# 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:** 7
**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 19, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/121 "2016-05-19T18:05:08Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > Also: I was genuinely surprised to learn from this thread that this was still a thing. After pay-to-post ended, I sort of figured that membership payments would eventually fade too. I suppose this goes to show how important those “Member” titles are – I (clearly) don’t even notice them. Speaking only for myself, the “member” title has no importance. I’m just willing to chip in $15. If money was tight, I’d certainly refrain. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/122 "2016-05-19T18:32:33Z")
> [@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. I wrote to him explaining the situation and asked to be allowed to pay up and retain my charter membership. I heard bupkis in return. I probably would have acceded to paying the regular fee with no charter membership had I been given the courtesy of a response, but I wasn’t so I didn’t. > > There are several rules around here I’ve never understood and making charter members lose their designation over nonpayment of the fee on time is one of them. IMO, once a charter member, always a charter member and a person should be allowed to retain that status once they’ve paid the fee even if years have lapsed. The reason for this is that if they had joined as an original member they will always have been an original member. IOW, letting the fee lapse doesn’t suddenly erase the fact that the poster first joined when he did. The established policy all but guarantees that once a charter membership has lapsed the board will no longer get money from the lapsee, and it seems self-defeating to me. But I haven’t been asked to run the board (thankfully) so it isn’t my decision to make. Dammit! I agree with Starving Artist about something again. He’s right, folks. About this. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/123 "2016-05-19T18:32:39Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I’m fuzzy on this now, but it’s my recollection that on renewal day paid subscriptions expired earlier than I’d thought, so I found myself suddenly unable to post when I’d expected to at least have the rest of the day. This meant I also lost Charter Member status and could never regain it, so my subscription would forevermore be the higher Member price. My biggest incentive to resubscribe at that time would have been to lock in the lower rate, and with that off the table I figured screw it. > > I had mostly decided not to resubscribe anyway (otherwise I wouldn’t have left it until the last minute), but the strict enforcement of the Charter Member policy still left a bad taste in my mouth… This is my case. I paid for 2 or 3 years, but SD subscriptions felt more like dealing with surly bill collectors rather than being a customer friendly service. I got busy for a few months, came back to the board, then it was ‘sucks to be you’ and lost the low-rate member credit. Given that there are many other boards on the web that open up user functionality much more, for free, I decided my pure charity dollars don’t have any need-based drive to be spent here. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/124 "2016-05-20T01:41:22Z")
Awhile back, there was a special limited-time offer for lapsed Charter Members to get their Charter status back. Looks like a few may have missed that. Maybe it’s time to offer it again? ---
**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 20, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/125 "2016-05-20T02:40:18Z")
Must have been before I lost mine. I’m sure I’d have noted and taken advantage of it if afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/126 "2016-05-20T03:38:05Z")
I like seeing how many posts I have next to my name and I don’t mind paying $15 to help the SDMB for that privilege. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/127 "2016-05-20T03:51:09Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Must have been before I lost mine. I’m sure I’d have noted and taken advantage of it if afterward. I know time flies, but it seems like it wasn’t more than a couple of years ago, three max. ---
**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 20, 2016, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/128 "2016-05-20T05:13:46Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > **jnglmassiv** is a Charter Member. He only pays half the $15 subscription price. So, yes, that’s about the same as a beer at the ballpark. Hopefully it’s decent beer, not something like Bud or Miller. Cuz that’s highway robbery. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I **only** pay because it’s voluntary. If it were required, I’d be outta here. So what do you want, a cookie? :rolleyes: You act like you’re doing some noble deed. It’s just a freaking message board, not a major priority in my life. ---
**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 20, 2016, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/129 "2016-05-20T05:16:28Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I know time flies, but it seems like it wasn’t more than a couple of years ago, three max. I just checked the date of my PM to Jerry asking for reinstatement. It was dated 5-21-14, so almost exactly two years ago. In re-reading my message at the time it appears there were a couple of other problematic circumstances that preceded my discovery of the reminder email. Jerry had apparently posted a sticky about renewals and I misunderstood the meaning of the date it referenced, and due to having recently bought my computer from a relative who apparently had ad blockers in place I wasn’t tipped off that my membership had expired by the sudden appearance of ads. The message I sent to **Jerry** at the time was as follows: > [@](#): > > Hi, Jerry, > > Apparently I misunderstood the significance of the date at the top of your thread about renewing subscriptions. I thought that since it read “…until 5-28”, that subscriptions were open until that date. > > Also I have a different computer now, an iMac I bought from a relative, and apparently some sort of ad blocker is in place as even though I’m now a guest I haven’t been seeing ads and therefore haven’t been aware I’d lost my membership until I went to see when my subscription was due that it had already expired. > > So as a result of my misunderstanding the meaning of the date at the top of the renewal thread plus the fact that I’ve been seeing no ads, my charter membership has inadvertently expired and under the circumstances I’m wondering if there’s some way I might get it back. > > Thanks for your consideration. > > Starving Artist So it was really sort of a perfect storm of adverse circumstances that led to my having lost my charter membership. I guess it just wasn’t in the stars for me to retain it. Which is too bad because I rather enjoyed being on record as an original supporter of the board. ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/130 "2016-05-20T05:21:50Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > I meant “without funding” from the users/readers. > > _No advertising_ > **Don’t care** > > _Ability to list items in the Marketplace forum_ > **Don’t care** > > _More private messages_ > \*\*Don’t care > \*\* > _Possibly some other small stuff that no one uses_ > **Don’t care** That’s pretty much my mindset, too. As for the “no advertising,” I have Adblock Plus on anyway. I’ve been here since 2002, had someone pay my first year when it was announced that it would be a pay-only board, and then disappeared for years until a couple of weeks ago. Someone else said that they don’t pay for any other message boards, and I agree with that as well. Like yet another poster, I am genuinely on a fixed income, although I don’t have Paypal. (my finances might be further in the red if so - but then others could transfer money to me, too… but I don’t want to take advantage of that) ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/131 "2016-05-20T05:26:50Z")
> [@Flamsterette\_X](#): > > That’s pretty much my mindset, too. As for the “no advertising,” I have Adblock Plus on anyway. > > I’ve been here since 2002, had someone pay my first year when it was announced that it would be a pay-only board, and then disappeared for years until a couple of weeks ago. > > Someone else said that they don’t pay for any other message boards, and I agree with that as well. > > Like yet another poster, I am genuinely on a fixed income, although I don’t have Paypal. (my finances might be further in the red if so - but then others could transfer money to me, too… but I don’t want to take advantage of that) Good grief, talk about a blast from the past. Hey Flamster! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/132 "2016-05-20T05:33:40Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Good grief, talk about a blast from the past. > > Hey Flamster! 🙂 When I logged in here for the first time in many years, I still recognized some names. Then I read that “In Memoriam” thread just now, and I was surprised that I recognized some of the names on that list. Hey, Kambuckta! I hope you’re doing well. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/133 "2016-05-20T06:34:55Z")
> [@Flamsterette\_X](#): > > When I logged in here for the first time in many years, I still recognized some names. Then I read that “In Memoriam” thread just now, and I was surprised that I recognized some of the names on that list. > > Hey, Kambuckta! I hope you’re doing well. 🙂 Yep, doing very well. About 14 yrs older than the last time we met online, but apart from a few more creaks and groans, going fabulously. You?? ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/134 "2016-05-20T08:15:48Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > …I guess it just wasn’t in the stars for me to retain it. Which is too bad because I rather enjoyed being on record as an original supporter of the board. For all my having disagreed with you, I for one would wish to see this restored. ---
**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 20, 2016, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/135 "2016-05-20T08:21:36Z")
Well, you’re pretty honest about it on those (rare) occasions when we agree, so I can’t say I’m surprised. Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/136 "2016-05-20T15:10:50Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Yep, doing very well. About 14 yrs older than the last time we met online, but apart from a few more creaks and groans, going fabulously. You?? That’s the thing - time is marching upon us all. Sometimes I have a feeling that I’m getting to that “getting older” stage, but overall, I’m doing well. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/137 "2016-05-20T18:07:07Z")
This board logs me out all the time anyway, so I would get ads whether I was a member or not, depending on whether the page was opened before or after I was automatically logged out. Good thing I have adblock plus and don’t depend on the kindness of strangers to remove unwanted eyesores from my browser. I paid back when it was required. I’d probably do it again if they asked me to. Like the OP said, $15/year isn’t much, but compared to almost everything else online, it’s expensive. Everything is expensive when compared to free. Also, the customers create the content, so it’s not like paying Netflix or Disney to create good TV shows or movies for me. Yeah, the server has some costs to cover, and if I ever felt like the SDMB was in danger of turning the lights off, I’d pitch in. But nothing on this board has made me think they needed the money. Membership costs are just a way to keep posters who both a) hate ads and b) don’t know how to block them. The ads seem to pay the bills just fine. And they probably generate a small profit, no membership fees required. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/138 "2016-05-20T18:52:00Z")
An added comment and maybe general feedback if adminstrators read this… I use adblock on SD, not to deny revenue from the SD, but because there have been and continue to be some horribly clunky ads that cause background process to run and have significant performance hits on my computer, locking up and crashing the browser even (I’m on firefox). As an experiment, I turned it off today and there was a McDonalds ad that nearly halted my browser (brought my mouse click response to a 3-second delay stuttering in the browser). If SD clamps down on their semi-malicious HD full-motion active-content ads, and goes to static plain images, I would consider viewing them and not denying SD the revenue. ---
**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 20, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/139 "2016-05-20T20:35:16Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I **only** pay because it’s voluntary. If it were required, I’d be outta here. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > … > So what do you want, a cookie? :rolleyes: You act like you’re doing some noble deed. It’s just a freaking message board, not a major priority in my life. What an odd way to interpret what I said. 😕 What I meant was that I’m more willing to do something voluntarily than I am to do it when it is demanded of me. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865/140 "2016-05-20T23:30:23Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Awhile back, there was a special limited-time offer for lapsed Charter Members to get their Charter status back. Looks like a few may have missed that. Maybe it’s time to offer it again? I remember there briefly being an opportunity to regain Charter Member status, but I don’t care to give the SDMB any more money and it didn’t seem worth it anyway considering how eagerly TPTB snatch people’s Charter Member status away again if they’re even a day late paying up. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I know time flies, but it seems like it wasn’t more than a couple of years ago, three max. FWIW it’s my recollection that it was a lot longer ago than that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-the-annual-sdmb-member-fee/754865.md?page=8)