Thread: WWGOA Paid Membership Levels - worthwhile?

I had a paid membership for a couple of years, but did not renew after receiving no response to my complaint that despite paying the same as U.S. members, overseas members were denied access to most of their special offers. They were not interested in shipping outside the U.S. I haven't missed it.

i paid my $2 for a year and added another $2 for another year not that long ago. At that rate I can somewhat justify it, but i wouldn't pay anything significant for it.... even the video content is reasonably dated and I find it hard to find new stuff

I would agree with Poundy - because I've a membership with Fine Woodworking, there was an email deal a few months back that gave basic WWGOA membership for a few dollars. Once I joined that, it wasn't long before I was offered a gold membership upgrade, again for a few dollars. I took that too, mainly to see what they had in the way of content.

There is a LOT there, and I think it represents the most value for those at the very start of their woodworking journey. That's not to say there is nothing beyond that, there is, but I have to say it doesn't stand out as "outstanding" content - you could find the same information here or on a few other sources in various forms. I see the main advantage here is that someone who isn't used to the basics, and "basic" techniques, would be better to watch these videos as opposed to some of the "cowboy" stuff on YourTube - at least George will show you the safe way to do stuff.

I would be unlikely to renew the membership (it reverts to normal price after the first year on the deal I have).

Originally Posted by Midnight Man

I would agree with Poundy - because I've a membership with Fine Woodworking, there was an email deal a few months back that gave basic WWGOA membership for a few dollars. Once I joined that, it wasn't long before I was offered a gold membership upgrade, again for a few dollars. I took that too, mainly to see what they had in the way of content.

There is a LOT there, and I think it represents the most value for those at the very start of their woodworking journey. That's not to say there is nothing beyond that, there is, but I have to say it doesn't stand out as "outstanding" content - you could find the same information here or on a few other sources in various forms. I see the main advantage here is that someone who isn't used to the basics, and "basic" techniques, would be better to watch these videos as opposed to some of the "cowboy" stuff on YourTube - at least George will show you the safe way to do stuff.

I would be unlikely to renew the membership (it reverts to normal price after the first year on the deal I have).

Appreciate the thoughtful reply Midnight - very helpful. I've got Premium membership at the moment, and am constantly receiving offers to upgrade to gold. Anyone thinking of signing up to WWGOA should be aware that you can expect to receive about 5-6 emails a day from them on all sorts of topics.

Originally Posted by RSD

Appreciate the thoughtful reply Midnight - very helpful. I've got Premium membership at the moment, and am constantly receiving offers to upgrade to gold. Anyone thinking of signing up to WWGOA should be aware that you can expect to receive about 5-6 emails a day from them on all sorts of topics.

Whilst I'm on the Gold membership level - and I don't know if that makes a difference, I've actually found (and it might be a false impression) that there's a few "marketing" emails a day (buy these DVD's, buy this, buy that) and what I call a "tip" email (here's how you can do this or that, or project ideas) only every few days.

Stopping to think about that, having been prompted by your comment, it makes it even clearer to me that a cancellation needs to go in.

One thing I have found universally across a number of similar providers - renewal is automatic, and if you didn't want to renew, it's up to each provider to act on that at your request after the event. I believe Taunton (Fine Woodworking) have an excellent policy here - let them know you have a problem and they will refund anything. The others, I am not sure of, and my memory on WWGOA runs along the lines of having to do it before the anniversary "or else".

To widen the conversation, at the risk of going slightly off topic, I've found WWGOA would be most useful to someone fresh out of the starting blocks. Rockler's "WoodWorker's Journal" have a few useful plans, but their service devolves quickly into few tips, and way too much marketing (they're also getting a "cease and desist notice soon). Fine Woodworking has great content, and is fantastic for someone who isn't new to woodworking (it's overwhelming a bit, if you are). The detractor here is their site can make it challenging to pull out the content. There may be improvements afoot here, as they recently surveyed their members about this. If one finds Australia Post as reliable (not) as I do, the best deal from FWW is the USD$99 unlimited membership - access to archives, several online books, and all the new content plus digital magazine in a single subscription that doesn't break the bank.

The only one I haven't tried that seems "popular" is Woodsmith - ironic, as it was the first one I'd found way back when I started looking.

Originally Posted by Midnight Man

I believe Taunton (Fine Woodworking) have an excellent policy here - let them know you have a problem and they will refund anything. The others, I am not sure of, and my memory on WWGOA runs along the lines of having to do it before the anniversary "or else".

Humm . . . these people stuffed up and dallied for many months on several large orders I placed with them for the mens shed back in 2016 and although I eventually (after about 9 months) I got a refund I was not happy with their glacial response to my questions. Even though I have unsubscribed multiple times from their email list I still get their emails which are now auto deleted.

oh yeah, great reminder. They by default have "automatic renewal" and save your CC number. I subscribed and then asked them to remove my CC and stop the auto renewal; since then I added up another year for $2 so I had better remove the CC again. You can however manage your preferences on emails about how many times to pester you.... I've not found the right balance yet

When you really distil this, they are a marketing org. They make content and produce it once, and rehash it multiple times and over multiple years and multiple mediums. They are then trying to get new people in the door to get better leverage on that content. They have the asset (the videos and article content) and anything they can do to use that asset to draw more paying members just adds to the bottom line. Doesn't take many new subs or re-subs to keep the pot ticking. Interesting business model I guess

Originally Posted by poundy

When you really distil this, they are a marketing org. They make content and produce it once, and rehash it multiple times and over multiple years and multiple mediums. They are then trying to get new people in the door to get better leverage on that content. They have the asset (the videos and article content) and anything they can do to use that asset to draw more paying members just adds to the bottom line. Doesn't take many new subs or re-subs to keep the pot ticking. Interesting business model I guess

Spot on Poundy. What seems to be the more interesting aspect is the rate at which these various providers produce new content to add to their "chest" they give you access to.

In the case of WWGOA, there seems to be only one major person making their content (George Vondriska). With Woodworkers Journal, there's a couple. The team at FWW are larger. Either way, content like this takes a long time to produce and create, so the bulk of the offering is the past content that exists (which is fine, it's mostly still perfectly relevant).

Originally Posted by Midnight Man

I see the main advantage here is that someone who isn't used to the basics, and "basic" techniques, would be better to watch these videos as opposed to some of the "cowboy" stuff on YourTube - at least George will show you the safe way to do stuff.

I think this is a really important point. Once we've been in a hobby for a while it becomes easier to distinguish the YouTubers who know, and those clearly leaning on the job but acting like they know. Starting out it's hard to distinguish and easy to end up with a head filled with bad practice.

I'm at that point with woodturning. At the very beginning where I don't know what I don't know, and finding it hard to distinguish those worth listening too. For that reason I've been toying with the idea of a AAWT membership until I'm not super green anymore.

I think there's still a market for moderated content in whatever form you may find it.

Simple question, whom or what is WWGOA?

Originally Posted by Pat

Simple question, whom or what is WWGOA?

Wood Workers Guild of America, I believe.

Cheers Andrew