• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Classifieds section can ONLY be posted in by paid members as of 03/06/07

WebSlave

WebSlave

It is what it is, but certainly not what it was.
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Yeah, I know, I'm an ogre. But this has been suggested to me many times when I was trying to figure out ways to generate revenue here. Several people were pretty adamant about this being the correct method to do so, claiming it is only fair that I charge those people trying to make money off of this site. And yes, I resisted that suggestion. Up till now.

I was reading through some threads there, and things just seem kind of messy for people trying to sell their animals and merchandise. Maybe this will help. Maybe not.

Personally, I think that by far the main (and in many cases ONLY draw) of this site is the BOI to people. So perhaps my feelings that requiring paid memberships to post classified ads here would be a detriment to the site is off base. Heck, I've been wrong before... ;) So I'm willing to give it a shot.

An announcement has been posted in RED LETTERS at the top of the classifieds sections. Any emails or PMs from members asking me why they can no longer post in the classifieds area will be ignored.

Yeah, I'm sure some will complain about this decision as well. Knock yourselves out, if you want to. Honestly, I wouldn't know how to act if that didn't happen around here...... :rofl:
 
Actually I think that is a good thing bro. As it is people selling on your site and it is only fair that you also get paid for "hosting" or say paying for the space for the ad.

I look at this as a good step.
 
I think limiting the posting of ads to paid members will weed out a lot of the scammers and such, I like it.
 
Cat_72 said:
I think limiting the posting of ads to paid members will weed out a lot of the scammers and such, I like it.
Click to expand...
I agree but at the same time it will also weed out alot of people who are not major breeders but just hobbiest. Anyways, what does a paid membership cost?
 
Minimum paid membership level for the classifieds section will be the Contributor level at $25 per year.

The Participant level that was discontinued a while back will be grandfathered in.
 
I don't think the Font size is large enough yet. Still gonna get those emails...lol
 
DThomas said:
I don't think the Font size is large enough yet. Still gonna get those emails...lol
Click to expand...

Yeah, but at least I can embarrass the hell out of anyone who actually MISSES seeing that announcement........ :>poke2<:

Wish flashing text hadn't been removed from HTML specs in IE..... Maybe I need to look up javascripting snippet to do the same thing one of these days... :hehe:
 
boybronco said:
I agree but at the same time it will also weed out alot of people who are not major breeders but just hobbiest. Anyways, what does a paid membership cost?
Click to expand...


Amen , im a newbe doing research on my new upcoming pet , getting blocked from forums is just going to take longer setting up my Cage and purchase of my Chameleon.
 
Driftboat said:
Amen , im a newbe doing research on my new upcoming pet , getting blocked from forums is just going to take longer setting up my Cage and purchase of my Chameleon.
Click to expand...

Blocked? You just can't post in the classifieds sections without being a paid member. That has nothing at all to do with the discussion forums..........
 
This doesn't affect me one way or another since I am a paid member regardless. However, I've supported this move in the past and have always thought it was the way to go for any site that generated the amount of traffic this one does.
Participating in the discussion forums and even the BOI is different, when you post a classified you're advertising for the purpose of making money.
Few places in this world provide free advertising. It costs money to make money.
I just personally don't have much sympathy for someone who feels they are entitled in some way to have a free ride.

As for the $25 entry fee, that's a small sum for even the smallest breeder, aside from the additional perks that come with it like the ability to leave trader ratings etc.
Look at kingsnake, $100 to get in the door there, and with a list of rules a mile long that can get your ads pulled.

I also think it will help a bit with the scammers and people who are probably not ready to be selling over the internet anyway.
 
Dennis Hultman said:
Will it be for both the forum based and alternative classified sections?
Click to expand...

The alternative classifieds section (photopost) has been restricted to paid membership for a while now. For some reason, that section was being heavily targeted by spammers. That paid membership restriction pretty much ended that problem there.

This is now expanding that requirement to include the forum based classifieds as well.
 
I think this is a good move. Like Clay had said, if you are going to earn money off the site you should be paying something to the site.
 
Does my membership need to be upgraded to continue posting classifieds?
The level I have is not listed any longer.
 
SPJ said:
Does my membership need to be upgraded to continue posting classifieds?
The level I have is not listed any longer.
Click to expand...
Rich posted above that the participant level memberships are grandfathered in. I would assume that would be until they run out as that level has been discontinued.
 
Great idea, maybe this will stop or slow down the ones that create new accounts every so often to try and sell stuff after they have stuck it to someone. :iagree:
 
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