Premium Membership Poll - Your thoughts please [Archive] - DSF

phoenixalpha

17-02-2013, 04:58 PM

To be honest, although I love visiting the board (which I do a few times a day) - I really dont participate in most if any of the threads. I do ok with mugs and bags and other subby stuff but it just seems to be full of people wanting to either a) get help from start to finish on how to make money from ebay on cheap mugs (which you cant now with the large array of people doing it) or
b) people who complain bitterly about everything.

I know its a busy forum but if there was videos on how to expand sublimation in new and interesting ways, or - and this is the major kicker for me, the BMS discount again I would sign up in a heart beat.

Justin

17-02-2013, 05:00 PM

Appreciate your feedback, thank you :-)

accdave

17-02-2013, 07:36 PM

Not to different from Phoenix. Don't often visit the forum as there are too many fly by nights. Professional section would be worth double members fee.

John G

17-02-2013, 07:54 PM

I've voted other reasons, if I could choose two, i'd have also picked "don't use discounts"
I love joining in with the forum but think it needs more of a structure with different tiers depending on the membership paid. At the moment it doesn't appeal to me and I don't use any of the suppliers which is a shame as the BMS discount was worth the joining fee alone.

GoldRapt

17-02-2013, 07:58 PM

I voted "Don't use discounts"

Justin

17-02-2013, 08:14 PM

I voted "Don't use discounts"

But you're a Premium Member?!?! lol.

GoldRapt

17-02-2013, 08:24 PM

I'm a premium member to support my mate Justin, Justin :-)

Justin

17-02-2013, 08:33 PM

Absolutely and it's greatly appreciated :-) lol.

mrs maggot

17-02-2013, 10:40 PM

i renewed this year, but am hoping for a professional section as mentioned above, also it would be good to see what the membership fees have been paying towards, as that might be why there is a drop in them now.

Justin

17-02-2013, 11:03 PM

Continued thanks for everyone's feedback here. Membership hasn't dropped off, it's remaining constant. The £10 gives you access to discounts not available to non paying members and can be recouped immediately. It also helps to cover forum costs which I'm sure you'll appreciate aren't cheap. Any money leftover is used to keep me in silk clothing and fine dining, I also drive a very expensive car and need to refuel daily, whilst my chauffeur does this for me he does insist on being paid.

Justin

17-02-2013, 11:04 PM

Would be great if 'non premium' members could respond to this thread as the title suggests, the poll is the most important factor but it's all great feedback to see why you decide not to join etc.

socialgiraffe

17-02-2013, 11:34 PM

Hi Justin

Not sure if Mrs M, or indeed any of us are entitled to see where the membership fee go's. As far as I am concerned although this is a open forum it is still effectively a business and I either decide to join or not. I hope you make a million out of this forum, not only do you deserve it for the many years that it has probably cost you more than you have received, but good ideas deserve financial reward (okay its not reinventing the wheel but its still a good forum :smile:)

I for one have saved thousands by joining this forum, either through discounts offered by various suppliers, or tips that have been freely given. Although very individual to me I can now take a holiday and know that should the need arise there is someone close to where I live that can fulfil any urgent order I have without me needing to return early (something that has happened pretty much every holiday before then).

Double the price of the membership is what I say!

Just one tip, get the chauffeur to fill jerry cans on his way to work and then refuel when he arrives. Saves time that could be well spent on polishing :biggrin:

Feel free to delete this post as I may have digressed from the original thread and fear this may well go off topic very very quickly!

JSR

17-02-2013, 11:45 PM

Any money leftover is used to keep me in silk clothing and fine dining, I also drive a very expensive car and need to refuel daily, whilst my chauffeur does this for me he does insist on being paid.
Oh, that was you I saw being driven about was it? That explains everything. :biggrin:

Craig

18-02-2013, 10:10 AM

JSR

18-02-2013, 10:27 AM

I totally agree with Social I do not think anyone should ask to see how or where the money is spent as that is nobodys business, We sign up to the forum and nobody has too but lets be honest we have probably all used the discounts in 1 way or another and most have had there member money back if not alot more no only from the disounts vailable but the help and feedback from members.

I agree with some when they say the BMS discount is a miss. This has probably affected a few members wanting to join but I do think there needs to be bigger adverts regards discounts available as I remember seeing a post the other day about someone joinging up as they had read the forum and seen BMS discount being mentioned so they signed up and paid only to orde from BMS and find no discount so this issue needs clearing so others dont mae the same mistake.
If people are signing up just for what discounts they can get out of the forum, then that's the wrong reason to be signing up. Discounts, etc, should be the icing on the cake - not the whole cake.

I pay my membership fee not for discounts but to support the forum, to ensure it keeps going. On that score, I admit to a curiosity of how much the forum requires to keep going, whether those costs are being met, and if the costs are being exceeded then what the extra cost is going towards.

After all, if the costs are not being met, then we could pay more to meet those costs. And if the costs are being exceeded, then I think it's only right that we should know what the excess is being put towards - future server costs, better forum software, forum enhancements, or whatever.

This kind of transparency might encourage others to sign up. For instance, many might think that putting a forum on a bit of web-space isn't so expensive that it requires a hundred people paying a tenner plus paid adverts. If the money spent, and money received, was made more transparent, it might sway those who currently aren't premium members. Not everyone is swayed by discounts. Some people are swayed by whether their money is going to a good cause and being wisely spent.

It doesn't sway me particularly, beyond idle curiosity, otherwise I wouldn't pay each year, but it may sway others if everything was made more transparent.

Paul

18-02-2013, 10:28 AM

Can i ask what proffesional section means?

accdave

18-02-2013, 10:37 AM

In hindsight mybe I was being a bit grumpy and have now paid. Better to see the forum survive. I do though stand by my original statement.

mrs maggot

18-02-2013, 10:47 AM

JSR has put what i was meaning into words very well - thank you JSR - perhaps that will help explain it to SG, as it was not meant as a go at Justin, which is how these things are always taken, just well as JSR has put it

socialgiraffe

18-02-2013, 11:04 AM

Hi Mrs M and JSR

I did not think that you were having a go at Justin, far from it. Healthy discussion is always good and never personal :smile:

But I do think you and JSR are wrong to expect transparency. If Justin wants to invest in new servers etc then so be it. Those sort of investments are driven by the customer usage and like any other business, they would not explain that money from sales will go to future investment, they simply announce the investment when they have the money to do so. Likewise if Justin wants to spend it on fine dining and silk clothes then that is up to him. I am sure he realises that should he not invest in new technology (for example the mobile APP poll recently) then someone will come along and do a better job.

Look at this forum as a business, I do not tell my customers anything about investing in the future or profit made after expenses because it is simply not the way a business works.

I do agree with the fact that discounts are the icing on the cake and not a reason to join.

purpledragon

18-02-2013, 11:10 AM

Im a premium member at the moment so no point in voting i gotta ask though if you no longer visit the forum how are you going to choose that option ??? anyway i digress i'm happy to admit i paid membership because the BMS discount made it worth it , My views have changed over recent times i do think there should be a members only area and restrictions on non members posting etc ive seen a couple of threads recently which to be honest make me say "bloody cheek" from new commers who havnt paid membership who are trying to up their post count so they can view members links (gotta wonder why thats so important to them ) to posts for help going up then you never hear from them again. The forums evolved a lot in recent times i personally think its time for a paid membership with all the help that goes with it and unpaid viewing only. As for where the money goes thats justins business and no one elses really

JSR

18-02-2013, 11:40 AM

Look at this forum as a business,
But is it a business? This forum began because a bunch of dye-subbers were disgruntled with the way a previous dye-sub forum was going. None of us expected Justin to be out of pocket for setting up this forum so, when the time came, we donated. When it proved awkward for Justin to get people to donate sufficiently, he instigated the yearly membership fee option (and adverts) - which has now become a recurring subscription model for members.

At what point did this turn into a business?

If it is a business, shouldn't all those that are responsible for providing help/advice, etc, receive remuneration for their time and effort? After all, without those people, this forum would be a blank page - and then who would pay to keep those servers running? Those people are the "business assets", that don't get paid for. Would you seek advice from a consultant and expect that consultant to pay you for giving you his advice? No, of course not - but that's what's happening here if this is to be considered a business. If this was a business, then the correct model would be for those seeking advice to pay for answers to their questions, and for those answering them to be paid for those answers - with the difference between payments in and payments out used to cover server costs and for the forum owner's profits. Those paying for answers would expect timely and accurate answers, with compensation should those answers prove inaccurate or damaging.

There's a difference between a group of likeminded individuals freely contributing to keep a forum going than there is for their free help/advice being exploited to create profit for the forum owner. If it's the former, then transparency of costs should not be a problem. If it's a business, then contributors should be expected to be paid for their contributions because they are, effectively, "employees".

I apologise if this all sounds harsh. I just seek clarity by asking asking questions that others may not want to ask. I'm not saying things to have a go at Justin (I speak with my wallet and just wouldn't pay if I had reservations).

I'm perfectly content with the original ideal of this forum in which we contribute to ensure that Justin isn't out of pocket. I'm sure everyone who's been here for a while is happy with that concept. I wonder how many would be so happy if they believed that this was a business in which they are all unpaid employees?

socialgiraffe

18-02-2013, 12:18 PM

Hi JSR

Some excellent comments there and a very good way of looking at it which I had not considered.

I do agree that there needs to be more of a difference between members and premium members but also feel that although it was set up as a group of like minded people it has expanded beyond that and does need to be treated as such.

If all a member is doing is offering free advice then this forum would not be a good place for them, but if like me, you offer advice and also receive it there are your wages. Someone does need to be the owner though, their time spent is considerably more than anyone else and there are other things to consider, for example this is online publishing, if I start slating BMS (for example) to a point of becoming slander. It would not be me they chase but the publishers (i.e. Justin).

Like I said, I do not think anyone here is having a go at Justin (we can save that for another thread LOL!!!) I just think that as the owner and administrator of the forum it is his business where he spends the money and not really our concern.

But making the premium membership more attractive by restricting the junior members is something I am all for.

purpledragon

18-02-2013, 12:23 PM

But is it a business? ?
Some excellent points there JSR most of which have been raised on numerous occassions but never really answered . I have recieved help and advice from this forum in the past but thankfully its not that often i need it so is that my payment for giving help and advice? difficult one to quantify really
theres a lot of new people on the forum some come ask for help then disappear how are they paying for that help
? some come ask for help then join in with the forum in general so is that their payment for help recieved
How much revenue does justin accumilate from the forum (retorical question) do we have the right to know is justin paying for his chauffer to fill up his roller on the back of our advice and knowladge . All of these are fair questions without malice this forum has moved greatly from the early days the beast has evolved and you need to wonder weather this should now be cl;assed as a business lets face it there are some suppliers who see a massive advantage to contributing to this forum listawood although very kindly are organising a get together at their stand in the forthcomming trade fair this is marvellous but dont be fooled they arnt doing this out the goodness of their hearts this will be a marketing exercise also and quite right too . But the point is the forum is now viewed as not just a group of people who pass advice between the few of us the forum is now running as an advice hot spot and jsr is bang on right when you tell joe bloggs why his prints arnt comming out right you are parting with information that in any normal business situation would be paid for .
isnt it difficult to get all those worms back in the can!

purpledragon

18-02-2013, 12:28 PM

Ok social dont you bloody start its bad enough i cant type fast enough without John getting in first now youre at it lol:eek:

John G

18-02-2013, 01:08 PM

i cant type fast enough without John getting in first
Not getting in on this one - had enough of every debate turn into a heated argument.

logobear

18-02-2013, 01:48 PM

My main reason for not renewing is that i don't have to!
- and I didn't pay by direct debt last year,
so the (very modest) sum of £10 is unpaid. (I hope Justin spends his tenners on loose women and fast living!)
(memo to self, - pay!)
I think the forum is great, and have got great value from it,
- I almost think the £10pa should be compulsory,
If any member cannot get more than £10 of value from this forum, - they are not in the business!
imho

Ian M

18-02-2013, 02:26 PM

Lots of very interesting points I have to say.

I think the forum should be a closed forum because we have seen so many come & get the information they want & then disappear never to be seen again. I have also noticed a few people join in the past few weeks just to try to sell items which is more annoying. I think if non premium members want to sell on here they should have to pay for the privilege to be able to do that.

Over the last couple of years I have seen a few classic car club forums try being open to non members but, they all have now become only open to fee paying club members. They were getting lots of people asking how to fix problems with their cars etc & once they got the answers they were never to be seen again. I really do think we do need to have fee paying members only. Lets face it when I first started out there really wasn't anywhere I could go to ask someone how to solve a problem I had. I had to sort it out myself which cost me time & money. At that time I would have been more than happy to pay £10 per year just for the help I needed at the time.

As for transparency over where the money is going well, there is always going to people who want to know what you are doing with every single penny & those who don't. I think most of us know by now this forum does cost money to host etc & I think we have to ask ourselves would we work for nothing. One thing I can tell you is I don't receive anything for being a moderator & I pay my £10 like most others do because, I think it is well worth every penny.

Just one last thing, where could you get the same help & advice for just under 3p per day?

Paul

18-02-2013, 02:31 PM

100% agree with Ian! I love the idea of sale section for paid members only.
Also posting links to they services ie: web design etc...
some people pay money to have privilege to advertise on here.

reference to money I wonder if any of people here got statement in shops what the earn money going in to??

JSR

18-02-2013, 02:36 PM

I think if non premium members want to sell on here they should have to pay for the privilege to be able to do that.
I think it should definitely be a requirement that you can only sell items here if you're a premium member.

Just one last thing, where could you get the same help & advice for just under 3p per day?
The thing is, though, that you're not paying 3p a day for the help and advice. That's available for free whether you pay or not. What you're paying for is to keep the forum going - or, at least, that's what I thought we were doing.

I bet we'd get a few less "casual question askers" that disappear overnight if payment was required prior to being able to view answers to questions. And I'd bet we get a lot more "experienced question answerers" if a portion of that payment was paid to those who answer the questions.

The question is, do we want that, or not? If we don't, then it should be acknowledged that payments made are solely to support the forum and to ensure it's continuation and, in those terms, I don't see why there'd be any reluctance for costing transparency.

purpledragon

18-02-2013, 02:37 PM

Lots of very interesting points I have to say.

I think the forum should be a closed forum because we have seen so many come & get the information they want & then disappear never to be seen again. I have also noticed a few people join in the past few weeks just to try to sell items which is more annoying. I think if non premium members want to sell on here they should have to pay for the privilege to be able to do that.

Over the last couple of years I have seen a few classic car club forums try being open to non members but, they all have now become only open to fee paying club members. They were getting lots of people asking how to fix problems with their cars etc & once they got the answers they were never to be seen again. I really do think we do need to have fee paying members only. Lets face it when I first started out there really wasn't anywhere I could go to ask someone how to solve a problem I had. I had to sort it out myself which cost me time & money. At that time I would have been more than happy to pay £10 per year just for the help I needed at the time.

As for transparency over where the money is going well, there is always going to people who want to know what you are doing with every single penny & those who don't. I think most of us know by now this forum doesn't cost money to host etc & I think we have to ask ourselves would we work for nothing. One thing I can tell you is I don't receive anything for being a moderator & I pay my £10 like most others do because, I think it is well worth every penny.

Just one last thing, where could you get the same help & advice for just under 3p per day?
Couldnt agree more i can hardly believe im saying it but i personally think non paying members should be able to read posts and nothing more this would help save the same questions being asked time and again if newbies have to search for answers and i also think the for sale section should definatly be restricted to enable paying members to be able to post but not non members again its hardly fair that you can join the forum sell a printer then leave the forum

Craig

18-02-2013, 03:23 PM

If people are signing up just for what discounts they can get out of the forum, then that's the wrong reason to be signing up. Discounts, etc, should be the icing on the cake - not the whole cake.

I pay my membership fee not for discounts but to support the forum, to ensure it keeps going. On that score, I admit to a curiosity of how much the forum requires to keep going, whether those costs are being met, and if the costs are being exceeded then what the extra cost is going towards.

After all, if the costs are not being met, then we could pay more to meet those costs. And if the costs are being exceeded, then I think it's only right that we should know what the excess is being put towards - future server costs, better forum software, forum enhancements, or whatever.

This kind of transparency might encourage others to sign up. For instance, many might think that putting a forum on a bit of web-space isn't so expensive that it requires a hundred people paying a tenner plus paid adverts. If the money spent, and money received, was made more transparent, it might sway those who currently aren't premium members. Not everyone is swayed by discounts. Some people are swayed by whether their money is going to a good cause and being wisely spent.

It doesn't sway me particularly, beyond idle curiosity, otherwise I wouldn't pay each year, but it may sway others if everything was made more transparent.

I never said people only sign up for the discounts but lets be honest this is what is mentioned by most when people welcome someone to the forum they welcome them then there is encouragement to join premium membership as there are great discounts.

I personally have paid as I have gained some great knowledge form the forum and the only way for it to continue is for people to pay the £10.

As I say I have paid and to be honest I don't give two hoots where the money goes and if it keeps Justin in silk clothes and fast cars then so be it. I am a member of other forums as a lot of people on here have mentioned they are also in the past and this is the first time I have ever heard of anybody wanting to know where the money goes. If someone is a "shareholder" then they can ask too see but as far as being members goes as I said above I don't really care where the money goes.

Regards the giving info for free I do feel this subject has been done to death numerous times and as has been said loads of times before nobody has to give answers if they want to contribute to the forum then great but if they don't then they don't, again in others forums people don't go on about being paid fees for answers etc maybe if Justin wants to set up an experts questions and answer section then "employ" a couple of people to answer the major questions that there are no answers for already maybe this would please some but me personally think that answering Qs on a forum is exactly what it is about and if I can do so to help someone out I would not hesitate and I do not want anything for it as no doubt I will have a question that needs answering one day.

Craig

18-02-2013, 03:25 PM

I agree that selling items should be only members and maybe something like only the general section open to public and all the specialised/individual sections closed to paying members

JSR

18-02-2013, 03:48 PM

the first time I have ever heard of anybody wanting to know where the money goes
<snip>
again in others forums people don't go on about being paid fees for answers
I wasn't aware that I was "going on about being paid fees". If I haven't made myself clear enough in all the words I've written, then I don't know how I can rephrase myself to make my points any clearer, but I shall try...

My points about "payment for answers" was in context to someone else suggesting that this isn't a forum for likeminded individuals but a business.

In my reply to you (which you've quoted, so you must have read it), I thought I'd made it pretty clear that transparency of costs would also help ensure that all the forum/hosting/server costs are being met and, if not, we could pay more to ensure those costs are met. If those costs are being exceeded, then knowing that they're being put towards future improvements/enhancements might encourage more people to sign up.

I fail to see why everyone thinks that having all fees disappear down some virtual blackhole is somehow better than transparency. What would be gained by hiding where the fees are spent? Indeed, what is there to hide? Nothing, I wouldn't have thought, so what's the problem with transparency?

chris_hosk

18-02-2013, 08:20 PM

I think the advise abd things like the free templates from Paul make £10 a year more than worth it if we break it down its only 2.7p per day or 19p a week or £1.20 a week ;)

logobear

18-02-2013, 10:05 PM

i think it should be £10 a year to see the forum, take it private, and hopefully make a few bob, - you have been paying the costs for years, it is a great forum, and I value it! - memo to self, - pay fees asap!

ck1

19-02-2013, 01:18 AM

Interesting read so far....

Here's my view (don't shoot, I'm picking up some anti-newbie vibes already)

As a newbie, I would find it bizarre to pay for something that I haven't yet tried/tested I understand that some members will be fed up with newbies asking the same questions, and I would hope that most of us (newbies) would search for answers first, as I'm sure most of them have been answered already, but sometimes enthusiasm gets in the way and you ask first

As a previous post said, people don't need to answer questions if they don't want to!

I have no problem at all with making sale/discounts area paid access only, but I think you would do yourself an injustice if you took it further - I understand the frustration identified above re people just turning up and selling/buying stuff never to be seen again so dividing this up might solve the problem.

At the moment I'm incredibly happy with how the forum operates- my questions have all been answered (and quickly too) and I have gained invaluable knowledge, however I understand that it must be give and take, and at the moment, as a newbie I'm finding it difficult to make post replies as I don't know enough!, this will come over time and when it does I will re-evaluate whether I should 'go premium'

Final thought, if you're 'premium only' you may stifle new membership (especially the ones willing to learn, but knowing nothing- like me!). Is that what you want?

purpledragon

19-02-2013, 10:06 AM

We dont shoot newbies .....yet
there isnt an anti newbie stance on the forum or i dont think so anyway but there are issues surrounding new guys comming in and asking time and again the same questions this has been discussed many times before now as a newbie if you arrived on the forum and were unable to post you would have 2 choices leave the page and look else where for your answers or put a simple search in the forum search box to see if the answers are there . That way you would still get all the info you need for free.
I do find your line

"it difficult to make post replies as I don't know enough!, this will come over time and when it does I will re-evaluate whether I should 'go premium' "

a little odd in essance what you are saying is teach me what i need to know and then if i find that usefull i may pay membership .
at the risk of sounding a bit condacending (its not my intention) but would you sign up to a collage course and tell them "i'll pay for the course if i find it usefull but teach me first and i'll see"
In the current ecanomic climate i can only see more and more new guys on the scene with ideas of selling mugs and becoming a millionare on the back of it (believe me it wont happen) Cheap chinease imports of mugs and machineary make the industry extremely accesable the problems come when people realise its not as easy as first thought and when the problems start with tuppneybit mug presses and unlicensed inks etc inevitably a google search would follow and in turn more people land on the forum . yes we can take the stance of not answering questions . The forum wouldnt last long if we all did that but after paying hundreds of pounds (thousands if you have bought the right kit) is it really so much to ask for a tenner to have access to the wealth of information and direct access to suppliers try searching for training days in dye sublimation im willing to bet its a darn site more than a tenner yet you will find all that info here . and at the moment for free!

JSR

19-02-2013, 10:19 AM

As a previous post said, people don't need to answer questions if they don't want to!
And if everyone got so frustrated that no one answered questions, where would this forum be then? Where would the next generation of newbies get their help and advice from for free?

I'm finding it difficult to make post replies as I don't know enough!, this will come over time and when it does I will re-evaluate whether I should 'go premium'
This highlights the issue I was trying to address. If people see the "membership fee" as payment for help/advice, then they'll only pay it if they feel they're getting value for money. If, however, the membership fee is seen as a token payment to ensure the forum continues (which is what it was originally meant to be), then it's separate from any help/advice. Whether the help/advice is good enough isn't the point of the "membership fee" because no one who gives that help/advice is getting that payment. They are offering their help/advice for free.

Paying the membership fee ensures that the forum (servers/software) continues into the future so that it's still here when the next generation of newbies comes along to ask questions.

Pay if you want the forum to continue into the future. Don't pay if you don't want that. That's the only reasoning that should go into your decision of whether to pay or not.

ck1

19-02-2013, 11:03 AM

I was asked for my view,and I've given it

purpledragon, what I was trying to say was that as a newbie I don't have much to offer in terms of knowledge and experience, just enthusiasm - I would not want to pay for something (a paid forum) and feel I couldn't contribute to it actively, which would include helping those who needed it, but I do understand where you're coming from, especially the amount of people who want to come in, with cheap kit etc and then run into problems.

JSR - what you said about membership fee for advice etc is nearer the mark I think - I visit a lot of other forums for my other interests and hobbies and all, with only one exception don't require payment. All the 'free' ones typically have a donate button or start a thread for 'forum server fees' or similar. The one forum that does charge (again £10-must be a 'forum' thing!) gives you greater access to software/training etc which is not available on the open part of the forum

And just for info- regarding searching the forum, I posted recently about a mug template with standard features for testing, I thought I might be able to contribute by setting one up and offering it to the membership however, a user contacted me (Paul) as he had already done so - he told me what to search for in the forum search box but it didn't find it as the words were all too common, he then suggested using google and that got me straight to the page(on this forum!) - so I guess I'm saying if you restrict newbies just to viewing and searching you need to ensure the searches work, or have clear instructions on how to search!

Newbie comment over!, I notice my member status is now 'member' instead of 'junior' does this mean I qualify to give advice ?
(No, I thought not!! - I'll keep listening and learning and help to add value to this forum soon, one way or another!

:-)

JSR

19-02-2013, 11:12 AM

All the 'free' ones typically have a donate button or start a thread for 'forum server fees' or similar.
We had a donate system here before in which Justin would put up a "target" so that we could see if the server costs had been reached or not. If not, we could donate more or encourage others that hadn't donated to donate so that the target would be reached. That offered some sense of transparency of where the donated payments were going.

However, we apparently ended up with the same very few people donating every year (usually the more long-term users that were giving advice, not those short-term users that took that advice for free) which led to the situation of Justin having to put out the begging bowl when it came to paying for the server. As I'm sure you'll agree, it's not right to have to go begging.

We're in a situation now where many people say "I'm happy to pay my tenner because I've made it back in what I've learned", so the donation system should have worked. Odd that it didn't.

Newbie comment over!, I notice my member status is now 'member' instead of 'junior' does this mean I qualify to give advice ?
(No, I thought not!! - I'll keep listening and learning and help to add value to this forum soon, one way or another!
You can always give advice. You're doing it now by offering a viewpoint to this discussion. Advice isn't only about the best way to stick a mug in a press - it's about discussing the best way to make things run smoothly that has worked for you.

ck1

19-02-2013, 11:25 AM

Forgive my ignorance about the donate option, I didn't know it had been tried before - it does work on the other forums I visit, another thing they do, every now and then is a prize grab based on lottery: a prize is purchased (could be a box of mugs etc) then the cost, plus a bit to cover shipping, some forum running cash etc is totalled up and divided by 49.
Members choose a number between 1-49 and pay for that number, when all numbers are taken, the first number drawn from the uk national lottery on a Saturday night is deemed the winner and receives the prize - that way the forum gets running costs, and everyone is happy (well, one out of 49!!!!)

Would it work here?

JSR

19-02-2013, 11:33 AM

ck1

19-02-2013, 11:50 AM

I guess the only thing would be a prize that appeals to all - I'd be happy with mugs, but I suspect the t-shirt printers wouldn't -
It could always be a voucher for xxxpounds from a supplier? - over to forum owner to consider ....

One thing I forgot to mention, one forum had an issue with a user buying two goes at the lottery, obviously cutting his odds of winning, so you do need to ensure its one go per person who wants to play, it's only fair the odds are the same for everyone!

ck1

19-02-2013, 11:53 AM

Oh yes, another issue - to get round a legal issue from PayPal (good old PayPal!) one forum had to create the concept of 'forum credits(£1 each) which could be purchased and used for this - if you just paid in the standard way with PayPal it would be flagged as gambling o something, if you want me to double check, I can...

Zipdorf

19-02-2013, 12:33 PM

accdave

19-02-2013, 12:40 PM

I did pay for Premier membership but I have never been able to find the benefits (are there any?). To be honest I haven't looked that much but I would expect such benefits (whatever they are) to be in plain sight, with a spotlight on them!

If they were in plain sight then everybody would see them ;)

Just click on Forum at the top left of the page and you will see Official Supporters Section near the top of the page

Justin

19-02-2013, 01:16 PM

The list of benefits are in plain sight, look under forum updates and announcements section :-)

pisquee

19-02-2013, 02:02 PM

A difference between this and most forums (though certainly not all) is that it offers advice and information directly relating to running a business ... on plate we offer a wealth of pre-existing advice on pretty much every topic imaginable regarding sublimation and a few other related areas, and for where there isn't the information already (or it isn't easy to find) then there is a one-to-one consultancy service, where an experienced professional (mostly!) will solve all your problems ... and all of this for free!
It is no wonder this all gets taken advantage of - to a lot of users this forum is a free consultancy service for setting up their business/equipment, or a free tech-support/trouble-shooting service - which outside of this forum (and t-shirt forums) users would either go without the information, or would have to pay. In a way this shows there is actually a need for a pro-consultancy/workshops for sublimation - a need and a gap in the market.
I still think a wiki section covering collated FAQs/subjects could be a useful repository of the information stored around the forum - where only 'approved/knowledgable' people could post definitive info/guides, taking some pressure off the discussion forums to keep answering the same quaestions.

Zipdorf

19-02-2013, 03:32 PM

I just paid the £10 to support the forum as the advice I find is very useful. If you get value then you should give something in return. I don't use Listawood after a batch of mugs had too many faulty ones, so that offer is not of use. This website admin must be a lot of hard work (I wouldn't like to do it) - so why shouldn't we pay a little? The £10 I paid has been returned many times over from helpful advice and tips I have found on the forum. Besides, you can usually get discounts from suppliers once you start buying in quantity and they can see you are becoming a regular customer.

Andrew

21-02-2013, 05:27 PM

I have to try not to spend time on here as it can be time consuming. Work is too busy to get involved in the same questions that were being answered 2 years previously. There are often threads on here that spiral out of control as well and I just don't have time to get involved in half this stuff. In the early days when the forum was developing I was happy to donate but now there are so many that get a lot out of the forum that it should easily be funded. People who get information that helps them along should stump up the cash. Thankfully, I am not in the position where I need the arranged discounts as I can buy in volume if I need a better price. I just pop on here now and then to keep an eye on the subli world but hardly get a chance of the last year to get involved in discussions.

There is large value in this forum for many involved in printing and I think much of this wealth of information should be to subscribed/ paid up members. Perhaps just have the original post available to all but answers open to paid members. To many people are along for the free ride and taking advantage with no intention of giving back. Half the posters seem to want to set up in sublimation with the cheapest option out there with no research beforehand then think they have a get out of jail free card by asking everyone else to sort out their problems in getting a decent print. I got fed up of dishing out free information to people that took me years to gather off my own back. I was always happy to help out members who give back to the forum either through input or membership but to many times it seems like you end up banging your head against a brick wall.

rezyac

26-02-2013, 11:51 PM

Can i ask what proffesional section means?

it means to keep people like me and other new people out of the pro section, so they can talk and business tips and not have to deal with me popping up asking how do you do things, so kind of like keep the noobs out, i think its a good idea :)

Paul

27-02-2013, 01:31 AM

well... so i am not the pro :)

michc

27-02-2013, 11:43 AM

I have been doing sublimation/garment printing for about 5 years and would like to make this my main source of income however circumstance mean I can't 'give up the day job' to do this. I paid by donation when this was first requested (way back)and then by membership when I've been using the forum. Apologies but I rarely post, as any issues I may come accross are already posted/answered and there are lots of people with much greater knowledge and experience than me to answer new posts. However, I feel I do support the forum through the membership payment (which I would happily double/triple). I don't often use the discounts avaiable to members, but use the forum to get information and/or solve problems. I appreciate the forum takes a lot of work to run and the information gained from it has benefitted me over and over which is why I am more then prepared to pay.

I will add one thing though, I lost a considerable amount of money, which I could ill afford, through a 'fly by night' selling on the forum. This maybe needs to be tightened up in some way.

socialgiraffe

27-02-2013, 11:47 AM

Thats an intersting point MichC about sellers on here.

On another forum I belong to they have a PRAISE or PANTS section where you can not only post good customer service but also bad experience. That might solve some of that issue but I doubt if it will make it 100%

John G

27-02-2013, 01:20 PM

'fly by night'

Who was that then - 1st I've heard of any conmen directly selling on the forum.

michc

27-02-2013, 02:48 PM

I'm not going to name however the person joined as a junior member and their last activity was 4 days later. This was last year. I should've known better and stuck with building on what I do as opposed to looking for a quicker way to do it. I could've added to my equipment as lost the amount of money to cover a laser printer (not the white one) and from TMT so I could use WOW system which I could really do with. Lessons learned though

John G

27-02-2013, 03:15 PM

Sorry to hear this, there's always going to be the odd conman joining any forum to make a quick buck.

Paul

27-02-2013, 05:28 PM

thats why I am deleting every single new add that is made by new member. And regards mention names. yeah! keep doing that and let other lose money too!

I think they should be named.

Justin

27-02-2013, 05:58 PM

I'm looking at making a few changes to the for sale section very soon. It's not only new members that can cause these issues though, I've had complaints about members selling goods even when they have 100's of lists :-( please let me know if you have such issues.

gorgall2

27-02-2013, 05:59 PM

The uksignboards has different levels of membership ranging from £14.99 up to £74.99. Surely a tenner is not a lot to ask.

John G

27-02-2013, 08:18 PM

The uksignboards has different levels of membership ranging from £14.99 up to £74.99. Surely a tenner is not a lot to ask.

Yes, but the UKSB has a load of different levels with access available depending on whats paid. The DSF has either free, or pay for access to everything.

steve 1

27-02-2013, 11:06 PM

hi guys
i paid i think 3 days after a become a member of the forum. the reason quite simple i had help from from the very first post i written. i cant help people with advice but if my 10 pounds helps to keep the forum going then i feel its a sort of thank you for the help given. hopefully one day i can return the advice and help i have been given. i give free advice on a dog training forum some i get great pleasure from watching dogs come on and improve others get a quick answer and they are gone. iam afraid thats human nature and will happen on any forum. i know this is buissness and not hobby related. but if you stopped helping giving advice then it would become a chit chat forum. i would consider making it £10 every 6 months and the magority of information in the paid section only. thanks to all who have replied to my post with help in the past

Tricia

28-02-2013, 10:53 PM

The reason I didn't pay the night I joined was simply I didn't have a spare tenner lol I got into this business at the wrong time of year, very quiet for me and the bills are more than the earnings at the moment. :(

I paid because it mentions it at the top of the forum and forums cost money to run. I didn't pay for the discounts, paid so the forum keeps running as it's full of good information and now I've found it I don't want it to disappear.

I'm not on many forums but from my experience there are always people who come on asking questions, get their information and don't have the courtesy to even reply nevermind thank anyone.

ive seen a couple of threads recently which to be honest make me say "bloody cheek" from new commers who havnt paid membership who are trying to up their post count so they can view members links (gotta wonder why thats so important to them )

Ah that'll be my thread you're meaning. :) Seeing links wasn't important at all, was just wondering what folks were linking to. I also looked at someones profile, don't remember whose as I wanted to see what sort of things people put in their profiles. Nothing sinister in it just a general nose around to see what others had before I added anything so I wouldn't do anything wrong. I was posting a lighthearted thread about post count and links as there were no threads I could reply to as I'm new to this, don't have much experience and don't really know much.

Karen.

01-03-2013, 11:46 AM

Woops. I didnt even realise I wasnt a premium member. After being here all these years, but not visiting much recently I suppose I should go sort it out now.

jools

13-03-2013, 03:38 PM

I was ................. then I didn't do much sublimation, mainly embroidery & DTG so didn't visit the forum for a long time, membership lapsed. Needless to say my epson didn't want to play ball any more, and a visit to BMS for other supplies ended in a Ricoh purchase just before Christmas.

2 weeks ago finally got round to setting it up - something not right!!! Sunday, who can I ask?

Large mug of coffee, some serious forum reading & found links to Sawgrass pages that I couldn't find and BINGO. Printed out Paul's very helpful mug test template and it came out brilliant.

Thank you to all contributors for the useful info that lurks here, membership on its way.

purpledragon

13-03-2013, 06:02 PM

the bloody cheek bit wasnt aimed directly at you but i did wonder why it was so important for you to see the links on peoples profiles just my suspicious mind i suppose no offence meant

AdamB

14-03-2013, 02:04 PM

If I could be so bold as to add a little feedback Justin/everyone?

Now, before I start I 'am' going to pay the premium membership - I've just not got around to it to be honest.

When I could see the 'Official Supporters Private Section' section last year I didn't really take much notice but I am now 'no-longer' able see it, and to do so would require joining the premium club.

What I want to ask (as I now see the forum as a newbie would), is 'what would be in it for me' by joining the club? I know there are offers and discounts to be had but I can only see the topic titles which doesn't tell me too much. Is there a generic list of offers and discounts of what I would get?

Also, I will say that my £10 will be (as others say) to support this forum 99% with the odd discount at 1%, and I support this forum because of the hard work by Justin and other members who make this what it is ................... but, if I was a newbie I would not know anyone so I wouldn't be thinking that way, but thinking more of 'what do I get back' ?

Justin

14-03-2013, 10:45 PM

What I want to ask (as I now see the forum as a newbie would), is 'what would be in it for me' by joining the club? I know there are offers and discounts to be had but I can only see the topic titles which doesn't tell me too much. Is there a generic list of offers and discounts of what I would get??

http://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforum/showthread.php?3348-New-Membership-Scheme-Now-active!

AdamB

15-03-2013, 11:11 AM

http://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforum/showthread.php?3348-New-Membership-Scheme-Now-active!

Thanks Justin - I'm sure I could remember a post being made but I couldn't find it when I had a quick look the other night :)

meldean

15-03-2013, 10:23 PM

Im a premium member and originally signed up for the BMS discount which has now stopped. BUT i will renew and carry on renewing because the information and advice that i have gained from this forum is second to none.
If you require ICC profiles made up the paul on the forum is your man and he does discount for premium members on his website which is worth the £10 fee in itself.

Really anybody that is not a premium member that uses this forum should just bite the bullet and upgrade. WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO LOSE... ermm ohhh yeah nothing....

smo

24-03-2013, 07:35 PM

Right - i'm a non-premium member and here is my feedback.

Firstly I had no idea until I read this thread what the "discounts" were, now i've seen them and thought that I dont use any of those companies so it wouldnt be an incentive. I negotiated nearly 20% with the bigger well known suppliers I use anyway on current purchase levels and expect those discounts to rise as my purchases do too - thats just business though!

I've been a member of many forums over the years, some huge by comparison and completely free, others not so big but had donations. I'd never sign up to a forum that was "closed" as you cant see what you're getting before paying out. It will lead to a stagnant board with little fresh blood to bring new ideas and input and whilst everyone gets bored of the same old simple questions thats the main point of a forum, to share information with those who wish to gain knowledge and discuss the subject matter at hand.

With regards to sale sections they definately need to be restricted to stop 1 post wonders coming on, the best way is to impose a post limit of say 100 posts first along with a minimum timescale too such as 3 months as a member - this ensures the poster is an active member of the forum first. This could be implemented along with paid membership too which allows people to circumvent some of the access restrictions on free members but I wouldnt suggest completely removing them and would keep a 25 post minimum even for paying members before creating sale threads.

I'd be happy to pay £10 for a good professional users forum, and I see that there are sections on here that are now restricted so i'd likely upgrade to gain access. That said i'm a member of a business forum which is very active and i'm a heavy user and contributing participant but still not a premium member!!

Justin

24-03-2013, 07:52 PM

I'd be happy to pay £10 for a good professional users forum, and I see that there are sections on here that are now restricted so i'd likely upgrade to gain access. That said i'm a member of a business forum which is very active and i'm a heavy user and contributing participant but still not a premium member!!

Many thanks for your feedback, just a quick question. You mention sections that are now restricted...what are these?

smo

24-03-2013, 07:57 PM

Its the Official Supporters Private Section - the name says it all really so no surprise I cant see the thread contents yet!

Justin

24-03-2013, 08:06 PM

But you said sections were restricted? The discounts etc. are all clearly stated and stickied in the Forum Info/Updates section. The Official section has never 'not' been restricted.

Tania

13-02-2014, 07:42 AM

Hi I would like to renew my memberships, how do I do this? Thank you.

Justin

13-02-2014, 07:44 AM

Hi, you can follow the membership link at the top of the page :-) Just beneath the DSF logo.

DS Designs

13-02-2014, 09:04 AM

To be honest I had forgotten about re-joining until I seen this thread..and recently bought a new mug press from Xpres...BUGGER!..Oops..Now renewed. I agree with some others, a professional sub forum would be great.

Justin

13-02-2014, 08:38 PM

My apologies, the membership is supposed to automatically renew but it appears it isn't doing! ...oh well, more work to do ;-)

harlequeen

15-02-2014, 10:28 AM

I agree that the sale area should be members only. I don't purchase currently from any of the suppliers here, but that is my choice. The discounts are there for me to use if I want to. I joined to support a forum that has given me plenty of info, help and humour over the last couple of years. As a newbie, I read every single thread on this forum before I ever asked a question and the feeling of support when I posted a photo of my first mug was great.

I sometimes get irritated by newbies who ask questions which have been asked before, because when I visit the forum (usually on saturday night when I'm playing online poker) I want to read new and interesting things, not the same old questions. I will continue to support this forum. My only concern about setting a minimum of posts before you can do a particular thing will result in pointless comments on other threads to get the post count up.

Keep up the good work everyone. I try to contribute if I can, but even I have seen a few people stay for a while, suddenly become experts and almost take over the board, then leave when others have questioned their 'advice'. It all adds to the rich tapestry of life.

pisquee

15-02-2014, 10:49 AM

I agree with some others, a professional sub forum would be great.
I've seen this requested on other forums (not sublimation) but I don't see how the idea would work in reality. For starters, who decides what is a professional enough level to be a member? And then what happens once you've joined - do all the 'pros' just stay in their own forum discussing stuff, and then all the newbies are left out in the cold with only themselves to talk to, leading to even more blind leading the blind? I think it has potential of creating a them and us situation.

Justin

15-02-2014, 11:17 AM

I did set up a separate section following a small number of requests and it was never used, more of a private club than a pro area though! :-)

Paul

15-02-2014, 03:51 PM

is it still there justin?

Justin

15-02-2014, 04:12 PM

No, it was hidden a while ago, nobodies asked for it :-)

Karen.

17-02-2014, 01:35 PM

I have been here since day one of the forum and read/post when I can. Unfortunately with a very heavy workload, 5 kids, and doing three markets a week I hardly have time to breathe most weeks. A pro area would be useful sometimes I must admit.

Angloman

17-02-2014, 08:14 PM

I am going to add my say her as this is a great forum,joined a few months back,even posted stuff on her straight away to help other,and hopefully others helping me .
A professional area should be available to paid members only,not members who join and then decide to pay the fees to get a bit of discount,but it should be for proper companies / people who actually do this for a living.I am honest and set up from home and now are doing this full time from march as I am redundant.I was a procurement officer for a council and bought lots of IT equipment along the way,so I was a specialist in what i did.
My point is that if you are a proper business then the suppliers could talk freely in that forum, knowing they were actually talking to their customers looking for deals from them.This would then make a very good section on the forum, from asking amateur questions to talking to suppliers in a selected forum.
I would also like to say a big thanks to justin and admins who keep this all together,running these forums in no walk in the park,I know ben there,following post,moving post,deleting post,keeping it ticking , lads a round of applause to you all, great forum , great place for info

Justin

17-02-2014, 08:28 PM

We already have a separate section for Premium Members :-) A 'professional' section has been debated long and hard and no-one ever came up with a definitive answer to who you'd let in, minimum length of membership, number of posts, let me look at their accounts to see their turnover!? lol.

Thank you for the kind words btw, much appreciated :-)

funkey monkey

16-04-2014, 10:12 PM

I understand the need for the forum hosting being paid for its use taking up alot of bandwidth and space which Justin has to pay for, and don’t get me wrong paying £10 for a year is less than the cost of one of my sales for an item? But the offer by being a member gets you discounts from the suppliers is not really an incentive because you can go direct to those suppliers and more and get thes ame or better discounts!

Now it looks like there may be at least one or more hidden sections on the forum which premium membership gets you into but what are the benefits unless someone explains how that justifies the £10 membership?

I’d be happy to pay for membership if there was a real benefit which you could not find on the net that was exclusive to only this forum? But so far I can’t see that being a reason to pay for premium membership!

May be a better way of paying for the forums costs would have been to get a supplier pay to be the sponsor of the forums to cover the costs?

Justin

16-04-2014, 10:22 PM

If you can already save 10% with the likes of Lisatwood, Xpres, Longforte then there's no point in you joining, other than to show your support for the forum.

I'm not sure you're statement about going directly to the suppliers is correct. I really can't see how everyone on this forum could get these discounts regardless of buying power. I've had to work hard with some suppliers to get discounts fixed in place and personally have never been offered such good discounts from these suppliers and I've been in the game a long while.

At the risk of repeating myself, I don't expect everyone to pay the membership and I have no problem with that whatsoever. I've got the discounts in place so that anyone/everyone can get their £10 back straight away and far more besides so for many it's a no brainer. I'm more than happy for members to continue with a free membership but with the greatest of respect would ask what they get from the forum, how much time and money does it save them and how many forums can you visit where potential competitors are always so eager to offer you advice and help?

Andrew

16-04-2014, 10:33 PM

Justin is correct, I cannot see the majority of members being able to agree regular discounts without the benefit of the forum. I buy most of our regular items well into the thousands for each order yet the discounts on other bits where I might buy in small amounts more than pays for itself.

Regardless of the above I think many will pay the £10 purely for the help they get through the info and sharing of knowledge on this site.

funkey monkey

16-04-2014, 10:47 PM

Justin,

I was only posting how I see it!

I already get 10% or more from 3 of the suppliers on thisforum! I also get 10% of more from suppliers which are not on this forum!

If the newbies in this game can’t work out how to speak tosuppliers to get a discount then maybe they should not be in it?

I’m sorry if I have offended you in some way but I thoughtyou had this post for people to say why they didn’t pay for membership for thepoint of the poll post!

You do a great job with this forum for keeping going allthis time and more power to you for that.

But I was only giving my opinion for the notpaying for the premium membership!

Justin

16-04-2014, 10:51 PM

Not offended in the slightest :-) I respect all and every opinion so don't worry about that.

I'm afraid I just can't agree with your statements about discounts though. Someone working on a hobby level for example cannot call up all of these companies andf get 10% off just like that. What's in it for the supplier? Very small irregular orders. Quite happy to be proved wrong but that's certainly what I've been led to believe over the years.

Karen.

17-04-2014, 07:33 PM

I personally didn't pay for the membership to get the discounts, but partly for any added benefits that it may lead to and partly purely because I know how time consuming and sometimes costly running a forum can be. If my tiny £10 a year helps with this at all then I will gladly continue to subscribe.

Simong12

18-04-2014, 06:15 PM

Just adding a opinion, I have only joined in last two weeks, and seeing all the help people have given me I decided to join as premium member just like Karen. If I can get discounts great, problem is with many forums is not the forum itself it's the members, and you get a divide. Being new to sublimation my question might sound stupid to older experienced members. People ask questions because you don't know or not sure, and 9 times out of 10 someone else is to embarrassed to ask the same question. Or the question might been asked before but people don't have time to read all previous threads, If I can help anyone in future when I have experience then I am more than willing to do that.

Neilb78

24-04-2014, 10:30 PM

Just joined as a premium member and about to place a order with xpress, but they want a code off me any ideas when I get code justin

thanks

Renniwano

24-04-2014, 10:33 PM

Click forum.. and then official supporters private section.. and the discount codes are in there on a post :)

Justin

24-04-2014, 10:36 PM

Just what that member just said there! lol. Please remember that this code changes at the beginning of each month...so you just have to keep coming back! ;-)

Neilb78

24-04-2014, 11:03 PM

Cheers sent code, can't wait for machines to arrive now and get cracking

ArtyGamer

29-04-2014, 07:46 PM

Just wanted to add my two cents, if that's okay. The day that I joined, I signed up for Premium Membership even though I don't actually use any of the suppliers other than Xpres... although, to be honest, I barely use them that often and certainly not enough to warrant caring about a discount with them. I paid for my membership because, quite simply, I use the forum. I have my own website (video game reviews) which has a forum as the community aspect of it, and it costs us £300 a month to keep it all going because the traffic is too much for a 'typical' hosting account, and we have a lot of videos and other multimedia stored on it, so we use our own server. Not only that, but the forum software is a paid license. We don't have a premium membership there, primarily because there's actually nothing we could offer to make it 'worthwhile' for the end user, but it certainly would have helped with the running costs.

So my reason for buying a membership is because I want the forum to stay around, and the only real way to guarantee it is to make sure that the owners aren't running at a loss. Considering how low the membership cost is, I'm genuinely surprised that there are people who aren't paid-up members. If only to support those who maintain the space/server and keep the software up to date, clean up and optimise the dbase tables regularly etc. It's a very small price to pay for a community with so many resources.

dazzul

29-04-2014, 11:39 PM

Again ive used the odd discount, the other day due to a boo boo (naughty justin) my membership ran out, i simply renewed it, not because i needed to use a discount but because the information ive had for this forum is worth the £10 a hundred times over!

If buy justin having more Premiums he can attract new companies do discount, we will all be onto a winner!. (aham BMS)

DJMarkland

31-07-2015, 10:11 AM

Hi guys and girls

Ive been a paid member for a year now and really don't post much, I just research any new equipment/products and any problems I have.

The tenner is a no brainer.. I think we all agree.. I would be hesitant to block non-members from viewing old posts about help with sublimation as this would reduce the 'new blood'. That being said I think you should be a premium member to post a new question.

The BMS discount is a real loss...

My premium is running out tomorrow and I will be renewing tomorrow. Ive saved well over £10 over the last year using the discounts

Many thanks to Justin, Paul and all the rest for an excellent resource.

P.S Justin, Don't forget the silk slipper... A must have!

ArtyGamer

31-07-2015, 10:26 AM

I agree with the above, actually. I've not even logged in for months now (March, by the looks of it), but when my subscription was up for renewal I immediately made sure I paid it. I actually ended up paying twice, and I've no idea how that happened but I'm not bothered about it. If it helps to keep a valuable resource going, then great. I'm mostly doing DTG now, have stopped using my Ricohs entirely (colour matching ended up WAY off, so sticking to the Epson just now), and I've not really had the time to come on and offer any advice like I did before. It's primarily a time thing, though.

That said, I'd much rather keep paying the subscription to keep the forum going even if I never logged back in again. Great people giving great advice.

Neilb78

31-07-2015, 11:31 AM

I order mostly off Xpres so 10% off every order over the year has saved me loads way more than £10.00

Ucase Ltd

31-07-2015, 11:43 AM

I'm not sure you should have to be a premium member to post a new question.

Yes it's great value for money but you have to build trust before people are willing to pay.
When I started out I had loads of questions but I'm not sure if I would have paid for that privilege. and if I didn't I would have lost out on being part of this community without even knowing it. It wasn't until later, when I realised the true value of the forum that I became a premium member.

Having said that - I don't think anyone would mind if premium membership was promoted a little harder. Perhaps a monthly mail-out reminding non-members of the benefits.
It took me around a year to join premium and that was only because I forgot it was even there. I know there's a banner but we all become ad' blind after a while and don't even see those things.

pisquee

31-07-2015, 03:04 PM

You can easily save more than £10 in your first order with a supplier after getting the premium membership, so that in itself should get people signed up even if they never participate in the forum at all.

logobear

31-07-2015, 04:31 PM

It just strikes me as poor to use the resources of this forum and expect it all for nothing!
We don't use any of the suppliers that give discount, but a tenner for an idea that might save you half a day or inspire you to new areas of biz .....
OK, - I might sometimes forget to renew for a while, but I aim to keep it up.
cummon!

Justin

31-07-2015, 07:18 PM

I've just installed a mod that allows guests to view a set number of posts before they have to register. Next stage is to get everyone to pay Premium Membership! HAHA!

UK Printed Mugs

31-07-2015, 08:29 PM

That's a great idea Justin. We appreciate the level of commitment, costs and time it takes to maintain this fantastic forum.

DJMarkland

03-08-2015, 02:02 PM

I'm not sure you should have to be a premium member to post a new question....

When I started out I had loads of questions but I'm not sure if I would have paid for that privilege.

I get what your saying here, you wouldn't pay to ask questions on a forum, but most of the answers you needed when first setting out (the usual questions) are already answered, new users would just look through the years of Q & A.

Hope the forum continues for many years......

logobear

03-08-2015, 03:57 PM

might be a good idea to MAKE new users have to read (say) 100 posts before they can ask a question .....then they will probably realise that Qu have been posted and answered already!

calvinabc

03-01-2016, 10:53 PM

probably a bit late to this but thought i would put my 2pennys to it. i think this forum is absolutely amazing. not everything is always a 100% but you can figure stuff out and if you help others out, then that favour will be returned. i would quite like a "like" or "agree" button on posts. i know this similar to FB. but sometimes rather than repeating/echoing what someone else has said you can just hit the button. or even a disagree button could be good.

i haven't done yet but will definitely be making a donation to Justin. and i would easily pay £20 a year for this forum. and not batter an eye lid.

calvinabc

Justin

04-01-2016, 12:29 AM

Always god to get input on this. We do have a 'like' button but found that it added so much junk into the thread content that it detracted. I'll look for a better option as I agree it would be useful. Don't forget the reputation points system as well :-)

Additional donations always appreciated! lol, no need.

bigj2552

04-01-2016, 09:49 PM

pamela

09-02-2016, 07:54 PM

I was a member for less than 30 mins and took out premium membership - so much information.

James990

09-02-2016, 08:27 PM

I have once again renewed my membership and gladly paid the £10.00, yet have not taken advantage of any of the discounts! I think the info on here is worth more than the £10.00. Everyone should pay!

UK Printed Mugs

09-02-2016, 09:03 PM

Perhaps Junior Members should have read-only access to posts. £10 for asking questions to professionals (even if you don't use discounts) is surely worth Premium Membership. May be it will also stop all the same basic questions being asked time and time again :rolleyes:

jimmy oldskool

14-10-2016, 11:47 AM

i have paid for my membership i was just wondering when it wil be active as im waiting to make an order and want to apply discount code

DJMarkland

14-10-2016, 12:21 PM

Try this link. I found the section hard to find at first too :)

http://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforum/showthread.php?5873-Premium-Member-Discount-List

Justin

14-10-2016, 12:25 PM

Replied to your PM :-)

cyprian.costelloe

16-11-2016, 11:21 AM

Personally I think it is a great resource and the discounts I have availed make it even better.

David59

18-01-2017, 09:43 PM

Hi. Just about to purchase a Adkins heat press and when I saw the Discounts with top Sublimation Suppliers! and I sent off my subscription. Would you let me know where I can find these discounts? So far all I've come across are deals that are months out of date and do not appear to be exclusive to DFS members in any way. The main reason for joining was the idea I might save on the press.
Of course it could just be missing something here.
Cheer David.

Justin

18-01-2017, 09:48 PM

Not sure where you're looking, there shouldn't be anything out of date. In official supporters section, top sticky thread.

jose24

22-01-2017, 11:57 PM

webtrekker

23-01-2017, 11:04 AM

Heres my 2cents worth, the forum is really great and saves alot of mistakes in the beginning. Sublimation etc is just a side line for me.

I think a membership option is a great idea and the forum should be 10 a year for everyone and a private all access area 99 a year.

Kinda like Netflix for the printing/sub industry. videos, how to sections etc

I see this alot in my main job and am a member of a few and find them very useful.

Justin if you would like to chat about these just send me a PM

Yeah, then sit back and watch the membership plummet!

I know there are many 'big guns' in this forum to whom 99 quid would be a pittance, but the vast majority seem to be people just starting out in business, dabblers, hobbyists or just plain interested. I find the £10 ,membership worthwhile and will renew it again next year, but change to a higher, or compulsory subscription and that's me gone.

Just my 2 cents.

mnporter2001

28-10-2020, 07:11 PM

I've just paid my £10 and to me it seems a no brainer, I figure if I buy a pallet of mugs of something then I am up.
Plus I used to run forums and appreciate the costs not only in money but time so if my £10 gets Justin a few pints then I am happy to pay :)

Brant

28-10-2020, 09:46 PM

Tried to renew my premium membership a few months back. Sent you a message to remind me how to renew but no reply.

Justin

29-10-2020, 01:30 PM

Did you send via PM? What date was this please?

harlequeen

29-10-2020, 06:50 PM

I used to be a premium member, but never used the discounts. I was quite ill last year and must have missed the renewal and it's not occurred to me to rejoin.

Mrteajunkie

29-10-2020, 07:10 PM

I hadn’t realised mine had expired. :cool:
Just updated and paid the £10, Well spent with all the advice I have gained through this forum too.

froggy

29-10-2020, 07:47 PM

Just my 2 cents.

Its not easy to take a yearly membership out, the subscription payment and how to find it isnt intuiative, its as though the forum doesnt really want the membership money.

I think the membership fee is too cheap, its as though the forum doesnt understand its real value. The discount is ok, but its not a good enough reason for me to join. The forums real value is its collective knowledge. If I want real life information on a specialist subject I am prepared to pay for it. £10 is neither here nor there, its £4.50 for a decent cup of coffee.

My suggestion is let new members get value out of it, but restrict access to certain parts of the forum, hobby decorators dont need to know business type information for example. If members want to glean information for commercial purposes then they need to pay for it. Learning how to produce quality results consistently costs money. If they want a real life product review then they should pay for that information, how much does buying inferior cheaper equipment actually cost?

Ive been fortunate, I couldnt have built the business I have without the internet. If I had been born 30 years earlier it would have cost me a small fortune to learn what I have learned for practically nothing and I would have most probably failed because I would have run out of cash trying to find the right kit and production method.

3 tier membership, free, £10(5% supplier discount) and say (for arguments sake) £50 for access to the most beneficial stuff ie the info that helps you make/save more money (10%+ supplier discount- if they cant afford £50 they wont be buying much of anything from anyone.)