Cheapskates, sale flooders and others...

[expertc]

Hmmm... Now about "cryptic message" and why I am not talking about it. Come on, webmasters. There are certain type of "clicks" on the sites that give certain type of income to the owner... regardless of you buying anything. Of course, no one can ask about this certain types of clicks openly and never does. But why not use this incentive with any site that you like? Sorry, can't be more open, don't want certain big company to get suspicious.

If you always regged at 123-reg for example I can see how that would generate a few pennies a reg for Alan if you always started from his link at the top of the forum...

Yes, I did. And because I do use it regularly, I think if all of 123 users do the same, that wouldn't be bad at all.

 

[scooter]

I think there should be a 10% purchase fee charged for sales on this forum.

Like!

I think this is a great idea. This will not discourage new members who want to test the water and dabble in domaining. All still get full access without cost.

A monthly membership will stifle growth. It would have a negative effect and I honestly think the forum would shrink. I would think a lot of new members here will still be at school or not long left. They cannot afford £10 a month but they are the future. We need to encourage growth. More members, more sales opportunities.

Admin,
This is an easy one to implement. 1 mass mailing of change in T&C's and it's done. I would think at minimum, you and your family will be able to enjoy a 2 week all inclusive holiday every year somewhere very nice. (Just make sure the hotel has wi-fi!) In reality, I bet you will also get to change your car every year


.

 

[scooter]

[snip]
Now I've explained why it's fraught with problems, do you feel differently?

I don't. It's about trust. If you want to be a part, you play by the rules. If you don't, you're banned. It would be very easy to see if a domain that's advertised suddenly goes off the radar and a couple of weeks later, a name change takes place.

Sure, a few will go unnoticed, but the majority of people who genuinely want to be a part of the community will play by the rules. For most, the stakes will be too high to try and take it off the forum, a ban means no more trading, ever.


.

 

[Retired_member41]

Invincible, I agree with scooter, this way it still relies on trust, and, it would also allow the odd witch hunt or three if anyone cheated, which I am sure would keep a few people here happy.

 

[Pred]

Few ideas for Alan to consider maybe:

1/ make exclusive membership a one-off fee. lifetime
dnf has this, been an exclusive years. paid once.
not sure how acorn can have annual when even dnf doesn't


2/ make exclusive membership £150 so a slightly higher figure. one off lifetime.
like a badge of honour. no more with a few benefits

3/ those that have paid in past automatically get upgraded as have already paid their 'dues'

4/ make bargain section limit higher. not £50 cap, but say £100 or £125
this would make less 'bargain' domains be put in fixed price and offers section.
where sellers want a bit more for good domains but not dazzlers

5/ fixed price and offers domains would then be better standard domains
self policing but low - high xxx range

6/ have a section below bargain section, called whatever you like
acorn bargains, super bargains, whatever
every domain in this section is a fiver. no more, no less
no vat
this is less than reg fee
this can be the home of donated domains. rather than seeing threads where people are offering domains for peanuts (which isn't even worth your time) or free! you can list any domains due to expire or you simply are doing some housecleaning and will help with domain management if you feel can;'t get reasonable price for or no use
all these domains listed. people must post in thread to claim

in the footer of posts made in this section is admins paypal details and £5 per domain rule etc. to save sellers having to repeat time and time again

buyers can post what domains are 'sold' and when they have sent pp
admin can take odd cursory glance to make sure he's been paid

everyone winsd hopefully in this way

one mans rubbish is anothers treasure and some gems may be picked up with admins hosting fees aided and everyones domain management eased

7/ premium section

this is the only section i think people should have to pay a commission
say 10% is fair. less than all brokers
for domains in x,xxx range up
seller should be made up to have sold in this range
buyer posts in thread sold or have bought domain and admin can watch pp coming in to see if he has received his 10%
if put in rules 10% must be paid then people obviously have to

as all premium domains have to be vetted and modded it seems fair admin gets something back for this

most people selling cheaper domains are struggling imho and an annual fee of 100 is too much. maybe donating cheaper domains to a 'new' section may be a good way of giving back and save on renewals for those struggling. plus isn't worth people waiting for them to drop as less than regfee and no competition and domain keeps age
may just work as a little fundraiser for Alan

just my thoughts. hope it helps

anyway, i've got some sales flooding to do being the cheapskate I am

 

[rob]

The other way of looking at the £ issue is whats the target?

If there are specific running costs or development costs then perhaps put them in public and there could be mini sponsorship (company, users, anon) etc

For a local football club site I run recently there was a fundraiser that raised £4500 inside 2 days with users pledging £25 a pop each. That was not a normal occurance, but if targets need to be raise and people 'buy in' to the cause and reasons - it can be done. On a wider note, that same website a week later kicked off (and enabled) the raising of a £130,000 bond inside 8hrs.

Likewise if link sales etc cover costs already and £ is being used as a method of improving quality of posts then that IMHO is not one people will go for as it is arbitary.

 

[Pred]

bloody hell
you're not running Cardiff's site are you Rob?

 

[rob]

bloody hell
you're not running Cardiff's site are you Rob?

No, but I ought to act as consultant to Cardiff and probably Plymouth in stuff like this on the web

 

[Edwin]

Few ideas for Alan to consider maybe:

4/ make bargain section limit higher. not £50 cap, but say £100 or £125
this would make less 'bargain' domains be put in fixed price and offers section.
where sellers want a bit more for good domains but not dazzlers

What about if the bargain section was up to £100, and free to post sales in (1 a day max like now) but you have to have a membership (of some kind - details can be worked out separately) to post in ANY other sales forum? (Auction, Fixed Price, etc...)

 

[SF]

How do you guys find the time for nit picking?

Are you really that board??

Edwin why dont you concentrate on developing some of those good domains you have?

 

[cm1975]

.... should Acorn be adopting a multi-tiered system like some other domain forums, whereby you have to pay varying amounts to be a Gold/Silver/Bronze member and with that you get the ability to post sales in different sections?

Bronze @ £25 -> Bargain Basement up to £50
Silver @ £50 -> Domains Wanted section & Fixed Price between £50 - £500
Gold @ £100 -> Offers Over section & Fixed Price over £500

I'll go back to one of my previous posts and adjust the lowest fee from £25 a year to fee of a fiver (or whatever). That way you are getting a small amount of money from a large number of people, which would be more sustainable than getting a large amount of money from a small group.

You then have another slightly larger fee for the next price range up etc.


A model that relies on the seller to pay any fees will just add confusion to the sales process, especially if you have an influx of people wanting to buy, which should be the main goal to improve the forum.

 

[Lovekraft]

Has nobody listened to admin? Why are so many people trying to tell him how to run his forum? Invincible, you seem to think you have the last word on everything, challenging admin and trying to convince him he doesn't actually believe what he is saying and more or less telling him he is wrong. In fact do you ever agree with anyone on anything?.

Theres one thing having an opinion but this is almost laughable. I think some else mentioned something along the same lines... this is a classic example of a small number of the older members of a forum thinking they somehow have a stake in the forum and have a say how it is run while their egos inflate each passing year since they joined. Happens on many forums in every hobby / interest i have been on.

 

[scooter]

I'm with admin all the way on this one. A monthly subscription is a death knell to the future of this forum and will make it into an exclusive gentlemans club.

You cannot compare dnforum to here. That is rediculous. DNforum has a global reach and an unlimited amount of potential new members. This forum does not. It is localised and growth can be stilfled very easily.

My 13yr old son has bought his first 5 names and is raring to go. He is the future, not you or I. You will snuff out the next generation before they even start.

Lets cut to the chase here. This is not really about how we can help admin. Your's, edwins and robs agenda is how you perceive the forum should be policed better and you think by introducing a monthly fee is the way to go. I do not.

This is admins forum and ultimately he has the last say but without members there would be no forum.

The time is now for all members to have their say. I sincerely urge anyone reading this post to please go back and read Edwins first post. This is the reality of how the forum will be policed if it should ever fall into their hands.

I say no to this and no to robs, edwins and invincibles agenda.

Time to have your say, folks.


.

 

[rob]

Re-read my post, I made it clear any arbitary charge made to try and improve forum quality will fail IMHO. On that front my 'agenda' seems similar to yours

I still dont understand the aim of raising cash though.

 

[Alien]

This is admins forum and ultimately he has the last say but without members there would be no forum.

Well said - Admin has the final say and it's his decision, no one else's. It's a private forum and we're here by invitation only, he can do what he sees fit.

Whilst the OP has probably started this thread with the best intentions, it is clear that many have perceived it to be (and quite understandably) an "I am distinctly better/richer than you" message being sent out. This is unfortunate, as it's a subject close to the heart of many, but has been approached in quite a negative way.

Members should not feel guilty and feel they must (to keep up with the self-elected wavers that tout the exclusive flag) subscribe or donate and this is the wrong way to run a forum community. Such direct or indirect 'pressure' only serves to act in a divisive manner and undermines the whole ethos of the forum.

 

[Blossom]

I'm sober and unstoned right now and I still can't work out the cryptic message above. Any chance of a clue as to what the feck you are talking about? :razz:

Perhaps the reference was the affiliate links to 123-reg and to Namedrive? If you always regged at 123-reg for example I can see how that would generate a few pennies a reg for Alan if you always started from his link at the top of the forum...

There are other ads on the forum

 

[Edwin]

Whilst the OP has probably started this thread with the best intentions

Probably = definitely!

It was quickly apparent that it backfired, though.

 

[BREWSTERS]

Ideas for Admin to raise money from the forum ('s database)

The 'Acorn Domains Credit Card'.

One email a week to the membership containing affiliate links to various products...can be anything, doesn't need to be domain related.

Acorn escrow service.

Weekly paid for competitions.

.................

Getting people to pay for a service that they are used to getting for free is always going to be an uphill struggle; witness The Times online...they seemed very proud of getting 40,000 paying subscribers, which probably nets them less than they made previously from banner ads.

Making money from a decent database is simples - it's harder not to.

 

[Admin]

There is an Acorn Escrow service - has anyone used it?

Anyway, I am going to reflect on all the comments and consider a road-map for the future of AD.

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

Admin