gives me installation error ie. missing style.css.

    But I do like InstaMember features on restricting IP logging in and 1-click upsell ... hopefully their support can resolve the issues I'm facing.
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    • ~~~~~~~~
      Due to and many as an InstaMember customer I purchasing InstaMember. Others in this thread are experiencing bugs.

      Instamember told me they will be giving a refund, but they have delayed and delayed... so far no refund, just games. Very disappointed in Suzanna.
      ~~~~~~~~

      Date: June 26, 2013

      Got to play with the InstaMember demo, in the JV area.
      Here's my take.
      1. InstaMember: $27 is just a hook. Most buyers will pay $47 or $97.

        Here's why. At purchase time, when choosing $27 for single site license, or $47 for multi-site license, I'm pretty certain the majority of buyers will go for the $47. (especially after seeing that notice that the software will soon sell for a few hundred bucks)

        Myself I expect to pay $97 (yikes!) because something that should be included in the multi-site license (viral coupon module) is only available with the OTO upgrade to a Developer License. And God knows what other features they held back and are only available in the Developers License. (guess I'll find out when I hit their OTO page!)

        Quick rant: Normally, a Developer License simply adds rights to use software in websites you create for clients, and for flipping, etc. So I say it's rather sneaky and uncool for InstaMember to hold back features from the single and multi-site license, and force us to shell out almost 50 bucks more for a developer license. Not fair.

      2. WishList and DAP have loads more Features

        InstaMember, "Where's the beef?"



      3. InstaMember can issue software keys to customers

        (haven't seen that feature in WishList or DAP)

      4. InstaMember has visual setup of Upsell/Downsell tree. Nice!

        With WishList and DAP, setting up Upsells & Downsells is more manual. Okay, so upsell/downnsell tree setup might take a little longer with WishList and DAP, but it's just a one-time thing then I don't have to do it ever again. InstaMember's visual interface for setting up the upsell/downsell tree is very easy.

      5. InstaMember's Admin area is prettier than WishList and DAP

        I won't pay extra for it, but I do love a nice, tight, easy to navigate Admin area. Makes setup and changes a snap.

      6. InstaMember's Content Drip is very basic. Dap's rocks.

      7. WishList and DAP support Authorize.net. (InstaMember does not)

        When your business clicks and you start selling a lot, you'll want to get a Visa/MC merchant account, enabling you to pay significantly lower transaction fees, compared to using Paypal, Clickbank and other third-party processors. Your credit card merchant account will most likely use Authorize.net as the gateway.



      8. InstaMember has unknown WordPress theme & plugin compatibility.

        WishList and DAP have been around a while, therefore many third-party themes and plugins have already evolved and resolved their software conflicts with DAP and WishLlist. It took a year before the author of the theme (that I use for most sites) fixed some issues to work with DAP. InstaMember is a brand new kid on the block, so I'm afraid that if I purchase it now, some of my existing WP themes and plugins will have conflicts, so I'll be on various helpdesks making feature/bugfix requests, and waiting waiting waiting for new upgrade releases that play well with InstaMember. On the other hand, I may get lucky and my theme and 22 plugins will all work properly with InstaMember.

      9. All 3 platforms (InstaMember, WishList and DAP) are authored and supported by freakin' competent people. Software Gurus to say the least.

      10. All 3 platforms (InstaMember, WishList and DAP) are authored and supported by a home-based business.

        So if I build 8 membership sites using any of those platforms, and the software author's company goes out of business, or author becomes ill in the hospital for a long time, or dies, or accepts a $100k job offer at Apple, or whatever, then my entire online income is dinked virtually overnight. ....I bring this up because that's exactly what once happened to me. Paid decently for a membership platform which started to become incompatible with new versions of php plus it's built-in tools (used by my paying members) stopped working when Yahoo and Google made internal changes. The author's website disappeared. I finally tracked the author down. Told me he was hired by a (famous) company, high salary and working overtime hours, and was not interested in supporting his old software. Yes folks, things like that do happen. Heck, my bank Washington Mutual, one of the largest in the world, went out of business (they closed their doors one morning without prior notice to customers) so certainly a small home-based business can eventually go under, right? Food for thought.



      11. InstaMember = Easy Setup .... DAP = Difficult setup

        InstaMember: Setting up a membership site seems very painless. DAP: I have yet to launch a site using DAP because the setup is so complicated--even after paying a few hundred bucks for their telephone-based training (mandatory IHMO), I still feel like I'm in another country and can barely speak the native language. Granted, DAP is very powerful and feature-rich, but unless you are a techno-geek, it's gonna be difficult to setup and use. But I still love DAP, because it does everything. ... Bottom line though, this morning I'm using InstaMember (because it's so easy) to setup 2 different domains with sales funnels, plus a WSO product delivery area, plus 2 membership site's that I've had "on hold" because setup was previously too difficult. I'm still a DAP fan though, and will use it for something in the future.

      Summary: But they have large learning curve. Setup is difficult and I've been intimidated by DAP so haven't yet launched a DAP-based website. IMHO you must purchase DAP's $200 add-on service with telephone based training, and even after that, implementing DAP seems to always be an uphill battle. Bottom line for me is this: Today I'm setting up a handful of InstaMember-based websites, whereas with DAP I've been "stuck" on a project for over 6 months and now I'm faced with paying for another year of DAP support. So I'm willing to sacrifice features and go with the system that I can actually put to use, InstaMember. Love love love DAP, but at the end of the day, the one I'm actually using is InstaMember.

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Due to and many as an InstaMember customer I purchasing InstaMember.

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Many others have reported problems and bugs. (in this thread)

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Refund requested

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Instamember not responding to Refund request

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Instamember says refund okay but cannot issue it until they transfer the issue to another person to handle.

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Instamember still STALLING the refund.

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Instamember still STALLING the refund.

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Instamember no longer responding.

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Instamember no longer responding.
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  • Hello Warriors,

    Please let me know is this plugin only for PAID membership sites? Can I build a FREE membership level, too?

    Thanks,
    Derek
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    • Yes, there is the option to create a free membership, in addition to a paid lifetime (one time payment) and subscription memberships.
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  • I have been looking for a Wishlist alternative. I have had lot's of trouble with plugin conflicts with it. Might need to check this out.
  • Can anyone tell me how this stacks up against MemberMouse - WordPress Membership Plugin and has anyone used both MemberMouse and InstaMember?
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    • I've never used Member Mouse, but just by looking through the videos on their website, it seems to do the same things InstaMember does. The one thing that stuck out to me is Member Mouse has pricing tiers based off the number of members your website has. The cheapest is $20 a month for up to 1,000 members. On the other hand, InstaMember is a one time payment and can hold any number of members. Might be something to think about. If both systems do what you need them to do, it may just be a question of how much you want to spend.
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    • InstaMember is different. The InstaMember website url is insta-member.com
    • It's not the same. To me, MemberRocket is easier to set than InstaMember. At least, member area for MemberRocket is automated whereas for InstaMember, you'll have to create (and design) the member home page.

      I'm back to using MemberRocket until I get my ticket resolve .... which is waaayyy toooo long ... more than a week without any reply. Plus the bonus theme and another instabeauty theme are not working ... bad impression.
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    • InstaMember (and InstaBuilder) were developed by Suzanna Theresia

      MemberRocket was developed by Todd Spears (IIRC)

      FastMember is from Dave Dunn.

      All three are very capable plugins with FastMember as arguably the most self-contained of the group.

      I own, use and really like all three of these plugins.

      InstaMember has a few early bugs they're ironing out (to be expected with a brand new release into the wild). For example, WP User sync is borked right now for me. I have every expectation this will all be resolved shortly.

      Imagine being on the other end of a big six-figure software launch with a few thousand new users all at once... that's what they're digging out from now.

      And that said - the customer always deserves a great experience, pre/post-sale.

      No time for a full review (that's happening elsewhere) but I'm well impressed with the combo of InstaMember for memberships and InstaBuilder/Twenty-Twelve for skinning a site and marketing.

      Best,

      Brian McLeod
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  • I just posted a full review of InstaMember here on the forum if anyone wants to read it. It may help if you are on the fence.
    http://www.warriorforum.com/internet...rent-user.html
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    • Did you work this out? I'm confused too about the setup too, and unhappy with the lousy documentation/tutorials. How do people register as a member? There's a signup form somewhere but nothing in the documentation shows how people get there. I want to make a bunch of video's available within the members area and I want to spread them out over different pages, but I don't see how people can navigate through members content. How exactly should I set up the members home page?

      The plugin itself seems a great tool to have, but there's a lot missing in terms of step-by-step tutorials for people who have never set up any member site before. I would very much appreciate a walkthrough from sales page to members registration to accessing the content.
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  • Hi kyraline,

    I'm kindda disappointed that I've no reply to my tickets, both to Insta-Member (because of the faulty bonus themes and the difficulty in setting up the member's home page; due to no documentation) and also a ticket to MemberRocket on a IPN bug (the IPN is indeed forwarded by WarriorPlus side but not sure why MR is not allowing paid member to register).

    The lack of support is something I don't really appreciate.

    Yes, I see there's tons of positive feedback like "this is the best piece of membership plugin I've seen ... blah blah blah" ... to me, it's not just installing and activating it and play around with the setting to conclude that it's a good product, it's about really using it operationally.

    With no support and tickets hanging there for more than a week or 2, I'll have to abort using both of 'em.
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    • Take a look at setting up a site using MemberMouse. I'm strongly tempted to switch my site from InstaMember to MemberMouse because of the lack of support and lack of detailed instructions. I have another couple of weeks before the 60 day refund policy is up, so I'll be doing more research on MemberMouse.

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  • Update : My InstaMember ticket has been replied ... after more than 10 days. They did explain that the delay was due to an influx of support tickets ... understandable as they have just have a mega launch. Though it's way delay. Anyway, glad they get back to me.

    And yes, we've to set up member home page ourselves and they confirmed the InstaTheme was corrupted and they have uploaded a new version which they claim will be okay (I've yet to try them; probably tomorrow).

    As of now, I might give InstaMember another try.
  • We have used Instamember for a small test of a launch . . .a complete wreck. So many issues we can even count, and all are straight up bugs. ZERO support. My vote for the worst support in the industry. It will be the last product of theirs that we buy.
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    • I second that. In theory we have a really good product here, with a decent amount of features and an incredible ease of use. The problem is their support. Non-existant. Average reply time I've experienced: 7 days.

      That's indecent! It also lacks integration with Paypal Pro, which is a must if you're running a real business and want to offer Paypal payments.

      Anyway, I'm not giving up on it just yet because it's so simple, it hurts to think that I might have to go back to the other supercomplicated plugins ( I use S2Member on other websites, and it's amazing for what it can do, but it's really hard to configure).

      I say, proceed with caution if you want to use InstaMember. If all goes smooth for you then you'll love it. If you encounter even 1 problem, then you're screwed, because they'll never help you!
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    • Ouched ... I was thinking of using back InstaMember for my next WSO but (a big BUT) looks like I'm going to abort that idea.

      It's pity such a full-featured membership plugin is now going to be shelved at a dark corner of my harddisk.

      Is there NO ONE that has successfully use InstaMember operationally?

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  • Just got a response to like 5 tickets today, as was anticipated. "Please give us the access details for your website and we will take a look. So another week of waiting starts.
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    • Same here. I figured out the multiple issues I was having before they even got back to me.

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  • I have this product and honestly I find it pretty neat.. but too bad their support isn't so hot..

    I don't know how they can have the price so low and ROI on this because it has to be a support nightmare.

    But, that aside, I do think it is a pretty neat plugin...

    But I have one massive question:

    Several years ago I got into one-click upsells. The cart I currently use (Cartfreak) has them. But I wanted to experiment with Insta-Member because it claims to have this.

    To me, a one-click upsell is where the person enters their CC and personal info on the order page for product #1, and then after they hit order, they are never prompted to enter CC info again. After ordering, they are presented with another offer (the upsell). If they want to buy, then they click the order button on this page. It then just charges them for the 2nd product. NO more CC info collection is needed.

    I hope I explained that clearly.

    But I CANT get it to work on this software.

    If there is anyone out there that can help me out it would be greatly appreciated...
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    • I know what you're talking about. I use it with Nanacast.

      You likely need to use Authorize.net to achieve true 1-click upsells in InstaMember. I haven't messed with it yet because an SSL certificate is needed.
  • This is a very good plugin for a membership site. The tutorials will make any newbie run for the hills, for the simple fact that they don't go into details about how to setup the payment buttons. I personally thought it was a pain in the butt to get the IPNs working correctly.

    Other than that, very easy to setup, and for that I like it!
  • Jesus~

    I do have it set up with authorize.net and a secure SSL page. But I can't get it to do a true 1-click upsell. It always tries to ask for CC again.
  • I use S2 Member as it has all the features anybody may need from a Membership site and it gets updated frequently.

    Yes, is not the most easy system to set up but it has detailed tutorials and explanations and ohh yeah I forgot to mention is 100% FREE so you can't beat that.

    It took me less than 1 hour to be up an running with it including full JVzoo integration.
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    • Same experience here with their support. Have been going back and forth with support for 2 weeks trying to get the user registration process working for our site. So much time wasted when support sends non helpful responses (e.g. 'have you checked your spam folder' when automated emails are not being sent out or 'we will have to escalate this to our technical team to investigate further however any fix will be in this next version' -!?! ).

      Had high hopes for this, but with all the glitches and lack of support, its just not going to cut it for us. You get what you pay for I guess.
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    • How did you get the JVZoo Integration to work?
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  • ISSUES with InstaMember. Has anyone seen/fixed these issues? I use InstaMamber and OptimizePress - my entire membership site is built with the exception of pay buttons and the sales page. Now I'm trying to add some free members and use the link generator for free access and none of it works. No matter what I do, I can't seem to add a free member. If I'm logged on as the Admin in a different tab it all works great. If not, then the link generator when used throws Optimizepress header change errors and the user I generated manually only goes to the profile update page and can never seem to actually login even though I've pointed it to my membership dashboard. It's really frustrating to get so close to the goal line and feel like I need to hoist it for another option.

    Anyone have any suggestions?
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    • I just started with Member Mouse. Sure you have to pay a monthly fee, but it's a solid platform and extremely easy to set up.
  • ...and there was me thinking this was maybe a great buy for a membership site, I purchased it to make a mem site in the fall, so hopefully by the time I do use it, all will be well.
    Thanks for all the great reviews and threads.


    Kevin
  • Has anyone tried MemberMouse?
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    • I am using Member Mouse now. Its a great software and it was extremely easy to set up. I had my site up and running from scratch within a few hours.

      I just ran into another issue with InstaMember. I just had a member pay their recurring monthly charge, yet their payment did not show up in their member profile on the backend of the plugin. Had I not seen the email (which went into my junk folder) I would have thought members weren't paying their monthly fee.
  • I actually passed on buying InstaMember when I researched the seller and found out she and her team have had high refund rates on some of their other software, plus complaints about their support. Told me all I needed to know.

    I agree with Kal that Andrew Hunter's MemberSonic is a much more solid product and easy to set up. It lacks a couple of features I want for one site I have and I'm looking into MemberMouse for that, but if you want something easy to set up and that works out of the box, MemberSonic will suit you and I have it working on a couple of different sites with zero problem and no plugin or theme compatibility issues.
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  • I'll be interested to see what Optimize Press 2.0 has in store with their built-in Membership Management system. I mean, we're already using Optimize Press to build our websites! ;-)
  • Hi Trish,

    Hit me up at support@pluginresults.com and I can provide you with a discount link for MemberSonic if you interested.

    Cheers,
    Andrew
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    • Andrew, Does Membersonic do the following?

      1. AuthorizeNet integration
      2. 1-click upsell
      3. Easy creation of Upsells & Downsells? How many?
      4. Management of upsell/down sell tree
      5. Coupons
      6. How does the customer order screen look?
      7. Can ordwr screen have product add-ons?
  • i'm been using it for a membership site since launch... some parts do need tweaking and the documentation isnt exactly clear but it works once setup..
  • Are there still issues with Instamember?
    Just putting the final touches to a set up (haven’t tested) and noticed this thread.

    Update:
    I've answered my own question by utilizing test purchases.
    JVzoo integration: Problem

    Payment Error

    We're sorry, but there's a problem in validating your payment. Please contact our support to resolve this issue.

    All settings have been checked and checked again. The only way customers will get access is if I add them manually. Has anyone else experienced this and maybe solved it?
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    • Hmm.... This thread just petered out late last year.... and today I am being bombarded with ads for instatheme. Did they ever fix the issues with InstaTheme? How about support issues? Any better than in the past? Were refund requests honored?

      Thanks!
      chris
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  • Has anyone been able to figure out how the licensing system works? It talks about your server key and license key but it doesn't say where to install them or what file to place the code into within your product. Usually you add a file to your product in the case of a theme or plugin or install a line of code in an existing file but there is no details on this at all that I could find.

    Also you're right, I thought the same thing about Suzanna but the instructions for this plugin are poor and the support is even worse. I've been waiting about 10 days now for a response and still nothing.
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  • Thanks goodness for the review section; I thought Instatheme looked pretty good, but thanks Warriors for saving me from doing business with someone who can't be bothered to support their product; sadly, an all to common story when it comes to IM software products.
  • Have the updates fixed issues with Instamember? I already own it, but would prefer to save myself time if its not ....
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    • Hi Patrick,

      In this other thread you stated (excerpt below) that InstaMember does not integrate with JVZoo. If this feature doesn't work right out of the box, how did the vendor resolve this for you?

  • Also if you go to fiverr you can get it installed on your server for $5 from people who have purchased the rights to unlimited purchases Robert
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    InstaMember for a membership site?

    Hi Warriors, I got an email today about special offer for InstaMember. It's a Wordpress plug in that allows you to run membership sites. The price looks appealing ($27 for a single site) in comparison to other membership site plug ins and scripts I've seen recommended.