• 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....

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

Simple terms people

BEING SCAMMED ONCE 150.00-4000.00 on avg

BEING SAVED BY LEARNING ABOUT A SCAMMER ON THE BOI....... PRICELESS

Disclaimer;the above statement isn't derived from any scientific polls or other reliable source,IT'S JUST A FACT OF LIFE SOME HERE HAVE EXPERIENCED..hmmm 25.00
 
Thanks for the response web slave got the answers I needed . As far as everyone elses response my question was not directed towards you..
Deidra
 
I put a direct donation button for the BOI at the top of the site. However, if the BOI goes to a contributor member only status, those donations will not give the donator that access.

I have already shut down the BOI theads to being viewable by unregistered guests. They can see the thread titles, but not the content. From projections concerning paid memberships, this will likely be extended to non paid members sometime in the future as the BOI goes to a paid contributor member use ONLY forum.

Sorry guys, but as best I can predict from current indications, that is what the future holds. :shrug01:
 
hhmoore said:
Has anybody told them that? I don't get the impression that the Canadian group ventures out to the rest of the site all that much. Might get a few more contributing memberships, if they knew?
Click to expand...

It's probably true that we don't get to the rest of the site all that much. Our forum is pretty slow so most people don't come around. I rarely come about but I just saw this thread and paid for my subscription.
 
AaronSerio said:
It's probably true that we don't get to the rest of the site all that much. Our forum is pretty slow so most people don't come around. I rarely come about but I just saw this thread and paid for my subscription.
Click to expand...

Thank you....
 
You know I've been here for years and honestly never thought of being a contributing member till I saw this thread ( shame on me ) sorry Rich. I am now and for what this whole site does for us I can't imagine anyone not wanting to help. This has been the BEST site for our reptile world.
Thanks David Pollard
 
Thank you.

Actually I have heard a few other people comment that they thought that FaunaClassifieds was owned and run by some large business conglomerate or something. Nope. Not that way at all.....
 
Im so GD'ed confused. Yes, im a brand new member but I was looking forward to staying around for awhile. Did I show up late for the party?
WebSlave owns and runs the ENTIRE site? Yet the issue is the closing of the BOI, which is only one part of the site albeit an extremely important one.
So... if the financial concerns aren't dealt with, all the discussion forums and classified ads will remain but the Board of Inquiry, where dishonest dealers are exposed, will go away?
Sorry for not understanding, i'm not too sharp. :(
 
BBNewYork said:
Im so GD'ed confused. Yes, im a brand new member but I was looking forward to staying around for awhile. Did I show up late for the party?
WebSlave owns and runs the ENTIRE site? Yet the issue is the closing of the BOI, which is only one part of the site albeit an extremely important one.
So... if the financial concerns aren't dealt with, all the discussion forums and classified ads will remain but the Board of Inquiry, where dishonest dealers are exposed, will go away?
Sorry for not understanding, i'm not too sharp. :(
Click to expand...

Rich's first post in this thread pretty much explains his position...

WebSlave said:
I am retiring my reptile breeding business no later than January 1, 2010, and at that time this site needs to be financially self sufficient to cover the legal and financial liabilities that the BOI is exposing me to for YOU benefit. Let's face it, when I have retired from my reptile breeding business, I really won't need the BOI at all, and if it still exposes me to a lot of financial liability afterwards, it just doesn't make sense for me to bear up under that threat just to help out everyone else here. I just am not willing to shoulder that burden alone when my income will be limited to pretty much my retirement savings. I expect I can make enough money from this site via advertising and the like to help a little with making ends meet, but that could all be wiped out (and then some) if I should have to hire an attorney to fight a lawsuit filed by someone who gets incensed enough over something someone else has posted HERE about them. Yes, I am protected by federal law against legal liability for third party posts, but that only helps me WIN a court case, it is not a protection against the expenses that will be incurred FIGHTING that lawsuit. I would still need to hire an attorney and go to court, regardless. Which could be very expensive. Definitely more than I would want to have to draw out of my retirement funds
Click to expand...
 
Gecko_Den said:
Rich's first post in this thread pretty much explains his position...
Click to expand...

Yes, I read the first post...several times actually. I just had trouble understanding why just the BOI going away while the rest of this massive forum stays active would cause such an uproar. I know its a very useful tool, but since I haven't done dealings here I guess I didn't appreciate its importance.
Thanks
 
BBNewYork said:
Yes, I read the first post...several times actually. I just had trouble understanding why just the BOI going away while the rest of this massive forum stays active would cause such an uproar. I know its a very useful tool, but since I haven't done dealings here I guess I didn't appreciate its importance.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Because it is the only section of this site that subjects me to a lot of legal and financial liability because of what other people post there. If the paid memberships won't cover that financial liability incurred by my allowing them that freedom of expression on this site, then I don't need that hanging over my head when I go into retirement.
 
BBNewYork said:
I just had trouble understanding why just the BOI going away while the rest of this massive forum stays active would cause such an uproar. I know its a very useful tool, but since I haven't done dealings here I guess I didn't appreciate its importance.
Click to expand...

You will understand once you've been ripped off.
 
WebSlave said:
Because it is the only section of this site that subjects me to a lot of legal and financial liability because of what other people post there. If the paid memberships won't cover that financial liability incurred by my allowing them that freedom of expression on this site, then I don't need that hanging over my head when I go into retirement.
Click to expand...

I understand why it makes you legally and financially liable, I meant why it causes an uproar for the other members, but i can answer my own question now. The BOI saves people endless amounts of money by keeping them from being ripped off. Thanks for humoring my stupid questions! :thumbsup:
 
BBNewYork said:
The BOI saves people endless amounts of money by keeping them from being ripped off. Thanks for humoring my stupid questions! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
Correct, many of us found fauna because of the BOI. (after being scammed, finding a thread on the guy here). Many people are upset at the idea of losing their main reason for even being here.
 
As someone had requested, I put a generic "donate" button up at the top of the page for those people who wish to donate without having a membership icon associated with it. Those contributions will also be taken into account when it comes time to make my decision as to whether the BOI needs to go or can stay.

Quite honestly, traffic has been picking up significantly on this site lately. It's really not all that large of a percentage of active members that I need to have contributing in order to give me a somewhat comfortable feeling of being able to weather any financial storm that the BOI will bring me.

But once I make the decision to pull the plug, that is IT, for good. Nothing anyone can say or offer afterwards is going to change my mind. I'm getting quite used to just thinking about retiring and reducing the load off of my mind accordingly with my real business. If the BOI is bringing me more grief and heachaches on top of the liability, I JUST DON'T NEED it in my life any longer. I really don't know how to stress that any stronger than I have been.

Yeah, maybe someone else will pick up doing this, and more power to them. But I will bet that they will be in the same place I am pretty quickly. No one can afford to run a BOI type of forum without substantial financial backing. Heck, I have gotten several threatened lawsuits just in the last few days, I guess from people who believe my resolve has weakened now to just do their bidding from their legal threats. They obviously don't know me very well... :reddevil: Hell, my funk over this site was broken when someone tried to destroy it with a DDoS attack. So yeah, go ahead and try me.... :kaboom:
 
kingsnake1 said:
I finally got opf me arse and paid my $25.00. Hope it's not too late to help.
Click to expand...

Thank you.

I honestly don't know which way I am going to bounce with this. My inclination is to just shut down the BOI and be done with it, but I think that wouldn't be fair without giving everyone an opportunity to convince me that this forum has substantial value to the majority of the people who come here to use it. Considering that I will be getting a substantial portion of the headaches from this forum remaining here, and all the real benefits will be for everyone else who utilizes the BOI, I really need a substantial incentive to keep up with the headaches.

So that is what I am offering here and now: An opportunity for you all to keep the BOI. But I hope everyone understands fully that this window of opportunity will not stay open much longer. Perhaps a lot of people aren't aware of this taking place, so it may be worthwhile for everyone here who DOES want the BOI to continue to spread that word so other people can make their voices (and contributions) heard and counted. After the fact, having a bunch of people tell me that they just didn't know the BOI was in jeopardy isn't going to carry much weight with me. If those people didn't come by here enough to stay on top of the news, then certainly the BOI wasn't all that important to them anyway.

So with that in mind, right not it's too early to tell if the contributions now are too little, too late or not. I will say that we really aren't all that much closer to the hoped for goal of contributors yet. And that clock IS ticking....
 
WebSlave said:
Thank you.

I honestly don't know which way I am going to bounce with this. My inclination is to just shut down the BOI and be done with it, but I think that wouldn't be fair without giving everyone an opportunity to convince me that this forum has substantial value to the majority of the people who come here to use it. Considering that I will be getting a substantial portion of the headaches from this forum remaining here, and all the real benefits will be for everyone else who utilizes the BOI, I really need a substantial incentive to keep up with the headaches.

So that is what I am offering here and now: An opportunity for you all to keep the BOI. But I hope everyone understands fully that this window of opportunity will not stay open much longer. Perhaps a lot of people aren't aware of this taking place, so it may be worthwhile for everyone here who DOES want the BOI to continue to spread that word so other people can make their voices (and contributions) heard and counted. After the fact, having a bunch of people tell me that they just didn't know the BOI was in jeopardy isn't going to carry much weight with me. If those people didn't come by here enough to stay on top of the news, then certainly the BOI wasn't all that important to them anyway.

So with that in mind, right not it's too early to tell if the contributions now are too little, too late or not. I will say that we really aren't all that much closer to the hoped for goal of contributors yet. And that clock IS ticking....
Click to expand...

Too bad you couldn't put one of those little thermometers on the site. Like the ones that libraries use, when they are doing a fund raiser. As they get closer and closer to their $$ goal, it gets filled in. It doesn't have to have any numbers on it, if that was something you are worried about. It would give us something to shoot for, a goal anyway?!?! Right now, we are just shooting into the dark and/or we have to keep buggin you for numbers and you have enough headaches, as is.

Just a thought,

Wayne
 
Still haven't finished it.

I haven't even read the whole thread, but this is sad. the B.O.I. has been extremely helpful to me and many people that I know, as well as many people nationwide (and in some cases, internationally).

Rich, you are a great man, and I would hate to see your retirement get leeched away by keeping the B.O.I. going on top of whatever legal fees it may incur.

Here is my suggestion, and I am sure it has been suggested before, but I have a couple of things to add.

Try to make a little extra money to create a whole new site (but still some sort of subsidiary of Fauna), that is strictly the B.O.I. No other forums, no other rooms. If possible, some how make it translate your memberships here over to the B.O.I. site. This would make a lot more people willing to support it.

Then, sell the B.O.I. site to someone who is willing to take on the financial and legal responsibilities. No one wants to see the B.O.I. go. If it moves down the street, people would still get to go see it, in a manner of speaking. If you do take this idea into consideration, let us know. I'm sure we could bring up paid memberships as well as donations in order to make it happen...
 
Back
Top