Classifieds section can ONLY be posted in by paid members as of 03/06/07

[jwmckee]

Declined

Seems like the traffic has really declined. Is the someone out ther who keeps track of this the let us know some figures? Still love the sight though!!!

 

[akaangela]

how about bringing the 10 back and allowing photos under the name like one ad per month (or would that take too much time?) I would take that in a heartbeat

 

[akaangela]

sorry for the typo above it should read "photo under the name AND like one ad per month" LOL since I cant edit my adds anymore you will just have to put up with me reposting when I see a typo that spell check doesn't get

 

[jasballs]

sorry for the typo above it should read "photo under the name AND like one ad per month" LOL since I cant edit my adds anymore you will just have to put up with me reposting when I see a typo that spell check doesn't get

you have 8 snakes? Why should they change the rules for you??

 

[akaangela]

lol I didn't say they should change the rule for me. I said it would be nice. I know it wont happen, but how many others out there are like me that don't post often? I wasn't going to say anything because I knew people would get their tails in a knot, but I also wondered how many others out there that posted once in a great moon would re sub if the lower price came back. I like the site, I like the people here. I said I hadn't sold anything, but I did get one trade ( bring this up so people wont accuse me of lying). I was just wondering why such a price hike, but didn't want to get flamed for asking (so now that people have their tail in a knot I will ask).
It makes me sad not being able to pay the 25 dollars, but I have no real reason to as like I said I dont post in the classifieds. Cant a girl wonder?

 

[hhmoore]

I could well be mistaken, but I believe that the $10 Participant level membership came along with having to be a paid member to post on the BOI...now that that restriction is gone, so is that membership level.

 

[boybronco]

I've been a tad dissapointed with the results so far, there are no classifieds

Owell.

 

[Wilomn]

I've been a tad dissapointed with the results so far, there are no classifieds

Owell.

Timing will account for part of this.

I haven't even bred my coloubrids yet. My sand boas are gravid but won't drop for another couple of months. I would imagine it's the same for many.

Come the middle of may, the first part of june, I suspect youll see far more ads with herps for sale.

 

[jasballs]

I think this is an awesome idea. Still to cheap but Great idea..

 

[WebSlave]

I've been a tad dissapointed with the results so far, there are no classifieds

Owell.

What???? Well how can that be?? When so many people pointedly told me that charging for the classifieds was THE way to go to generate revenue for this site?? Now all those people couldn't POSSIBLY have been WRONG, now could they?

Man, what ever is this world coming to?

 

[shrap]

What???? Well how can that be?? When so many people pointedly told me that charging for the classifieds was THE way to go to generate revenue for this site?? Now all those people couldn't POSSIBLY have been WRONG, now could they?

No, no. You quit asking for or listening to the input of members around here long ago. Remember? So all results (good, bad, right or wrong) is solely on you there big guy.

 

[WebSlave]

No, no. You quit asking for or listening to the input of members around here long ago. Remember? So all results (good, bad, right or wrong) is solely on you there big guy.

So in other words, when the vehicle runs out of gasoline in the middle of nowhere, all the back seat drivers are going to be whining that I didn't HAVE to listen to them, eh? It's all MY fault because I should have known better then to listen to them in the first place......... I should have KNOWN that they didn't have a clue about what they were suggesting, eh?

Sorry, but no, that won't wash. MANY of you suggested this over the YEARS here, so now I have decided to see if you all REALLY know what you are talking about. So let's just see...... I am on record saying that I thought it would be a mistake. I got arguments to the contrary. So there is really only one way to find out. I do hope I'm wrong, and not too proud to admit that I could be. A LOT of people have complained that I won't give their ideas a try. So here it is, folks. YOUR idea being implemented. YOUR chance to prove me wrong....

And Sammy, if you check what I said, I believe it was more along the lines of that I was not going to ASK for opinions (or more accurately PERMISSION) any longer before implementing a change. Not that I had stopped LISTENING to suggestions.

And "long ago"? Exactly how long is that, Sammy?

 

[Otter_23]

What???? Well how can that be?? When so many people pointedly told me that charging for the classifieds was THE way to go to generate revenue for this site?? Now all those people couldn't POSSIBLY have been WRONG, now could they?

Man, what ever is this world coming to?

I still believe that you should be a paying member to post classifieds. The people that were posting for free are either going to pony up or not. The problem I see is everytime one person complains or has an issue instead of ignoring it you seem to enjoy the power struggles and arguments and in the process end up offending those who have no issue and have been long time supporters. I honestly believe that when you stop responding to every critism you will save yourself a lot of headache and heartache. You make yourself to available. I may complain that the speed limit in front of my road is 35 instead of 55 but in the end I don't have anyone really listening to me so I have to just accept it. I think a lot of people would just accept it if they didn't get a reaction everytime they complained. When you have one bad apple why not just throw that one out instead of the whole bunch. I think there is way to much knee jerk reactions and spiteful retailation that ends up hurting far more than the intended one.

 

[WebSlave]

I still believe that you should be a paying member to post classifieds. The people that were posting for free are either going to pony up or not. The problem I see is everytime one person complains or has an issue instead of ignoring it you seem to enjoy the power struggles and arguments and in the process end up offending those who have no issue and have been long time supporters. I honestly believe that when you stop responding to every critism you will save yourself a lot of headache and heartache. You make yourself to available. I may complain that the speed limit in front of my road is 35 instead of 55 but in the end I don't have anyone really listening to me so I have to just accept it. I think a lot of people would just accept it if they didn't get a reaction everytime they complained. When you have one bad apple why not just throw that one out instead of the whole bunch. I think there is way to much knee jerk reactions and spiteful retailation that ends up hurting far more than the intended one.

It's a no-win situation. If I respond to the criticisms, then people will complain that I am being argumentative and unwilling to just take their opinions at face value and without question. However, if I don't reply, then people would complain that I was being aloof and uncaring, that their opinions don't matter and I won't even spend the time to respond to them.

So which one is best? Well, I guess it depends....... Seriously, I AM trying to become more aloof and uncaring, because I think that is best for ME, personally. But it's a difficult transition to make, and I may have flashbacks every now and again that may very well APPEAR to be caring. Heck, even READING this Feedback Forum could very well lead some people to believe that I am failing in my efforts to become aloof and uncaring.

 

[Otter_23]

I understand your situation Rich, but I think the quality of the site etc... if far from uncaring. I guess I see it somewhat like being a parent, you make the rules and stick to them, you don't have to explain yourself or defend yourself. It should be known to everyone if they truely don't like it there are other forums they can go to. I think some will complain but their staying here and continued participation speaks louder than the moaning. Some complain just to vent and if it goes unresponded to they just let it go.

 

[Clay Davenport]

A few things to consider. There may be few new classifieds posted now. As Wes mentioned, it's the off season so that's to be expected. A week or whatever it's been is in no way an adequate measurement of the effects of the change.
You're going to have to give it enough time to work itself out. Perhaps classified usage will remain low, I don't know, but I think this is an initial effect, not a permanent one.
I do feel, and have stated before, that a site of this size, with the traffic it draws, should be charging to post in the classifieds. To be perfectly honest anyone claiming to be a breeder who refuses to pay such a nominal fee to post ads is someone I would probably be hesitant to do business with in the first place.
For the ones complaining that they only sell an animal once or twice a year, perhaps they should just use the local paper.

An alternative would be to offer a $10 3 month membership. That would carry most through the breeding season. Another option would be to offer a per ad charge for those with no membership.
What it boils down to is this isn't some obscure site with little traffic. An ad here is worth much more than an ad on say my forum for instance.

For the ones who feel they are somehow entitled to receive this service for free, well too bad. If you think so little of this site that it isn't worth a measly $25 then stick to the no traffic free classifieds elsewhere on the net.
I just personally have little compassion for that attitude. I enjoy this site and have contributed to it since long before there was any requirements, because I believe in the site and what it provides, not just to try to make money from it. The fact is you pay much more than that for a nice dinner. If I sold one hatchling cornsnake a year on this site the membership is paid for.

If I were you Rich, I'd ignore any further posts on the subject and let it lie until fall anyway and see what happens. The complainers will either quit complaining or put up the meager amount of money required to post ads which can generate much more than the initial investment.

 

[boybronco]

The paying by the ad sounds like a great idea IMO. For those of us with only a few animals at least. I'd do that for sure but I dont know how it would be regulated. Like a 1 day pass lol?

 

[Wilomn]

Who was that oh so wise man who said long long ago, back when there were more than that meager trio of follicles gracing the Dome of the Man in charge who said, and quite succinctly too I might ad, Be the King. Be a Good King, but Be the King.

Also, Rich it seems as if you waiver on whether or not the opinions of the masses matter to you. I suspect that if you were to come to a firm conclusion and STICK to it in regards to that issue your life would become considerably more tolerable.

Really.

 

[shrap]

So in other words, when the vehicle runs out of gasoline in the middle of nowhere, all the back seat drivers are going to be whining that I didn't HAVE to listen to them, eh? It's all MY fault because I should have known better then to listen to them in the first place......... I should have KNOWN that they didn't have a clue about what they were suggesting, eh?

'Bout time you came around to our way of thinking!!

Sorry, but no, that won't wash. MANY of you suggested this over the YEARS here, so now I have decided to see if you all REALLY know what you are talking about. So let's just see...... I am on record saying that I thought it would be a mistake. I got arguments to the contrary. So there is really only one way to find out. I do hope I'm wrong, and not too proud to admit that I could be. A LOT of people have complained that I won't give their ideas a try. So here it is, folks. YOUR idea being implemented. YOUR chance to prove me wrong....

Yeah I was one who said it was worth a shot. Not necessarily because I thought it would produce more revenue than paying for BOI access, but because I felt the BOI better served the community being free. It's all trial and error. We both know that. But hey, I ponied up the $25 just so I could advertise.

And a lot of those coins have been bought for no other reason than to just support you and the site. Myself included held a coin before they were needed for BOI access or advertising. Just because we love you man.

And Sammy, if you check what I said, I believe it was more along the lines of that I was not going to ASK for opinions (or more accurately PERMISSION) any longer before implementing a change. Not that I had stopped LISTENING to suggestions.

I dont need to check what you said. I am just giving you a hard time.

And "long ago"? Exactly how long is that, Sammy?

Not real sure, after 3-4 months of temps below 35 degrees time gets kinda fuzzy. The temps are above 60 here today. Its got me feeling kinda frisky.

 

[dzoo]

Food for thought

Here's a major advertiser on KS classifieds (currently has 313 ads up)commenting on why he doesn't advertise on Fauna even though he likes this site:

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showpost.php?p=495341&postcount=33

To get to your main question (finally), it's kinda complicated. We average about 400 ads on any given day. We are a bit low now, because of our move to our new store location. Anyway, I add and delete ads everyday, tryint to keep our listing on kingsnake.com as current as possible. Our website sucks, but I'm going to work on that when I have more time. It takes a lot of time to take care of all my ads on kingnake. I'd like to put my ads on more sites, but I just don't have the time to maintain them. I had to pick which site gave me the most bang for my buck and time, and kingsnake was the logical site, since they get more hits then any other herp site. I'd love to put my ads here as well. I have known Rich for many years, and have a great respect for him and what he's done here. Plus he's just a nice guy. The biggest problem with advertisng here is the speed at which I get on this site. Just as an example, just to read your post, and respond (not counting the typing now) to it has taken me almost 5 or so minutes just for the site to come up on my computer. When I submit this post, it's going to take another 5 minutes for it to show it to me. To read all the pages an this thread alone would take me close to 45 minutes, or even more. Sometimes I just get time outed, and have to start again. I used to read the BOI every singe day, but now, with the lag time, I rarely even sign onto the site anymore. If I had 400 or so ads posted on Fauna, and tried to update or look at all of them to make sure they were still current and valid, it would more then likely take me 5 hours or so to do it. I just don't have the time. I don't have this lag time problem on anyplace but Fauna, and I can't explain why it just happened one day. For years it was quick and easy, and now it is slow and just painful. I love this site, and always have. I just can't take the time needed