Paying to contribute

[GiantDomains]

Strongvis, no one is forcing anyone to pay anything.

If you don't want to contribute to the forum by signing up for one of the membership plans, that is up to you. No hard feelings.

 

[NamePopper.com]

Originally posted by GiantDomains
Strongvis, no one is forcing anyone to pay anything.

If you don't want to contribute to the forum by signing up for one of the membership plans, that is up to you. No hard feelings.

Exactly.

I will also add that these few guys who claim it's the 'principle' are hypocrites. Where are their 'principles' when thousands of names are sold here - without us charging any commission or transaction fees. It's not just a forum.

So if they are such wonderful people - with such wonderful principles - wouldn't they be the very first to say that the forum deserves a little financial support?

After all - it's the 'principle' of the thing!

 

[strongvis]

You're right giant. Guess my comments were a bit too high brow for a proper discussion.

 

[Togoodhlth]

One huge plus about the fee is the loss of some if not all of the truly antagonistic posts by non domaineers.
Domains are a side business and I come here to learn more, contribute what I know, buy services from others in the forum and just plain enjoy myself.
A lot of money changes hands due directly to this forum. I myself have spent several hundred dollars with other members for services other than domain names solely because this message board exists. Gregr obviously doesn't get a penny.

Here is a loose, bricks and mortar analogy: A flea market charges it's vendors to display their goods. People come to buy and pay an admission fee. The flea market owner covers the cost of his advertising, rental of the hall, etc. and makes a profit. He also profits from refreshment sales.
Without the vendors the flea market doesn't exist.

Essentially this board operates the same way. We are the vendors and Gregr owns the flea market.

Of course some don't vend but if they want to come to the flea market to hang out they still have to pay the admission fee.

The kicker is this. If a flea market charges too much for admission then people won't come. They may show up at the door but once they see the price they may decide to go out for lunch instead or check out another flea market.
Of course the fees are adjusted to a level that is more acceptable however some of the people who have already been to the flea market will not return to find this out.

Ok, I better stop now...could go on for days...

John

 

[DomainGoon]

Deciding to charge right now is one of the worst business decisions I've seen from an independent website in quite a while.

It's very short sighted when the webmaster should have been looking at the long term.

Everyone has a right to make mistakes, though.

 

[NamePopper.com]

DomainGoon - what exactly are you talking about. Be specific man - don't just paint everything with a wide brush. It's real easy to sit back and comment on things in such a non-specific fashion.

Question: Do you understand that THOUSANDS of names are (and will continue to be) sold here with ZERO commission or transaction fees? No other 'forum' can say that (in such high numbers) & no other 'service' offers that for free. Why should we?

Question: Do you understand that we now have a LIVE auction system that is one of the most unique - and cool things to ever hit the domain industry? Nobody else has it.

So exactly what part of asking for a few pennies -or- dollars per month to help support the place is so bad? There will still be NO transaction fees. There will still be NO commission fees. Please share with us why this is ....... "the worst business decisions I've seen from an independent website".

The fact is that people have been getting a FREE ride all this time - and now Greg has just decided to seek much deserved support for the services that we offer. Why is that wrong?

Please tell us - and be specific - what part of this you find wrong - or don't understand. This same post and these same questions go to anybody else who feels the same. Of course - after reading this post none of you probably have anything to say - because if you have any common sense at all - or have bought & sold domains before - a giant light bulb just went off in your head.

Do you really expect a free ride forever?

 

[maxheadroom]

I have to tell you, I run a couple of sites that get a lot of traffic (high bandwidth) and require some scripting and have other costs, and I make way more than enough to pay the costs of the sites w/o having to charge anyone anything to use the site.. I don't know how much greg thinks he should be making on this site, but if this is a profit motivation thing, then he should just come out and say so.

 

[GiantDomains]

Like Greg said, it's much simpler than you guys are making it.

There are free sites, and there are pay sites. This happens to be a pay site. If you don't like the idea of paying, go to a free site.

That is not meant to be rude at all, it is totally up to you! Remember...you get what you pay for.

 

[NamePopper.com]

Originally posted by GiantDomains
Remember...you get what you pay for.

Take that sentence spoken by my mod brother - add it to the facts from my post above - and the many perks that you get here - and then make up your own mind. Either you pay or you don't. It really is that simple.

We are not mad at you and we hope you will stay - but enough already.

 

[cyphix]

I will also add that these few guys who claim it's the 'principle' are hypocrites. Where are their 'principles' when thousands of names are sold here - without us charging any commission or transaction fees. It's not just a forum.

Ummm....I as well as many others have pointed out that you then should be charging percentage fees on the auctions & any other places that domains are sold. Simple.

 

[strongvis]

Exactly,Hey popper and giant why dont you take the time to read previous posts and make a comment based on those?

I don't think ANYONE here is opposed to charging the leeches who sell their names REGULARLY. This is fine by me. Charge for auction, charge for domains for sale posts, but leave the community open is what I've said over and over. I guess you do get what you pay for... in this case it's an owner and moderators who don't pay attention or listen to SIMPLE requests/posts.

 

[mole]

The mods are just doing their best to plug the holes that are appearing, strong. They are tired, maybe even frustrated, and fighting all that bad karma is, like it or not, emotionally draining.

It's always easy to kick the dog when its down. :dead:

 

[strongvis]

Hey mole... maybe you can't see what I've said either. I'm pointing out a flaw in the logic of charging for the entire board. I'm not kicking any dog while it's down. This dog put itself down on it's own. I'm just trying to point out why it was a bad move.
I didn't create the bad karma. The decision was not mine and I'm simply stating what I see as the obvious, the descision was poor. I knew who would come here defending the actions but what I didnt know was that the points I made would be ignored and not listened to by mods and even the owner. It's clear to me by not discussing my comments, that the decision is NOT about people getting away with things for free, ie the auctions and domain sales area.

 

[fizz]

Originally posted by strongvis
I don't think ANYONE here is opposed to charging the leeches who sell their names REGULARLY. This is fine by me. Charge for auction, charge for domains for sale posts, but leave the community open is what I've said over and over

I agree with Adam. Information on this board - as we are the collective creators of it - should be free, and fees should be charged for auction/sales posts.

 

[strongvis]

adam = strongvis

 

[Fearless]

adam=mole :laugh:

 

[Ciqala]

but also you have to take into account the amount of effort in collecting/charging fees on single threads/auctions not to mention the charges of doing so by accepting payment avenues such as cc processing or paypal.

 

[strongvis]

well it's just too bad that the effort to do this wouldn't pay off . LOL.... It's probably much easier just to charge everyone,. It was also much easier to not have an auction system, but gregr built that . . . I dont see this descision as one that was made based on " the time and money it would take to change things" or the "charges associated with accepting payment" . . .he's already invested time and he already has a payment method.

 

[Mr Webname]

Silver Membership scrapped - Official!

 

[strongvis]

step in the right direction. . . whoever decided upon it . nice goin
Now can I ask why it costs to post ??