• 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....

Other members subsidizing paid memberships?

WebSlave

WebSlave

It is what it is, but certainly not what it was.
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This option was brought up to me by another member who asked about offering a paid membership "bonus" to this site to customers when they purchased items from them. I can see where there could be opinions on this practice that will be both pro and con, and figured it was worth discussing to see what people thought about it.
 
I think it sounds like a great idea~
But maybe those paying for the membership for thier customers should include a short paragraph in their "gift" that explains that while it would be lovely if customers chose to leave positive feedback on the gift giver~ it is not obligatory (is that a word?)
 
I think people love to get "bonuses" with their purchases.

There is a Cajun expression "lagniappe" meaning 'a little something extra' and is a tradition in Louisiana for certain businesses to add in a little gift of appreciation.

I think it is a terrific idea, and I think the vendors here would see that this might make a lasting positive impression on their customers. It might be gifted for items of some expense, as it might not be practical for items costing only a few dollars.

I believe it would be money well spent. A discount of $10 off a $200 snake might be forgotten fairly quickly; but an entire year of Fauna is a gift that will remind the customer of what a good vendor he chose for an entire year.

Would it be practical, or possible, to set the system up so that if a vendor does offer this bonus, the purchaser could be automatically notified by email? Perhaps with a paragraph like Cheryl explained, above?
 
Obligatory... yep, that's a word..

and hmmm... I can see that there are different takes on this issue...

Mr. SuperDooper (good guy by all accounts) offers this up as an incentive... figures that the more people who are members of fauna, the more well-educated people are, the less people the scammers out there are able to maneuver. This is a good thing for all concerned, and when the one year membership is paid up, hopefully you have a member for life... or at least you have someone who will probably pay up if/when they want to use the site.

Mr. SuperSCAMMER (bad guy by all accounts) offers this up as an incentive... figures that if he gets a bunch of people to say that their two-bit transaction went well, those other fifteen-gazillion bad guy threads/posts will be buried and they might be able to get some more fodder-for-scamming.

In the first case, all is well for the BOI. In the second case.... I still think all is well for the BOI... because most people with any brain cells will start to get a feel for the BOI, and eventually the BOI will teach them a thing or two about good and bad deals. More bad guy posts will abound, and more people will end up learning about fauna.

I see this as increasing the membership of fauna (good AND bad) and in the end things will work the way they are supposed to.

Just my RAW thoughts on the matter.
 
Bad guys will *always* find a way to twist something positive in a way that benefits them, even if that's a negative way. (Clear as mud?) Yet, it's a risky proposition for them. If they're going to scam, there's an outside chance their victim won't pony up the $10 to tell the world about it. If they pay it for them....well, that would take some cajones.

I think it's a great idea, and another opportunity for the good guys to outshine the bad. I'm all about that!
 
I think it's a great idea!

In regards to people paying their customers to post Good Guy posts, Who cares. If they earned it, They deserve it. How can you tell (when the Paid Membership is in place) if I pay for someone's membership to post in my favor? Ya can't, So this idea can only have minimal negative effects, if any at all, because they'll already be present.

After that, they'd still have a membership and can post experiences with other people they do business with. And to be honest, You couldn't pay me 50$ to post a good guy post if I feel that I've been taken advantage of, or a persons business ethics leave something to be desired.

I think that the sales pitch is, they get the membership, not that the experience will be a pleasurable one. The seller has to earn that assessment from the buyer. The intention shouldn't be to hand out memberships after the fact (if the deal went good), and not give them out if it goes bad. That would be wrong, one-sided and definitely wouldn't benefit the BOI. People that stack the cards in their favor will eventually be exposed for their dishonesty anyway.

I would definitely support this is if went into effect. I think we're on the same page Sasheena on this one.

As far as increasing the membership of Fauna, I can only see it as good. Because

1. It still generates revenue for this site.
2. The accountability standards will increase.
3. You're bringing new people to the table and with new people comes new Ideas.
4. Last but most important, this site will still be here to serve our community.

There will always be bad seeds, but those seeds are going to be just a little more expensive now.

Here's my Vote :beer:

Paul B.
 
lucille said:
I think people love to get "bonuses" with their purchases.

There is a Cajun expression "lagniappe" meaning 'a little something extra' and is a tradition in Louisiana for certain businesses to add in a little gift of appreciation.
Click to expand...


Sure doesn't happen in arms deals, strip clubs, and importing illegal aliens to work in the fields.....

So say I buy a product from X vendor. That vendor pays a membership fee for this site? Does X vendor get a price break in membership prices? Is X vendor adding the price in their product as "Hidden costs"?
 
bcfos said:
Sure doesn't happen in arms deals, strip clubs, and importing illegal aliens to work in the fields.....

QUOTE]


I couldn't tell ya, Brian; those are all beyond my experience, lol.....
Click to expand...
 
Well it does happen in arms deals every now and again. I've had people throw in ammunition, extra clips, holsters, and what not. Usually this only happens in private sales and not from dealers, however.

And no, the vendor is not being subsidized to offer those memberships. Perhaps some people are just interested in helping promote this site, hard as it may be for some people to believe.
 
WebSlave said:
Well it does happen in arms deals every now and again. I've had people throw in ammunition, extra clips, holsters, and what not. Usually this only happens in private sales and not from dealers, however.

And no, the vendor is not being subsidized to offer those memberships. Perhaps some people are just interested in helping promote this site, hard as it may be for some people to believe.
Click to expand...



It isn't hard to believe Rich. I just like getting the facts straight because I hate those hidden costs (although I am the king of putting them in with certain utility companies).

And I have had some free ammo and maybe a hardcase or two thrown in by private sellers, but with dealers or wholesale forget it..
 
bcfos said:
Sure doesn't happen in arms deals, strip clubs, and importing illegal aliens to work in the fields.....
Click to expand...

Maybe should try another strip club? :) Course there are some bonus' one wouldn't want :bolt01:
 
WebSlave said:
Well it does happen in arms deals every now and again. I've had people throw in ammunition, extra clips, holsters, and what not. Usually this only happens in private sales and not from dealers, however.

And no, the vendor is not being subsidized to offer those memberships. Perhaps some people are just interested in helping promote this site, hard as it may be for some people to believe.
Click to expand...

I agree with this statement...I have definitely had some extras thrown in when purchasing firearms...and usually through smaller gun shops...just good people who want to make their customers happy...

Which it sounds like in this case as well...

I think this is a great idea from a business point of view and an industry wide view...and I wouldn't worry about scammers...so far this site has been an invaluable tool for weeding them out regardless..this would definitely help keep more people informed...and educated...and get more of the herp community involved.
 
I think this would be a great idea.

+ This would be a great idea for bringing more people to the site and once they are memberws for a year chances are the will find it worthwhile to renew at thier expense the following year.
Also the members here that advertise and sell on other sites would be bringing people here that probably have never known that this site existed. I see this as a win X win situation for every one involved.
Rich might even consider throwing in a "counter" down next to the rep points and warning point for the members brining in more members to show how many new members each of us has brought in to the site and at the end of the year throw a bone to the member that brought in the most new members as a great incentive for everyone. I can see it now...In big bold letters...

Fauna Classified Membership Drive Contest
Fauna classified is proud to announce that it is offering a free "to be decided by rich" to the member who brings in the most new members in "time frame??"
To be entered in the contest you must be a paying member of fauna in good standing. All new memberships must be payed for within the contest time frame. All new memberships must have unique I.P. addreses to be entered into the contest. Lucille the "god Mother" of fauna will answer any and all questions concerning the contest in the "so and so" forum. ( I figured I would throw lucille into it to keep rich's time free to handle other things, plus Lucille loves stuff like this). Every contestant that brings in 15 (150.00) new members during the contest will recive a free "contributers" membership for one year at the time of thier yearly renewal. The contest and rules are subject to change or cancellation at any time at the discretion of the webite administration.


Rich has got to think this would be a great idea since you will have a lot of people trying to win something and support the site and every new member brought in will mean a minimum of 10.00 for the site with the potential of more after the new member finds out how valuable the site is.
 
Hmmmmm.

If a seller is offering a paid membership to fauna as a bonus to customers when they purchase from him, what does he do when a customer is already a member? Does he do like my ISP does when they offer half price to NEW CUSTOMERS ONLY: tell existing members they are sol? Because it really makes me grind my teeth when that happens.
 
leaftail said:
If a seller is offering a paid membership to fauna as a bonus to customers when they purchase from him, what does he do when a customer is already a member? Does he do like my ISP does when they offer half price to NEW CUSTOMERS ONLY: tell existing members they are sol? Because it really makes me grind my teeth when that happens.
Click to expand...

Well, depends on how you look at it I guess. Some places rum promotionals in order to get NEW business, so that's why they offer those incentives. In this case, the vendor offering free memberships here is doing so in order to attract new members (or at least new PAID members). So is someone really LOSING anything if they are already a paid member here?

If I can figure out a reasonable way to upgrade a membership level to a higher one, then that may be a solution for the lowest level to the next level. But I don't see any vendors offering free upgrades to the two highest levels offered.....
 
WebSlave said:
So is someone really LOSING anything if they are already a paid member here?
Click to expand...
Well, the seller has to justify those free memberships to his business somehow, if he adds it to the cost of the goods, then yes a paid member would be a loser.
WebSlave said:
...I don't see any vendors offering free upgrades to the two highest levels offered.....
Click to expand...
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: No, me either.
Alias47 said:
They could pay the membership fee anyway... which would renew their customer's membership for an additional year...
Click to expand...
There ye go!! The perfect solution. WebSlave, what do you think?
 
I don't know if the program is smart enough to do that. My suspicion is that a latter membership would just overlay the previous one, making the expiration date 1 year from the last subscription. Unfortunately, I have no way to test this. PayPal will not allow me to send a payment FROM myself TO myself.

Well DUH! Unless I put some custom programming in place for this project to accomodate people signing up other people for memberships, this will be a fully MANUAL process for me anyway. So yeah, I could do that, in that case. Of course, if I can get my programmer to hack the site and make this all automatic, that would be my preference. Unfortunately he is really snowed under with some heavy projects right at the moment, so I am trying to give him a breathing spell from what I want him to do for me. So yeah, I might have to do this manually for a while...
 
Rich, I can offer to test the software to see how smart it is, when I get the money for my fauna fund auction. :) (IF it closes satisfactorily)

Just a thought. :)
 
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