# Charter Members: help me understand! Why do you pay? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 9, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592 "2009-12-09T15:13:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/1 "2009-12-09T15:13:29Z")
This is a difficult subject since many of my favorite posters here are “Charter Members.” I just don’t understand the motivation to pay for posting to a message board. To me, paying to create content on the internet just does not compute, like paying for a Google search or paying to watch a YouTube video. Is it not having to specify your location on every post? Although, it seems at least half of members put some sort of joke in the location line, so that can’t be it for them. Do you find people take you more seriously since you’ve actually ponied up some dough for the membership and they think you’re less likely to mess around? So what’s the deal, members? I’m very interested. As a side note, why is the “charter” part so important to many people? Surely, people can see your join date and see how long you’ve been in the community. I don’t get the cachet of having “charter” next to member. I’d be interested in any theories about this too. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/2 "2009-12-09T15:14:09Z")
No ads. A small price to pay, in my book. Although, I lost my Charter, so I don’t know if I count. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/3 "2009-12-09T15:17:11Z")
You count. I just put “charter members” because it’s clearer for the thread title. I wonder how effective the Firefox adblocker is comparable to paying for membership. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/4 "2009-12-09T15:18:20Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > This is a difficult subject since many of my favorite posters here are “Charter Members.” I just don’t understand the motivation to pay for posting to a message board. To me, paying to create content on the internet just does not compute, like paying for a Google search or paying to watch a YouTube video. For me, it doesn’t compute that I _don’t_ have to pay for something I use just about every day and brings me a lot of entertainment & knowledge. There are costs involved in running a board such as this, and I don’t see why, as someone who uses it, I am somehow immune from those costs. And it’s cheap - $7.50 a year for Charter members. Cheaper than a movie and lasts a lot longer. I don’t care about location and join date and # of posts and all that. It’s nice to have, but that’s not why I pay. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/5 "2009-12-09T15:20:25Z")
It a community I belong to. I support it financially. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/6 "2009-12-09T15:26:04Z")
Because I gain a lot from this message board, well worth the amount I pay. Even though I could get this without paying, I want to “show my support” and contribute toward the board’s operating costs. I also like not having ads. I’d rather pay with money than pay by being advertised at; it seems more direct and fair. And, I’ll admit, there’s a bit of inertia involved, from when you had to be a member to post (for more than 30 days). It might be different if I couldn’t easily afford the membership. But this is far from the wastiest thing I spend my money on. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/7 "2009-12-09T15:30:54Z")
I love this message board and I hate ads. I don’t mind contributing to a message board that has brought me so much entertainment. I make a good living and 7.00 (or whatever it is) is perfectly reasonable for how much time I spend reading. I have no opinion on the Charter member title - and I have never filled in my location (I just don’t care). I pay early to keep my low 7.00 membership fee! I don’t mind paying for the board, but it’s cool I get to pay less. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/8 "2009-12-09T15:32:15Z")
Eh, it’s not very much money, and I think of it as a small donation to sustain something that’s given me a lot of pleasure. Why not? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/9 "2009-12-09T15:39:04Z")
Like **Athena** , I don’t think everything on the Internet should be free, so it doesn’t blip my radar one bit to pay for a well-run messageboard on which I am a member. I also don’t mind that not everyone else pays. $7/year for the amount of time I spend here is _nothing_. I was going to say that ads don’t bother me because I use adblock, but I use Chrome on my sucky laptop and am very glad not to see ads there. It would take years to load. If AdBlock cost $20/year, I’d pay it. It’s worth it. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/10 "2009-12-09T15:43:02Z")
Like almost everyone else, I pay because I get much, much more than $7.50 worth of enjoyment out of it. Not having the ads is a bonus. StG ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/11 "2009-12-09T15:48:21Z")
I didn’t realize that Charter Members get a (perpetual?) discount on their memberships. That would explain some of the angst in letting it lapse. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/12 "2009-12-09T15:51:51Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > That would explain some of the angst in letting it lapse. I certainly rue the day I let mine lapse. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/13 "2009-12-09T16:00:02Z")
I use Firefox and other stuff which keep me from seeing ads. The only two reasons I paid for a charter membership were to get that nifty “Charter Member” tag and to support the board. However, due to a cross-country move, I missed the window to renew… so I lost my charter member status. So now I don’t pay anything. If I could get my tag back, I’d pay, but they say that’s impossible, so they don’t get any money from me. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/14 "2009-12-09T16:03:07Z")
It’s cheap, cheaper than most magazine subscriptions. You get to keep your post count and you get a small title plus some additional perks like added space in your Private Massages folder. The small price is easily offset by the small perks for me. If this were a new board, I wouldn’t pay to have my status, location, and post count displayed but I didn’t like the idea of it being stripped away here when it came to that because I had been here for years and gotten used to it when the new option was made available. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/15 "2009-12-09T16:05:56Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > It a community I belong to. I support it financially. Same here. I’ve tried various free boards and they are too expensive so to speak. Trolls, mind-games, and tons of assorted crap. This place and Ecunet are different and I think that difference needs recognized with a little money. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/16 "2009-12-09T16:07:13Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > I use Firefox and other stuff which keep me from seeing ads. The only two reasons I paid for a charter membership were to get that nifty “Charter Member” tag and to support the board. > > However, due to a cross-country move, I missed the window to renew… so I lost my charter member status. So now I don’t pay anything. If I could get my tag back, I’d pay, but they say that’s impossible, so they don’t get any money from me. Is it the price difference that makes you refuse to pay? $15 is too much, but you would pay $7.50? Or is there something about “charter”? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/17 "2009-12-09T16:11:25Z")
Just a regular ole member, and don’t mind paying $15. For the amount of enjoyment I get from hanging out here, it is truly a bargain. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/18 "2009-12-09T16:12:00Z")
Same as others, been supporting the board, the money is insignificant. I may not even get my $7.50 worth some years, but when it comes time to re-new, I just do. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/19 "2009-12-09T16:19:15Z")
Let’s say I’m having a hard time getting a good table at a very expensive restaurant. That’s when I pull the Maître d’ aside and in a low voice, I say, “You know, good sir, I’m a _Charter Member_ at the SDMB.” _sniff_ Then I slip him a Washington. It never works, but it’s so worth the bemused look and grimace that appears on his face. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592/20 "2009-12-09T16:21:53Z")
We get the key to the good restroom. And the free beer is nice. Oh wait, I wasn’t supposed to mention that. Never mind. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charter-members-help-me-understand-why-do-you-pay/520592.md?page=2)