• 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....

Time to evaluate the issue of replies in the classified ad sections.

Has the "no reply" policy in classified ads helped or hindered?

  • Yes. Re-enable all replies to the classifieds sections.

    Votes: 178 50.3%

  • No. Keep it as it is with replies to the classifieds disabled for non-paying members.

    Votes: 127 35.9%

  • Didn't go far enough. Disable replies in the classifieds sections to ALL members.

    Votes: 36 10.2%

  • What? I wondered why I couldn't reply to classified ads!

    Votes: 10 2.8%

  • There are classified ads here?

    Votes: 3 0.8%
  • Total voters
    354
Paid members are people that choose to contribute to the site, in exchange for some added benefits. The coins below the username identify them as such, and also indicate their membership level. There are currently 3 membership levels to which one can subscribe - Contributing, Benefactor, and Endowment (at $25, $100, and $250, respectively). Obviously, the perks increase by level; and it is up to the individual to decide if the value is there for them.
Click on the coins of any member to view the subscription page & access the Paid Members Benefit table (I believe it may be a bit out dated; but you'll get the basic idea).
 
rcarichter said:
Probably a long-shot, but....
What if, when a non-paying member attempts to reply, they get a pop-up type thing that says "Non-paying members cannot reply within the ad. Please contact the seller via pm with any questions". If they're interested in the animal, it wouldn't be off-putting. If they're trolling to gripe about price, etc. it wouldn't give them the attention they're looking for.

Noelle
Click to expand...

I like this idea.
 
hhmoore said:
Paid members are people that choose to contribute to the site, in exchange for some added benefits. The coins below the username identify them as such, and also indicate their membership level. There are currently 3 membership levels to which one can subscribe - Contributing, Benefactor, and Endowment (at $25, $100, and $250, respectively). Obviously, the perks increase by level; and it is up to the individual to decide if the value is there for them.
Click on the coins of any member to view the subscription page & access the Paid Members Benefit table (I believe it may be a bit out dated; but you'll get the basic idea).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info :)
 
I like the idea of having replies allowed. If posters nuisance bump threads then infract them or give them a 30 day ban.
 
I liked when you could reply in the add. Seemed more interactive. Rich you could switch it back, see how it is and if there's problems switch back to how it is now. Just my 2cents.....
 
MesozoicReptiles said:
I liked when you could reply in the add. Seemed more interactive. Rich you could switch it back, see how it is and if there's problems switch back to how it is now. Just my 2cents.....
Click to expand...

That's why the poll is here. To see if I NEED to make a change. Unless there is a substantial indication of a change being needed, I can't see any reason to do so. So far, I don't see that "substantial indication" being reflected in the poll's results.
 
rcarichter said:
Probably a long-shot, but....
What if, when a non-paying member attempts to reply, they get a pop-up type thing that says "Non-paying members cannot reply within the ad. Please contact the seller via pm with any questions". If they're interested in the animal, it wouldn't be off-putting. If they're trolling to gripe about price, etc. it wouldn't give them the attention they're looking for.

Noelle
Click to expand...



I like that idea, saves admins from messages and keeps things as is
 
WebSlave said:
Yeah, I thought that was a good suggestion, and was easy for me to implement myself.

However, dollar to a donut bets that I will STILL get people who will cut and paste that notice and send it to me via email complaining that they cannot reply to posts. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

In my experience, no matter how well worded or abundantly clear your worded message is, some people don't/won't/can't get it or just don't bother to read.

I like the way the classifieds are currently set up & as soon as I can get my money issue fixed, I will get my coins back. :D
 
I actually like the way it is currently set up. Using other forums I generally get pretty tired of thread bumping. Specifically as a consumer I like to see fresh ads up daily and not something that has been bumped for several days/weeks and obsolete.

Maybe there is a way to reply without bumping?

Personally, I don't think pm'ing a seller or contacting them in alternative methods they list is that much of a hassle.
 
it a shame replies cant be done with out the bumping the ad up I seen some nice snakes on there when I am drooling lol. but I know the replies were taken off cause people had to act like little kids with the name calling.
 
the miser said:
Maybe there is a way to reply without bumping?
Click to expand...

There is...but it isn't that simple.
To begin with, that is a global setting - it can't be set like that just for the classifieds, it would be the entire site. While I like BOI/discussion threads being brought up with new posts, I could get over that change...but then everybody would have an outrageously long list of subscribed threads (and I think I remember reading that that can slow down the site). Further, the bumping option for paid members requires the current format (new posts bring threads to the top of the section) - changing that take away that benefit.
 
I say block all. Distracting. People post, email or call for info and you see, still for sale?
 
I haven't voted yet because I'm solidly on the fence between option 1 and 2. I like it well enough the way it is, did slightly miss being able to reply to ads when I wasn't a paid member, yet haven't used that ability since I became one. I don't think not being able to reply has kept me from conducting any buying I was going to do anyway but it's kind of hard to tell if that's hurt my own selling on this site.

So I would be fine if it stayed the way it is but wouldn't mind either if it was opened back up to everyone and see if that improves the possible issues Rich has noticed in the stats. I liked the suggestion to open it up on a trial basis though ...
 
This I think speaks volumes in and of itself. Your paid membership has voiced their opinions ;)
 

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Actually selection #3 would need to be added to selection #2, as it should be obvious that those people would likely have voted for #2 had #3 not been offered. It is highly unlikely that they would have voted for #1.

Please bear in mind that in order for me to consider a change, I would have to see a CLEAR majority voting for the change. Or in this case, a change BACK.
 
I post ads here, and when I do,
I make a link to the ad here,
and paste it in the numerous social media classifieds herp groups
to hopefully drive traffic back here.
It appears to me that perhaps many young herp lovers are not aware of this site.
Scrolling through the ads on this site is considerably easier than trying to keep up with 200 groups+1800 personal business pages on the social media sites.
Never-mind all of the knock-off/imitations of the BOI on social media sites.
Thanks for sharing.
dp
 
I have cut back using this sight by a whole lot since that took place. really hindered the way I did business.Less interaction and constantly have to copy and re post was a hassle and Im sure I lost business because of it.I would like to see it back to the way it was.
 
creative g said:
I have cut back using this sight by a whole lot since that took place. really hindered the way I did business.Less interaction and constantly have to copy and re post was a hassle and Im sure I lost business because of it.I would like to see it back to the way it was.
Click to expand...

Then why did you not pay the small amount to be a contributor? It allows you to bump and highlight your ads. If you lost business and found the reposting process to be a hassle, then not having to repost for a very small amount of money seems like a logical choice.
 
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