ANNOUNCEMENT Subscription Packages

Jman423

Original poster
Administrator
Mar 24, 2014
1,874
United States
I need the community's help to finalize details on supporting memberships. As is stands now, we have Silver, Gold, & Platinum. I need to come up with a presentable list of offerings for each of those groups that is fair to both the financial needs of the site and to the person contributing. The site doesn't bring in much revenue these days and it is hard to justify hiding advertisements for all three tiers. However, I don't want to alienate members and potential contributors all together, so let's all chip in and identify the happy medium.

Thank you!
 

Capote

Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 14, 2014
24,227
Atlanta, GA
IMO I wouldn't worry about hiding ads on the forum. Like you said, the site doesn't bring much revenue. I don't mind seeing ads here because I know it helps keep the site operating.
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
When viewing a thread or a section, it's not that bad, just one ad on top and bottom. The main page is a bit heavy with lots of Amazon ads in the right bar and takes forever to load because of them.
 
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Jman423

Original poster
Administrator
Mar 24, 2014
1,874
United States
When viewing a thread or a section, it's not that bad, just one ad on top and bottom. The main page is a bit heavy with lots of Amazon ads in the right bar and takes forever to load because of them.
For the delayed page loads, I am working to resolve that. The goal is to let the ad take as long as it wants to load without affecting the rest of the page. Right now, Google Ads are delivered that way, but Amazon Ads aren't (yet).
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Instead of 6 and 9 month subs, what about 12 months? Prices: $40, $80 and $120 per year.
 
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tsmith1156

Member
Jul 9, 2013
803
Lebanon, Ohio
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Reprise

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Member
Jul 22, 2015
2,724
Was going to post this via IM, along w/ a couple of questions about financials. But since this is more or less a public discussion now, I'll post some thoughts here...

One of the non-automotive forums I support has a 'monthly' plan, with a $4.00 / mo. recurring charge. It costs more than a yearly, but still grants you the right to post items in the classifieds section - and there's a *lot* of sell / swap activity (e.g.; lots of eyeballs on the site), so those who have trouble coming up w/ the yearly in one shot can still post classifieds to the site, knowing they're paying a little more for the privilege of having a national (actually global) site dedicated to similar-minded users (and fee-free, unlike the Bay.)

I know there's not a lot of classified activity here, but you get the idea. Which brings to mind the question - what are supporting vendor fees? I know three at a minimum that post here fairly regularly (two have fairly large e-commerce sites of their own, as well as brick/mortar. Since they're using this site to generate revenue for their own (and I support one of them w/ my own business), they s/b paying a decent vendor fee, IMHO)

Another site restricts requests for (urgent) help to supporting members of a certain tier. It's an automotive site as well, but the platform in question is in its fifth (?) generation and still being built - so they have a constant influx of new users / new vehicles, to supplement the ones who finally retire their old ones.
 
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Mar 30, 2016
1,465
KSA
I'd really like the subscription package duration increased as per @Mooseman post. That seems pretty reasonable. And as a matter of fact I was going to find someone with a credit card to help me pay for membership to support the site and if there are plans to increase the membership duration I'll wait till that's done :tiphat:

On a side note I totally agree with @Capote with the advertisements. They are placed perfectly on Mobile as well as desktop to be visible but not disturb the browsing experience.

EDIT : Another thing is I remember @Jman423 mention the fact that with the new update more features will be added as we get the $$$ in. We could set up a campaign page for specific features where other than the membership, members can pitch in for added features as they see fit.
 
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FearlessAZ

Member
Jun 7, 2016
156
Phoenix, AZ
Another thing that could be offered is items with the forum logo and such. Different tiers can get stickers or a shirt or hoodie or something like that.

Or various functions on the website. The ability to change a title or name change or maybe something similar like that.

I think varying the length of membership is a solid idea.

There are plenty of good ideas that have already been mentioned.
 
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Reprise

Lifetime VIP Donor
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Member
Jul 22, 2015
2,724
I wouldn't 'give' the swag away, but rather sell it (except perhaps for 'new' members at the upper tiers.)

Established members could elect to refuse a promotional item in exchange for a slightly increased subscription period, perhaps (extra month for 'silvers', 3 mos for 'golds', etc.)

If a member sells something and donates the 'profits' to the site (after shipping cost) - some kind of reward. Like reserving the actual 'supporting member' tag for those folks, perhaps.

Split the tiers up by time period - 6mo and 1yr memberships. Make the 1yr slightly less costly to entice the longer period (I'd like a 1yr period, as well, btw).

Introduce an auto-renewal / recurring feature (potential pro-rata refund on unused months, if the user leaves the site?)

If a mod / admin could PM me (or e-mail me) with some financial info (e.g.; who's the site ISP, what do they charge; perhaps a link to a 'benefits' page on their site) - I could compare to what I've used in the past and see if we could leverage some savings. Guessing they're hosting the hardware footprint as well. Would the site owner be willing to relocate the site? (part of this would depend on whether any prepaid monies to the current one are refundable, etc.) No, I don't work for or run a hosting service. What about foreign hosting (e.g.; Canada)?
 
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Shaw520

Member
Sep 20, 2017
289
Northeast
On another site that im on, we have a for sale section,.. where all proceeds from the sale go to the site.
 
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Jul 22, 2015
2,724
I just noticed there's a new $250 lifetime sub; I had just renewed last week. If I can get credit for last week's renewal, I'll purchase the lifetime. And I'll purchase that first at full price. Ok to reply via PM.
 
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Capote

Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 14, 2014
24,227
Atlanta, GA
Would be nice to get a notification and/or email on membership subscription expiring....:mad:
I had no idea mine expired today until I tried to post something in the Craigslist Moron thread and I couldn't find it at all until I went to my profile and saw my Gold Support expired. Upgraded to Platinum by the way, to further support this community.
 
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Drec

Lifetime VIP Donor
Supporting Donor
Member
Jan 29, 2018
216
Yakima, Washington
If you are interested in a different host, let me know. I know someone that has a hosting company. I'm an admin on a metalshaping website that he hosts and he hosts my website (westcoastmetalshapers.com).
 
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Capote

Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 14, 2014
24,227
Atlanta, GA
Upgraded member status is still not reflecting Platinum Supporter and I don't have access to the private community lounge threads :eyebrowhuh:
 
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Capote

Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 14, 2014
24,227
Atlanta, GA
Hopefully this gets resolved quick.
 
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Reprise

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Jul 22, 2015
2,724
FYI - when I upgraded mine a few weeks ago, the forum pages (postings where your avatar and membership level is shown) did *not* immediately reflect the upgrade (it took a couple of days, as I recall.) However, in the 'popup' that appears when you access your account settings, etc. - it *did* show up there immediately afterward that I had 'leveled up' successfully :thumbsup:

Check that, when you get a chance. If it shows up correctly there, it should show up on your postings in a day or two.
 
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Capote

Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 14, 2014
24,227
Atlanta, GA
FYI - when I upgraded mine a few weeks ago, the forum pages (postings where your avatar and membership level is shown) did *not* immediately reflect the upgrade (it took a couple of days, as I recall.) However, in the 'popup' that appears when you access your account settings, etc. - it *did* show up there immediately afterward that I had 'leveled up' successfully :thumbsup:

Check that, when you get a chance. If it shows up correctly there, it should show up on your postings in a day or two.
Yeah I checked yesterday. Iit shows I am Platinum under the account upgrades
 
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Capote

Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 14, 2014
24,227
Atlanta, GA
Issue resolved :tiphat:
 
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Capote

Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 14, 2014
24,227
Atlanta, GA
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Jman423

Original poster
Administrator
Mar 24, 2014
1,874
United States
So, I found the problem with the upgrades... There has been a correction to a setting that was preventing the accounts from being upgraded properly. it's fixed now. If anyone else is still affected, please PM me directly.

Thank you
 
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Capote

Supporting Donor
Member
Jul 14, 2014
24,227
Atlanta, GA
Thanks for the swiftness :tiphat:
 
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