Don't Charge People To Post A Wanted Ad

[SEOxperts]

Hello,

I know there is a $40 monthly fee for posting in the Advertising and Relating Offers section but that should only apply to members wanting to sell a product or a service. It's unfair to those who need a job completed and they have to pay $40 in order to make a thread. This results to members looking for alternatives such as using other forums instead of DNForum, especially if the job is only $20 and you have to pay $40 for a thread, it doesn't make sense from a buyers point of view.

UPDATE: -All sub sections in Advertising and Related Offers has been changed so you don't have to pay to post a thread. You are limited to ONE THREAD EVERY 24 HOURS, KEEP THAT IN MIND.
-Main section of Advertising and Related Offers remains at $40/30 days.

[EdGuy007]

I didn't realize that was the case. If it is, then I agree with you 100%.

[Biggie]

Hello,

I know there is a $40 monthly fee for posting in the Advertising and Relating Offers section but that should only apply to members wanting to sell a product or a service. It's unfair to those who need a job completed and they have to pay $40 in order to make a thread. This results to members looking for alternatives such as using other forums instead of DNForum, especially if the job is only $20 and you have to pay $40 for a thread, it doesn't make sense from a buyers point of view.

There is no fee to post a Help Wanted ad, so those who NEED a job done, don't have to pay to post that request.

Those that wish to Advertise their services, like you do and tried to do in content development section, have to pay the $40 dollar fee to promote your services, other than in your signature.

also, to correct your other non-point, if you create such a thread, even if only charging $20, you may get more than 1 request, so in effect you could make more than $20 for paying the fee....or you may not, depending on who needs this service and the quality of it or lack of.

[Banned: Raider]

If you want to advertise you should pay for that advertisement, I don't understand why the OP who is a Platinum member thinks it should be for Free

[SEOxperts]

There is no fee to post a Help Wanted ad, so those who NEED a job done, don't have to pay to post that request.

Those that wish to Advertise their services, like you do and tried to do in content development section, have to pay the $40 dollar fee to promote your services, other than in your signature.

also, to correct your other non-point, if you create such a thread, even if only charging $20, you may get more than 1 request, so in effect you could make more than $20 for paying the fee....or you may not, depending on who needs this service and the quality of it or lack of.

I'm not trying to be critical here by creating this thread. Also your last point doesn't relate to what I'm talking about. I'm talking about a wanted add, members have to pay for a thread just to get a service from another member. I just tried creating one and it said I'd have to pay $40. Yes, you can post in the help wanted section for free so why not make the wanted add section the same?

Adam didn't seem to have an issue with me posting my advertising services in that section, he enquired about my services instead.

[katherine]

If you want to advertise you should pay for that advertisement, I don't understand why the OP who is a Platinum member thinks it should be for Free

Well it used to be free for members, so it's one benefit that we lost.
I don't get the justification for that $40 fee.
But usage could be capped in order to curtail spam if that is the concern.

On top of that our posts are stuffed with referral links when using certain keywords so I find that advertising has become more intrusive on the forum, and not for our benefit.

[SEOxperts]

If you want to advertise you should pay for that advertisement, I don't understand why the OP who is a Platinum member thinks it should be for Free

If the section had as many people viewing it as it did prior to the price fee, I'd have no problem paying the $40/month but its not, its pretty much dead since the fee was introduced.

Anyway, I was referring to the wanted ads sub section, would you want to pay $40 to request a service?

[south]

Well it used to be free for members, so it's one benefit that we lost.
I don't get the justification for that $40 fee.
But usage could be capped in order to curtail spam if that is the concern.

On top of that our posts are stuffed with referral links when using certain keywords so I find that advertising has become more intrusive on the forum, and not for our benefit.

Among other things. Most people with half a brain know why it's dead around here. You can only push things so far.

[tetrapak]

Well it used to be free for members, so it's one benefit that we lost.
I don't get the justification for that $40 fee.
But usage could be capped in order to curtail spam if that is the concern.

On top of that our posts are stuffed with referral links when using certain keywords so I find that advertising has become more intrusive on the forum, and not for our benefit.

That's exactly why I'm limiting my time at DNF to the minimum. This is an insult to all the "exclusive" members.

[Banned: Raider]

If the section had as many people viewing it as it did prior to the price fee, I'd have no problem paying the $40/month but its not, its pretty much dead since the fee was introduced.

This I didn't know, I can see your point, it really makes little sense to pay for ads when the audience is low.

On top of that our posts are stuffed with referral links when using certain keywords so I find that advertising has become more intrusive on the forum, and not for our benefit.

Agree, and I don't like it either, I initially assumed this was being done from a needed financial standpoint, then when all the new fees were introduced, I began to 2nd guess it. I think whenever you flood a web site or forum with ads, you run the risk of losing visitors, and when you add new fees you run another risk of losing members.

[tetrapak]

DNF is over-monetized. A good example of how to respect your members while keeping enough income for the server costs is skyscrapercity.com. Once you start to piss off your members there is only a very hard way back, especially if the competition is aware.

[draggar]

I just tried and I didn't get the prompt (like I would if I tried to post in the advertising area).

Is it this section you posted in?

http://www.dnforum.com/f76/

Edit: I see, we have two wanted ads sections, one is a subsection of the advertising section:
http://www.dnforum.com/f155/

[SEOxperts]

I just tried and I didn't get the prompt (like I would if I tried to post in the advertising area).

Is it this section you posted in?

http://www.dnforum.com/f76/

Edit: I see, we have two wanted ads sections, one is a subsection of the advertising section:
http://www.dnforum.com/f155/

Yes, that one charges $40
Wanted Ads Looking for a certain product or service? Post here so advertisers can reply. 40.00 USD 1

The Wanted Ads section is more convenient. It's at the top of the forum and the advertising section gets more fees views than the help wanted section, although it isn't as popular. Before you would get 80+ people viewing the advertising section every hour of the day, now you'll be lucky to get 30. On top of that, the advertising section isn't used anymore. I don't think I've seen anyone new threads since the fee was introduced, meaning no money has been made anyway and its killed off a section which was once popular.

[WeBuyThe.Com]

I'm sure if someone brings this to Adam's attention he will address it. Maybe paid/lifetime members can receive 1 or 2 posts each year for free, grandfather it in - so to speak. He is reasonable after all.

[SEOxperts]

I'm sure if someone brings this to Adam's attention he will address it. Maybe paid/lifetime members can receive 1 or 2 posts each year for free, grandfather it in - so to speak. He is reasonable after all.

Good idea.

I'll send him an email. He didn't have an issue with me advertising my services in the content section but instead enquired about my services.

[Biggie]

Good idea.

I'll send him an email. He didn't have an issue with me advertising my services in the content section but instead enquired about my services.

Hi

he also may have overlooked or not noticed that you were posting your services in violation of forum rules.


so, it doesn't make it right, because he inquired.


for the record, i have no problem with you complaining about the fee, i'm just here to explain or clarify if needed.

still, i don't see why anyone would want to post in the section you are talking about either, when the "Help Wanted" section serves the same purpose.

you are NOT looking for products or services, you trying to sell your services, and that is a big difference.


additionally, for those who don't know, Adam instituted the fee because of spamming in that section, which is probably why it looked so active.

last point, you are platinum, and as such you can use your signature to advertise your services.

since i don't see anything there, then you probably could have been getting biz all the time and all this would be unnecessary.

imo...

[SEOxperts]

Hi

he also may have overlooked or not noticed that you were posting your services in violation of forum rules.


so, it doesn't make it right, because he inquired.


for the record, i have no problem with you complaining about the fee, i'm just here to explain or clarify if needed.

still, i don't see why anyone would want to post in the section you are talking about either, when the "Help Wanted" section servers the same purpose.

you are NOT looking for products or services, you trying to sell your services, and that is a big difference.


additionally, for those who don't know, Adam instituted the fee because of spamming in that section, which is probably why it looked so active.

last point, you are platinum, and as such you can use your signature to advertise your services.

since i don't see anything there, then you probably could have been getting biz all the time and all this would be unnecessary.

imo...

You bring up valid points. However, I'm not suggesting this for my own sake, I'm requesting it for those who might want to post a wanted ad thus making this point invalid "you are NOT looking for products or services, you trying to sell your services, and that is a big difference".

Yes, you can post in the "Help Wanted" section for free so then why not just make the "Wanted Ad" section the same then? This will prevent members from paying a $40 fee if they didn't know about the "Help Wanted" section.

In order to reduce the spam, you could have limited the amount of threads which could be created so you can only post 1 per week/month/year. If the fee was instituted because of spam, why not just limit the amount of threads which can be created then?

When you say active, do you mean the amount of threads/posts created or the amount of views the advertising section was getting? I was talking about the views, not the amount of activity.

[Biggie]

since "view/views/viewing" in this context are terms of action, they should be considered a part of activity, as well as thread creations and replies.

as one has to click to get to that section, before they can view any threads there.

[SEOxperts]

since "view/views/viewing" in this context are terms of action, they should be considered a part of activity, as well as thread creations and replies.

as one has to click to get to that section, before they can view any threads there.

Alright, noted. Please respond to my other questions.

[Biggie]

Alright, noted. Please respond to my other questions.

as to your other questions, i suppose merging or eliminating areas is possible as well as adding limits to number of threads one can create.

we "used" to have fixes for thread creations in all the sales forums, where a member couldn't start more than 1 thread per day in any section.

however, since that fix ain't fixed, members will and can create more than 1 thread, even though it's a posting violation ...so that's why mods close them and probably why Adam put in a fee for Ad section.


but moderators can only suggest one way or the other, just like you, as we don't do backend fixes or upgrades.