Not trying to be difficult but...

Monstermash

Monstermash

BANNED
Joined
Jan 13, 2008
Messages
28
Why is it so expensive to gain access to all of Blade Forums?

I paid my $10 for a membership but I can't sell anything in the for sale area? No offence but that kinda sucks IMO.

I belong to 4 other forums and they don't charge anything for basic membership. If you want extras like discounts with forum sponsors you can buy an upgraded membership. Otherwise your granted access to all of the forum content.

Also while I'm in Rant (sorry Benchmade) mode, whats up with not being able to upload pics? There have been multiple threads I would have liked to respond to and I feel that my input would have been a good contribution but I'm only allowed 100KB of space. Geesh...

It's funny, I think there would be alot more involvement and the forum would be bigger and better if people were allowed more access. I can certainly understand asking for monetary support to help pay for server space etc. but $25 so I can post pictures which will add to the experience? Seems a bit much to me.

Sorry if I offended anyone with this rant but I just don't understand it at all.
 
Regarding posting pictures, why not use one of the image hosting services, Imageshack works quite well whenever I need to post a pic.
 
It would be nice if somebody would give everybody everything for free. Why stop at free access to all the features of Bladeforums, though? I want free beer, too, and free pizza -- no, free champagne and caviar! And I want all the services of government without having to pay any taxes -- well, I might be willing to pay $10 per year, but no more than that. What else? Um ... free gasoline! Yes, the people who own the oil fields should pump oil out for free, and the people who own the refineries should refine it for free, and the people who own the gas stations should dispense it for free, too. I'm willing to pump it myself, self-service. Really somebody should do that for me, though, for free of course. :)
 
Cougar Allen said:
It would be nice if somebody would give everybody everything for free. Why stop at free access to all the features of Bladeforums, though? I want free beer, too, and free pizza -- no, free champagne and caviar! And I want all the services of government without having to pay any taxes -- well, I might be willing to pay $10 per year, but no more than that. What else? Um ... free gasoline! Yes, the people who own the oil fields should pump oil out for free, and the people who own the refineries should refine it for free, and the people who own the gas stations should dispense it for free, too. I'm willing to pump it myself, self-service. Really somebody should do that for me, though, for free of course. :)
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See your totally missing the point of my thread. I didn't say everything should be free. I've noticed that some of the people here seem to have this "I'm better than you" attitude. It seems like because they spent money to be here that they can say anything they want to the newer people here. I've seen a bunch of threads where some of the members that have been here for a while are rude and degrading to the newbies. To me thats not cool, regardless of the fact that you paid money to be here. You should still treat others with respect.
Plus I put up my $10 when I first joined BF.C and I feel as though I did my part to help support the forum.

There are many many forums on the net and almost all of which are free. I guess my question is what makes this one so different that we should have to spend $25 just to gain access to certain features?
 
That's just the way it is -- a small forum costs little or nothing in money and not much in time to run, a big forum with a lot of traffic like Bladeforums has tremendous expenses in bandwidth charges, state of the art servers are required to handle the traffic, etc.

On the other hand, when you pay for a year of posting ads on Bladeforums you will reach many more potential customers than you would on a small forum.

As for people acting like they think they're superior, that's a separate issue IMHO. Some people like to think they're better than other people and they'll seize on any excuse they can find. On free forums some people brag about having been there longer....
 
There are, indeed, plenty of free forums out there. Somehow, some way, we managed to become the biggest and best knife related one. We would not remain open without user support. If we were running banner ads all over the place, based on our user traffic we wouldn't need paying memberships. Every choice requires compromises.

Since we have the largest site out there, as Cougar explained, our bills are much higher. So, if you'd like to sell your knives here, we ask that you help support the site. A $25 a year membership breaks down to less than 7 cents a day. If you don't feel the time you spend here is worth 7 cents a day, that's your choice... you don't have to sell your stuff here.

Past that, nobody is twisting your arm...
 
Spark said:
There are, indeed, plenty of free forums out there. Somehow, some way, we managed to become the biggest and best knife related one. We would not remain open without user support. If we were running banner ads all over the place, based on our user traffic we wouldn't need paying memberships. Every choice requires compromises.

Since we have the largest site out there, as Cougar explained, our bills are much higher. So, if you'd like to sell your knives here, we ask that you help support the site. A $25 a year membership breaks down to less than 7 cents a day. If you don't feel the time you spend here is worth 7 cents a day, that's your choice... you don't have to sell your stuff here.

Past that, nobody is twisting your arm...
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I do believe that my time here is worth 7 cents a day. However..... I don't plan to make a habit of selling knives here. I've been collecting knives for a little while and I almost never sell anything. I just happen to have an extra can of spam that I need to get rid of.
To be honest, I would rather have to pay for each ad I placed rather than spend an additional $25 a year. To me, and this is just my opinion, I paid my $10 to help support the site and I feel that having several different options for paying members is BS. Either you pay and get the benifits, or you don't. End of story. Instead, I paid my $10 and every time I go to do something that I do for free on every other forum I get an error message. "You're not authorized" to do this or that. WTF? What the point of even having the $10 basic membership? It's just a donation, thats it. Do I have a problem with a donation to help out the site? Nope, not at all. I do think it's silly that I helped out with a donation and I still can't post pics or list something for sale.
While I'm being honest....... I think that having banner ads all over the place in not necessarily a bad thing. Especially if it helps ease the cost for the members. Remember, it's the members that make the forum what it is. Without them, there is no forum. You would probably have twice the membership charter if the site was free or at least the $10 donation gave you all access. Bring on the banner ads. Who cares? I actually like seing banner ads. It allows people to see products you may not see otherwise. In fact I think it's a disservice you don't have them here.
I am most active on the Ducati Monster list forum. I have seen a few members here that are also members there. Do they have banner ads? Yes. Is it still a great forum? Absolutely! You also get all the privileges just by being a member other than the discounts you receive as a Titanium member.
 
Knifeforums is free unless you want to donate. It has all kinds of banner ads. It has about a third of the membership of this forum and is growing very slowly. Somehow, that doesn't fit with your reasoning. It should be much larger than Bladeforums. This forum has been set up this way for years and has been by far the fastest growing knife forum on the internet.

I for one appreciate the fact that there are no banner ads. I hate half the page I go to being someone trying to sell me something. If you don't feel that this site is worth $25.00, then maybe you should stick with those other forums that don't charge you anything to sell and post all the photos you want. Their way of doing things is obviously more in line with your idea of how it should be done.
 
Well, I've been paying fifty bucks a year for platinum with no intention of selling anything, just to keep the ads away. It's worth it to me. I don't see anything wrong with scaling privileges to amount paid, either. I expect to pay more to get more.

In fact, for me, platinum works out to about a nickel an hour. Pretty cheap entertainment in my opinion.
 
Bladeforums has an entirely different feeling/attitude etc. than most other forums.


Granted, we all get into armchair-commando mode at some point...


But having paying members has added a level of accountability here.


Taking money out of your pocket and putting "in the big pile" makes us all accountable for what goes on here.


So, while I personally don't condone any condescending tones, etc....I do think that the general paid membership does a good job of "self moderating". I find myself more willing to trust them in sales...because I know they are "part of the team".



You made the leap to becoming a paid member. Yes, $10 doesn't get you much....but it's quite a low minimum considering what it could be....less than a magazine subscription. Have you got your $10 worth out of it?

You are now wanting a "little more"...so why not pay a little more and fully enjoy the privilege?


Don't tell Kevin (Spark) but I feel like what I'm paying is a run-to-the-bank-laughing-screaming-deal and it's quite a bit more than $10. Of course, I get a "bit more" use out of the forums than most. :D :p
 
I'm having a hard time understanding your problem. Below you will find the description of the membership that you bought.

Basic Member

Bare bones membership that allows avatars, signatures, limited attachments and private messaging. Does not allow selling in Exchange area.

When you bought the Basic Membership, did you not read what it was that you were going to get for your $10.00? You seem to be complaining that all you got was what it says you were going to get.
 
I'm better than most but it is because I'm 4 popped collars cool, not because I bought a platinum.

Heck, I've yet to sell something here. I hate banner ads, that is why I do it.

I do like how you worked in what exactly you are trying to sell into the coversation, that was pretty sly.
 
I love Ducati Monsters. So glad to see you here, too. :)

I run a knife-related business, so the cost of involvement is nearly unimportant. You are correct that the 100kb attachment limit is a.... limit. The answer is better photo hosting sites. Many of them are free. I won't use them....

Years ago, one-by-one, many of the free sites stopped being able to host images for free. So they went belly-up. There went all the hard work and subsequent relevant photos for the archiving threads. Not to mention the pi$$ed off members.

So, now I pay $24 a year and have absolutely ironclad photo hosting: any size, linking thumbs, no downtime, etc.

Free is almost always a compromise. Yes, there are instances of great free usage out there but I daresay these are the exceptions rather than the rule.

When I was a mechanic at a large Ducati dealership we used to opine about bikes in general: It was not inordinate for a mechanical breakdown. In fact, what is amazing is with the myriad of moving parts, that they work at all, and nearly faultlessly. The behind-the-scenes engineers are to thank.

I click on a number of free knife forums, too. All are good. This one is the best. For a reason.

Coop
 
Monstermash said:
Who cares? I actually like seing banner ads. It allows people to see products you may not see otherwise. In fact I think it's a disservice you don't have them here.
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No way. I totally appreciate the fact that this one place I can go to enjoy one of my many interests and NOT be bombarded by incessant ads and commercials. The cost of a paid membership to avoid that is peanuts in my book. A disservice that they're not here?! That ranks as one of the most ridiculous statements ever posted at BF.
 
Keith Montgomery said:
Knifeforums is free unless you want to donate. It has all kinds of banner ads. It has about a third of the membership of this forum and is growing very slowly. Somehow, that doesn't fit with your reasoning. It should be much larger than Bladeforums. This forum has been set up this way for years and has been by far the fastest growing knife forum on the internet.

I for one appreciate the fact that there are no banner ads. I hate half the page I go to being someone trying to sell me something. If you don't feel that this site is worth $25.00, then maybe you should stick with those other forums that don't charge you anything to sell and post all the photos you want. Their way of doing things is obviously more in line with your idea of how it should be done.
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Wow! you're quite the post whore huh? :eek: No wonder you have over 22,000 posts. You replied 3 times without waiting for another reply from me. Lol.
Yeah I can see that the $25 is worth it to you. As I stated, I belong to a bunch of other forums, and all of those are free. Thanks for mentioning Knife Forums, I found that last night after I started this thread.
It's funny, I don't agree with your assessment of Knife Forums vs. Blade Forums. After spending a few hours there last night it seems they have just as much activity there if not more than here.
I like the fact that I could join and pretty much post, IM, and do what every I felt like, all without the membership fee. I'll probably donate to them just because they didn't require it.
As I mentioned before I spend a great deal of time on Ducatimonster.org and after I was there for a while I spent the extra cash on a Titanium membership. Not for any specific benefit, but for the fact that I do spend so much time there and get alot out of it.
Had things been different here I probably would have spent some time here and then been willing to donate the $25 for the upgraded membership. But as it stands I don't see the reason for it. It's like the bully at school that takes all the other kids lunch money. Why does he do it? Because he can get away with it.
Whatever. :jerkit:
 
Monstermash said:
I've noticed that some of the people here seem to have this "I'm better than you" attitude. It seems like because they spent money to be here that they can say anything they want to the newer people here. I've seen a bunch of threads where some of the members that have been here for a while are rude and degrading to the newbies...
Click to expand...

In my observation, *every* forum has these 13-year-old mentalities...It's a shame, but also a fact of life...You can probably go down to your local mall and see the same thing...Might even be the same people... :D

I don't mind supporting a good thing...I supported BeOS and nothing came of it...I support Linux now...The only way that has been shown to work: With my wallet... :)

And I'll continue to support Bladeforums.com... ;)
 
Monstermash said:
I just happen to have an extra can of spam that I need to get rid of.
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Warning for spam.

Monstermash said:
Wow! you're quite the post whore huh? ...
Click to expand...

Infraction for gratuitous insults.

Monstermash said:
It's like the bully at school that takes all the other kids lunch money. Why does he do it? Because he can get away with it.
Whatever. :jerkit:
Click to expand...

Yup, we're just like the bully who beat you up and robbed you of your lunch money. You should run crying for help to the lunchroom ladies. Maybe they'll comfort you with an extra dessert if you whine good.
 
Normally when I walk into a store to look at any goods, find the prices may be to high for me, or I can find a better selection somewhere else..... I WALK OUT.

I don't feel the need to badger the employees or customers about the prices or selection, I just go somewhere else.:confused:

BF has no annoying banner pop ups, and at 25.00 a year thats .07 cents per day to buy, sell, send and receive PM's, and upload pics.

POINT ZERO SEVEN CENTS PER DAY!!!! Forty eight cents per week.

You as the consumer have the right, if you're not happy with the prices, to not be here. Pretty simple really.
 
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