1MOSES1

Nothing against OSO...but I always wondered why other forums are able to provide unlimited: PM's, picture uploads, and profile look-ups for free while OSO requires a membership fee? Can anyone explain. There should be enough revenue in advertisements and classified sales to cover the costs of running the site.

Again not a personal attack against OSO...I love this forum. Just curious as to the reasoning?

Anyone know?

SS930

Justin, you've missed all the excitement here over the years. Let's just say consider yourself lucky now.

seafordguy

I agree in a way.

I know what many say - 40 bucks is about 5 minutes worth of Full Throttle Boating and we should suck it up but there are plenty of other revenue outlets where this site makes money.

I like the idea of a one time fee, and your rights to use the site, post pics and PM are kept intact provided that you login and actually USE the site on a regular basis. That way the active members, which participate in the threads and drive the traffic and consequently the advertising revenue get to play for free after their initial purchase - consider it a reward for adding value to the site.

The less active members which log on once every two years when something is wrong, or when they are asking about a potential boat purchase pay to use some of the priveledge of the knowledge on here.

1MOSES1

I am more curious than anything.

The features seem really limited for non paying members. PM's are allowed to a 10 message maximum before your inbox is full. Is server storage really that expensive? I am allowed 100's of PM's on other forums (cars, sports, etc). That is pretty silly if you ask me.

Another one that confuses me is the ability to view other peoples profile as a non-paying member. I mean...Wow.

I understand charging for classifieds postings/ads, etc. I also understand the need for advertisers to pay...But to make money off of everyone...The upkeep and cost of servers is minimal.

BTW THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH BOATING...ITS THE INTERNET. EVEN RECOGNIZED FERRARI FORUMS DONT COST MONEY TO BECOME A FULL FLEDGED MEMBER. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SPORT OF BOATING, YADA, YADA, YADA...Which I know will be the response.

Expensive Date

Free is not always free,sometimes you get something thats overpriced when its free.

1MOSES1

i would agree with you if the internet were a tangible/physical object...even if you pay for the site, the opinions of members here can cause more harm than good...so im not sure i see the point of your argument?

SpeedGirl

iTrader: (1)

For the most part, IB kept the same user profiles Steve had before he sold. One of the main reasons Steve had the forum set like this was to have the paying members feel special and to minimize the amount of trolls....

IB gave 10 PM's to registered members when the migrate transition had issues, with Steve registered members had no PM privileges.

1MOSES1

i dont see how paying a membership fee prevents trolls...like myself i can register and post for free

i didnt know this but shouldnt OSO be aware of the forums they compete with...every other forums capabilities are 10x that of OSO's...again I am not trying to bash OSO, just curious as to why they dont update forum privaleges. every other forum seems profitable while not charging a membership fee and allowing full use/access. just doesnt make sense.

Ted G

iTrader: (1)

How do you know the forums are profitable? A lot operate at zero or negative profit for one reason or the other.

Catastrophe

just doesnt make sense.

Must make sense to somebody. Didnt IB just sell for 640 million ??