INVESTIGATIONS / VALUE & POWER
Constructed exampleWhat does a subscription really cost?
One small price. Every seat. Every month.
YOUR TASK / CONSTRUCTED EXAMPLE
Review the subscription commitment
You’re reviewing two fictional subscription scenarios for a team. Choose a basis for comparing the quotes, then follow each price through seats and time.
An evidence trail.
Your decision.
Begin with a provisional judgment
Loading the supplied example…
Keep a private first thought (optional)
Private writing stays out of links and default downloads. A reopened link does not restore it.
This records a provisional judgment and the starting configuration. It does not change a mathematical setting or save automatically.
Start with the unit. Follow it through time.
01 / THE UNIT
A price names one small part.
$24 buys one seat for one month. The commitment includes every billed seat, every month.
- Price / seat / month
- $24
- Billed seats
- 15
- Duration
- 12 months
✎ Record an initial thought
Optional. Included only if you explicitly save this experiment.
02 / THE COMMITMENT
One price. A longer view.
SCENARIO A 15 seats
$4,320$24 × 15 × 12 monthsSCENARIO B 10 seats
$2,880$24 × 10 × 12 monthsA $4,320 B $2,880
$1,440 less in scenario B over 12 months.
The unit price is only the beginning.
Name the seats. Name the time.
Save this experiment
MODEL & LIMITS
What the total cannot tell us
This is subscription spend under fixed assumptions. It leaves out the value of the service, how many seats are used, and the cost of getting started or leaving.
- PriceUSD / seat / month
- SeatsEvery billed seat
- TimeThe same duration
Inspect the calculation and monthly values
Spend = price in cents × billed seats × months. All calculations use whole cents; the same model powers the homepage, investigation, tool and saved records. Scenario B − scenario A = -$1,440.
| Month | Scenario A | Scenario B | B − A |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| 1 | $360 | $240 | -$120 |
| 2 | $720 | $480 | -$240 |
| 3 | $1,080 | $720 | -$360 |
| 4 | $1,440 | $960 | -$480 |
| 5 | $1,800 | $1,200 | -$600 |
| 6 | $2,160 | $1,440 | -$720 |
| 7 | $2,520 | $1,680 | -$840 |
| 8 | $2,880 | $1,920 | -$960 |
| 9 | $3,240 | $2,160 | -$1,080 |
| 10 | $3,600 | $2,400 | -$1,200 |
| 11 | $3,960 | $2,640 | -$1,320 |
| 12 | $4,320 | $2,880 | -$1,440 |
Assumptions, source and evidence status
Original constructed teaching model: constructed-subscription-v1. These amounts are supplied examples, not market prices or observed billing data. The formula is repeated addition of the same monthly charge.
- Constant monthly price; every selected seat is billed for every month.
- Constructed USD scenarios, not a quotation, invoice or forecast.
- Excludes tax, discounts, annual billing changes, usage charges, implementation, training and switching costs.
Model bounds: USD 0–1,000,000 per seat per month; 0–100,000 seats; 0–120 months. Shared currency and duration are required for saved total comparisons. No exchange rates or financial forecasts are used.
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