Has anyone noticed?

UffDa, I'm pretty sure eBay charges whether you sell or not. They charged me for something I tried to sell with no takers.

I've noticed the dropoff too. I'd say we're seeing less than 25% of the posts that we used to see. That's a shame, but the For Sale section is only one area here. I'd gladly trade 75% of those posts for a 50% increase in the Knife Reviews section. Now that would be a helpful change.

I've checked out KF and posted a couple of times. Maybe it's just the overall tone, but I wasn't impressed.
 
Like PhilL, I do not sell knives. I also do not buy used knives, never even looked at the For Sale forum, it doesn't interest me.

As a premium member I paid for the ability to post pictures and send private messages. As I have no digital camera or scanner and figure that email is as good as PM, I plan to make little use of my 'new features'. I could easily remain here as a 'basic member'.

I sent my $20.00 to Spark as a donation, pure and simple. I did this because I have learned more about knives in the last year than any other way that I can think of. And you can still do this for free.

You would have to know 10-15 makers, subscribe to all the mags and enroll as an apprentice to get the info you can find here...STILL FREE!

Case in point: Yesterday I met with a custom maker and was able to talk (somewhat intelligently) about steel type and RC in relation to blade geometry, I still asked some dumb questions I'm sure, but I think he was pleasently surprised.

I could not do this a year ago.

Thanks Spark, for keeping it going, a small price to pay.

(Oh, did I mention there are a lot of nice people here? :D)


Steve-O
 
BFC is my home on the web. Most of the time I'm online I'm here. I love this place and I love the people who post here. I've only sold a few knives and I don't plan to sell any more, though I might. I sent in my $30 because I'm glad to be able to support this Forum that has done so much for me. I've been interested in knives for as long as I can remember, and I never really knew any other people who shared my interest. Now I know 11,000 of them. I've learned more about knives in just over a year here than I had in the previous 23 years combined. For me, $30 is a small price to pay. If there are less posts in the For Sale Forums now, that might mean I'll spend less money on knives (I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing), and if I do sell a knife it should do better because there'll be less competition. I couldn't say whether or not Spark's decision to make the fee $20 or $30 was a good or bad one, or if he would have been better off making it $10 or $20, or $40 or $50, but in any case, this site is well worth it to me.
 
I am happy to pay up for both personal reasons and reasons of principle. For the last few months, I have been selling lots of factory knives because I have developed a strong interest in customs and because my collection had alot of redundancy in it. I cannot think of a better place to sell my knives than Bladeforums. I don't have to travel or take off time from my work to sell off my collection.

My second reason for paying is that I have been very active on the forum for the last two years and I never bought from the One Stop Knife Shop because my local dealer is so reasonable. Therefore, paying for Gold status makes me feel a bit better because I know that that I'm not just taking but I that I have done something concrete to support the forum.
 
As an international user of Bladeforums, I am unable to purchase from 1SKS. I am more than happy to pay $30 per year for the information and friendship found on the forums. This is less than a magazine subscription.

Regards,

Ed
 
I'm hoping it will pick back up over time, god knows there isn't anywhere else to go :( Maybe once the tension(as thick as it is) has cleared things can get back to normal.
 
It has been really busy around here over the past two weeks and this is the first chance that I have had to post using the new software (love the new look Spark).

I have seen this trend coming on the web for quite a few months. Many free services (Listbot, UBB (formerly free version), Napster (soon), Yahoo business listing, etc.) are deciding that they are either:

a. not making any money (it is a free service)
b. not making enough money (who is)

People are finding out the the web is a great place but it is hard to stay afloat in a sea where so many companies have been dumping for so long. Listbot is a great service and the free version worked wonders for small to midrange websites. They were bought by Microsoft and now there is a fee ($149 is greater than $30). More 'formerly' free services are going to charge and somebody is going to come in and take their place, not providing the same amount of service. Or the 'now charging' service will lose membership and eventually decide the the venture is not worth the effort.

What I have been rambling to say is: Each person has to make their own decision. Is $30 too much to ask...no. Do you get more bang for the buck...no. But I can see the reasoning and I can understand the want to make more money. There is an economy crunch and times are hard. A $30 dollar a year donation is not a lot of money though, people. If you use the service and want the added features fork over the cash.

Spark,

Keep your nose to the diamond stone and stick by your principles.
 
Very interesting thread. In a similar, but less thorough thread yesterday, I promised to try to overcome my intransigent procrastination and get my premier membership taken care of. My rationale for the premiere membership is basic Scottishness, and that I have never sold any of my knives, and I don't anticipate doing so.

However, reading this thread has helped me acknowledge that I need to get a Gold membership, regardless of selling knives. While this really isn't a matter of comparing, I doubt any other member gets more out of Blade Forums than I. Reading the forums and posting has been the focal point of my life since discovering the forums in early February.

I have made friends, one enemy I know of, and had the greatest time I could imagine. I've learned a great deal, but know I've only scratched the surface. I've had the opportunity to communicate directly with makers of whom I'm in awe. I never expected such a thing to happen.

I know I post more than I probably should, and make many posts longer than they probably should be. My only excuses are that I tend to be garrulous, and live most of my life as a shut-in. I can and do go out, but mostly for making knife purchases and lotto tickets.

I had quit looking at the sale forums, simply because there is no doubt I'm addicted. I just went through the manufactured folder forum. Wanted to buy at least half a dozen, including at least 2 from Anthony. I was amazed that only 2 pages came up for my standard 5-day list. Before the changes, the current day's threads usually ran to at least 3 pages in the Individual sales forum. With all the BTT'ing and separate threads for many knives by one seller, it sometimes stretched out to 5 pages.

One thing I do think should be pointed out. Am not sure if Spark saw this side of things or not. I bought several knives through the sales forum. Every one I bought, even those NIB were priced significantly below the best web site prices I could find. The used knives were at least 50% below regular price. I think that many sellers --those who just wanted to get money to buy more -- were, in fact, losing some money on each sale. I'm sure that some of them felt hit hard when told they must pay money to lose more money.

Enuff. As soon as I can get around to it, am going to get a Gold membership. Considering what I've gotten from my participation here, that is a ridiculously low amount of money. I will try to make that as soon as possible. Unfortunately, in addition to my procrastination, my clinical depression often has me feeling essentially paralyzed when it comes to doing what I need to do.
 
Man am I pissed. I just wrote an opus reply, and somehow it ot nuked. sigh. ok, here we go again. Basically, I get 3 things from BFC:

(1) entertainment. Lots ofr crazy and entertaining or infuriating (and thus entertaining) posts to read. I post a bit myself, allowing me to vent/pontificate, which gives me a kick. And I get to see lots of beautiful knives.

(2) education. SO MUCH information here! So many experienced dealers/collectors, plus knife reviews, plus the makers themselves!!! Available for Q&A or a vibrant pissing match! Can Blade magazine give you a throw-down between Cliff Stamp and Jerry Hossom over proper edge-polishing? I don't think so! Plus there are the very useful reviews from ordinary mopes like myself - "I've tried both the knives you're considering and X is by far the superior product," etc.

(3) knife swap. how cool is it to be able to buy tons of great used or even LNIB knives cheap - play with them, & if you don't like them you can turn around & re-sell hassle-free. I lose a little on most every turn-around, but that's ok, it's like a knife rental fee, and I pass good deals oon to fellow foumites. I couldn't afford to do that at retail.

SO, this is worth quite a bit, compared to what I spend for other forms of entertainment. I spend more time at BFC per month than in a movie theater, 3 movies = $24/month, a premium membership here is less than that a year!!!! martial arts, 2x/week at $80/month. Playing my conga drums . . . well, there's 3 of them, total cost $800, which at $30/year = 27 years; I HOPE they last that long but it's unlikely! Cable TV . . . I don't have it, but you get the idea.

What irks me is that I get the impression that a majority of the forumites are (were) republicans. I'll bet there are quite a few still reading the forums, getting loads of value, but haven't paid up. Now, as a democrat I'm used to people expecting me to be a freeloader. But doesn't the "conscience of a conservative" dictate that you pay for services rendered? ESPECIALLY when Spark, and Mike before him, operate this place at a loss for our benefit???? Now I know some people find spark a little abrasive, a little insensitive, a little GFY. True enough, the pink tutu is deceptive & I wouldn't want him as my mommy. But that's no reason not to pay for what you get. So, pony up, people! Doncha think?
 
Paying the $30 for gold membership is really my contribution toward what I think is a great site. I love surfing this thing for new knives to buy as well as being able to sell a few when the feeling strikes me. Thanks again Kevin!
 
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