Meetup App: Fees, Problems & Mistakes | Part 1 - Things To Know BEFORE Starting A Group

As you weigh the pros and cons of being a Meetup organizer, the video timestamp hits on a few key things to consider:

0:00 Let's Talk Business
1:10 Organizers Notified of Price Increase
2:15 Problems with the Platform
3:00 No Member Engagement Data
4:29 No Sponsorships at Base Price Plan

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Biggest Mistake: taking over as organizer for an existing group that had no participation, instead of starting a new group from scratch. When you start a new group, Meetup promotes it for you...putting you in front of fresh eyes. This doesn’t happen when you take over as organizer for an already-established group.

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❌ “It takes money to make money” is a lie!

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Thanks for stopping by!

~ Donna
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[MomsMoneyMindset]

this is an interesting video. I have participated in a couple meetups in the past but never as an organizer and did not know that not only did the prices increase but you don't even have the real visibility of the group stats. Great video, and thanks for sharing this with us!❤

[knowhereman]

I totally agree with these issues as an organizer of 2 groups. The quality has declined as the price keeps going up. The website used to be more attractive and more customizable. There used to be a "donate" button for members to click on and voluntarily help out. If you're new to organizing a Meetup group, make sure your members know the cost of being an organizer. I was surprised to find out some people thought it was free. 🙄

[darrenpeters]

I l=very much liked your calm, honest dialogue in this video, my only complaint is that is was too short :-)

[davidbanfield]

Totally agree. Fees have just been hiked again with zero improvement to the service. Any support enquiry takes 7 weeks to be answered

[TimRoseOfficial]

*_Great video my friend! Really enjoyed and keep it up!_* ❤

[sharmansmith]

Really appreciate your feedback. Please keep on doing what your doing!

[iashakezula]

.Our group was grandfathered before they started charging fees but only if the original organizer is still the main organizer and you loose that privilege once some one took over, in my case which was me. Our group attendance has been declining but the pandemic made it worse . So now we are planning on moving . We will have to download all our events and pictures, email everyone and invite a few to the new group . I have been paying 200$ over 8 years now, it’s not working out anymore.

[TheRealKMoe]

Hey girlie! Had to find one of yours i hadnt watched before! Thanks for this info and that was a huge price increase though.

[NayZWayVlogs]

Just subbed. $23.99 is a pretty pricey subscription. Now. I see why a lot of organizers step down or close the group.

[ronque]

Great info! I’ve been seriously considering using Meetup to help promote my biz and feature it’s attributes during the meetup. From what I’m hearing from you and the comments is that it’s a good idea to get all users to sign up to an external email list if possible at the front end, maybe with a CRM or something else. I’ve been a consumer of Meetup going back to 2010 and have enjoyed it but it never occurred to me until so many groups I was part of started ending that I figured out there was a fee. I may still use Meetup to get a broader reach of new potential users and just decide from there if it’s worth the cost.

[oscar]

I knew our leader paid for the MeetUp service, but what no one can tell me is if the {Donate} button on the group site goes to offset this fee or if it goes into a general MeetUp fund.

[handicappuccino]

There should be a meet up logo on all the buildings so that people know that it’s public and not get creeped out because my parents got creeped out by this

[ibstayfly]

Why do you have to pay to start groups. I wanna start a group and went through the whole process for them to tell me I have to pay. That makes no sense to me

If the purpose of the app is to meet people in person make friends and connections then why pay to do that

Are there any other apps similar to meet up that's free to start groups

[geoffreydarwentartconnexu]

I created a group that has grown to 256 members. However, there is zilch participation. I would like to remove all members in one shot as opposed to one at a time. How do I do that?

[robine.durfeerobinshouseof]

Hi Donna, thank you! Your video was very helpful. I'm now one of your subscribers. I've had a meet up group for a few years but was never able to really offer consistent meetings nor make it productive for me. So now I'm considering closing it down and this is how I came across your video. It grew organically without any real effort on my part to over 400 members. My question to you is: how do I access (or is it even possible) to access my member's emails before I migrate or close down the group? It seems that as an organizer, I should have access to that. I've searched but have not come up with answers. I obviously, don't want to close it down before having this information. Thank you again for your tips.

[karlabritfeld]

Don't forget the cost of starting a group. Over $200 each year.

[FeeBeeRome]

hey sis, i missed this one but i am here now for this information

[virtualworldsbyloff]

First of all, one fee entitled you to create/organize up to 3 Meetup groups, no extra cost. I also started in 2009 and when they raised the price it only affected new organizers, I kept enjoying legacy price. Meetup was great until 2011/12, than it got worse and worse, but unfortunately there is no serious competitor that can offer you all it's fearures, and believe me I searched massively and thouroughly

[buzzypeterson]

I had an event, paid $130 for supplies. 9 rsvps. Many contacted me. Only one showed up and he forgot his wallet. I was loosing money to promote my cause and only charging $18. Wouldn’t even have broken even. They filled up the event in 1 day, then didn’t show. After paying meetup and supplies, I’m out like $300. I’m not sure if it’s just that people suck. But I think it’s pretty shitty that they all wasted my time asking questions, telling me they would show. What a waste of time and effort.

[geriboyd]

Thank you for this post. Also I accidently made a second group and don't want it. how do i delete it.? Thank you so much