Should We Have To Pay To Advertise Our Cars On Our Forum?

[harrylime]

Good point, Phil. That 400 looks like a hell of a good buy for someone. Pity you had to pay to advertise it though

[The-Acre]

Good point, Phil. That 400 looks like a hell of a good buy for someone. Pity you had to pay to advertise it though

Oh well, club rules! As you say, a great buy for someone. Funny though, if I were looking, there would never be a bargain like that!

[IHgs300]

Ian

Talk about putting a spin on things. You're not in politics by any chance? I think most on the forum will have correctly interpreted my comment that It is the site rules that exert subtle pressure to become a paying member, not the moderators, whose time and effort is appreciated by all, I am sure. I, too, have seen the results of members being able to sell items for free on a forum. The buyer was happy, the seller was happy. Result, mutual benefit, which is what forums should be all about

I did run for the monster raving loonies in the chesterfield by election...LOL.

[harrylime]

Ha, you could not do any worse than the coalition of doom !

[Bluesman]

What I find really interesting about this, is that a non Gold member is not allowed to advertise, and yet almost weekly someone puts on a post saying "has anyone seen this on ebay?" or similar, thus advertising someones car! But I can't put the details of my car on here, even though I've just put mine on ebay, which I have, but you'll have to guess which one it is.....

The very reason I didn't renew my membership which was due this week. It is also interesting that not a single member of staff or moderator has bothered to at least have the good grace to acknowledge this thread exists. Mike

Mike, I hope you're not advertising Alex Harvey!!!

The Sensational, please. Well that would be something. Mike

[Bluesman]

What I find really interesting about this, is that a non Gold member is not allowed to advertise, and yet almost weekly someone puts on a post saying "has anyone seen this on ebay?" or similar, thus advertising someones car! But I can't put the details of my car on here, even though I've just put mine on ebay, which I have, but you'll have to guess which one it is.....

The very reason I didn't renew my membership which was due this week. It is also interesting that not a single member of staff or moderator has bothered to at least have the good grace to acknowledge this thread exists. Mike

Colin Barber is a moderator is he not? Even though he has answered, I don't think that he is, (I know I wasn't), privy to the costs of running the site/where membership money goes.

As for the reference to "subtle pressure" from the moderators to go Gold, the mods follow site rules, which state "only GOLD members are allowed to sell on the forums"

This was made clear on joining the club (If you bothered to read the rules).

If you are not aware, the Moderators are not staff and do not receive any payment for their time.

I personally agree to having to be Gold before selling. I have been the victim of, and have seen what can happen when anyone can join a car forum and sell for free.

They can sign up and sell items they don't have only to disappear after receiving peoples money..........

Would you like that on here???????

I myself have advertised some items on here at reasonable prices for members, sometimes at a lower price than I could have got for them on e-bay because sharing with like-minded people is what the site is about..

The biggest thing gold membership gives you is being able to buy with peace of mind.

Ian (ex-mod)

I stand corrected on that one.

I did read the rules of the club when I joined.

I am not sure where the peace of mind comes in as I am not aware of warranties or the like in place should you buy a car etc from another member for instance. Mike

If you send monies off for goods etc without knowing gold member or not is just stupid and you deserve to lose your money, that goes for anything on the WWW.

I originally became a Gold member not so I could sell things or to be one up on my fellow member but to help out on the financial costs of running such a club. However I like others became fed up with seeing non gold members slyly slipping in they might be selling their LS etc that in my mind is an advertisement, all I need to do now is contact the naughty member and get all the details I need. Cost of selling £NIL.

I don't need to spell it out you all know how it works.

Mike

[Stuno1]

Many forums have a 'donate' option instead of membership. Seems to work well.

Also, if you have a minimum post count before you can sell it will go some way towards stopping people just popping in to sell. Won't stop them as they could rack up posts quickly but it does help.

I think it would help as there are lots of odds and sods folks would like to sell and it opens up the forum a bit more.

[harrylime]

Just to correct my first post, I believe the last car advertised on the forum was February 2013, not February of this year, Enough said.

[Bluesman]

Have a look here if you fancy selling something as a Non Gold Member http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/forum/29-buy-sell-parts-accessories/

It appears that the only gold member selling is Ian one of our moderators now sadly an ex mod, but I think this demonstrates

just how useless the Gold membership is and how its Non Gold Members abuse the rules of the LOC. Mike

[exsentric]

Very interesting to read, but somebody has to run these clubs and there are always dues to be paid, but I have to admit that this is the first club I have ever joined that didn't have an annual membership fee.

Don't wish to start a war by suggesting that, but for my money (sorry!) I'd rather pay an annual fee than have to put up with all the adverts that slow the site down and it now seems only raise a pittance!

[harrylime]

It's not just this site. I decided only yesterday that the amount of ads and the level to which they intrude, sometimes obscuring what I am reading, was totally ruining my internet use. I looked into it and found a free download called Adblocker Plus. I did some more research and the consensus seemed to confirm it is safe. I installed it yesterday and it is a revelation. I am seeing no ads as I write this, and the icon tells me that 10 ads are currently being blocked on this page. It is free, and they request donations (which I will probably do). I have no connection whatsoever, just a very impressed user.

Actually, that model may work for our ads. An honour system in which people could donate as much as they want, if they sell their car or parts.

[PhilipK]

I have been using Adblock Plus for many years - it's one of the main reasons why I only use Firefox as my browser. On the rare occasions that I have to use somebody else's computer, or a different browser, I am shocked by how much the experience is affected by ads (just try looking at Gumtree or eBay with Adblock Plus switched on and with it switched off).

There are various additional filters available for Adblock Plus (including one which will removeall the "social media" buttons that seem to be on most web sites, and which I have no interest in). There is also a version for Firefox for Android.

[exsentric]

Seems I owe you two members a great big thank you - just downloaded Adblock Plus and it works great - site now much faster and soooo much better without all those irritating unwanted ads.

Many thanks.

Richard.

[Bluesman]

You both need to check in your programs, pre Adblock down load, what you will find

in my experience is that when you put new programs on your Laptop/PC you also download a load of adware which is the main reason for all these popups. Mike

[The-Acre]

It's not just this site. I decided only yesterday that the amount of ads and the level to which they intrude, sometimes obscuring what I am reading, was totally ruining my internet use. I looked into it and found a free download called Adblocker Plus. I did some more research and the consensus seemed to confirm it is safe. I installed it yesterday and it is a revelation. I am seeing no ads as I write this, and the icon tells me that 10 ads are currently being blocked on this page. It is free, and they request donations (which I will probably do). I have no connection whatsoever, just a very impressed user.

Actually, that model may work for our ads. An honour system in which people could donate as much as they want, if they sell their car or parts.

Sadly it means you've missed the ad I put online offering a free holiday on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, but only for people who's name begins with "H"