Registered users need to read this thread !!!!! Urgent !!!!

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Blue Sky said:
With all due respect, the fact that he is 15, or claims to be, should not exclude him from the rules. At the least, he should be required to change his user name, do it gratis for him if you want to give consideration to his age. Otherwise, you will always be open to criticism about selectively applying the rules, and with cause.
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I'm pretty sure Stacy is pointing out that the admin is accessing each case individually and is taking into consideration "honest mistakes". I don't think the new kid was looked upon as a genuine offender but I also imagine his profile info was corrected.
 
The sad part is, there is a well-known maker who is definitely old enough to know better, who went completely bonkers over this today, started a bunch of childish threads whining about it, and got himself banned by his own request. Real smart. :rolleyes:
 
i seen that and it is sad that he was too (insert whatever word you want) to abide by the rules and edit out his home page or buy a membership. i'm sure someone would have gave him $75. for a knife if he wanted to buy a membership. the mods are making it clear that sparks rules will be followed or else. if you were at his house and he told you something and you acted like this guy did, you can bet every dollar you have that kevin will throw your keester out the front door. the same goes for here.
 
Rick Marchand said:
...I don't think the new kid was looked upon as a genuine offender but I also imagine his profile info was corrected.
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That is most certainly the case, but I read Mr. Apelt's post as stating the member had not received a notice and if not, it is not clear how he would otherwise know to make changes. I've no doubt it is being handled appropriately, it just seemed to leave the door open for unnecessary criticism from those prone to it.
 
Blue Sky said:
That is most certainly the case, but I read Mr. Apelt's post as stating the member had not received a notice and if not, it is not clear how he would otherwise know to make changes. I've no doubt it is being handled appropriately, it just seemed to leave the door open for unnecessary criticism from those prone to it.
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Sets a sort of precedence for those that would care. I agree.

The Les thing... :mad: :thumbdown: truly sad in more ways than one.
 
i posted this elsewhere and i thought i would post it here.

anyone is free to join, free to talk about knives and how to make them, keep them sharp, make a sheath to keep the knife in, make them pretty or make them anything you want to do to them. anyone offering a service to do these things and get paid has to have a paid membership which i see nothing wrong with. if you have a product or provide a service that you think is worth providing and are willing to pay to provide it and advertise that fact on SPARKS forum to me is well worth the cost.

to thoes that skirt the rules, karda started the clock and time is a ticking. the choice is yours. is your product or services worth it?
 
Pretty telling when virtually all of your posts are in sale areas, and virtually none are providing benefits to the community. I don't sell many blades here, and don't consider knifemaking a business. But I still can afford to pay for a knifemaking membership, and will happily renew. Then again, I wouldn't be making blades at all if it weren't for this forum.
 
Just to hop in on this:

We have very simple rules; if you don't help keep the site open with a paid subscription, you don't get to advertise here.

A Knifemaker's membership is $75 a year. $6.25 a month. The prices were just raised a month or two ago from $60 a year after being that rate for around a decade.

Now, in comparison, if you want to advertise in a knife magazine, a 1/3rd page vertical ad on ONE PAGE will run you around $700 or so each month (depending on the magazine) if you commit to a 12 month contract. Do the math.

Hell, for the price of a three year knifemaker's membership I will even set you up with your own personal knifemaker's forum AND you still get the whole three years membership.

I've talked with various makers and a number of other industry professionals and they all agree that a membership here is the best advertising dollars they've ever spent.

Why is this so difficult for some people to understand?
 
I just happened to catch this thread, and wanted to check where I would stand. I have a paid gold membership, but I am not a business. If I want to keep my username do I need to buy a bigger membership?
 
blevinsknives said:
I just happened to catch this thread, and wanted to check where I would stand. I have a paid gold membership, but I am not a business. If I want to keep my username do I need to buy a bigger membership?
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Spark has said in the past that business usernames are not allowed.
We as mods try hard to distinguish the difference between those users using the site to sell their handcrafted items and those selling out of their collection of production or custom knives, but we also, just like with memberships and the advertising aspect, depend on users being honest and using the forum and exchange for the proper purpose at the proper membership level.
Ideally we should forbid the usage of blatant business names by registered users, as it could be considered a form of passive advertising.
We try to give a bit of leeway depending on membership level, participation and how the person behaves and follows the rules.
 
I have a couple of thoughts about how to make this work better.

I have volunteered on the board of my athletic club, and one technique we have used quite successfully for raising funds is to sell life memberships. There are requirements: the member who wishes to receive a life membership must be over age 50, and must have been a member for at least 15 years. If they meet these criteria, they pay 20 years worth of dues (at the current cost of the dues) of up front, and receive a modest discount on the purchase. Once the life membership is purchased, the member never pays dues again.

The requirements are in place to limit the services consumed by the member over the rest of his life in order to protect the club financially. The thing is, it's a gamble on the future for both the member and the club. My hero is an 83 year old rower who rows a double (two-seater) 6 days a week... he has to rotate through rowing partners because he wears them out! And, he's showing no sign of slowing down. I think the club is losing money on him, but he's truly exceptional. The trick is to earn money on *most* life-memberships.

It will take some head-scratching to out the proper formula for life memberships which will represent both a value to the member, and a viable financial picture for BF.

Second thought, easier to implement: sell long-term memberships in blocks: 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, etc. Bigger discounts for bigger blocks to incentivize people willing to make a bigger outlay.

Third thought: having read the other major thread about this topic, it seems that one reoccurring violation is due to lapsing members forgetting to remove their external site link from their sig. Perhaps it would be possible to include a reminder in the renewal notice to remove the site from the sig line & profile.

Obviously, these suggestions will make it easier for honest knifemakers to stay honest, but won't do squat to solve the shady knifemaker problem.

----

PS: totally unrelated suggestion: any possible way to extend the length of time before auto-logout? It's a PITA when making longer replies like this one. Maybe I type fast but think slow. :)
 
Boy, you sure do type slow...it took eight months to type that post :)

Most of those ideas won't work on a forum. Lifetime memberships are a dying gasp effort to garner funds for a cash strapped business. It is almost always followed by closing up withing five years, due to the money being spent and no chance of any more coming. They usually supplement that by charging "maintenance fees" , which end up going so high that no one pays them anymore...and the pyramid collapses. This happens regularly with time shares and membership clubs. Long term block memberships are close to the same thing. I usually use a comparison like this to explain it, "If you can't live on $1,000 a month income, being paid $12,000 once a year won't suddenly make the budget work." It will surely run out faster, not last longer.

I'm not sure, but the log-out time may be related to being a registered user. Tech support would be where to ask that question.
 
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