Premium Membership Explained

[glcaines]

Would this be acceptable to everyone to signify their account status in the profile?

I've changed my mind. I initially didn't like the idea of using anything to differentiate between members. The more I think about it, the more I like it because it will likely cause more members to upgrade to 'Premium'. The more members that upgrade = more funds to run and improve the site. I like your sample.

 

[patracy]

The four stars are back in place. I'm mainly putting it back to give everyone a quick visual indicator that they are in the paid group. I've gotten several PM's about "when will I know I'm upgraded?", hopefully this will be a quick and easy way to see that you are.

 

[hwcurtice]

I don't know if this has been asked, or answered, but I've gone thorugh my profile, and trying to see where I can change things, and I don't see where I can change where it says the rank?

Wasn't this one of the 'Changes' afforded to Premium members? If so, Where?

 

[greenjeepster]

I don't know if this has been asked, or answered, but I've gone thorugh my profile, and trying to see where I can change things, and I don't see where I can change where it says the rank?

Wasn't this one of the 'Changes' afforded to Premium members? If so, Where?

#1. Click user control panel
#2. Click edit details
#3. Click custom title

 

[hornetfan]

Chris,

I joined back in April and have only posted a couple of times. I recently finally got moved back to Texas and revisited SS to discover the changes you have made. I for one am delighted to see the changes and hope to be a bit more active. The Classifieds are good as are the TM fora (TMs!!)

This is a pretty big place for two fellas to handle and with the added offline activities you have planned you both will be hard pressed not to get burned pretty quickly. An idea I will throw out there is to have some additional admins/moderators that are part-time or maybe On Call to fill in for one or both of you when you need a break or at least a little more time for your other activities (e.g. family, church). When a part-timer admin/mod has the reins you or patracy might get notifications for supervisory purposes but otherwise they have the watch. I did something similar with a support forum on the old CompuServ (NetWire). The part-time folks were "sysops" not full admins. It helped spread the load a bit -- important since we were getting literally thousands of posts a day.

Best regards and good luck with the changes. No progress can be made without an attempt to move forward whether always successful or not.

for liberty,

Clarke

 

[ATC]

While I realize what it takes to run and manage a website like this (I helped another site grow since 1999...about the size of SS), I don't fully agree with paying for Classifieds.

Most people on here don't abuse the system. They don't buy vehicles for the sole purpose of coming on here and selling/parting the vehicle out to make a profit.

I am already a paying member of other sites, and cannot bring myself to pay for this site for as little as I use it. I found this thread because I wanted to post to the classifieds tonight. I have a M35A2 tire mounted on a wheel that I wanted to give away for FREE! Now, a SS member will miss out on a great deal, because I don't feel the need to pay $15 just to give something away.

I also wanted to post a wanted ad about some M35 bumbpers. Again, I only want to put money into some SS members pockets...and shouldn't have to pay for it.

Now, I am gonna have to take the wheel/tire to the scrap yard, and I'll have to scour CL/Ebay/GL for my bumpers.

If someone is posting more than 4-5 ads a month in the classifieds, then yes, I agree that a $20-$25 subscription would/could be required. But you are driving the little guys away (you know, the same kind that got SS on it's feet and to where it is today).

Again, I hope I'm not sounding like I'm bashing the site/people. I love SS for the knowledgeable and kind people full of information you can't get anywhere else. I'm always telling people about the site. I bought my first and only M35 from a member on this site and LOVED every minute of it! I sold it over a year ago, but I still come back to dream and increase what little knowledge I have of MV's and probably always will.

This decision, while ultimately beneficial to the management, is still one of the few ideas that I disagree with.

 

[greenjeepster]

Maybe we should have some transparency so that members understand the cost to operate the site.
Because of bandwidth many forums will not let members upload photos, they have to be hosted elsewhere. We can upload photos here... With the bandwidth this site consumes it would not surprise me if the owner is spending 2-300 a month on bandwidth... on top of software, and other hosting fees... It is a big investment being made for the benefit of the rest of us. There is no reason we should not give back...

It would actually be beneficial to those of us who buy government surplus to close the site to everybody except paid members... A lot of the price hikes we see is due to people being able to run a search and find all the insider information on this site.

 

[Hightechken]

I belong to a ham radio group called "Eham.net" that runs a classified section, And a few years ago started "Premium" membership (15 bucks a year)
Among other things the Premium membership grants is the ability to see all classified ads 24 hours before non premium members can. This seems to really work good! If someone sees something for sale that they would like, They can read the entire ad, BUT not the contact info for 24 hours, Giving Premium members first chance at sales (Or wanted) ads.

eHam.net Home - Amateur Radio (Ham Radio) Community Site

Maybe contact their webmaster to see how it is all done. (Anyone can still post clasiffied ads without the premium membership, But the contact info is withheld from non premium members.) Caused me to cough up the 15 bucks in a hurry! (Other services like DX spotting etc are also only available to premium members)

 

[patracy]

I belong to a ham radio group called "Eham.net" that runs a classified section, And a few years ago started "Premium" membership (15 bucks a year)
Among other things the Premium membership grants is the ability to see all classified ads 24 hours before non premium members can. This seems to really work good! If someone sees something for sale that they would like, They can read the entire ad, BUT not the contact info for 24 hours, Giving Premium members first chance at sales (Or wanted) ads.

eHam.net Home - Amateur Radio (Ham Radio) Community Site

Maybe contact their webmaster to see how it is all done. (Anyone can still post clasiffied ads without the premium membership, But the contact info is withheld from non premium members.) Caused me to cough up the 15 bucks in a hurry! (Other services like DX spotting etc are also only available to premium members)

While that certainly would squelch a lot of grumbles and force people into buying the membership, I don't think that was ever the intention of the paid membership.

 

[patracy]

Would it be acceptable for me to deactivate the old classifieds system since the new system is in effect? I'm still getting emails every other day about people not being able to post to the old system (Yelling at me for needing 100,000 posts ). If not, it's ok they will remain up until next month.

 

[drgreg]

Would it be acceptable for me to deactivate the old classifieds system since the new system is in effect? I'm still getting emails every other day about people not being able to post to the old system (Yelling at me for needing 100,000 posts ). If not, it's ok they will remain up until next month.

Dump it, let's move on.

 

[KsM715]

Kill it. Ive caught myself clicking on the random classifieds pics to see what something is only to realize its the old classifieds and the item is no longer for sale.

 

[porkysplace]

Kill it. Ive caught myself clicking on the random classifieds pics to see what something is only to realize its the old classifieds and the item is no longer for sale.

There are quite a few postings that are sold in the new classifieds too. It dosen't look like that problem is going to go away .

 

[73m819]

DON'T care, when it does go, can we KEEP the random idea,

As a side note, I see a bunch of SOLD post in the ads threads, so now we read the whole ad thread, then find it is sold, If it is SOLD, just DELEAT the ad, same as WANT adds, once the item is found, DELEAT the ad

I JUST TYPE SLOW

 

[wsucougarx]

I would rather see the old classifieds gone. It will decrease the confusion and get rid of 3 year old ongoing ads.

 

[drgreg]

DON'T care, when it does go, can we KEEP the random idea,

As a side note, I see a bunch of SOLD post in the ads threads, so now we read the whole ad thread, then find it is sold, If it is SOLD, just DELEAT the ad, same as WANT adds, once the item is found, DELEAT the ad

I JUST TYPE SLOW

Several times the idea of a "Classified Section Moderator" has been brought up, but the powers that be seem to prefer to be martyrs and do it all themselves. Mike had done a extensive query of classified issues, by a volunteer comittee of board members, and the concencus then was to have a seperate classifieds moderator.

 

[Warthog]

Would it be acceptable for me to deactivate the old classifieds system since the new system is in effect? I'm still getting emails every other day about people not being able to post to the old system (Yelling at me for needing 100,000 posts ). If not, it's ok they will remain up until next month.

Dump it. It's outdated anyway.

 

[73m819]

Several times the idea of a "Classified Section Moderator" has been brought up, but the powers that be seem to prefer to be martyrs and do it all themselves. Mike had done a extensive query of classified issues, by a volunteer comittee of board members, and the concencus then was to have a seperate classifieds moderator.

I VOLUNTEER, This will allow me to maintain my KINDER/GENTLER self on site while still allowing a outlet for the DARK side

 

[drgreg]

I VOLUNTEER, This will allow me to maintain my KINDER/GENTLER self on site while still allowing a outlet for the DARK side

A spelling test may be required.

 

[73m819]

A spelling test may be required.

Not to worry, I have MR. Spell Check covering my back