premium membership

[Tinwoodsman]

****, to me the ability to download photos directly to the site is worth much more than $15. Now we have someone addressing the issues that were problems and we still have folks moaning and groaning. Put you money on the table and enjoy the ride.

 

[doghead]

FIRST------ AGAIN how does NON CC and PP users pay the $15 ??????????????????
SECOND---$15 is CHEAP for a scammer or a ripoffer, with this we can have the $15 paid to sell, with NO SS perception
THIRD------Still think there should be some useful post count required so the SELLER can be looked at , I would much rather buy from a older member because I got the feel of what kind of MEMBER that person is (someone here for SS first, sell second).

I just hung up with Chris and we're considering all those issues Ron.

 

[doghead]

I don't post classifieds often but have learned from and enjoyed this site for years. I also pay particular attention to folk's post count when thinking about doing business with them. Pay $15.00 and now you're a Premium Member...this part concerns me.

You can and should still consider post count , site contribution and personal contacts, when dealing with people on the Internet.

Maybe the term "premium", will simply become, smaller and say "Paid member"

There is really no need for any title, if you see an ad, you know a member paid.


We're working on it.

 

[patracy]

FIRST------ AGAIN how does NON CC and PP users pay the $15 ??????????????????
SECOND---$15 is CHEAP for a scammer or a ripoffer, with this we can have the $15 paid to sell, with NO SS perception
THIRD------Still think there should be some useful post count required so the SELLER can be looked at , I would much rather buy from a older member because I got the feel of what kind of MEMBER that person is (someone here for SS first, sell second).

Ron, I had mentioned to PM Chris to see about mailing him your payment. I don't handle any money with the site.

We've had the 100 post count rule, that spawns off "why can't I post an ad?" every day it seems like. There's also the issue of people "spamming" the board just to increase their post count. That's happened a few times. In the course of a week, I could sign up for SS, reply to 100 posts, and fit in enough to pull off a scam.

Unfortunately when dealing with people online, even in the best circumstance, one should always assume caveat emptor.

 

[gringeltaube]

I'm OK with whatever the fee was to help keep this very best site running better, BUT.... is there a way to pay/contribute/donate, etc and NOT be called out loud Premium Member ????

Don't know about you all but for me this sounds kind of discriminating the way it's presented... !?
I'm not interested at all in seeing a BIG sign right there above their avatar who paid or didn't... and I myself don't want to be (or sound if I was...) any better than other members who would not pay, for whatever reason...

Over 20.000 posts (!), joined in 2004... that is a Premium Member to me! Not an unknown who just paypaled 15 bucks......









Edit: That was a quick change.... sounds better now! Thanks!


G.

 

[Stonepicker1]

Paid my $15.00
Sometimes change is good (sometimes not), have to wait and see.

 

[doghead]

I'm OK with whatever the fee was to help keep this very best site running better, BUT.... is there a way to pay/contribute/donate, etc and NOT be called out loud Premium Member ????

Don't know about you all but for me this sounds kind of discriminating the way it's presented... !?
I'm not interested at all in seeing a BIG sign right there above their avatar who paid or didn't... and I myself don't want to be (or sound if I was...) any better than other members who would not pay, for whatever reason...

Over 20.000 posts (!), joined in 2004... that is a Premium Member to me! Not an unknown who just paypaled 15 bucks......


G.

I'm working on that idea with Patracy. In just a bit, the title will be changed to "paid member' in the same text size and color as your "rank". This is to lessen the visual impact and hopefully not detract from your rank(post based).

I have also asked him to see if a user or admin "delete" option is possible, for those of us that are modest and don't care for any extra title/recognition.

We may even remove the additional title all together. It will be obvious, if you have ads, you are a paid member!

 

[Ord22]

please explain, what is the real purpose of being a premium member? i've been away for awhile. thanks

 

[natem]

But I felt so special as a "Premium Member". A delete option would be nice, and a simile playing a violin for the wieners.

 

[DUG]

It's pretty easy NOT to get ripped off by a scammer who has paid $15 for the purpose of posting an ad and ripping people off -

Only buy from those you know and trust. How you determine that is up to each individual. A higher post count doesn't mean someone won't go off the deep end and start scamming. Use your head and your gut and you'll be ok 99% of the time.

So far I like the new features and improvements for paid and not paid. TMs are back, popcorn is back, I got to ditch that BS Army rank for a real rank, life's good.

opcorn:

 

[rickf]

I know that to a lot of you guys 15.00 is nothing. I have had my pay cut three times in the last 6 years! I will pay if I have to but I would like to see better treatment for the new guys coming in. I have refereed hundreds of people here from the other forums I am on and a good two thirds of them have come back to me and said WTF! "All they do over there is dump on the new guy" Or "they just tell me to RTFM!, If I knew where to get the RTFM or what it is I would." I realize this is a military themed board but we are long out of basic here. Treat people with respect and give them the info they are asking for. Especially since this is now a pay site. 15.00 to me is enough fuel to get to work 1 1/2 times so it is a lot to me. I personally know a member who has been out of work for over a year and has had to sell everything he owns. Just something to think about.

 

[73m819]

Ron, I had mentioned to PM Chris to see about mailing him your payment. I don't handle any money with the site.

We've had the 100 post count rule, that spawns off "why can't I post an ad?" every day it seems like. There's also the issue of people "spamming" the board just to increase their post count. That's happened a few times. In the course of a week, I could sign up for SS, reply to 100 posts, and fit in enough to pull off a scam.

Unfortunately when dealing with people online, even in the best circumstance, one should always assume caveat emptor.

This is why you have a CLASSIFIEDS MOD, who's ONLY JOB is the classifieds, someone with CRAP POST HOE posts (ditto, cool, ect) just to get a count finds there count never seem to go anywhere, get banned, can't post adds, ect., The FOR SALE ADDS are FOR active members, sorta a PERK for SS members, not the other way around, IF someone is here JUST TO SELL, SS does NOT need them, (unless a PAYING vendor), thay can go and sell there stuff somewhere else.

AS far as "WHY CAN'T I POST A F/S ADD" , thay are on site reading the post, so thay CAN NOT say thay COULD NOT read the rules, I would give ANYONE a day or 2 off for a why can't I post, and tell them "WHILE OFF PLEASE READ THE RULES YOU AGREED TO", no matter how much FIX is done for the site, you CAN NOT FIX DUMB

 

[Dave08]

I have read the threads concerning this $15 paid membership. I do not understand and would like to know where and what the $15 is going for and who gets it. Previously, the site was free with rules that required participation....rules that I was reminded of on at least a weekly basis when I was really new to the site. I have even had DogHead delete my threads before as, I guess, the postings were to inflammatory to others. I guess what I am asking is what is the money going to be used for and how will it benefit my using the site? In other words, the acronym WIIFM (Whats In It For Me) applies here. Please someone let me know. I am also one of those guys that has been out of work for over a year....contemplating on North Dakota, and $15 does not sound like a lot of money but can be when you are counting every penny. Afterall, how much is the internet......free if you go to the public library. So again, someone please tell me what the $15 is being used for.
Thanks,
Dave08

 

[HanksDeuce]

There are currently 30,660 members to this site.
Consider only 20% of those members paid: 30,660 x 0.20 = 6,132 "premium" members.
6,132 x $15.00 = $91,980.

For all of the websites I build I charge my clients $100 per year for hosting, and $12 per year for the domain name.
If PaTracy is doing the forum work for free, where is the other potential $91,868 going?

If every single member paid $15, that would total $459,900. I'm in the wrong business!

 

[doghead]

Just a guess, but I would guess only about 10-20% of the active members will want or need to become paid members.

How many active(monthly) users do we have? divide that by 3 and that's more realistic, then give the Government 28% of that.

What to do with all that money? Who knows, yet. It hasn't happened!

Where did I get my numbers? From thin air...

 

[ca1517]

Guarantee that you won't get 20% paid membership. Most users online was 902. I think you may get 500 paid members.

 

[3dAngus]

Yes, then you take off expenses and depreciation of equipment and it will come out to much less than 28%.

I suspect most users forget about the fact that there is a great deal of capital that goes into hosting a site like this with monthly fees for throughput and internet connectivity. Those computers which need constant updating and the accompanying software for virus protection and firewall protection are not free either.

I've always wondered how one or two people could pay for it, but I guess donations are of huge assistance so as to not pull to much money out of pocket to keep it alive.

By the way... Boo Hoo Hoooooo... I'm no longer a premium member. Just a paid member now. And I thought I was special there for a while.

 

[KsM715]

Just a guess, but I would guess only about 10-20% of the active members will want or need to become paid members.

How many active(monthly) users do we have? divide that by 3 and that's more realistic, then give the Government 28% of that.

What to do with all that money? Who knows, yet. It hasn't happened!

Where did I get my numbers? From thin air...

DH is right.

We have over 30,000 members but if you go the the member list and start looking you'll notice that the majority of them have zero posts and haven't signed on in months/years. They sign up one time because its free (and still is if all you want to do is lurk/look at pictures) to satisfy their curiosity or look for a quik answer and they move on and never come back.

I've gotten way more than $15 worth of info and entertainment from this site. If you can not or do not want to pay you dont have to, its still the same site, you just can't place an ad. Doesn't seem like such a big deal to me.

(I'm no computer/internet guy, but I'm betting it aint cheap to keep a site like this running)

 

[hdexpert]

I have no problem with the $15 fee, I love the site, I post to classifieds and I've made a few friends along the way. Hard to put a price on all that.
With that being said I don't agree with charging members who constantly contribute their time and knowledge to this site. Their fee should be absorbed by SS.
I also don't agree that any @ssclown can plop down $15 and become a trusted member. This needs to be changed or regulated somehow.

 

[Fredo Corleone]

I don't feel special anymore
No gold key to the crapper!