Platinum Level Memberships...

[IdahoSharpshooter]

I believe it is time to create a new level of support here.

I am as of now, proposing a "Platinum" level to recognize the effort needed to keep this forum running.

The Moderator has to put up with a lot, and I am guilty of the occasional off-topic post.

Rich

 

[bobinpa]

I'm with you 100%! I've brought it up before....we have even discussed a century club for those that donate $100.00 or more. It's time to bump it up a notch....

 

[hogpatrol]

Considering the low percentage of members that contribute, I agree.

 

[jepp2]

I believe it is time to create a new level of support here.

Agree but I would suggest a different approach.

I'm a big believer in the 80/20 relationship. Holds true in many aspects of business and personal life.

80% of your sales go to 20% of your customers

You get 80% of the benefit with 20% of the effort (meaning it takes a lot of effort to get that last 20% benefit)

And for the forum, I think you will find 80% of the contribution comes from 20% of the members.

[Forum Boss: See my comment below. Only 3.3% of members upgrade.]

The bigger bang for the buck would be to get more members contributing than 20%. So if we can increase the number of members contributing, it would have a more significant $$ impact. Since we already have a contributing membership program with 2 levels, how do we get a large increase in contributing member?

I would suggest a 3 level program, like the Olympics. Bronze, silver, and gold.

Bronze $10 per year with 6 Marketplace listings
Silver $25 per year with unlimited Marketplace listings
Gold $50 per year with unlimited Marketplace listings

No contribution, 1 Marketplace listing per year.

Who can't contribute at least $10 per year? Less than a buck a month. Less than the cost of a magazine subscription. Let the non-contributors read all they want, but if they want to sell, "encourage" them to at least buy a bronze membership.

 

[bobinpa]

There has been a lot of bandwidth wasted and a ton of suggestions made on this subject. Just do a search on Century club or anything else pertaining to membership. Bottom line is that cheap people will always be cheap. It's hard to convince someone to help when they can sit back and let others carry the weight. In my opinion it has to be setup based on permissions, but I've been told the software limits that. I have also suggested adding merchandise as an income stream.... It's all up to the Boss and how he wants to handle it, but I think it's long past time to up the price to be here.

 

[Forum Boss]

We are looking at a major upgrade to Version 2.x of the Forum software. This is a BIG deal because many of the important elements currently running won't, apparently, move over to 2.X easily. But, we have discussed putting a cap on Silver classifieds, so that level no longer offers unlimited ads -- maybe 50 instead. At least I have the programmer thinking about how that might be accomplished.

Haven't ruled out the Platinum level. I will discuss this Bronze idea with my team. Right now the software doesn't allow a different limit, so there is no way to set a "Bronze" level with 5 or 6 ads.

Regarding 80/20. It would be GREAT if 20% supported the site. In fact, currently only about 3.3% of registered members have upgraded to Silver or Gold. We would like to get that number to 10%.

There have been some suggestions on how to do this, including limiting access to certain popular areas, such as the reloading section.

 

[Big Mc]

We are looking at a major upgrade to Version 2.x of the Forum software. This is a BIG deal because many of the important elements currently running won't, apparently, move over to 2.X easily. But, we have discussed putting a cap on Silver classifieds, so that level no longer offers unlimited ads -- maybe 50 instead. At least I have the programmer thinking about how that might be accomplished.

Haven't ruled out the Platinum level. I will discuss this Bronze idea with my team. Right now the software doesn't allow a different limit, so there is no way to set a "Bronze" level with 5 or 6 ads.

Regarding 80/20. It would be GREAT if 20% supported the site. In fact, currently only about 3.3% of registered members have upgraded to Silver or Gold. We would like to get that number to 10%.

There have been some suggestions on how to do this, including limiting access to certain popular areas, such as the reloading section.

Paul you guys are doing great. Like stated above ,cheep people will always be cheep. Just my two cents. Tommy Mc

 

[Dusty Stevens]

We are looking at a major upgrade to Version 2.x of the Forum software. This is a BIG deal because many of the important elements currently running won't, apparently, move over to 2.X easily. But, we have discussed putting a cap on Silver classifieds, so that level no longer offers unlimited ads -- maybe 50 instead. At least I have the programmer thinking about how that might be accomplished.

Haven't ruled out the Platinum level. I will discuss this Bronze idea with my team. Right now the software doesn't allow a different limit, so there is no way to set a "Bronze" level with 5 or 6 ads.

Regarding 80/20. It would be GREAT if 20% supported the site. In fact, currently only about 3.3% of registered members have upgraded to Silver or Gold. We would like to get that number to 10%.

There have been some suggestions on how to do this, including limiting access to certain popular areas, such as the reloading section.

Silver ought to be able to buy 5 times and not sell at all

 

[jackson1]

Rarely sell any shooting related equipment or anything else for that matter. But as a source of ideas and information, this sit is extremely valuable to me. I am cheap, but will gladly up my contribution to maintain this resource. Since they stopped publishing Precision Shooting magazine, this is my go to site, for much of my information. I don't expect the operators of this site to work for free.

 

[Coonman300]

Just an observation....I looked up to see members from my state to see if any were nearby. A large percentage of them had not been on the site in years. Would it be beneficial to do a scrub and delete non active accounts? Didn’t know if it costs more to host that many members.

 

[rkittine]

I responded to this in another thread, but in any case, I belong to dozens of Forums. Those that I frequent and get information from I contribute to at some level. I belong to some where if you don't become a Member (paying) you do not get to post at all, but you can read posts to get you to want to be able to respond and then cough up some money.

I am a moderator on three and still contribute to all of them as I liked them well enough to take the time and trouble to be a moderator and hence see their value.

I also think that the increasing of current member contribution levels would be the best. Maybe no contribution, you can read but not post. $10.00 you can read and post and BUY on the site, Silver you can sell on the site, Gold you can sell unlimited, and participate in the specials that I think we have only had one so far.

I certainly feel I get my $50.00 worth on this site.

Bob

 

[wang243]

I agree that increasing of current member contribution levels would a great idea. With no contribution, you can read but not post. For $10.00 you can read and post and buy only from the site. Silver you have a limited sell on the site, Gold you can sell unlimited, and participate in the specials that I think we have only had one so far.

I certainly feel I get much more then my $50.00 worth on this site just in useful information about reloading.

wang

ps Noticed that the only individuals that a commenting on this thread are CONTRIBUTORS

 

[300_whisper]

I say get rid of the banners altogether and do it for altruistic purposes so not to engage in class warfare. That’s just my opinion.

I might contribute money, but there’s some “non-contributor” who provides tons of technical data and help. Who’s more of an asset to the forum? Me or him?

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Just an observation....I looked up to see members from my state to see if any were nearby. A large percentage of them had not been on the site in years. Would it be beneficial to do a scrub and delete non active accounts? Didn’t know if it costs more to host that many members.

The more members you have the more you can charge for advertising. Would you rather advertise on a site with 50,000 members or 3000?

 

[Coonman300]

Gotcha

 

[SEGARE]

“Sell to the classes, eat with the masses.
Sell to the masses, eat with the classes.”
– Henry Ford

I suggest a minimum to contribution to sell on the Classifieds. I'm a member of a forum that "request" you donate a percentage of your sales to support it. If they see you consistently listing items for sale and the aren't getting a donation from you, they cut off your ability to list on the classifieds.

 

[SEGARE]

Silver ought to be able to buy 5 times and not sell at all

Not sure how you're going to make that work? You would have to donate to see what's listed after your fifth purchase? How are you going to determine who's buying from whom?

 

[Trophied]

I originally joined as a silver member, then upgraded to gold, not for any specific transactional benefit but more because I thought that I could always find a knowledgeable answer to any question I might have. I have no problem paying for advice/information when it comes from a high quality source such as this. Rant over.

 

[sdean]

Silver ought to be able to buy 5 times and not sell at all[/Q

Silver ought to be able to buy 5 times and not sell at all

Great idea. Penalize some of the few people that contribute.
If people join for classified privileges then maybe a small transaction fee maybe $5 bucks a hundred.

 

[carlsbad]

This is the most user friendly site I belong to. Please make sure the upgrade doesn't eliminate that. If you want to know how not to do it I can refer you to the cybersecurity department at my day job.

My only complaint is the time delay between posts. When I log in and I've got several PMs I can answer them faster than the software currently allows.

--Jerry