Premium Membership Poll - Your thoughts please

[harlequeen]

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]

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]

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]

is it still there justin?

[Justin]

No, it was hidden a while ago, nobodies asked for it

[Karen.]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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?