Well, I think I said it in another post, but I don't pay for the use of KS so can't say that any of it currently affects me personally. Who knows, if I were to apply for an account now, I might be told to take my money and shove it. Who cares.
I voted in 2 areas. I can agree with a majority of things Jeff has done simply because, as someone involved in more than one business from the time I wake up until I go to sleep, I understand his position. He deal with various expenses such as payroll, operating expenses, advertising, and numerous other financial needs that his business needs to stay alive. It is HIS business and his decision that we're all facing. If we don't like it enough, we don't have to use it. Trouble is, he's got everyone by the short hairs right now. How'd he manage this? Simply by being there first and thinking big enough early on to establish himself as the uncontested front-runner. And, nobody has come up with anything to significantly challenge him at this time, so he pretty much as free reign. Is that bad, depends on how you look at it and from which perspective.
Now, my problem with it revolves around a slightly different issue. This was, roughly, a 100% price increase with higher prices offered for the "bells and whistles." Fine. But, take a look at all other areas of the economy in the US and see where any goods or service have had a 100% price increase recently. Heck, look back over 2 years and you're very unlikely to find anything significant which has has a price increase of this nature. In fact, many goods and services have seen price decreases due to the lagging economy. So, how does this look from that view point? It looks terribly suspicious and ill-timed. I'm thinking that any business advisor would have suggested a smaller increase or taking other steps to reduce the need for such a large increase in fees based upon economic models. I read yesterday that the stock markets have had the worst 2+ years since the depression era in regards to falling values (granted, not the same end numbers, but the gist of the article showed a disturbing trend.) Then I look at this particular price increase and it just doesn't look wise in the long-range picuture to me.
Some have likened Jeff to a tyrant or dictator because of his practices and unchallenged position as the leader in reptile classifieds. But, look at it historically and you'll see that if he is indeed a tryant or dictator, he's likely poitioned himself for a fall. And the general public (his paying consumer base) will be the one that decides whether or not he remains in power. Window shoppers don't pay his expenses. That is left to the sellers who pay for the service of listing on his site. When, and if, those users decide, with their hard-earned money, to "dethrown" the king of reptile classifieds, then they will have spoken in such volume that he will either have to operate differenty, or not at all. Guys like me who have never had a KS account will not affect him one way or the other. How can I change this? I probably can't, but I could take a stand and refuse to purchase from any seller, regardless of where I find the ad, who advertises on KS at any time. Will this be difficult? Probably at this time. But, as the new price increases begin to affect people, it may get easier. If not, then I'd only be hurting myself and my own business. There's just not enough information available yet to decide if I'd want to attempt this particular method of trying to affect his decision.
So, that's it for now. All I know is that Debbie and I have decided we can't afford to pay those fees at this time AND we have no real need to try. As stated in another seciton, if we do reach that point later, we'll look at ALL the options available to us and weigh them into the equation from a business/economic standpoint.
David
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