Well Rich, here's the way I see it...
This site is an incredible tool!! MOSTLY for the BOI, but that's because the rest of it needs to grow. Here's an idea, transfer the BOI to:
http://www.boardofinquiry.com (which it seems you already own b/c I typed it into my webbrowser and came up with a message from you) and transform this site into KS competition. Link the two together so they can feed off one another (and add a link to your corn snake site as well, I didn't even know you had one until recently - this thread I think).
And actually, I agree with Adam when he suggested the following...
1) Forums
2) Keep it free for the time
3) Hosting
4) Find a site designer to work on a % and build sites for people
5) Choices, offer something from the little guy wanting a $100 site up to the big dogs. Offer free hosting with a size limit and banner ads up to whatever needs somebody big will have. People like to choose!
6) Caresheets
7) DIY Section
8) Information
9) Forums
10) Naked women
He listed forums twice, but they are important! (minor oversight, I'm sure

)
Free is good. And the idea about turning the BOI into a pay service... BAAAAAAD idea. It is an incredibly useful tool as it is, however it does tend to suffer from the "good 'ol boy" syndrome once in a while as well as being a breeding ground for "bandwagoning". If it's turned into a pay forum, it WILL be useless because it will be a clique.
Hosting is a great idea! If I didn't get 10MB of free space with my ISP and I actually had a need for a site, I'd use FC to host my site in a heartbeat!
Caresheets!!!! That is SUCH a great idea. Think of all the misinformation spewed on a daily basis on the forums, all because people read some B.S. care sheet. Ask the best of the best to write the care sheets for you (and give them credit), post them onto a message board for further editing and feedback, and then make an EXTENSIVE care sheet section to the website.
A DIY is a good idea, but given the target audience, MANY disclaimers should be made throughout any instructions given. Basically, my thought is: if they need a caresheet, perhaps they shouldn't be doing other things themselves. But I think that some info like probing, or incubating eggs, etc... would be helpful. (With the probing, maybe the disclaimer could be: have an experienced individual help you, etc...)
And down to naked women, ALWAYS a good idea, lmao.
And Rich, you're classifieds section (which I'm guessing is where you feel the biggest problem of your site stems from based on your response) is good. It just is yet to see the traffic needed to move animals in the amount of time KS does. Give it time man, it WILL come around. And as for the idea of mirroring ebay's postings, I don't like that idea at all. Pinning some ads at the top while others get bumped from page to page just isn't fair. It will also create the idea in some buyers mind that the ads at the top are the ads with the best animals, when in fact, that may not be the truth or it could be the exact opposite of the truth (of course, the BOI could wipe that problem out quickly).
And something I just thought of, you may want to encourage the people posting ads to post a link to their feedback on the BOI (similar to ebay's link to feedback). Of course, you run into the problem of people not posting links to bad threads on themselves, but, it was just a recommendation/idea.
When you said...
From what I am hearing here and elsewhere, it is the traffic of the buyers that the people willing and able to pay the bills want the most.
... you may want to consider the fact that this site is relatively new. You will get the traffic eventually if you keep things innovative, attractive, fun, exciting, and truthful. And options! Options are always good!
Also...
Seems to me that it would be rather foolish to continue on my current course when it is very obvious that the financial angle is topmost in most people's minds here. Sorry about being blind for so long to that fact.......
I disagree again. I like this site the way it is and if you don't want to change it, I (and I'm sure others as well) will continue to see it as a valuable tool. That may seem weird given the context of the rest of this post, but basically what I'm saying is you can keep it the same and keep me happy, or you can expand on what you've got and capitalize on the mistakes of others and make this site better. Your choice, I'm fine with either.
Anyway, this site has a LOT of room to grow and better itself and I'd hate to see it taken down. It's run properly, it's easy to navigate, and it's extremely useful.
Best of luck with whatever path you choose for it, Rich.
JB