Premium Member - features and functions

I'd suggest posting "For Sale" for premium members only. You're not Craigslist.

 

I'm not a fan of private forums for paying members. The other sites that I've been on with that feature eventually end up with the private forums being full of toxic behavior. I'd rather everything be open for comment. I can see where a moderators forum would be useful, but a membership driven area seems too exclusionary to me.

 

I am with you, I am on a couple forums that are completely free without any "premium benefits for forum supporting members" they are by far, the best forums imho. they are also some of the busiest forums I know of. the ones that I am on that have "premium offerings" are not ones that I find beneficial, and as such I don't frequent them much.

I am also saddened to see this forum go that way as well.

when you start limiting ability and access, potential helpful members just go away. when I come across a forum that requires paying membership to see content, I just move along to somewhere I can access content without having to pay for it, and I am sure I am not alone in the world.

FU

 

Yep.

Yep. Unless I'm beyond desperate for the info. Which happens. A lot. With me.

 

I am rarely "desperate" for info, (google is my friend and this forum is not the only source of info in this world) and having been a member of this forum for several years now, (google is how I found this forum) it saddens me to see the progression to "premium" membership. it is degrading to the objective of the forum and not a good idea in my opinion. like I have said before, there are a lot of successful forums that don't require "pay to play".

if the forum owner can't support the forum with advertising, then the forum is doomed to be a small contingent of people who are willing and have the funds to pay the price. sadly I am not one of them.

FU

 

so, I was just perusing new posts and came across an old post that has my old sig. now a couple weeks ago, I could have edited the post to make it more in line with the current situation. which would make it more readable and less confusing to any new members. but because of current changes, I am no longer available to do that.

just another way this forum is going down the tubes. just sayin'.

FU

 

Sorry for side tracks, Sheriff... One post per month seems low if that includes replying to others' ad listings, ect. Sometimes they may need to ask for more info and there is a certain amount of go between with sellers and buyers However, if this limit is on the number of threads a non-premium member can start, that seems fair. A user could list multiple items in one sale listing with an instruction to Private Message if interested. I mean, how many yard sales can a person have in a month, right?

 

I don't think asking people to pitch in is

When you give somebody a ride to work, and they give you money for gas, has that ruined your car? However, if people like FU decide to leave, or potential new members decide not to join due to costs, then the forum will start to decline. I am going to step up and become premium because I have gotten more than a nickel worth of free advice here. I don't want a free ride, and the Sheriff has to earn his keep too!

 

I will be the first to say I have benefited from this forum, but I also am not in a position to pay for access and I do what I can to give back to this forum. but if my access is going to be limited because I am not a paying member, I will do less to give back. bike parts are expensive and I, like a lot of others here are on a budget.

this forum could sustain itself, there are a lot of other forums out there that are evidence of this fact.

FU

 

But your signature isn't really a "signature" in the forums. It's just the same text you type at the end of all of your posts. You can set an automatic signature in your profile settings, and it'll update everywhere you've posted. Just like changing your avatar.

 

no, I mean the way I sign my posts. before, it was CN, now it's FU. and my sig line is taken up with my 2 bikes, when before it could have been a lot more. like I said before, this forum is quickly going down the tubes.

FU

 

I strongy disagree.

If the bills aren't paid this site goes away altogether.
That is the harsh reality.

 

You didn't really mean that did you?
One of the joys of this community is helping others.
Premium Member or not.

Snosheriff has every right to do as he sees fit for this sight.
We either assimilate or leave. I like it here and get great information with the bonus of being able to share my knowledge and help others. . . .

I am flat f%#^* broke (been looking for work since December) no Premium Member status for this guy.
But I won't stop being who I am.
In the past I have made a small donation to this sight because just like Matti, I've gotten more than a nickels worth of info here.

 

public television does this all the time, buy something and become a member. travel mug, t-shirt, ball cap, mouse pad, anything. the idea of paying for a web site is one thing but if you get something too, that's different.
or
i think everyone has something they've been keeping that they know they will never use. every so often open a for sale forum, proceeds go to XJBikes, seller keeps shipping charges. it wouldn't have to be for a xj or even a bike for that matter. kind of like a xjbikes yard sale

 

I read a lot of talk about 'Premium Membership', but between the "Premium', 'Showcase', and 'Ads' threads I see nothing about price for this "Premium Membership'
Things are also a little convoluted with info spread across 3 threads, I know it wasn't intended that way but that is how they have progressed. I love this site, and the info I have received here has been instrumental in rehabbing VooDoo. I do get a little concerned when talk of memberships begin limiting participants interaction or access to site areas. Yes I know others have done it, but every forum I have been on that went to a heavy handed pay-to-play has evolved one of two ways; Very static with little new content, or the deep pocketed 'members' with arrogant attitudes, begin posting (often with little tact) like their payment entitles them to spew their opinions like law..... I doubt we have many, if any, members here that would fall in that second category, but those are the changes I have seen, and I would hate to see either one here.
I appreciate all Sno has done here, I have administered websites in the past, and those became a black hole of time, so I can only imagine how a forum would suck time! I would suggest that premium memberships ADD value to site membership, rather than non-paying members lose current value. I will be the first to admit I have been sorely lax in my financial support here, something I intend on rectifying on short order. I will say, I have been most active on this forum of all the ones I frequent mostly because of the great members here, and I strongly believe the great members are a direct result of the free community access.
JMHO

soo... is there a price for the 'Premium membership' that I missed??

 

50 divided by 365 equals 0.1369863 divided by 2 (cuz I'm here TWICE a day now!)=0.06849315. So that's like 7 cents a visit. Not too bad IMHO... I pay waay more for my tv than that, and I've never seen an XJ there!