Catastrophe

Let me continue the conversation since I asked the original question. And believe me, all this is just chatter and is none of my business...just curious.

I dont understand the " anti corporate " issue. The minute you walk out the door every day of your life you spend your money with corporations, the purchase of your food, your gasoline,your insurance,your clothes, your fast food etc.
Thats life. A lot of the members on here earn their daily living working for corporations.

Re value received. I see an awful lot of the folks on here working on their own boats. I see them ask tech questions and query where to get good deals on parts and labour.
In all cases they get good answers. I see it. They say thanks . Are these savings and help not worth anything?

Re entertainment value. I see huge post counts for some of the "registered" peeps, so I presume they spend a good amount of time on here. What is that worth.

Finally......do people not think that the FREE feature is available because a lot of people actually DO pay ?
Is the FREE feature here because the people that advertise on here have to pay extra ( as do the paying members) to cover that cost?

Is there a scenario that if everyone paid perhaps the fee would be $15.00 for everyone instead of $40.00 to $70.00 for some and none for others?



Can people that are reading this thread please indicate how much time they spend on here each week.

Winter chatter.....nothing more.

BONDO10

Cat,I couldn't agree more. I have only been a member for a few years,and the technical knowledge/advice I have received is priceless. Not to mention the deals that have been put together. When my 312 Fastec got totaled,I was left with the hull specific trailer,pretty small buying group to say the least.Posted it on here,sold it a week later to a member two states away,along with a ton of parts. I also bought my 382 from a paying member here. Other members knew the boat as well,and chimed in to give there opinions on it,somewhat of a free survey. I was also looking to try a new set of props and not sure who to use.After researching all of my options here on OSO,went with BBlades and never looked back. I could go on and on,but the bottom line is this site has been responsible for thousands and thousands of dollars in transactions in my case,and the money saved/spent is peanuts compared to the $40-$70 it cost to be a member. RunninHots porn and the free t-shirt isn't bad either. Happy Holidays to all,(especially the paying members).

1MOSES1

I am glad that you feel the money is worth the membership...I appluade that...

My point is that other forums provide the same benfits and they are FREE.

Baja_342

I've been on OSO since 2001. 2001-2006 as 29Fever. 2007 - current as Baja_302. Since I change boats like underpants I need to stop naming myself after them.

One down side to paying is if you do not re-up within a certain time frame you lose your screen name. I reregisterd a few years ago and just recently bought a membership again to dig in for the winter.

I come and go in spurts. Usually depends on how busy work is. I can spend 6 hours a day on here sometimes and then go 6 months without visiting. I will say it's always the first place I go when I have a question. And 9 times out of 10 it's the only place I need to go! Thanks to all.

In2Deep

Interesting thread, and great, valid comments on both sides of the point of view. Since I'm in the marketing/advertising business, with a specialty in direct-to-consumer (direct marketing) customer acquisition, retention and loyalty for large global brands -- I have a pretty deep hands-on and quantifiable (ROI) view of the overall issue.

Overly simplified, Answering the "paid" vs. "non-paid" membership program questions boils down to two basic things;

1. Do you want to establish a membership base that is in some way defined (as a group) based upon their level of enthusiasm, consumer profile, engagment and expectations from being a member (i.e. membership profile influenced by the price of entry, with those who pay being "more enthusastic" and having higher expectations from being a member). This has a significant impact on the value to potential advertisers addressing the membership base, and what advertising costs.

2. As the "owner" of the membership venture, what is the value of membership you seek to deliver? If the overall goal is simply to provide a forum/location/place for like-minded individuals to socialize, share information, and generally hang out -- then the value comes from the members (not delivered by the organization). Thus, hard to charge a fee for that.

If the organization wants to deliver a higher value of membership, with information, product/service offers, and other things that are perceived as exclusive to the membership base -- that's where the art/science of establishing a monetary value for membership enters the picture. This also takes a great deal more effort by the owners of the organization -- to seek and secure, and keep the overall value proposition fresh and relevant to the member base.

That's the simple version.

I2D

thirdchildhood

iTrader: (6)

I haven't upgraded because this is the only boating forum I participate in that requests it. The income should come from the advertisers. If payment were mandatory then the membership would drop hugely as folks moved to the free forums. People posting here without paying raise the value of this site. Facebook is said to be worth 50-60 billion $ and it is free. I'm more active on the Donzi specific forums anyway.

GB

Good post In2Deep.

Skullkrusher

I agree with the others on the advertising part. People can pay for HBO and don't have to watch commercials or they can watch network TV for free but have to put up with commercials but they'll be damned if there's a channel they'll pay for and have to watch commercials.

Here is another consideration that no one has mentioned. I was once a paying member, when the membership was up, I got no PM, no e-mail, no reminder of any sort saying hey do you want us to renew you? we have your card on file, just ok it. If they had I might have renewed but as a procrastinator, renewing on my own is just something I never got around to. After years, I drifted away from Powerboat mag the same way.

rlj676

Like others said, I find it pretty funny they want people to pay for the privilege of adding the best content like pictures? Content drives hits, which draws advertisers, which should (in my humble opinion) be the main source of income.

If there wants to be a pay section for dirty pics , elite bonding, whatever, that's fine. A lot here can afford that. I prefer spend my money otherwise, as that type of stuff is available free elsewhere on the net.

Weather you pay to be here or just visit the site and it's advertising sponsors, you contribute.

I would personally feel better if it was owned by a group of enthusiasts putting their earnings into poker runs, or just generally back into the sport. Nothing against corporations, but for an enthusiast forum it just makes more sense to me.

AIR TIME

its true theres some great people on here, and then theres morons that think there great on here ha ha. I'm glad that everyone I have met in person has become a friend and some very good friends. I don't mind paying at all. art