I have a question, directed towards anyone willing to answer: system developers as well as potential subscribers. How long a trial period do you think is best, taking into consideration you want people to stay after the trial has expired? I’m trying to find the right compromise between offering people insight into my system and finding the incentive to keep them on board. Thanks for any suggestions.
4 days 
[LINKSYSTEM_71784468]
I feel that the point of a free trial is to prove to potential subscribers that a system is worth the fee being charged. Give them the opportunity to make a bit of money and you’ll have earned their trust, and their subscription dollars when the trial is finished.
That being said, I feel that It’s worth considering the frequency of trading for the system in question. Potential subscribers will probably want to experience some action with the system before making a decision. A system that makes a high frequency of trades wouldn’t need a long trial period to give people that experience. However, a system that trades infrequently might need to extend the trial period to give people an adequate preview.
On a side note, I guess it’s worth mentioning that (for example) a 7-day free trial only offers 5 days of trading when the weekend is factored in. I know it’s obvious, but I’m just throwing that out there as a factor worth taking into consideration when determining how long to make the free trial.
I believe longer trial periods allow potential subscribers to more fully experience a system and see how a system meshes with their own trading psychology. From a subscriber 19s point of view it seems that 14 days should be a minimum. This also allows more time to assess communication (or lack thereof) from developers over a period of time. Developers should be aware that frequent communication, at least once a week or so commenting on positions, performance, perception of current market, or other factors, adds value to a system from a subscriber 19s perspective.
I am surprised most developers, at least in my experience, do not offer discounts for the first month or so after a trial period. For example, a $99 system could offer the first month at $33 or $29 or even less, thus a subscriber can easily afford to further 1Ctest drive 1D one or more systems. If performance is as expected trial subscribers will stay.
