Premium Membership

wyrm

wyrm

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2001
Messages
733
I am wondering how many of us non-dealers will choose to upgrade from basic membership.

Will you upgrade because:

1) You have alot of knives and rotate your collection regularly here at BFC.

2) You want to post pics, but don't want to pay PhotoPoint a fee as well.

3) You want the extra features like buddy lists, ability to ignore posts from other users, etc.

4) You need to stroke your ego and feel special.

5) Spark is a great guy and deserves the support of the masses who would need re-hab if BFC shut down.

Even though I contibute very little, overall, I think I will upgrade. Once in a while I'll sell a knife, but the main reason is the wealth of knowledge and contibutions from people within the industry. $30USD will be almost $50CDN, I spend more on magazines a year, at least here I can participate.

Any others signing up? Why or why not?

Dale.
 
Hi Dale,

I'll step up for reasons four and five.

4) You need to stroke your ego and feel special.

5) Spark is a great guy and deserves the support of the masses who would need re-hab if BFC shut down.
Click to expand...

The other reasons will be fringe benefits. No one providing a service like BF should be eating out of trash cans in Jacksonville. ;)

Spark, tell me where, when, and how much...buddy, you'll get MY MONEY!

I'll strongly advise as many BF members as possibly can to up their membership, as well. If you can't, you can't. If you can, DO IT!
 
I'm planning on signing up as well.

I hope Spark can give us some details on what exactly the $30 will entitle us to.

I was hoping it wouldn't quite be that much, but I suppose if it can be justified, I'll pay it.
 
I'll sign up for reason #5. I don't sell any knives here at all; at most, I trade one of mine to get a different one. More often, if I'm in the For Sale section, it's to buy.
 
I will be signing up for all reasons except #2, as I maintain my own web server on my home network.

However there is extra emphasis on #5, I've learned more here in the last three years, than I would have in 10 years listening to the rambling idiots in CK&T stores in my area. Although #4 isn't half bad either, stroking ones ego can be fun :D and it makes me feel oh so good (I mean special) :D
 
I'm more of a buyer than a seller - sold one knife here a month ago. I have obtained 6 BMs here. I'm in for reason 5 --- $30./yr for an interactive magazine ---- where do I sign up for life membership???? :)
 
I most likely will pay for the extra's just to help support the site more than any other reason. I think we really should pay something to help support all of the time, work and, money that are poured into this thing.


Regards,

Tom Carey
 
I have heard this mentioned in the past, but I can find no mention of it in my short perusal of the forums today.

Is there solid info somewhere? I am interested, I said I would support the Forums when asked and I will.


Steve-O
 
Steve,
Go to any of the new individual for sale forums, and read the announcement post at the top about "free posting for two weeks".
Upgraded membership will be $30/yr.

Reasons 3 and 5 for me.
1 and 2 don't apply, and I don't need #4-my ego's already out of control :p
 
I learned more about knives here than from the magazines.

I met more makers here than I do through magazines.

I got more "heads up" here than any magazine.

I got some great knives through here.

I can actually give feedback to the maker and production folks here.

I get a daily fix of sharp stuff.


I am plan on chipping to support the site as I have tried since being here.
 
One thing though, I want W&C back up. I have a lot of fun on that Forum, even if I do make a fool of myself every once in awhile.

I will support you anyway, Kevin, but W&C is very important to me. I get to go there and let loose. It is very theraputic, and there are a great bunch of guys that hang there.
 
Well, after seeing the figure $20 bandied about several times, I'm a bit disappointed in learning it will be half again as much. I can't help but worry that the figure is partly based upon a pessimistic viewpoint as to the number of folks who will pay it, and the number who will leave here and go to Knife Forums. There's been quite a bit of talk about that migration over there already.

I'll certainly pay it. Blade Forums has become the focus of my existence since I discovered it the first week of February. I have learned so much, and there is so much I know I will learn, that I'd be a total bunger if I didn't contribute to the cost of running the show.

If, in fact, there is a drastic drop in membership and participation, guess I'll always wonder if a lower fee wouldn't have kept more folks around, enough so that their reduced contributions would have actually exceeded those gained by the $30 figure.

Good luck, Spark. Hope it works for you.

Forgot to say that I don't anticipate selling any knives on the Exchange forums. I buy knives because I want to have them. While some of them are disappointing in one way or another, nonetheless, they represent many hours of dreaming, checking out stats, etc., and I still bought them for a unique reason.
 
I wont. As I understand it, the FS forum was taking up most of the bandwidth here at BFC. Now, 1SKS like any business needs to advertise and that's what BFC is for 1SKS. So a fee for the FS forums is warranted because of it's cost compared to it's advertising value, I believe Kevin rightfully determined..( I hope that make sense.)
I think the problem was dealers breaking the Rules Of The Road on the FS forums. That's why I wont pay even though I think it is reasonable to charge to use the FS board. I wont pay because dealers are still going to make up most of the posts in the FS boards but not on my buck.
I attempted to sell 1 knife since I've been here. I had hoped we would be allowed to sell a limited number of knives for free, maybe once per month for example. However this is still a great site and I'm not going anywhere.
 
I want to support BFC. I've enjoyed my time here and learned a great deal. What I'm having a hard time with is the lack of a definate amount for upgrading from the basic membership to the next level. And what really is the next level of membership? And why does there need to be a distinction? Make it simple. If you don't register, you can't post. A thirty day trial period after registering at which time you either pay the fee, or you can't play any more.

I look at it like this. A reasonable fee is fine. I think lots of folks would upgrade if the yearly fee was $10.00. I think that's fair and realistic. Asking more will just drive folks away and limit the potential of the forum in my opinion. Of course, on the other side of the coin, the ones that pay and stay will enjoy a nice, quiet, intelligent interchange with few bumps in the road.

Spark, what are you looking for from this upgrade? Increased membership, refined membership, monetary rewards for your hard work, providing an excellent trouble free environment for all of us to enjoy? If you'll just settle on a fair yearly fee and name it, I'm sure you'll be surprised how many folks will flood your office with money and support. I'm one of them. But, I'd like to know what, when, where and how much so there won't be any more confusion. Of course patience pays here too. I'm patient. Just letting you know what my thoughts are.
 
The yearly fee will be $30. I don't know who tossed out the $20 figure, but it wasn't me. Unless the info comes straight from the horses mouth, don't trust it.... :D

Anyhow... Premium membership will include the ability to sell knives on the For Sale Forums, the ability to private message other members, the ability to Rate Threads, the ability to post attachments into your thread, the ability to post polls, and <b>possibly</b> the ability to delete their own posts (though I doubt it).

Any way you break it down, it out to $2.50 per month - much less than a magazine, much less than cable, much less than a movie rental, etc. If you don't feel that you get this much enjoyment out of the forums, and the features above don't interest you, then don't sign up. If you feel that the money you save by coming here isn't worth the fee, then don't pay. If you feel that the knowledge you learn by coming here isn't worth the fee, then don't pay.

It's that simple.

What am I looking for out of this? Nothing major, just a way for the site to actually pay for it's own bills. I'm not harboring any illusions that this site is going to make tons of cash. I'd just like for it to be able to pay for itself if (god forbid) anything happens to me, or if it changes hands again, or whatever reason. Instead of just sucking away money without any end in sight.

Put it another way - this site has cost over $100,000 in fees thus far. Add in labor, and that's a sizeable chunk of dough. We're on our third server now. We have a dedicated T1. How much would you have spent, out of your pocket for a site like this?

Think hard before you start saying $10 per year.

Kevin
 
Now who can argue with that! I have never bot or sold a knife using the FS forum but what I have got from the forums the last 3 years can't be calculated money wise. New friends, up to the minute information,meeting some of my hero's (knifemakers) going to chat etc etc. For me the whole issue is a no brainer. If you use the forums then contribute regardless.
Bob
 
I'm a techie transplant from the early heady .COM days of the Silicon Valley. I saw the over extention of the venture capalists. Internet companies thinking that they did'nt have to make a profit, that somehow money from the Sky would pay the telcom bill and buy new drive arrays.

I got out early before fiscal reality bashed-in everyone's stock options.

Now we call them .BOMBS, the bubble has burst, there is no free lunch. Alot of guys are takin jobs in Texas and takin hugh losses on their SV homes.


-Reason number 5; because the best information is never free of cost.
 
That we can have such a great place to come to for such a great price. And some folks still complain....I would pay $50 a year and be damn glad that this place was here. $30 is not that big of a deal. Yeagh I am disabled. I got a wife and two little kids. Maybe I won't buy a CRKT this month. I will pay for the forum use instead. If I can scrape up $30 anyone can. Long live BFC! Bring back W&C! (premium members only?)
I'll go for #1,2,3,4,5. If you like #2 then you can deduct what you would pay photopoint, makes this an even better deal. :D
 
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