• 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....

Is the BOI worth the $10.00 minimum?

Is the BOI worth the $10.00 minimum?

  • Yes

    Votes: 77 78.6%

  • No

    Votes: 21 21.4%
  • Total voters
    98
boi

Thanks Jim
thats what iwas trying to say. i admit i have a problem with putting thoughts in to words. here is a example of what iwas talking about
QUOTE=
]I think he's ignoring you because he thinks youre an asshole. Call him at the office.....its toll free. 1-800-I81-U812. Ask to speak to Mike Hunthertz.
this reply was from a senior at another site
 
Hmmm yeah that type of reponse by someone of obvious wit would make me refrain from posting on such a classy site.
 
fedupdon said:
Thanks Jim
thats what iwas trying to say. i admit i have a problem with putting thoughts in to words. here is a example of what iwas talking about
QUOTE=
]I think he's ignoring you because he thinks youre an asshole. Call him at the office.....its toll free. 1-800-I81-U812. Ask to speak to Mike Hunthertz.
this reply was from a senior at another site
Click to expand...

Don, I am sorry you had a bad experience at another site. I did a search on 'Mike Hunthertz' and it pulled up an Office Max related site, if that is where you received your comment, I would think that from the getgo, anyone would be cautious about posting there. (If that was not where you got your comment, don't post there, lol).

In any case, the BOI, unlike sites which totally call for opinion, is business based. I myself have saved money by searching names and reading, prior to making purchases.
 
lucille said:
I did a search on 'Mike Hunthertz' and it pulled up an Office Max related site, if that is where you received your comment, I would think that from the getgo, anyone would be cautious about posting there. (If that was not where you got your comment, don't post there, lol).
Click to expand...
Ummm...Lucille...speak that name aloud five times fast and see what you are saying. If that doesn't work, try 10 times.

Don,

That type of response would also make me shy about posting.
 
Jim O said:
Ummm...Lucille...speak that name aloud five times fast and see what you are saying. If that doesn't work, try 10 times.

Don,

That type of response would also make me shy about posting.
Click to expand...


I'm too innocent for that stuff...... :blush:
 
I voted Yes. J and S Inverts hasn't been on this forum for a long time but we LOVE IT. Not only to sell things, but to post (when I have time) on different areas. Only thing I can say bothers me, is there is just SOOO much on here, I never have enough time to just sit and read everything I want too. :) I start reading one thing, then get busy, come back, and more posts have been made, so I have to start from the beginning. It's a never ending cycle.. :rolleyes: :) All in all, we love the site, for everything it offers. It should be required people have to pay to post on the site, with as much info that's on here. There are enough "free sites"

Just my little opinion.

Sheila
 
The BOI may not be the "perfect" solution but I think it has saved me from making some serious mistakes in purchasing animals and I feel that it is worth the price of admission just to keep it as an ever updating online resource. If you have used it just a single time to look up someone that you were going to buy something from, wether you followed through with the purchase or not, then you owe a debt of gratitude for having access to that information.

If you are going to be in the online reptile biz, I think it foolish not to have an account here.

I am always straight with anyone doing business with me and I want them to post positive things about me and I want to be able to post positive things about them as well.

Of course I want to be able to post negative things so that I can encourage a potential scammer into doing the right thing or to warn my friends and other members of the community to stay clear of them.

I value it enough that anyone making a purchase from me will be given a $10 discount/rebate if they open an account here so that we can trade feedback. I'm proud of my dealings with others and it's good to be able to have a place to show off my reputation :D
 
We are a very small group of individuals in the grand scheme of things. Making people pay will only scare away the newer people to the hobby.
 
Brian,
Although I understand and respect your opinion - I have to disagree.
The Board of Inquiry has proven itself as an indispensable tool in regards to internet transactions. It has saved and reclaimed thousands of dollars in monies that would have otherwise been lost to those people who choose to prey on people within this industry.

The $10.00 charge serves this site by helping to keep a large amount of the nonsense in check. Since the change to a Pay to Play site, the BOI has only improved.

If you really want to be part of the reptile community and help to keep it safe from the scammers - it is a small price to pay.
 
Since implementing this plan, I have heard arguments and recommendations that are all over the map about it. Some even recommended shutting the BOI completely to nonpaying members, claiming that they were taking advantage of the situation by being able to freely glean the wealth of knowledge that paid members were contributing. Frankly, I am not willing to take that large step, at least not now with all the information I am using for this kind of a decision. My feelings on the matter are that sooner or later, those people using that facility of the BOI for free will reach a point whereby the information they want is just not available, and they will need to become a paid member in order to post a query of their own. I guess it will mean that at that time, then the $10 minimum fee will be worth it to them. Otherwise they are on their own, and perhaps THEN they will find the $10 membership fee worthwhile to warn other people of their poor choices.

Quite honestly, I seriously doubt that anyone can say that the amount of bs that permeated the BOI prior to the paid memberships being implemented has not been reduced drastically. Has some beneficial information also been lost? Certainly, due to some people just taking a stance of feeling that the BOI was some sort of right due to them and with that in mind, just declined to participate at all. To them I say that I am sorry, but I could see no other way for the BOI to lose the bad reputation it was developing and to get back on the road of credibility and overall usefullness. It was headed for a fatal collision and I had to just grab the wheel and yank it to the center of the road. The trick on my hands was to not yank the wheel too far to the other side. Honestly, I felt that the site was just out of control completely. Managing the bs on the BOI had almost become a full time job and I was pretty close to just yanking the emergency brake before the inevitable crash took place.

Yeah, I would like to be able to say that I know exactly what I am doing, have a plan in mind for the future, and these are all steps I laid out long ago in some master plan I made up when I started this site. But that just is not the case. I am doing this with "seat of the pants" decisions on what at the moment is needed to make it run better and smoother. Unfortunately nearly everything I decide on will be judged appropriately only after the dust has settled and we can see what the results have been in retrospect. Every website is different and every conglomeration of participants is different as well. There are no manuals to refer to for something of this nature.

I am only trying to make the right guesses as many times as I can, and hope I don't lose too many people in the process. NO changes I make will be 100 percent appropriate for 100 percent of the people here, but changes are necessary when the time arrives that this becomes clear to me.
 
critical bill said:
For the minimum of $10 bucks a year...you just couldnt buy a more useful tool than the BOI. JMO....
Click to expand...

ditto.gif

I bet there is not one member that has not obtained at least 10 bucks worth of info just reading through the BOI. It's a small enough price for what you get in return.

My $0.025
Rick
 
Don't get the wrong impression. I agree that the BOI is a very valuable tool; for both research and for rectifing transactions gone bad.
My train of thought is, we need to introduce as many people into our hobby as possible. The more people involved; the better it will be for all of us.
I personally feel that many people that are considering a first purchase will shy away from a $10 fee and in turn (may) get ripped off. Can everyone involved in this form, HONESTLY (loyalty aside) say, if you were looking at purchasing something for the first time, had never heard or seen a BOI, consider paying to look at one not knowing what it is all about?
I don't think you would. I know i wouldn't.

Is the poll closed? I can't find where to vote.

I have to say NO.
 
Richard,
One thing that you may be overlooking - you can look at the BOI all you want without paying a dime. The $10.00 membership fee is for posting privileges.

At this point, there is a pretty substantial database here of both the good and the bad. Anyone new can probably find what they're looking for on existing threads. Not to mention, that the other informational forums are free.

If someone new is looking for information on someone not already listed here; chances are they are considering a transaction, and the $10.00 fee to post is a pretty cheap insurance policy.

However you look at it - it's a bargain.
 
HighWaterHerps said:
Don't get the wrong impression. I agree that the BOI is a very valuable tool; for both research and for rectifing transactions gone bad.
My train of thought is, we need to introduce as many people into our hobby as possible. The more people involved; the better it will be for all of us.
I personally feel that many people that are considering a first purchase will shy away from a $10 fee and in turn (may) get ripped off. Can everyone involved in this form, HONESTLY (loyalty aside) say, if you were looking at purchasing something for the first time, had never heard or seen a BOI, consider paying to look at one not knowing what it is all about?
I don't think you would. I know i wouldn't.

Is the poll closed? I can't find where to vote.

I have to say NO.
Click to expand...

The person who set up this poll set it to expire after 120 days had elapsed from the original post. I reopened it.

As mentioned earlier, ANYONE can view the information within the BOI without being a paid member. I would think that this capability would suffice for most people to make the determination of whether or not it would be worthwhile for them to participate or not. Many people will quite likely never have to actually pay for a membership in order to get whatever it is out of the BOI that they came here for.

But let's look at your question from another angle. Would those new people be better or worse off without the BOI? Does the fact that it exists at all to cover many possible sellers they may consider doing business with be considered a help or a hindrance to them? If the person or business they are thinking about buying from is NOT listed anywhere in the BOI, is the peace of mind that could come from getting feedback from the BOI first worth that $10 fee or not to them?

Personally I fail to see how there being a minimum $10 membership fee for a person to post on the BOI will be much of an influence at all for someone new considering getting into this business. I'm sorry, but I just can't imagine someone being interested in buying an animal from someone taking a look at the BOI and thinking "Gee, I can't post there without paying a membership fee, so darn, I'm not going to get into this stuff at all." It is not like this is any sort of requirement for anyone. In a lot of cases, it's just like a bit of insurance which is free to most people, but some people may have to pay in order to get what they want out of it. Many others have decided to pay for it simply because they could see the possibility that without doing so, the BOI would just not be around much longer without it.

All being said and done, quite honestly, I think new people getting into this might actually feel a little bit more secure in their transactions knowing the BOI is here if they need it. It's kind of like insurance that you can at some time buy and then apply after the fact if you find yourself in a pickle over a transaction you took part in. Coverage can be considered to be retroactive. There are no restrictions on posting in the BOI that says you can only post about issues that take place AFTER you have become a paid member. If you buy something and get burned, even years ago, the BOI is here for you to state your case after you then pay the membership fee. Maybe then that $10 fee would be worth the shot at resolving your problem. It may or may not help, but each person would have to decide whether it is worth it to them to take that shot or not.

I don't see any reason to reiterate my reasons for putting the paid membership plans into effect almost a year ago. There is quite a bit of that sort of information within the FaunaClassifieds Feedback Forum that you can read up on if you have that inclination. Nothing that has happened since the implementation has changed my point of view about my reasons stated at that time.
 
HighWaterHerps said:
Don't get the wrong impression. I agree that the BOI is a very valuable tool; for both research and for rectifing transactions gone bad.
My train of thought is, we need to introduce as many people into our hobby as possible. The more people involved; the better it will be for all of us.
I personally feel that many people that are considering a first purchase will shy away from a $10 fee and in turn (may) get ripped off. Can everyone involved in this form, HONESTLY (loyalty aside) say, if you were looking at purchasing something for the first time, had never heard or seen a BOI, consider paying to look at one not knowing what it is all about?
I don't think you would. I know i wouldn't.

Is the poll closed? I can't find where to vote.

I have to say NO.
Click to expand...

A person "considering a first time purchase" can do all of the research they want to do for free...they don't have to pay anything to look at it and "find out what it's all about". And more than likely, if they are a first time purchaser, they don't have any "transaction gone bad" stories to post.

In the case of someone who has already had a "transaction gone bad", it would be worth much more than the $10 fee to have a chance at getting resolution and my money back through help available on the BOI.

As has already been said many, many times here......the fee I paid to become a member here has already SAVED me much more than that just from the information I've learned here.
 
Well said WebSlave. Maybe i should read the thread over again.
OK, it is worth $10

Do you deem it necessary for someone to pay the fee if they need to defend themselves in the BOI?
 
If there is a negative post about you in the BOI, all you need to do is email Rich, and he will give you a limited "free pass" to defend yourself.

Personally, if I truly believed I was in the right, and someone was "slamming" my name on the BOI, again I think it would be worth the fee to defend my name......but again, you can be granted a free pass for that purpose. I think Rich has been more than fair in situations like that. JMHO.
 
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