Why don’t they just sell T-shirts, coffee mugs, and other merchandise in order to raise the funds?
Sheesh.
Shayna … I’m not trying insult you, I’m just trying to show you a side that maybe you aren’t seeing. Just because you don’t see something on the board does not mean that it hasn’t been discussed or possibly even implemented in some way or another. Just because they haven’t tried BurstMedia doesn’t mean that banner ads have not been tried. I don’t think they need to try every single banner ad company before they decide that for them it’s not going to work. There is also the possibility that being a larger entity (The Chicago Reader) that there may be legal or other implications and entanglements with going to a third party system.
I used the example of prostituting Little Ed as an argument ad absurdum to demonstrate that just because we haven’t seen him in garters on a street corner doesn’t mean that every option hasn’t been considered. Just because you don’t see a specific option implemented does not mean that it hasn’t been on the table, in some form or another, in the last 18 months we’ve been considering this.
I’m a dumbass. I just realized that they DO sell merchandise…hmmm…
Hi krisp!
Hey, where can i get an orginal krispy t shirt?
I’d post the information about the purchase of Krispy T-shirts Vanilla, but that would be spamming wouldn’t it?
I might consider delivering one to you though. Shall I email you to set up the details?
Why yes, young man. Do so.
are you crackers? (lame joke there)
Apart from the fact that they already do, I just have to address this:
Why sell stuff people don’t want (T-shirts, coffeemugs) to subsidize what people do want (posting on the SDMB). Avoid the middleman, sell the posting.
I don’t know how many registered users there are, but it seems to me that the Reader is asking for something upwards of a quarter of a million dollars per annum to maintain the board. This seems a little excessive. Is my math way out of line here?
What are the real expenses of maintaining this board?
What would a subscription cost if the profit-margin was kept at a reasonable level, like 150 percent?
Just curious.
Yes, I think so, unless you are assuming that 12,000 or so people sign on. I imagine they are expecting 200 or so to sign on.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Lynn Bodoni *
**
Excuse me? You cancel privileges because people make snide remarks? Explan that please.
She is talking about a select group of trolls who sign on with new sock puppet after new sock puppet and start thread after thread criticizing the boards and never contribute anything of value.
I won’t pretend to know anything about how to best finance a site, but how about a middle ground? Using banners and possibly even pop-ups and allowing people to register for premium service which disables the advertisments. Likewise, making features such as the board searches and column archives premium only.
Heck, I’d even say to make the social forums premium only as well since those are most likely putting the largest drain on the board. I know of more than one site that’s gone a similar route and it seems to be working for them (though the rank and file users really don’t know how well it’s all working until they see the next plea for cash or a 404 error).
After reading all this blather, I have decides that I would probably pay to post. The only problem is getting my $20 cash to the SDMB.
I forgot to say that the problem in getting my cash here is that I’m only 15, and don’t have any credit cards.
It’s been said before, but it doesn’t seem to be sinking in – you teenagers crying that you don’t have any money:
To begin, I’d like to say CRY ME A FUCKING RIVER.
I did yardwork, washed cars, babysat, petsat, did odd jobs for the neighbors – you name it. You’d be really surprised how many people have shit they need done around their house/yard and they are willing to pay for if you’ll got the gumption to get off your ass one Saturday and go door to door and ask/offer your services. From the time I was 10 years old on I was making my own spending money. You should easily be able to earn enough money on one Saturday to get you the SDMB for a year. Quit yer moanin.
Of course, now I expect dozens of messages from teenagers who live so far out in the country that they have no neighbors, or whose parents won’t let them leave the house on the weekend, or who have no arms and post to the SDMB by pecking at the keyboard with their nose…
And for the “I only have cash, no credit cards” crew: There have been two very viable workarounds to this problem posted already.
I’d like to chime in that this is the best suggestion I’ve heard yet.
I mentioned this in the other thread discussing this issue. At a time, things were pretty heated so it might have been missed.
Personally, I like the idea of fifty posts free and then you pay. However, personal experience and common sense tell me that it will be impossible to enforce.
That is, once a poster hits that magical number fifty, what’s to stop him or her from re-registering under a new name?
**
Or, you could hear from people who could be telling you the truth.
Nah, that couldn’t be. Might as well start up the pointless snipping at each other again.
Sheesh.
You’re right Chris, I forgot about the scores of teenage posters who do type with their nose. How rude of me.
Vanity?
That’s not a snide comment, but I do believe that if someone was seriously interested in the board, they’d want a name to call their very own and an identity on the board.
No, it won’t stop the trolls from doing it, but if you actually liked the SDMB after your first 50, you’d probably be more likely to pony up and keep your name than to start all over.
I might pay to post, if people actually clicked on any of my links when I do. For me, contributing to a board is not only fun, but also good advertising, as occasionally someone clicks through to my homepage and possibly purchases something. Of all the “communities” I participate in, though, this one has the smallest percentage of people that privately contact me or click-through to my page. 
Still, I would probably be willing to pay $10-15 a year to post here. I pay $30 every three months to host my own message board ad-free with EZBoards, but that’s a benefit for me because it keeps my hits up and lets my users play around with each other when I haven’t drawn anything lately. 