Vote***financing Fauna***vote

Amanda - yeah you should have read the entire thread....

Yeah, I totally should have read it. But you know how it is, one minute you start reading a thread, the next minute it's 2am and you have to work the next day... I didn't want to fall into that trap again!

Thanks for clearing that up for me some. Much appreciated.

I think it would be great if the site could continue to offer at least the forums for free or for a very nominal fee. Many people will not pay (I would, but many wouldn't) for the information on the forums. Unfortunately, it is often the animals that suffer when educatinal resources are restricted. For that reason, I would really like to see the forums remain free. However, I think it makes perfect sense to charge sellers to post classifieds. I will gladly pay a fee to use the classifieds forum on this sight. Most of us will more than make our money back on the first sale, so I think that makes total sense. As far as the BOI, that's a tough one. It would be really nice to continue to make that free since the same people who might not pay to get information might also not be willing to pay for the BOI, even though it has proven to be an invaluable resource for increasing integrity and accountability for the herp community. Once again, restriction of information often results in suffering for the animals we all work with, so I would really like to see the BOI remain free if at all possible. In short, I think the fees for the sight should be shouldered by those of us who are making money from the website - the advertisers and the sellers. Just some thoughts... -David

Oops, I made the same mistake Amanda did...I didn't read the whole post before I responded. Well, it would appear my thoughts aren't all the novel. Sorry about that guys... -David

Originally Posted by IAmAll4God

Oops, I made the same mistake Amanda did...I didn't read the whole post before I responded. Well, it would appear my thoughts aren't all the novel. Sorry about that guys... -David

Now where in the heck is that thirty lashes warning point.....

Yeah, sorry...I deserve it...my apologies

Originally Posted by Sasheena

Just had a thought, just a thought mind you, but wouldn't it be cool if people who have ALREADY contributed, got the highest level ($35) until their subscription period ran out, and then they would pay whatever they felt like? Just a thought. Mostly brought about because I HOPE to have some hatchlings to sell this summer/fall, and HOPE to sell them here, but it would BITE just a bit to have to ante up $35.... But really that's not that big a deal.... so now that I think about it, it's no bigee... but still want to know the answer to Mr. Contributor's situation.

Now Sasheena. How do you all suppose I would treat my Charter contributors?

I really enjoy the auctions we can now do to raise money for Fauna. As a hobbyist and breeder, Fauna and its resources are invaluable to me.I try to tell everyone I deal with locally about this site. I am hoping to find some unique things to auction for fauna. I'll contribute when I can. I'll have my web guy add a link to here on my web page. I have no suggestions that differ from what has been offered up. I can only say I LOVE FAUNA

To put it simply:

KS charges $100/year for classified accounts.
Anthing close to that and I'm keeping my advertising here. Many people will still look at it like the cheaper of two options. Instead of being $100 vs free, it will be $100 vs $50. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm still going to go and pay the $50. (All my numbers are EXAMPLE only, except the charge for KS 1 year basic classified account)

As long as the prices are close - I have NO problem paying that to help support the site and be allowed to post classified ads. Granted, I would really only need like a 6 month account in summer, but the theory still applies.

As for general membership fees:
Viewing: I think should be free for all sections of the site. Maybe a "Members Only" forum of classified ads for special deals for fauna members (I was doing $10 discounts on baby bearded dragons for fauna members a while back, similiar discounts could be listed in such a forum). Not to mention a free BOI would be like free advertising to sign up as a member on the site.

Posting:
- Monthly fee gets you posting ability on all discussion forums (including the BOI)
- Classified account gets you posting ability on all discussion and classified forums.
- Maybe two levels of posting (ie one that offers bold and highlighting of unlimited ads, and the other just the basic, lower cost option)
- For those that only want to post on one thread: $1 per thread on the BOI, $.50 on other discussion forums (this should help keep out the jerks, but keep legitamate posts coming). Consider it a Pay-as-you-go system for non-members. Anyone who wishes to post a lot can simply buy a monthly/yearly membership.

Such a system would mean that all paying members could post on the BOI, but if you really had to defend yourself and knew you didn't want a full month of membership, you can still pay-per-thread. It would also keep out the same people signing up under different names because it would cost them $1 for each thread they post in under the new name.

Again, my amounts/lengths of time are examples only.

I'm glad I'm not you Rich... I got enough stuff to worry about, I can only imagine all the stress this site puts on you! I know you'll make the decision that makes the most sense for both you and the site.

The problem with phone numbers are: cell phones and unlisted numbers. Police officers, some federal employees/bank employees, ect have unlisted numbers as a measure of safety. Unlisted numbers would come back as not verified, but you can't really just block all unverifiable.

Cell phones aren't as bad since a reverse phone lookup will still tell you it's a cell phone registered to Cingular (for example), but it can't give any other info.

Not a bad idea though... just too unreliable to count as verification.



New BOI webpage title:
To post on the BOI, you need a SSN, birth certificate, three forms of ID, a bank statement, and a fingerprint ID and full retinal scan everytime you post, DNA sample everytime you log in...
Before anyone yells at me... it was meant as a joke... Lighten up!

OK..not that new, but more detailed!

sorry for posting ideas that have been repeated numerous times... A million lashes for me.