# The SDMB is switching to paid subscriptions **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 18, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724 "2004-03-18T18:26:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/481 "2004-03-22T14:35:50Z")
> [@Grousser](#): > > I second BiblioCat, and I’m in Mexico. I have no credit card. Can we send a money order? I have a HSBC bank here in my town. Could it work with it? **Grousser** , I will function as your intermediary to register if you wish. You send me a money order and I’ll register for you. If you are interested, please email me at [greenfleurdelis@hotmail.com](mailto:greenfleurdelis@hotmail.com). ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/482 "2004-03-22T18:19:44Z")
Woohoo! I just paid! Am I first? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/483 "2004-03-22T18:21:27Z")
Hey color smilies! Question though…my PayPal email address and my SDMB email address are different. How will it know that my payment was for this account? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/484 "2004-03-22T18:23:24Z")
Darn - _I_ wanted to be first. Maybe I can be the first Charter Member to start a Pit thread. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Parallax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Parallax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parallax)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/485 "2004-03-22T18:23:55Z")
My guess is that you have to be logged in when you subscribe and your user ID is sent along with the PayPal order so it knows who the order is for. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/486 "2004-03-22T18:33:39Z")
Subscribed. Yay! ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/487 "2004-03-22T18:35:44Z")
Whooo Hoooo! It was sort of exciting… ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/488 "2004-03-22T18:37:42Z")
I PayPal-led, too. That’s a good question, **Max Carnage**. I went back and looked at the transaction and tried to see if my username was in the details (as **Parallax** suggested), but I didn’t see \*_SkipMagic_ or my user number anywhere. I dunno… maybe it’s hidden? Oh, wait! Yep. In the details of the transaction, the Item Number includes your user number for the SDMB. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Parallax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Parallax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parallax)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/489 "2004-03-22T18:48:03Z")
Seems like you might be able to do “gift” subscriptions by copying the PayPal link and replacing your user ID with the recipient’s user ID. It should end up looking the same as if it was coming from the other person. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/490 "2004-03-22T18:50:13Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > Oh, wait! Yep. In the details of the transaction, the Item Number includes your user number for the SDMB. Cool. Item Title: Straight Dope Board Membership Subscription Item Number: **1\_36** Date: Mar. 22, 2004 Time: 10:20:51 PST Status: Completed Thanks! I was wondering WTF that item number was! Heh. ---
**Author:** ![NotMrKnowItAll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6bbea6/32.png) [@NotMrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotMrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/491 "2004-03-22T18:54:15Z")
Well I don’t know if I paid or not. When I selected December for the expiry month of my credit card, the cgi came back and told me the valid month range was 0-11, not 12. So I picked November and it liked that, even if it’s one month early. We’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/492 "2004-03-22T19:06:14Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Item Title: Straight Dope Board Membership Subscription > Item Number: **1\_36** > Date: Mar. 22, 2004 > Time: 10:20:51 PST > Status: Completed > > Thanks! I was wondering WTF that item number was! Heh. Yeah, even though I looked for it anyway, I would have been surprised if the user name was in the transaction. The user number makes more sense; as **OpalCat** well knows because of her board, every post and Control Panel option is tied in with your user number. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/493 "2004-03-22T19:10:37Z")
The fees are a cracking idea. It’ll keep the riff-raff out, and Straight Doper can speak unto Straight Doper without ordinary joes getting in the way and making dumb comments or asking silly questions. An internet open to all, where all may contribute or seek information without fear, favour or censorship (or fee)? Hippy claptrap. Perhaps you guys could come up with a secret handshake too. This is really sad news. ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/494 "2004-03-22T19:29:16Z")
I’m in. TANSTAAFL. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/495 "2004-03-22T19:34:53Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Perhaps you guys could come up with a secret handshake too. A secret handshake eh? Hum… ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/496 "2004-03-22T19:53:22Z")
> [@furt](#): > > [Editing] would be a disaster of biblical proportions in GD. Only if it’s implemented as such - “some form of editing” doesn’t have to mean you can change a post with no evidence that it was different before. For every potential problem that’s been suggested, there’s a potential solution. With all the clever and tech-savvy people we have at the SDMB, we can come up with a way to allow editing while preventing it from being abused. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/497 "2004-03-22T20:20:00Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > The fees are a cracking idea. It’ll keep the riff-raff out, and Straight Doper can speak unto Straight Doper without ordinary joes getting in the way and making dumb comments or asking silly questions. > An internet open to all, where all may contribute or seek information without fear, favour or censorship (or fee)? Hippy claptrap. > > Perhaps you guys could come up with a secret handshake too. > > This is really sad news. It wasn`t our idea, Brainiac. It just needed to be done to stay viable. Read the umpteen million threads on this so far. ---
**Author:** ![Parallax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Parallax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parallax)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/498 "2004-03-22T20:43:35Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Sorry, **Ed** , but if half of the horror stories [here](http://www.paypalsucks.com) is true, I think it’s a grave disservice to Dopers to encourage them to use PayPal. Ah yes - but how do we know ANY of it is true? ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/499 "2004-03-22T22:19:42Z")
The way I look at it is, I finally get to literally put my “two cents worth” into a discussion. TV ---
**Author:** ![Flash-57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/839c29/32.png) [@Flash-57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flash-57)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724/500 "2004-03-22T22:22:42Z")
Well, count me in the minority on this subject. I’ve been a member for a couple of years now and have a hundred or so posts to my name. I read the boards most days and post once or twice a week. Frankly, most subjects are answered more thoroughly than I could, long before I read them, so I usually don’t feel the need to post except when I can add something useful. I’m not planning on becoming a subcriber. Oh, I can easily afford the $5 without problem. My objections consist mainly of a few points. First, there are plenty of other, free forums out there on the Internet. The SDMB may be the best general-knowledge one out there, or it may not be. I really don’t know. I’ve skipped joining others because I was already reading 2-3 forums each day. This will give me a chance to move on and check out the rest. Second, I’m kind of tired of being nickeled and dimed to death. My bank tries to charge me $2 to use the ATM, the phone company wants 3 per month to forward my calls and .25 to call information. Merchants want to charge me 3% extra to use a credit card. And so on. Five dollars, by itself, isn’t much. But, when I add up all the little things, it’s a significant amount. I do what I can to avoid these nuisance fees. Third, as has been mentioned by others, I fear that the board will be reduced to a limited number of subscribers monopolizing the discussions simply to get the most bang for their five bucks. Lurkers, who would might only post once or twice a year, on some very specific topics, and only when they have something really important to add, will probably decline to add their knowledge to the discussion when they find out they have to pay $5 to do it. The community will lose out on important information. Lastly, I feel that I do pull my own weight already. I’ve bought all of Cecil’s books and I post intelligent and well thought-out answers to questions on the boards when I can. If that’s not enough, so be it. I guess I’m happy enough just becoming a full-time lurker. Oh well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-is-switching-to-paid-subscriptions/257724.md?page=26)