What would you do if the forum had a subscription fee (to post classifieds, etc)?

do we get a sticker? ..I like stickers :D

Chip pan chat!?!

I liked that... You can count the number of posts in there.

This one is number 174.

Aaargh its 178

80's football? famous scousers? !!!! :-)

Lies

This board has become infested with whoppers over the last few weeks/months and the majority of the threads lately are embarrassing

Cloud thread anyone? Knife appreciation thread?!?! Fucking Chip pan chat!?!

+1

the other day someone started a thread with," it's raining what shall i wear" or something like that.

stupid

tried reading he whole thing but damned work keeps distracting me.

I think the idea of a fee is a reasonably good one, keep out trolls, stop VB paying for the forum as well as donating his time, make he people who profiteer from the forum.

However, I think the pricing model needs to be adressed.

Once a year is most logical as if it was on a month to month basis then people might join for a month and never come back.
I think it should be a case of you can read for free, a username and ability to post/ start threads cost £3 per annul and if you want to flog shit then you need to pay more, with a 1 classified per month rule for nor al members so they can flog their stuff.

Easy to police as people will get pissed of with people constantly updating their for sale threads if they're taking the piss and will report it.

To tell what kind of member you are there could be some kind of info below you're avatar.

This way it keeps out spammers, gets regular users to donate a bit and makes those who are out to make a fast buck give something back.

having a go with a paypal* contribution button.

In that way we could all gain a sense of warm fuzziness at either the relative generosity of the members of the community, whilst maintaining a certain degree of inclusivity.

• Or other some such altruism facilitating doohickey.
  
  

Go to the top right hand corner of your screen and look at the green button..

Yes, but what about the rest of his post?

I think it's a good idea.

Are you stalking me DaveH? Won't your masters at HMRC be upset? :)

The concept that the Internet is free is something that drives me nuts. It doesn't run on fairy dust or elvish magic. It costs money to run web sites and ad revenue is not always enough. I have no issues with the rest of illy's post.

I've given my two pence - I can and will pay and have proven that by donating when the call has gone out for fundage.

I won't argue over the mechanism that is chosen; over time Velocio has shown himself to be very thoughtful and well considered with "Big Forum Decisions" (tm).

Am i the only person who likes that some people join the forum just to sell stuff some times?

Oh, and those of you who want to use this as a mechanism to weed out people who start threads you don't like need to have a serious reality check.

Go to a mirror, slap yourself and then think about it again.

There are lots of people here with interests and ideas that are different from yours. Welcome to the planet. That is what keeps things interesting.

£3 is a snip - I would happily cough up. However I have an (irrational?) reflex against paying up to use forums until I know how good they are. I would not have joined LFGSS if it had been money up front, however piffling. And of course I would have missed all the banter, camaraderie, tech info, god-bashing, adverts and general good time that this forum is. Silly me perhaps. But VB's point about phased entry is a good one.

we should not be having this discussion if people from time to time buy the forum a beer

be have +8000 menbers, with only 1000 will buy the beer, we will not have any of this problems

nearly everyone should do it, tho

I think VB ought not to be covering the costs himnself, i think we all agree on that. If there are profits from a scheme like this, maybe they could be used for charitable ends? I for one would like to see money supporting people who have been maimed on our roads cycling, or the families/dependents of those killed being supported in some small way.

My suggestion, to ask for a sub rather than donations was in the thread discussing possible rules for selling stuff, was aimed at trying to make sure dealers and people who sell a LOT of stuff do contribute to the running of the servers. I hope that sellers can accept that with grace. A one-off per annum payment isn't exactly going to break the bank compared to eBay fees, which are per sale. But Illy's point that maybe selling stuff ought to be charged per item or percent of sale value is also valid, even if its hard to conceive of how it will work. However it's worth noting that only eBay auctions that DO sell are charged, whereas we're discussing the possibility of charging to start threads, for stuff which may not sell. It could be too much of a difficult area to get into. Perhaps a flat fee for all thread-starting is the way forward for reasons of simplicity.

I think a 'gold member' status for other 'priveleges' would be worth doing, as someone suggested, the idea of cometitions might be cool. It would make this place a sort of club, which migh not be a bad thing, and might give us the impetus to work harder at attrcting new and valid members ourselves, rather than just waiting for them to materialise out of the googlesphere. I think those who've mentioned being put off joining if there was a fee are being a bit whiney to be frank. I reckon if you value this forum you can support it. I think if you want to ask stuff on threads you should be able to. But making out that its some inalienable right to do this for free is bunk. This is not Another Forum. Its special. Seriously special. If newcomers are able to see that, by contributing, maybe joing events or rides or track meets or polo or whatever, they'll soon start to want to give the money, whether they have things to sell or not. Its a fantastic place.

By the way, as I came up with it I think I don't have to pay. (big fuck off wink 'emo-ti-con')

Oh, and those of you who want to use this as a mechanism to weed out people who start threads you don't like need to have a serious reality check.

Go to a mirror, slap yourself and then think about it again.

There are lots of people here with interests and ideas that are different from yours. Welcome to the planet. That is what keeps things interesting.

+1, any member who is a total R. Swipe will soon get banned and the interim before that happens allows for some fun poking.

Would be happy to stump up the meagre amount, and would also be gutted if the forum got credit crunched cos we were all too stingy to pay a pittance for it. Like the idea of phased entry. If I had to pay up front I doubt I would have joined, or at least thought very hard about it.

@ pistinator

***I'd quite happily pay £10+ a year. This board has become infested with whoppers over the last few weeks/months and the majority of the threads lately are embarrassing

Cloud thread anyone? Knife appreciation thread?!?! Fucking Chip pan chat!?!***

you posted up a very nice cloud in the cloud thread though ! ! didn't you !!

As I said in the original post about this I'd be very happy to pay £3 a year.

I'd be wary of making it much more though - the good thing about £3 a year is that it's almost nothing - so psychologically I don't think it would put anyone off. Plus the 'beer a year' is a great strap line ;)

I'd be happy to pay more, but I don't know if everyone would, and I reckon better to get £3 off as many people as possible then review it later. Pile 'em high sell 'em cheap!

maybe make it £10 quid to start a thread !!

Plus the 'beer a year' is a great strap line ;)

VBs for VB!

I'm well up for paying a fee, but I think it may prove problematic every now and again.
You just know that you're going to get one of those 'I'm paying money for this so what am I getting' cunts every so often - you know the type.
No matter how paltry a sum of money they are parting with they demand satisfaction and woe betide anyone who doesn't give them that. God knows I've worked for enough of them.

nude calenders

How about forum events that are charged. £1 or £2 to the ride organiser on the day. Money go's to VB for runing/ paying for the site. I would be up for that.

Aaargh its 178

Balki should pay 5p more because he can't do "sums"

@ pistinator

I'd quite happily pay £10+ a year. This board has become infested with whoppers over the last few weeks/months and the majority of the threads lately are embarrassing

Cloud thread anyone? Knife appreciation thread?!?! Fucking Chip pan chat!?!

you posted up a very nice cloud in the cloud thread though ! ! didn't you !!

Yes and I'm about to post my Mums 32yo chip pan u in a minute too

Aussies should pay £20 a year as they ultimately lower the standard of this forum ;-)

What ever the fee , some thought shouild be put into how and when it would be introduced

Marketing people can perhaps offer advice on this

If you do charge a fee or create a club , then you may want legal advice as to what relationship the forum, ie does it become a legal person, has with its members.

Legal people can join in now.

Thankfully, members don't enter into tiresome speculation about people or events that might attract our learned friends. However , this mmight change