Notice!: High visibility ads now being offered!

Rich, I do think this is an incredible idea.

I am not sure I read the offer right the first time, but I did send some money to Fauna (for a highlighted ad). After sending money to Fauna, I was told that the fee is $5 per ad per month. I re-read what was written at the top of all the classifieds and did realize that it in fact was stated as $5 per ad per month.

I still think this is a great idea, however, after thinking further, I couldn't help but notice it seems kinda pricey.

So 4 highlighted ads would run $20 here,

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1 month of ads on "the other" site would be $21.55 ( thats up to 90 ads, 3 ads per day x 30 days.

I am not knocking the idea in any way, I did step foward and pay the fee for the highlighted ads. I just see $5 per highlight as too steep.

I feel that it would be easier, and more money would be generated if there were say a $10 fee for highlighted ads. That would include up to 5 highlighted ads per month for the seller.

Well, maybe you could add in the price of being able to post classified ads in the "other site" too and see if it still seems too pricey. Does the other site stick the highlighted ad at the top of the listings as well? I'm asking because I really don't know. I don't go over there any longer.

Simple fact is, an ad that sits at the top of the forum will get a lot more views than one which is falling to the bottom.

Right now this is a manual process that I have to set up for each highlighted ad. While I am sure I could get my programmer to automate it, I'm in a catch-22 situation. Will it be worth while spending the money to develop this option? Well, so far, from the use it has gotten, I would have to say "no".

Looking at it from another angle, if it is TOO cheap, everyone will have a highlighted ad, and then what would be the point?

Well, so far, from the use it has gotten, I would have to say "no".

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I doubt it will be used much at all for $5 a pop.
If I would have understood how it worked I wouldn't have sent any money.

I agree that a ad in yellow that is always at the top will generate ALOT more hits for the ad, but again, I doubt people will spend $5 per ad.

Does the other site stick the highlighted ad at the top of the listings as well? I'm asking because I really don't know.

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The ads on KS just creep down as they do here. But you can bump your ads to the top every 48 hours.

This was just a thought of mine on how to get the "highlight" ball rolling as I highly doubt it will get used as it is. I was also unaware of how much more work it would require to set it up at $10 for 5 highlighted ads.

15 hits and only 2 votes, thats sad.

VOICE YOUR OPINION PEOPLE....................

If I would have understood how it worked I wouldn't have sent any money.

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I understand and sympathize, Al. I have refunded the money you sent.

Take care.

I dont think the Poll is fair to Rich

Because we all want something as cheap as we can get it.If and when I produce babies I plan to offer them here for sale.I would be willing to pay the Highlighted add fee at whatever Rich charges to do it.Plus the other site only lets you post so many in a days time or something like that..I am kinda on Richs side for the Highlighted if it was to cheap everyone would be doing it and you wouldnt be gaining much.Sorry Al for not voting but if I did it would be for the 5 bucks a pop.

So, what do you think, Al? Do you really think my sinking money into the highlighted ads would be worthwhile for me to do? Suppose it costs me $300 to get my programmer to do this work. How long do you think it would take me to recover that expenditure based in the interest level shown in this thread?

How about starting up a pledge fund from those people who really want this option automated and much cheaper? Gather up $300 in pledges, and I'll be glad to do it.

Quite frankly, if someone feels that having their classified ad highlighted and stuck to the top of the forum for $5 is too steep a price to pay, well, since their ability to post their ads here is free to start off with, I guess I'm not real concerned about it at all. This was put in place just as an enhancement that would be considered as a small donation for people willing to help out with the bills for the servers. That's the way I am looking at the banner ads as well and the donations from users. Nobody HAS to pay anything to use this site (unless you get suspended and fined), and even in those instances where I ask for financial help, I believe I am giving in return much more than was given as a donation.

If some people think that ANYTHING is too steep a price to pay, well they just don't have to pay it at all and can take the freebies with my blessings.

I would love to get more involved with this because I feel it is a great idea, but on the other hand, I'd have to try REAL hard to post 5-6 ads per year as I don't produce very many animals.

I will however, step foward and pledge $50 to have all my ads highlighted for 6 months. Even though I know I would never hit 10 ads, there could be a 10 ad cap.

I really don't know the best way to do it, maybe your idea is the best. After reading what I just typed above about $50 for 6 months, that too seems like it could be flawed. I don't know how the programmer would handle this, but it seems like it may be easier if you set a price for ALL of the paying members ads being highlighted, meaning, you pay $xx and every ad you put up is highlighted.

3 months up to 10 ads = $35
3 months up to 20 ads = $50
3 months unlimited ads= $75
6 months up to 10 ads = $50
6 months up to 20 ads = $75
6 months unlimited ads= $100

REMEMBER, I'm just throwing out ideas here......

I'm having a hard time putting down what I'm thinking today, if I don't make sense just let me know.

Come to think of it, my last idea was pretty lame too.

There are quite a few breeders that concentrate on 1, maybe 2 species, so you get some A-hole like me that pays for say 10 ads, I will only be posting in the Ball Python classifieds. That would kinda be stupid in the sense that when somebody looks at the BP classifieds, they would see nothing but my ads on the first page.

Yes, I know. I am a programmer by trade, so that's how I look at things. And I have been discussing this with my programmer who helps me with this site as well. Few things are as easy as they seem on the surface when you start looking at the nuts and bolts of how it needs to work.

What use would the classifieds section be to most people if a half dozen people hogged up the entire first page with highlighted and fixed ads? Nothing new would ever show up there as they would all be pushed onto the second page (or even further). So interest would wane on them in general. That means I would have to put a limit on how many highlighted ads would be able to be displayed in any one classified forum.

Should the cost be per line item classified ad, or for as many as a paid subscriber can post in a given time limit? How long should the ads "live"? What happens when one of those line item ads becomes useless because the person sold the item(s) being advertised?

Heck, I thought what I was doing with the $5 per line ad per month was darned reasonable. It is targeted, being in the ad section prospective buyers will be coming to looking for those types of animals. It stands out like a sore thumb so people wil notice it and it is right there at the top where it will be about the first ad they see. It definitely SHOULD increase your chances of people taking a look at your ad. Whether they buy or not depends more on what it is you are selling and for how much, rather than any lacking in visibility provided by this site for your ad.

Heck those line item ads that show up at the top of each page cost the advertisers $25 per WEEK per ad! Of course, each line item ad there gets roughly 40,000 impressions per week.

I'm trying my best to make the funds coming in to support this site as painless as possible to the people willing to help out. But I never thought for an instant that I would pick out perfect solutions that would please everyone. And it has reached the point where I need to consider a cost/benefits ratio to new things I add. I just can't do everything everyone asks of me for free, when it is costing me money out of pocket to give it to them.

What use would the classifieds section be to most people if a half dozen people hogged up the entire first page with highlighted and fixed ads?

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I was thinking the same thing.

After looking at this from 10 different angles, I really think it is set up the best way now.
Again, being that I have a small number of animals for sale, I will wait until some eggs start hatching and give it a try as it is.