# Paying the annual SDMB member fee **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 15, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865 "2016-05-15T18:55:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/41 "2016-05-16T03:15:54Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > I can use SDMB by 1) buying a subscription, or 2) renting out my eyeballs to the advertisers who pay money to the SDMB to put ads in front of those eyeballs. The SDMB gets paid either way, and given that the SDMB continues to offer the second option, they apparently get paid enough for my eyeballs to make it viable. I’m paying for my subscription; I’m just not paying currency. You’ve also supplied the SDMB with, let’s see, 1,387 posts of content, at no cost to them, which they then sell to other readers by those same two channels. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/42 "2016-05-16T03:20:21Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Hey, when a post is truly funny, I gotta laugh. Thinking the library is free? Tell me you didn’t smile a \*little \*at the naivete of that notion. …the second poster you took a potshot at never claimed the library was “free.” And the first poster you took a potshot at never made any claims about a library at all. > [@](#): > > The intent of the thread was, as stated, to find out why people choose not to pay for a service that costs money to run, but that they are not required to pay for. I’m finding out. Then perhaps for the rest of this thread you could refrain from taking potshots at people? ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/43 "2016-05-16T03:28:02Z")
Better title for the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Qwisp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qwisp/32/397_2.png) [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/44 "2016-05-16T03:47:28Z")
> [@Tabby\_Cat](#): > > I’m paid through to 2018. I don’t actually post much, but I do want to make sure that this board stays around because I love reading it, and because it’s there when I _do_ need it. > > The one erudite place on the internet, I have to support this. 😉 I can agree with this. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/45 "2016-05-16T04:05:07Z")
Because I’ve found that I can get the exact same thing for free. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/46 "2016-05-16T04:23:54Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …the second poster you took a potshot at never claimed the library was “free.” And the first poster you took a potshot at never made any claims about a library at all. > > … > > Then perhaps for the rest of this thread you could refrain from taking potshots at people? Serious question: why is this of interest to you? What’s your stake in whatever I may or may not post further on in this thread? Now I’m _really_ curious. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/47 "2016-05-16T04:55:42Z")
I paid and was a Charter Member when the board went the paid membership route a few years back, I think I paid for about two years. Then at some point they stopped doing that around the same time I stopped visiting for a year or two and then I lost my Charter shit. I started posting again but now you don’t have to pay and the benefits aren’t incentive enough to pay, that’s the simple reason, the cost of membership gives few real tangible benefits for most posters. I like the board enough that if they went back to a mandatory paid subscription deal I’d probably cough up the money, but if they can make it on the ads and a few random people that will pay because they think its worth it for them, then I’ll just deal with the ads and keep posting for free. There is no reason to criticize people that don’t pay, get off the high horse, if they want the money, the board needs to offer something more than what they currently offer to draw in more money, its just simple market economics. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/48 "2016-05-16T05:06:50Z")
I was around for pay to post. If they go back to that again, you’ll see my pasty white ass making a beeline for the exit. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/49 "2016-05-16T05:13:59Z")
I mean, let’s be honest, being a subscriber as an economic proposal isn’t worth it for most people. The subscription is more of a “tips” or “donation” rather than a value for money transaction. But that goes for most of the internet these days. Patrons (and I mean that in the old meaning of the term “patronage”) keep a place or a creator afloat so that more people can enjoy it/their works. So for those who don’t think it’s economically worth it to subscribe, but post anyway, I thank you for your interesting content that I consume. I’ll keep the lights on for you. As a more interesting question/experiment, would the member/charter member thing work better if this patronage was made more explicit? Rather than the “benefits” of having a bigger PM box (I have 16 PMs total in just over 15 years) and so on. A title for patrons, acknowledgement of patrons, maybe even a “patron box” showing how much your contribution keeps the lights on, and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/50 "2016-05-16T05:16:02Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > For those of you who don’t do this, why not? Not a challenge, just simple curiosity. It’s really cheap-- $15/ year or something. Anybody have a good reason? NO! NO! But I would support paying extra for privileges: – advertising a business – less behavior restrictions? – permission to post more threads? What else? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/51 "2016-05-16T05:30:08Z")
Really, the only thing you get is a fancy title under your name, and the # of posts you have — which can be easily seen if you click on one’s user name. At one time, only paid members could use the search engine, but even that’s no longer the case. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/52 "2016-05-16T05:32:52Z")
> [@Tabby\_Cat](#): > > As a more interesting question/experiment, would the member/charter member thing work better if this patronage was made more explicit? Rather than the “benefits” of having a bigger PM box (I have 16 PMs total in just over 15 years) and so on. A title for patrons, acknowledgement of patrons, maybe even a “patron box” showing how much your contribution keeps the lights on, and so forth. A very good idea, but knowing this crowd I’d think the title of ‘patron’ would associate the bearer with tequila more than it would financial support. 😉 Benefactor, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/53 "2016-05-16T05:35:15Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Serious question: why is this of interest to you? What’s your stake in whatever I may or may not post further on in this thread? Now I’m _really_ curious. …serious answer: I actually want to participate in the thread. But serious question: if I do address the questions asked in the OP: are you going to passively aggressively attack me like you’ve passively aggressively attacked others? If so I’d rather not participate. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/54 "2016-05-16T05:52:57Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I guess for the same reason I don’t pay my library to borrow a book. > > mmm I was going to mention that our taxes pay for those services but that was already done. It could have been handled better, but the point still stands. > [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > Back at you: why? What would I get that I don’t already get free? > [@jtur88](#): > > I’ve been on the internet for more than 20 years and I have not yet paid one cent for access to anything, except the internet itself. (And when I started, it was called a "freenet, taken as a tacit promise that it always would be.) I don’t want to spoil my record. It costs money for the servers and infrastructure. I get decent entertainment from this site, and it’s only $15 a year. If someone can’t afford it then okay, I’m okay with that but if you can afford it then why not help defray the operating costs? I get more than $15 worth of entertainment from the SDMB. I’m a new member but have been paying pretty soon after I joined. It’s only $15. ---
**Author:** ![TATG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/50afbb/32.png) [@TATG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TATG)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/55 "2016-05-16T06:09:57Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > if you can afford it then why not help defray the operating costs? This website is not a charity. It earns money through advertising, and it promotes the straight dope brand. Why would I defray the costs of a commercial entity whose costs I know nothing about, and which isn’t asking for help on its operating costs? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/56 "2016-05-16T06:30:25Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > NO! NO! But I would support paying extra for privileges: > > – advertising a business > – less behavior restrictions? > – permission to post more threads? > > What else? If you’re on a restriction from posting too many similar threads (I don’t know if you personally are, but there are some people here), paying for a subscription isn’t going to lift that restriction. Most people are free to post as many threads as they want as long as they don’t flood the forums with threads all about the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/57 "2016-05-16T07:08:56Z")
It’s a long series of little things. Customer service isn’t great now, but it used to be bad. Really bad. Any complaint or concern about how things were done, and we’d be told, politely and not so politely, to fuck off, it’s their board, they’ll run it as they please. Before the board went pay to post, people offered to donate, offered hosting services, etc., and they were told, politely and not so politely, to fuck off, it’s a business, not a charity, and they’ll monetize it on their own terms. People asked for better merch to buy, suggested ways of doing it, offered to design it, and we were told, politely and not so politely, to fuck off, it’s THEIR business, they know what they’re doing and they’ll sell what they want to sell. Then they say, we don’t want your money, you can pay if you like, but actually, we’d rather sell your screen space to advertisers. Oh, and please don’t use Adblock. And when I got a computer virus at work and was eventually fired partly for visiting “unsafe” websites, I didn’t even complain here because I’d already seen that the answer would be to tell us that there was nothing they could do, they had no other way to monetize the site, and they’d tried everything else, and people were just not willing to chip in and buy a membership anymore for some reason. And sure enough, around that time they stopped even politely telling people who complained to fuck off (most of the time, anyway) and they started explaining mod decisions, and Ed stopped making _quite_ such a fuss and having a fit of the vapors whenever people used ungentlemany language in the Pit. But I decided somewhere along the way that my money and I would just politely fuck off after all. And even though I avoided the place for all of the better part of a month before returning, my money hasn’t seen fit to come with me, and I haven’t seen any reason why it should. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/58 "2016-05-16T07:21:48Z")
> [@TATG](#): > > This website is not a charity. It earns money through advertising, and it promotes the straight dope brand. Why would I defray the costs of a commercial entity whose costs I know nothing about, and which isn’t asking for help on its operating costs? Those of us who have been here for a while remember when it was run at a loss and they were looking for ways to keep it afloat (though taking direct donations was never accepted for some reason). Whether it actually makes money now or not I don’t know, but you’ll find a number of old timers do consider it to be at least partially a charity. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/59 "2016-05-16T07:26:07Z")
Is it possible to pay from abroad without using PayPal? Last few times I’ve tried, it wasn’t. Purely a logistical matter for me, but it also doesn’t make sense to get multiple ways to pay for a handful of weirdos when those you have work for the majority. **CCitizen** , paying does give one access to advertise in the Marketplace. I did get permission to post an ad once but it was for a “help wanted”, not to sell anything. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/60 "2016-05-16T13:16:39Z")
> [@Tabby\_Cat](#): > > … The subscription is more of a “tips” or “donation” rather than a value for money transaction. > … Well said. This is the way I see it. The subscriber fee is so small that it has no economic impact on either me or the SDMB. But I’m here a lot, and things cost money to operate, and since there is an opportunity to contribute, I do it. Actual economic value doesn’t enter into it for me. ETA. Some of the reasons people are giving for not paying are quite fascinating-- things that would never have occurred to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865.md?page=4)