Runbox increases all email storage quotas to 10 GB.
 

Early notification to Email addresses users:
Runbox increases all email storage quotas to 10 GB.

Hi everyone!
These are exciting times at Runbox. During the last year it seems the world woke up to Runbox vision that email will be read, written and stored online, accessible everywhere and on any device. Runbox pioneered the high online storage space premium email segment in 2000 when we launched the first 100 MB storage accounts, unheard of at the time. We then increased to 1 GB accounts in 2004 (admittedly sparked by the competition). We now see that the trend of increased email storage space for premium email will continue indefinitely. We will soon send each other full length feature movies (700 MB++) as attachments.

Runbox is therefore announcing that we will up the storage quota for all email accounts to 10 GB and files storage to 1 GB effective ASAP. With this we want to signal once and for all that your Runbox account has virtually unlimited storage capacity for the foreseeable future (we are talking many many years) and that you may safely trust to store all your email in your Runbox account. With 10 GB email storage there should be no reason to worry about getting a full mailbox for anyone.

Due to extra demands of premium email usage and the expected cost increase over time with more disk space we announce that we intend from January 1. 2006 to raise the standard price for Runbox accounts to USD 49.95 (in line with the current special extra storage promo priced at USD 49.95 per year. Effectively raising the price from today’s USD 29.95 per year.) In order to promise storage space at this level along with increased support levels Runbox will need to increase the price that has otherwise stayed the same since 2001.

However all current most valued customers are invited to and advised to renew their accounts before January 1. to lock in the current great prices effective since 2001. We hope most of you will make sure you lock in the low price. When you pay to renew your account at any time your added subscription time is automatically added to the total length of your subscription.

Runbox mission it to provide premium email, by that we mean really making your email experience great.

Thank you for being a Runbox customer!

Regards,
Hans Lysglimt
Runbox founder and CEO

 
Nice!

Incidentally, I do not see the three-year $59.95 option anymore - Is this a temporary glitch or have you shelved that option?

Does this mean that if I signed up today for the 1 GB for email 100 MB for files service then this would be upgraded to 10 GB for email 1 GB for files shortly ?

Great news Hans - this is a tremendous bump. Well done.

Congratulations! I always felt that among the premium-for-fee email service providers, Runbox was a visionary. While most were struggling to decide on course of action, Runbox wan an early adopter.
This is another step proving the correctness of my impressions - a deliberate, responsible and far-sighted move that will help retain Runbox at the top...

That is really impressive.

I heard a lot of good about Runbox and I have thought about to get me an account for my company.

Although I am not a Runbox user, I would like to comment on this thread ;)

I am of the opinion that there is a considerable market out there, for people (like me) whose email needs (resource wise) are minimal.

I currently have a paid Tuffmail account, and have only recently let my annually paid Fastmail account expire. I also use PromptPost and will likely support and use PumaPost, when this company launches in the near future.

Runbox has always been on my list of possibles, as a place to look when renewing my account. I use my own domain name for email (for business purposes) I need imap support + features, for business purposes and for personal use.

I receive lots of mail, most of which is in plain text format. I only rarely receive or send large attachments. 100 Mb of storage is ample for my needs.

This announcement by Runbox, means that I (and people who have similar needs to myself) will likely never even consider using Runbox for email in the future.

To close: I would like to congratulate Runbox on its past success, and to wish all Runbox users the very best for the future.

Likely the marketplace is splintering. This announcement is super news for people who need what Runbox are offering. I suspect that (market wise) these people are the vast majority of the paid market.

I totally support the move, and the price increase. It pushes Runbox into a power category shared by few. Even in lieu of David's reluctance, I see only better things to come because of this move. The Runbox team is totally dedicated to email, and should be able to afford themselves the luxury of a userbase willing to pay the price of using the Runbox system at whatever cost it amounts to for the staff. Although a price increase in and of itself may be seen as burdensome, it affords a margin of growth consistent with the storage costs. Scaling one's offering in hand with price attracts a serious clientel who appreciate the value behind the money spent.

I trust that you have made room in your business plan for such a move and will continue to provide the excellent service for which Runbox has come to be known. May the execution of such an ambitious offering be most pleasant for everyone involved! :D

Trip

Some replys
 

Thank you for all encouragement and comments!
Yes, we are excited about this new development!

- s.a - The 3 year super-promo at USD 59.95 is no longer avaliable. You can however still renew two years for USD 49.95 (USD 100 value).

- fryr - Yes, you will have 10 GB for email and 1 GB for files.

David, the way you use email is not unique. That's why companies like Mailsnare and similar will always find a groups of people who only need a minimal amount of storage space. This it true particularly for POP users, as they keep their email on their hard drive.

The vast majority, which in my view is growing by leaps and bounds, will be looking for bigger and bigger accounts.

First, IMAP users store their mail on the provider's servers. Second, in today's world, the small text messages are becoming quickly a thing of the past. That's where people use IM and SMS phones. The email is going to be more of a means of transporting AND storing pictures, movies, PDFs, music and other large multi media formats.

The small space providers, while staying alive, will eventually become marginalized. In my view, the future belongs to companies that keep up with the trends and adapt quickly.

I would tend to agree with David on this one, in that many will leave Runbox, seeing it as being a bit pricey for their needs. Might it not be better for Runbox to have two different levels, at the least, so they don't run the risk of losing the majority of individual, non-business users? Upgrading now just means delaying the obvious $50/yr that will come.

At the least, maybe something like this:

1GB mail/100MB files $29.95/yr (or lower, seeing the comparison with other services)

10GB mail/1GB files $49.95/yr

I agree. Hans - what's your position on this, i.e. RunboxLite or Jogbox/Walkbox (joking)?

I've actually suggested that they keep the 3-year option for exactly that reason (this may convince some non-power users to stay for that period of time).

I like runbox but will probably not renew (at any price) simply because my volume of personal mail is tiny and I have three other active accounts (this is what comes of "trying" various providers). I guess I fall under the david category.

Apparently:

Gmail storage is currently rising at 1/1000 MB every 25 seconds.

Therefore at the current rate, it's going to take approximately 2,129 days for Gmail to hit 10GB, i.e. summer 2011, thereby giving Runbox a good five year lead on the competition (assuming they don't bump the increase rate).

Is this correct?

Fantastic! As someone who uses IMAP and wants all email saved to be viewable anywhere this is a great piece of news for me. I was at 10% before, and now it's back to 2%! :D The files increase is also much appreciated!

My faith in the service available from Runbox has never changed. For the last few years I've been extremely happy overall and this improvement can only keep me that way.

The pricing does not affect me too much. I'm sure many Runbox users didn't choose Runbox due to the price in itself.

I do have to ask though if the email attachment limit will stay the same? Just curious really.

Keep up the great work! :)

[Edit] According to the front page of Runbox the file attachment hasn't been altered. Just thought it was worth enquiring over.