Following an outpouring of support and "several" buyout offers, Xmarks is reconsidering shutting its servers down on January 10, 2011. According to James Joaquin, CEO of the cross-browser syncing service, many users wrote in claiming they would be willing to pay for Xmarks. Ready to prove it?
"We're revisiting the idea of Xmarks as a premium service," Joaquin wrote in a blog post. "We've set up a Pledgebank page where you can sign up if you're willing to pay at least $10 a year for Xmarks. No credit card is required, but please only pledge if you are genuinely willing and able to pay."
Joaquin insists that charging users for his syncing services was never part of the original strategy, but giving the number of encouraging emails, he's willing to entertain the idea. But here's where things get tricky. Joaquin says it costs over $2 million a year to run Xmarks, with $9 million already invested to create the technology and grow the data corpus. If 2 percent of the two million Xmarks users would be willing to pony up $10/year, that would only amount to $400,000 of annual revenue.
Nevertheless, Joaquin isn't giving up.
"The overwhelming positive user support from all of you, combined with strong interest by companies looking to take over Xmarks, means that the service might just find a ninth life. Please stay tuned," Joaquin said.
If you want to pledge, head over to www.pledgebank.com/XmarksPremium. The deadline to do so is October 15, 2010.
