# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/61 "2016-05-16T13:54:15Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > NO! NO! But I would support paying extra for privileges: > > **– advertising a business** > – less behavior restrictions? > – permission to post more threads? > > What else? The Marketplace forum does just that. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/62 "2016-05-16T14:22:41Z")
I registered in June 2005. I can’t remember what the subscription situation was at that time. I know it was after pay-to-post began, but I can’t remember if I had to pay in 2005. I do know that I had been lurking for a while and registered specifically so I could post. I also remember being a paid member for a few years, then allowing the subscription to lapse because of an issue with PayPal. My wife and I had gotten rid of all but one credit card, and PayPal wouldn’t allow two users to share a credit card, I got pissed at PayPal and just let it lapse. I rejoined later, then let that expire in 2014 during one of Ed and Tuba’s ongoing episodes of egregious customer service. I don’t care about ads, I don’t care who can see my post count or location, and I can get what I want from the board without paying. I see no reason to pay. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/63 "2016-05-16T14:29:55Z")
edit: blorp. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/64 "2016-05-16T14:46:32Z")
I was a member at one time and would do it again but I never knew when renewal was. I just came here one day and my status had changed to guest or whatever it is. To the extent that I’ve ever thought about it, which isn’t much, I think I was sort of under the impression that membership was a thing of the past. Anyway, I’d be glad to pony up to help maintain the site, that is if I’m still allowed to(?) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/65 "2016-05-16T14:47:48Z")
Forum ate my post and I couldn’t get in under the edit window. Let’s try again. The Chicago Reader’s current monetization scheme appears to be something along the lines of, "pay us money or live in squalor among those who we subject to an increasingly odious and ill-advised string of internet advertisements. Also we will let you cross-post your eBay listings in the Marketplace forum.’ Not compelling stuff. I don’t care that the absolute yearly cost isn’t all that much. It’s still more than a membership here is worth to me. If the Dope went away tomorrow, I’m sorry to say that I’d soldier on with minimal fuss. Also, I’ve said it before: the attitudes that a number of members have towards non-members is at least a good portion of the mortar in the wall of my resistance. Some of y’all can be real jerks about the whole thing, as if Cecil and Ed are eating beans out of a can and only our memberships can save them from lives of abject poverty. ---
**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, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/66 "2016-05-16T14:52:45Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Also, I’ve said it before: the attitudes that a number of members have towards non-members is at least a good portion of the mortar in the wall of my resistance. Some of y’all can be real jerks about the whole thing, as if Cecil and Ed are eating beans out of a can and only our memberships can save them from lives of abject poverty. Yup. That wasn’t true for me before this thread, but it sure is now. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/67 "2016-05-16T15:02:56Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > edit: blorp. Was this post edited by the ghost of Don Martin? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/68 "2016-05-16T15:03:22Z")
^^^^^^ That instead of guest. My employer blocks this site because of the ads. No ads means not blocked. And it’s half price for being a charter member. Re-upped this morning. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/69 "2016-05-16T15:14:20Z")
I don’t pay to be a member of \*any \*internet site, why should this one be any different? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/70 "2016-05-16T15:16:53Z")
I paid the first couple of years, then missed the “re-up” window and lost the Charter Member designation - the only reason I paid anyway. Now I pay by allowing ads, which probably nets the enterprise more than $15 per year, certainly more than the half price charter member fee. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/71 "2016-05-16T15:24:20Z")
> [@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? Depends on your definition of “good”. In presenting me with the choice of dealing with ads or paying the membership fee, evidently The Powers That Be have determined that either option is acceptable to them. My guess is that it’s a better deal for them if I _don’t_ pay up: instead of getting 4.1 cents per day from me, they’re serving me dozens, possibly hundreds, of ads and reaping the associated revenue from the advertisers. My guess is that that adds up to more than 4.1 cents. I don’t see that anyone should feel guilted/shamed into paying, because the alternative is that a portion of your field of view gets occupied by advertising. It would be a different matter if the board subsisted entirely on member fees/donations, and no one was ever served any ads. As for why I chose not to pay up, I’ve just never felt that bothered by the ads. ---
**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, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/72 "2016-05-16T16:18:51Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > … > Also, I’ve said it before: the attitudes that a number of members have towards non-members is at least a good portion of the mortar in the wall of my resistance. Some of y’all can be real jerks about the whole thing, as if Cecil and Ed are eating beans out of a can and only our memberships can save them from lives of abject poverty. > [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > Yup. That wasn’t true for me before this thread, but it sure is now. Great excuse. Points for creativity and for making something personal that isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/73 "2016-05-16T16:27:18Z")
I don’t really understand Paypal, but I was able to pay “through paypal” with my credit card. I like that I don’t have to wait 2 minutes between searches. And no ads, but basically, it’s a donation. The only other place I have paid for content is Andrew Sullivan’s old web log, the Daily Dish. For similar reasons. ---
**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, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/74 "2016-05-16T16:58:44Z")
> [@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? Well, it is a product, and it costs money to operate, and it’s only $15, so since I gain satisfaction from the product, I don’t mind paying the $15 for an entire year. And at only $15 for an entire year, that’s a little over 1¢ a day. It doesn’t even round up to 2¢ a day. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/75 "2016-05-16T16:59:47Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This is really hilarious. You think it doesn’t cost money to run the public library, and that’s why you borrow books for free? 😃 > > You do pay for library services. It’s called taxes. Thanks for the laugh. I needed that. > [@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. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Great excuse. Points for creativity and for making something personal that isn’t. You laugh and mock somebody, not just once but multiple times, for saying something _that they didn’t actually say_, and then wonder why some people think you’re making this personal?!? The person upthread who suggested this ought to have been in the Pit had the right idea. Mods, care to move? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/76 "2016-05-16T17:05:17Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Well, it is a product, and it costs money to operate, and it’s only $15, so since I gain satisfaction from the product, I don’t mind paying the $15 for an entire year. > > And at only $15 for an entire year, that’s a little over 1¢ a day. It doesn’t even round up to 2¢ a day. You might want to try applying a calculator to that approximation. ---
**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, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/77 "2016-05-16T17:20:20Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > You might want to try applying a calculator to that approximation. I did! Oops, I must’ve fat-fingered it. Okay it is 4¢ per day, not 1¢. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/78 "2016-05-16T17:29:06Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > I did! Oops, I must’ve fat-fingered it. Okay it is 4¢ per day, not 1¢. Of course, your point is still valid; it’s a trivial amount to most of us. I just wanted to pick a nit to prove my SDMB bona fides, despite my deadbeat status. 😉 ---
**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, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/79 "2016-05-16T17:41:17Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Of course, your point is still valid; it’s a trivial amount to most of us. I just wanted to pick a nit to prove my SDMB bona fides, despite my deadbeat status. 😉 Well, you’re a dead-beat nit-picker while I, kind sir, pay mightily for such nit-picking. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/80 "2016-05-16T17:49:34Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I would happily pay the fee and did for quite a few years. Then I decided to change my email address to one set up solely for this board but through disuse I forgot about it as time went by. When it got to be about time for renewal I checked and learned that I had overshot the deadline by about five days, having not gotten the notice from Jerry that it was coming due. Almost exactly this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865.md?page=5)