About the BOI and it's future here...

Oh LORD!! Can we please move on???

I for one am interested in how to save the BOI not hurt feelings.

Rich needs money. Those of us that want to help have tried our best to donate as much as we can by way of becoming Contributors/sponsors.

What can we do that will encourage others to go that route? Some of the current people are not licensed business breeders and have no actual stake in supporting the BOI? An idea was submitted to keep the Ads free but subtract a part of their sales.. (if that won't create additional needed manpower and money outgo. Another idea would be to perhaps make comments in the BOI limited to those breeders that actually went the route of becoming taxed/ state licensed breeders? *just a thought.

I'd also like to add, that this site has become a second home to me, though I spend more time in the chat room than the forums. I only wish I'd found the site sooner. I discovered Fauna and the BOI after being scammed by good old Bruce Eisenmann on a "het pied" girl. If I'd known about this site sooner or searched sooner, I wouldn't be holding onto a $600 "het for normal" girl right now. I chalk it up to a lesson learned now though, and use the BOI to the fullest extent when making a purchase now. Sure, there's garbage spewed in a lot of threads, but people really wanting to know the truth know to wade through it to get the real story.

Hey Kevin,

Didn't mean to ignore your post.

Originally Posted by kmurphy

I don't agree with making the BOI threads a buyer/seller only thing. In many cases, if not most, the seller is much more experienced than the buyer. If some experienced individuals didn't jump in, even though they are not part of the transaction, the buyer would just get discouraged and drop it.

I don't understand what you mean by "drop it". If you get screwed, you post your story and that's that. There's no judge here. Even with the current system, the idea is that buyers share their story and readers then look at those facts to form an opinion of their own.

Sure, the seller can defend themselves, just like they can here...and then the buyer can respond as necessary.

Having 40 other people posting their opinion isn't going to help anyone win anything. All those opinions, valid or not, only muddy the waters and make it difficult to learn what really happened.

Originally Posted by kmurphy

Also many times the seller's "true colors" don't come out without a little prodding.

I think this is where I have a fundamental problem with this forum as it is right now.

If I'm buying an animal, I don't care to know the seller's true colors...honestly couldn't care less. If he likes to wear his boxers with the hole in the back, good for him. lol

All I care is what his past customers have to say. If I see he has a lot of unhappy customers, I'm not buying from him. If they all say he's a saint, I figure it will probably be OK.

Regardless of how much I respect someone, I'm not really concerned with their opinion of a seller as a person. I just wanna know if his past customers have been happy, or if they've felt cheated...all the rest is just crap I have to sift through to find out what I need to know.

Originally Posted by kmurphy

I wouldn't even consider buy from someone that attempted to limit my recourse if the deal went south.

Exactly, me neither!

Like I said before, it's sad, and a little scary, that a good guy (which he really is) is so concerned that his reputation could be damaged by a post here, even if he does nothing wrong.

The whole point of me posting that, is that it says a lot about the reputation this place has gotten.

If you look at the people who have posted in this section...it is the same people. The others are not reading this thread or are just not replying to it.
That is the whole problem in my opinion, not enough people are aware of the reality of this problem.
While the discussion goes on about how to fix the BOI,is there anyway that this site as a whole can have one main page that in big bold print briefly spells out the issue and has the person click on a link that lets them back into the main section? Or maybe even more of a link, so that Rich is assured people are actually reading of this issue. Maybe they have to type something in the first time they go to access the page for the day ....

I don't know, just a thought on how to get more people responding and brainstorming.

Originally Posted by TattooLost

I kinda take offense to your posts Anthony, because from the start you lumped all "regulars" as the problem on this site.

Hey Richard,

No offense intended!

This thread is long, so I don't blame you for not reading it all.

But if you look back on page 9 (that's what page it's on for me anyway), you'll see where I was careful to point out 99% of the members here use this site properly. And I honestly believe that number is pretty accurate. The only problem is, when you have tens of thousand memberss, even 1% makes for a whole lot of idiots.

I realize there are tons of other forums here, and that many people use those forums regularly. In fact, I think cleaning up this one forum might make those forums more popular.

I've said it once, and I'll say it again. The BOI really is good for all of us, buyers and breeders alike. That's why I'm so pissed off that it's about to go away!

It's just unfortunate that a small percentage of members are such knuckleheads that they've managed to give this website a terribly bad reputation.

I think this site can be one of, if not, the best there is. Hopefully Rich hasn't been beaten down so badly that he no longer realizes that.

OK, I'm outta here for now...

Originally Posted by dragonlvr64

That is the whole problem in my opinion, not enough people are aware of the reality of this problem.

Hey Cindy!!!

Gotta run, but you hit the nail on the head. I had no idea until the other night when someone told me about it. Had I known, I would have been on here raising hell a long time ago!

And to be honest, the reason I didn't know, is because I try not to visit here...I just look at the classifieds and avoid the BOI at all costs because I know if I see one of my friends getting hammered on, I'll get sucked in, I'll get riled up and I'll leave with a headache. lol

Talk soon!
AC

Again, the bad reputation causing problems.

Originally Posted by ajc

Hey Cindy!!!

Gotta run, but you hit the nail on the head. I had no idea until the other night when someone told me about it. Had I known, I would have been on here raising hell a long time ago!

And to be honest, the reason I didn't know, is because I try not to visit here...I just look at the classifieds and avoid the BOI at all costs because I know if I see one of my friends getting hammered on, I'll get sucked in, I'll get riled up and I'll leave with a headache. lol

Talk soon!
AC

Again, the bad reputation causing problems.

Sort of like people are doing now from your posts against their friends? That is not escaping anyone's notice either.

Hey Deborah,good point to get on track with the idea of revenue generators .I still think a small fee for classifieds is inevitable .Maybe even setting up some tier system for length of days and cost .I know some do not want to hear that,but I think the response to Rich's plea has shown that another way is needed .Maybe also a fixed auction page for site donation for raffles too .I know there was a thread going on,but it would be nice to set something up,and even if it has to be independent of this site .Just some random ideas .

Originally Posted by marcus q

Hey Deborah,good point to get on track with the idea of revenue generators .I still think a small fee for classifieds is inevitable .Maybe even setting up some tier system for length of days and cost .I know some do not want to hear that,but I think the response to Rich's plea has shown that another way is needed .Maybe also a fixed auction page for site donation for raffles too .I know there was a thread going on,but it would be nice to set something up,and even if it has to be independent of this site .Just some random ideas .

I agree revenue ideas are essential. But raffles are illegal in some states as gambling. Classified fees? I think that would drive off casual advertisers although I would gladly pay for an ad. Maybe more in the way of banner ads?.

Advertising revenue:

A set fee for registered breeding businesses giving unlimited access to the whole site and unlimited advertising ability, but a percentage of successful sales and Unlimited number of ads but Read Only access to the BOI for unregistered breeders ?