To keep the Forums alive - change coming to Classifieds - Poll added, please vote!

[EEH]

[usmc1974]

1 hour ago, Racinready300ex said:

 

I think they are saying they wont pay $15 a month for the classifieds, but if $20/year for the forum would be okay. 

 

No one knows the numbers, but most likely everyone paying 15-20 is going to be more money then just the few who sell things paying monthly.

Correct!

[EEH]

Brian, isn’t looking to hire a staff to process payments or monthly fee, I joined here in 2008, back then you new a lot people whose advice you could take to the bank. I’d hate to see it go, but all good things come to an end. I’ve enjoyed this place a lot.

[Sarge]

18 minutes ago, Paul-the new guy said:

I feel this will turn into a private chat room with no new input with any kind of subscription charge.

 

I have been here for a bit, since Brian stepped back a little and other moderators took a more active role the forums have changed significantly for the worse.  The mods are ROUGH and in my opinion abuse their power.  The classifieds were a huge draw for the forums and are no where near what they were in the past.  The amount of really good content  has declined as really experienced shooters have stopped coming here after being bullied for trying to sell something they picked up off a prize table.   FYI a lot of good shooters are not great communicators so what they think is meaningful content may not make the cut... 

[titandriver]

50 minutes ago, Paul-the new guy said:

I feel this will turn into a private chat room with no new input with any kind of subscription charge.

 

I have been here for a bit, since Brian stepped back a little and other moderators took a more active role the forums have changed significantly for the worse.  The mods are ROUGH and in my opinion abuse their power.  The classifieds were a huge draw for the forums and are no where near what they were in the past.  The amount of really good content  has declined as really experienced shooters have stopped coming here after being bullied for trying to sell something they picked up off a prize table.   FYI a lot of good shooters are not great communicators so what they think is meaningful content may not make the cut... 

     ^^^^^^^^^^^^

This right here! Joined in 2001 when there was no where near the amount of information available then as there is today. Guessin' this forum has pretty much outlived it's usefulness.

[benos]

Any more posts about moderating quality will be deleted. Keep it on track please.

[NoSteel]

I agree that a small annual member fee may help keep the forums active with only a small loss in "active" users.  As far as bringing in new members, maybe an initial 6mo free option before joining may help with that.  There are many options to your OP but it really comes down to if you really want to do it anymore Brian..  Recent events prove 1 thing,  live life your way!!!

[BritinUSA]

The forum has never been free; There has always been a significant cost to provide this service, and for the past 20 years Brian has paid that cost. To the end user it has been free, and like many formerly free services there will be a significant loss of users when a subscription, or pay-to-play mechanism is applied. 
 

Regarding the classifieds; There are other places to buy and sell goods and if the cost proposal that is implemented is too much for the seller to accept, then they will post their products elsewhere which will further reduce traffic on the site.

 

As to the impression that some have regarding the quality of the content; That is to be expected, over the years the sport has changed, new techniques and equipment have been developed and the learning curve is starting to plateau. While there may be a few small things to learn as the sport heads towards its 50th year, I suspect that there is nothing new of consequence around the corner.

 

This is a treasure trove of information, and a window into the history of the sport, if it folds then I hope that there is some way to archive all this knowledge.

[Sarge]

Sounds like the desire is there to shut it down and enjoy life. I say go for it 

[TrackCage]

I'd like to understand the resistance to banner and sidebar ads. We're used to it on many, if not most, of our internet activity. If it kept this alive, what's the issue?

 

I'd be sad to see some of the extremely useful and niche content here go away, but if I'm being honest, it's not worth paying for. I have been and would only be a 'free' member, at whatever level that looked like. 

[LMS]

I read a surprising amount of posts here saying "not much useful anymore and it's run it's course".  Those statements confuse and depress me.    They might be true for guys that have been around here for many years and who are accomplished at the sport.

 

But there's lots of us that are beginners and novices that learn something here every time we hit the site.   There is nothing out there even close to what we have here.  No facebook page is or ever will be.

 

I'd echo someone else's suggestion (I forget who): free for noobs for a short time (couple weeks or months), and then membership levels that start at about $20 for year for basic access, and go up form there for ability to sell in the classifieds (but still a flat rate that is not above $50/yr).

 

Yea, you might lose some people, but if they leave over $20 or so, they are probably not engaged in the site anyway.

[gator11]

2 hours ago, a matt said:

Walk away and enjoy your life. We appreciate the forum and all you have contributed to shooting,  Thank you. Or charge what you need or want for a yearly subscription. I’m sure most of us will pay $20 to $25 a year for the content and classifieds if not then they didn’t need to be here to start with. 

You need to do what’s right for you.  You don’t owe any of us anything you have already done plenty. 

 

I agree with this 100%. Thank you for all the great information posted through the years. I would gladly pay a once a year fee for access to all this information. 

[Big Guy]

A buddy of mine just asked, "why not team up with USPSA or have USPSA take over the BE forum?".

 

We all know how successful the USPSA forum is.

Edited March 20, 2020 by Big Guy

[louu]

3 hours ago, benos said:

A few comments... Setting the Classifieds to pay per ad is not an option. Nor is a pay for the percentage of the sale.

We (or I) did not consider a yearly fee just to be a member of the Forums.

I'm not interested in banner ads.

I could easily walk away from it, having been out of it for 20 years.

I would  be interested in selling them, but doubt if that would work out.

Care to tell us why you don't want ads? That's how every other forum on the internet works. 

 

Edititd to add, would just like an answer as to why the only "social media" type of thing I use is going to end. I don't have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any of that weird s#!t. Just this, Harley forum, the doodie project and national match forum. 

 

Edited March 19, 2020 by louu

[ima45dv8]

24 minutes ago, louu said:

Edititd to add, would just like an answer as to why the only "social media" type of thing I use is going to end.

Cost.

[louu]

8 minutes ago, ima45dv8 said:

Cost.

? Banner ads type forums make money. I'm asking as to why he doesn't want to go that route 

[ima45dv8]

1 minute ago, louu said:

? Banner ads type forums make money. I'm asking as to why he doesn't want to go that route 

Tell me which ones do. I'll be glad to research it. We don't have a lot of experience with that here.

[louu]

I'll pm you

[Ming the Merciless]

2 hours ago, ima45dv8 said:

Tell me which ones do. I'll be glad to research it. We don't have a lot of experience with that here.

 

Rimfire Central

[Southpaw]

I'd hate to see the forum go.  Why not look at how other gun forums are making money and implement similar revenue streams?  There's lots of other gun forums out there; most have got to be making a profit or they wouldn't still exist.

[looking4reloadingdeals]

Would the cost be decreased enough if the classified were removed? I would gladly give up the option to buy or sell items and still be able to use the rest of the forum to continue discussions and asking/answering questions as there are so many other options for buying/selling as others mentioned. I have only been around the forum for a little while, but I log in every day to discuss topics with others that enjoy our sport. I think it would be a big loss to the community to lose that option.

As a side note, I use the Tapatalk app almost exclusively on my phone and that has banner adds ever 10 posts or something and that doesn’t bother me at all. I would gladly put up with more adds to continue using the site. Or as others mentioned would pay a yearly fee, but agree it would drive users away in the long run.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[troupe]

I am up for a membership fee.  I have gained some great info on this site over the years. I have sold some things over the years as well. I don't have Paypal so that is out for me.  Lets get the membership going, this site needs to keep in operation.

[Squishy]

I would pay a yearly subscription fee of 10 to 15 dollars a year. 15 a month no way.

[usmc1974]

13 hours ago, LMS said:

I read a surprising amount of posts here saying "not much useful anymore and it's run it's course".  Those statements confuse and depress me.    They might be true for guys that have been around here for many years and who are accomplished at the sport.

 

But there's lots of us that are beginners and novices that learn something here every time we hit the site.   There is nothing out there even close to what we have here.  No facebook page is or ever will be.

 

I'd echo someone else's suggestion (I forget who): free for noobs for a short time (couple weeks or months), and then membership levels that start at about $20 for year for basic access, and go up form there for ability to sell in the classifieds (but still a flat rate that is not above $50/yr).

 

Yea, you might lose some people, but if they leave over $20 or so, they are probably not engaged in the site anyway.

Well said, LMS, seems to me that a lot of people just want to quit and walk away. So in Essence, they are saying, screw you, Brian Enos! That ain't right.

[GrumpyOne]

There has been a poll added to this thread. Please vote.