Kingsnake Upped their price to post! Actually doubled it!

[EXCLUSIVELY EXOTICS]

Well I just wanted to let everyone know that kingsnake has doubled thier price to 107 to post a year!!!! I am not kidding! We just recieved an e-mail and well I was quite surprised myself! We use kingsnake often but doubling the price is well I think ridiculous. I didn't want to post anything because I don't want an argument with kingsnake(and have my poster rights relinquished) but I felt everyone should be given a heads up! I think this is a good chance for this site to start charging a fee to post and get some money to where it's well deserved! I know people will say if you don't like it don't post there but I can't see why a price double was nessasary. I could see 10-20 bucks but another 54 come on! I also think that if this site would start charging for posting rights more people would use this site because there would be more control over what is being posted and we wouldn't have to waste our time reading bogus post. If there was more control I think more people would use it! I mean if you had to pay kingsnakes original price of 54.00 yearly most people wouldn't pay to post crap am I right? So come on people show your support and lets get this site to #1! It can be done. If this site could be controlled and ran like kingsnake I would use this more! And I wouldn't mind spending my 54 bucks here! If this price change upsets as many people as I think it might I don't see why people woldn't move over! So if you would pay faunaclassifieds 54 bucks a year to post please reply! Maybe if there were enough people it could happen and this site could become better! Well I am threw venting
Vic Machese
Exclusively Exotics

 

[Monte]

Hmmm

I too, received the noticed, and as one who only sells relatively inexpensive leos, plus a few rhacs and oudera - it's gonna be tough to figure out how to work my "ad budget" - (yeah right!!).

The problem is - would I spend 107 dollars on KS which I know will get a lot of views, because there are a lot of gecko people using KS - or do I spend the money on Fauna - where it seems there are mostly snake people (just my un-scientific, generalized observation). It would probably be tough for me to pay for classifieds in both - and as much as I love this site and the work Rich has done with it - I still would like to sell some of my stuff when the time comes. (We don't have expos in Minnesota, and I'm not driving 10 hours to Chicago to sell 30 geckos! LOL)

The nice thing about KS new prices (if there is any good news) is that you can choose your length of time. Since I seem to only advertise late summer through fall - I might get by with a 6 month account.

I guess I would need to see how Rich is going to set up his price structure for advertising. In addition, one would have to see increased forum traffic, outside of the Original BOI, in my opinion, to see an increased in classified traffic. I think the forum traffic leads to perusing the classifieds. Again, this is only my unscientific hunch. I would appreciate any of your insights.

It does make for some interesting decisions. I would be interested to see what other people think.

 

[Uffern]

Just what is the differance between a regular account and an enhanced account?

 

[HerpVenue]

Well I kinda see two sides.

All I know is doubling the price should help get rid of the guy who does nothing but complain.
Doubling the price will help people to stop and think before pressing the send button.
It will make you think twice before breaking the TOS

then again
Doubling the price will get rid of a number of little people who like to post adds and cause no problems. I am sure these good people far outnumber the "bad"


If you look at the adds (at least in the boa section) I see some that are highlighted. I do not know if those people are the ones that paid double or what not.

 

[NEWReptiles]

I like where it says it cheaper in a way

The hell it is, If we all were paing 54 for a year, Why would I want to pay;

New Rate Structure

1 Month Standard Classified Account $21.55
3 Months Standard Classified Account $37.71
6 Months Standard Classified Account $53.88
12 Months Standard Classified Account $107.75

1 Month Enhanced Classified Account $53.88
3 Months Enhanced Classified Account $92.01
6 Months Enhanced Classified Account $140.07
12 Months Enhanced Classified Account $269.38

 

[HerpVenue]

ya'll better renew while the old pricess ar still on the registration thing

 

[WebSlave]

Man, the price of $54 seems kind of high to me. Heck, if I could get 100 people to pay $25 a year I would he ecstatic with that! That alone would pay for my server.

And what sort of controls are we talking about? Just the fact that someone would have to be positively identified to have a paid account would probably be of value, I guess, but what else? I have a poll up on the adminstrative section about changing the classifieds monitoring, but very few people have provided any guidance.

But to be honest, the price increase from KS comes as no surprise to me. That sort of thing happens when someone believes they have you by the short hairs, in my opinion.

But I'm here to help. If I need to change something, just let me know. If you all want more forums, I can whip them up in a heartbeat. I can make up an index page to reference the forums more easily as well as the classifieds. Heck, I haven't given Lacey Wilson anything to do lately, so I'm sure she'll be glad to help with the design layout. Just give me some feedback.

On the other hand, YOU can help by spreading the word to get traffic in here. If you want people to see your ads, YOU have to talk to people and mention where you are advertising. This will have a snowball effect pretty quickly.

I can't make this site do what you all want without your help and guidance. So talk to me.........

 

[Darin Chappell]

WebSlave,

I think more people from this site need to see what Rich Z. created at cornsnakes.com, and THEN they would be able to see that you might indeed be able to offer them an acceptable substitute to KS.

The "tone" of cornsnakes.com vs. faunaclassifieds.com is different, and so are the users. I liken cornsnakes.com to the forums that KS offers, and I think other sites for other species would be just as enjoyable for those keepers/breeders/enthusiasts.

I know this would be a lot of work for both you and Rich Z., but it may be what people are looking for when they say that KS offers more than this site does. They simply haven't seent he other side of what you offer, and therefore see no reason to sign on completely. I KNOW there are people who use the BOI and have no idea cornsnakes.com exists and vice-versa.

I, for one, am more than willing to pay $25-$50 per year to advertise here. Especially, if the two sites were somehow linked in a more prominent way.

 

[HerpVenue]

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=10985&perpage=10&pagenumber=1

that is the link for the discussions about the classifieds.

 

[Donnie Smith]

I have been told fairly often that kingsnake.com is a private business and as such, JeffB has every right to price his services at whatever he wants. Griping about it will not help any. The only way I can think of to change the amount you pay for ads and clasifieds is to try another site.

-Donnie (morti) Smith,
www.redtailboa.net

 

[Arboreals of the Rainforest]

Richard,
Here are the differences between the two types of accounts.

Standard Account
Post up to 3 ads per day per section
Upload up to 3 photos in each ad
Link to photos in your photo gallery account
Link to photos at your own web site
Link to your own website
Icon on index page to indicate that a photo was uploaded or included with the ad.
Use HTML coding in body of ad
Advanced SPAM fighting features
Store your Name, Email Address, Location, and Website URL to make posting ads quick and easy
Easily relist expired ads

Enhanced Classified Accounts:
Post up to 3 ads per day per section
Upload up to 3 photos in each ad
Link to photos in your photo gallery account
Link to photos at your own web site
Link to your own website
Icon on index page to indicate that a photo was uploaded or included with the ad.
Use HTML coding in body of ad
Advanced SPAM fighting features
Store your Name, Email Address, Location, and Website URL to make posting ads quick and easy
Easily relist expired ads
Listing in bold and on a distinctly coloured background on the section index page.
Thumbnail of uploaded photo or enhanced camera icon (for images attached using 'Optional Image URL' field) on section index page
Counter showing total views of ads

**Coming soon to Enhanced Classified Accounts
Email Notification of expiration of ads.
Ability to select from several background and font color combinations (to appear on index page) when posting ad.
Ability to have a small logo instead of name in text on index page and in ads.

You have more options to customize your ads with the Enhanced Account.

 

[Neil Gubitz]

Well guys.... as much as I love Rich and this site.... I would pay that $120+ to KS in a N.Y. MINUTE!
You ALL know how I basically LIVE on this site.... but, the fact of the matter is.... I have NEVER sold ONE ANIMAL off this site! NOT ONE! Now, I realize my prices are a little higher than most (you've got to PAY for quality), but.... NOT ONE ANIMAL??? Every time I look at some of the replies on THIS site.... it's mostly someone asking for lower prices on the corns and milks....
IMHO, KS provides a more "wealthy" clientele for selling larger ticket items.... if you sell a lot of animals, ONE SALE on KS usually pays for the whole year of advertising.... that doesn't mean that I will never post anything for sale on this site again.... quite the contrary.... I will be increasing the number of ads on this site.... as well as continuing to renew my banner ad every time I have to! If I ever see a change in the number of higher-end buyers on this site.... who knows??? BUT.... until that happens.... I will pay KS whatever they want for advertising.... it's worth it's weight in gold!.... Whatever the price!

....Neil

 

[Uffern]

Wow. I guess making your ad a bit more colorful is worth $150? Jeez.

 

[EXCLUSIVELY EXOTICS]

Well I see it as this. In less than 3 hrs there has been over 148 hits to this topic! Thats alot of trafic! I agree Kingsnake is a great site, but I see a ton of potential for this site! Yes Yes if you don't like it go to another site, Yes he can raise his prices I agree! But What about the things we want changed. Like for one, you can only post in parts that are related to the animals your selling. Not leopard geckos in the boa ads, I'm tired of seeing these topics in the wrong areas. Or go back to the original way of repling to ads instead of hving to type your e-mail address in to be contacted go right to your e-mail and send from there. I mean how many people have gotten messages and tried to reply to the messages and since the person isn't the best typest you have the wrong e-mail address and you cannot send it back? We have sold a ton of animals through KS and yes Fauna hasn't sold that much for us but why? Is it because the control is not there. I hate replying to an ad and getting the run around! I also see it as this way, Every site endorces the BOI anyway, so everyone is coming here to do refference checks anyway so why aren't they searching the site? I just sold a carpet python in less than 1 hr thanks to kingsnake and the bites are usually strong, I enjoy the site, and if things were to stay the same here I will spit out the money to continue posting through them. They have done so much in the past year(Some good, some not so good), but overall it is good. I just see this as an opportunity for this site to go the distance! And if your telling me that if you could get the same response from Fauna that you would from KS you would still pay more money there then switch to here? I'm not trashing KS and I am not saying I don't like the site, what I am saying is though there is a good oppurtunity to start something better here. These are only my opinions!
Vic Machese
Exclusively Exotics

 

[Shanty]

KS is still the cheapest advertising dollar you will spend. Have you looked at the advertising rates in any reptile magazines? I have. Classifieds are more expensive than KS. Small spot advertisements are exorbitant. Now add a phot to one of those--in color. Take out a loan on your home. Full page color advert. Yeah, right.

And have you LOOKED out your window at today's economic climate? You might do that right now. Tie down the hatches folks; those wars that are on the horizon will make the economy surge. Right now the economy is seeping, no oozing, blood.

Just some ranting from a grizzled old man in Texas.

 

[teepee]

A newspaper ad "three day/three line" will cost $22 , and some papers charge as much as $250 for the same ad.
Magazines charge $280-$350/yr for a 20 word ad with no picture.

Internet advertising is the cheapest, reaches the most people, and has the ability to contain pictures and links. These ads have the ability to advertise multiple pages of information if links are used. No one has to buy a magazine or paper to see the ad, and the ad is not limited by distribution. $500 per year is not too much to ask in my opinion. Nowhere else can you reach an international audience. The ability of your ad to reach millions of potential buyers is in itself worthy of the price. The price increase should help to limit the number of scam artists out there lurking for victims also.

Mike Tankersley

 

[Corey Sawyer]

I will say, I was very unhappy when i was notified of the increase. I emailed them and let them know. Sadly I will pay the price, as I have found no other site that sells so much.

All this will do, is make me pass the cost on to my customers. I try and run a low cost operation, inorder to keep my prices down.

Rich, maybe you can give people an increased incentive to pay? light having paid advertisements highlighted? I would gladly send you $25-54 for that, however i have only sold 1 animal on fauna with regular ads.

 

[Rob Hill/Geckos Anonymous]

Having sold animals on both fauna and kingsnake(though granted far more have sold on kingsnake), there are plenty of window shoppers through both(still takes me 20 "I want it" people to get one SERIOUS "I want it" person). I have found buyers on kingsnake to be just as wishy washy as anywhere else. So when it comes to buyer quality, I don't either site can control that.
Also, when it comes to scammers, the higher prices won't deter them any more than now. If they are getting away with their scams at $54 and making money, they will continue to do it at the $107.
And yes, Jeff has kingsnake as a business and as such he can charge as he feels necessary. However, I do not agree with the new price structure as benefitting anything but his pockets(which, hey a business can do that). I don't agree with the massive price increases, but hey as Corey said, I'll probably still spend the money unless something else comes along worth my advertising costs. However, I am sure that Jeff is not going broke on his $54/accountholder he makes and I am plenty sure he's made his costs back over and over and over. I am not sure why he's decided to jack the price up(the new options he has included in both types of accounts don't really seem all that different or special to me compared to what he's had since I signed up), but like I said, I will end up paying it like probably most of us here will.

 

[Russ Lockenwitz]

The long and short of it is that even with the current pricing advertising on Kingsnake.com is still CHEAP.

While I agree that no one likes paying more for services (especially 100% more) it is the premiere site to sell you goods and services. I am in the same boat as Neil when it comes to having sold stuff off of Fauna (not that I have posted that many times though).

What all of this really comes down to though is this:

If you don't like the pricing don't buy it!

 

[HerpVenue]

My opinion and my opinion only.

I keep reading and reading, I just don't see why this was posted on the BOI (no offense)

If you guys think Kingsnake raised their prices because he has you by the b@lls, then by golly he sure does.

If Bob Clark were to double his prices, the customer would go to a competitor and buy from the competitor.
BUT
If Bob Clark doubled his prices and custmers post about it on the BOI and act like it is the end of the world and "cry" (for lack of a better word) about it......then by golly he sure does have you by the b@lls.

What I am trying to say is...if Bob raised his prices.....I am sure I won't see it on the BOI. He can raise his prices if he wants...just like Jeff could ...just like I could...Just like anyone could.

If Kingsnake doubled their prices and a majority of his customers went to another site.....then it is a bad business decision. (and he will see that)
But if they "cry" but still utilized your site, then it is not such a bad decision.

just my thing

ps

I am not sure why he's decided to jack the price up

to fine tune his customer base. Do I want customers who complain a lot and pay $1.00 or do I want customers who shell out $$$ and follow the rules and not complain and behave themselves? He is just looking for a different customer base.