Another board I use dismissed charging for membership for exactly this reason. Instead they asked for donations from members to keep the board running. I donated some cash because I use the board a lot and find it a really useful source of info. Us 'sponsors' are in the minority and pay to keep the board running which benefits all the non-sponsors but it's better than having no board at all. At least this way the traffic and resulting info is still there.

 

I thought that 'you sponsors' paid your 'sponsorship' for 'extra services and/or areas' rather than for the benefit of us poor 'non-sponsors'........

And anyway it's surely the advertisers that cover the overheads of this forum...... isn't it?

 

Eh? I was talking about another board I use, not this one.

 

.......... that would be why then.........

 

FWIW my contribution to that forum was only a tenner but enough of us chipped in with small amounts which kept it running

Bob was telling me this morning that a lot of the FFOC members have gone over to the RS BBS which is free.

 

The 64 thousand dollar question is................ what does a forum like this actually cost to run...... ???????

 

I honestly have no idea. A bit more than a tenner I guess?

 

Not a chance I'd pay to use one for general chit chat.

 

I was the exact same - never used the added "extras".

Dan

 

i've paid to use forums in the past but i only keep my cars a short time so when i change cars i move on to another forum - thats why i don't like paying (although i don't mind a contribution)

 

only and only if I can see REAL benefit - I paid at s2ki.com though Im not sure what I gained, I was probably following the sheep

 

In honesty, no. Yes, the users in there are on the whole great and good to pass the time with. But then when the SN server crashes, they hop along to another free forum, so it's not as if they are confined to here

If SN started charging for use of Muppets section. Then I, as with many users would probably move to there permanently. That is, if Hammy would let us

And there are plenty of other forums with good users and open access. I generally stay here as it is usually more popular. But I feel if charging came apparent then this would be the reverse case.

It's all down to if the webmaster wants to run the site as a hobby or as a business. If its run as a business, then I'd expect to see some physical gains in turn for paying to subscribe, not just open access to post and read a forum.

 

Ditto

There are also a number of people on SN whose partners also use SN. The result being that you would have to pay for two memberships if you wanted to continue posting under your respective user names.

On the plus side, it does keep the nastier trolls out.

 

The amount of work time I spend on this bloody addictive forum, SN should pay ME.

 

I've been using SN for a while, but only became a member when I got a Scoob and decided to spend some money in the SN shop. The membership will have paid for itself in one purchase.

Otherwise, I wouldn't pay to be a member of any web site or forum, not even for ****.

 

I used to donate to the 100NX forum when I could.
The webmaster had a paypal donation icon, and some of the site could only be accessed by 'members' - people who donated.

It didn't matter how much you donated, but I used to do between £5-10 per year to help keep the site up and running.

I wouldn't think about spending £25 on full membership of SN, but don't mind the odd fiver
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No, end of story

 

Only to view **** , then again

 

I wouldn't pay to use a forum.

Especially not one full of fat idiots spouting rubbish.

And that's just the girls

 

Thats no way to talk about .........

 

The archery forum I frequent uses donations. I do donate to that for a few reasons.

I have considered paying for SN, but apart from keeping it running, cant see the benefits.

 

I personally have changed my mind about that "paying" malarky since 2006.

I won't pay for any forum just for some inane chit chat with some invisible people who I may never see even in my dreams, buddy. I'd rather pay to adopt a panda that I will never meet

I pay my broadband fee, and perform my duty towards humankind

 

Running costs can be anything from £50 per year if you DIY a simple PHPBB on a low b/w host with maybe a few thousand members tops.

Top end forums with tens of thousands of members, probably £100k+ per year. 1 or 2 full time IT bods, quite large server requirements and b/w usage, accounts people, admin etc all on part time etc etc. Obviously revenue can be generated from sites like these to help pay the bills, adverts, classifieds etc or sell out to a larger company.. like IB for example!

 

I pay to use this one ... so yeah I guess I would..