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Donations & Classifieds


Marc

Classifieds Poll  

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I've seen some negative comments recently on the forums about how we ask for donations.

We don't ask for donations except if you sell something via the Classifieds.

 

It's been suggested so many times over the years that people should have to pay to list their item. I have always been against this as I think the Classifieds is a feature of StereoNET that brings people back time and time again. However it is quite clear that many do use this service (and regularly) and never make a donation. Is this fair to those that do?

 

I have my own thoughts on this and ultimately I don't see the need to change, but I'm happy to go with the majority decision here.

 

This is a commercial site, run as a business and that has never been a secret. A "donation" is usually associated with a non-profit charity or organisation and perhaps that's why people feel opposed to donating. I also don't believe it should be completely free either though.

 

Let's see what the poll shows.

 

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I don't know enough about the health of the site to comment. Do I assume that the health of the site wont be affected if things stay the same?

 

As you say, it is a business. At the end of the day, fair or no, is the fact that some don't donate affecting the health of the business?

 

Because if it is, it's a no brainer as I don't want to see the site go under because of bludgers.

 

PS- who whinges about the donations? Really? Go to E Bay or Audiogon if you don't like it. Sheesh. Tough crowd.

 

 

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What about and would it be possible to...

 

Allow advertisers of goods for sale to get X amount of free listings/ year/quarter?

after which if exceeded  becomes a mandatory amount per listing?

I dunno, just throwing something out there/ food for thought?

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20 minutes ago, joz said:

What about and would it be possible to...

 

Allow advertisers of goods for sale to get X amount of free listings/ year/quarter?

after which if exceeded  becomes a mandatory amount per listing?

I dunno, just throwing something out there/ food for thought?

I like this idea as we have members who are private members yet are virtually running a second hand market thru the site. These are the people who should be forced to pay, not the ones who use it as a true method to buy and sell for their own personal use/hobby.

 

There could also be a sliding scale where donations (perhaps should be called contributions) are still voluntary up to say a $5000 figure for a single item and then increasing according to $$$ amount as clearly trading in these lofty figures are usually not short of a dollar

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If I look at it from a purely community perspective and ignore anything commercial I guess the SNA community might be a bit annoyed at people who just use the site for flogging stuff and neither pay nor contribute to the forums. 

 

Not sure what can be done or even if anything needs to be done. 

 

 

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I think I speak for others when I say that it should remain free due to one main reason: low prices. As a seller I list my stuff well below market value - sometimes crazily low - and as a buyer I've scored some bargains over the years from members who do the same.

 

This is the unique spirit of SNA and I hope it's preserved.

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31 minutes ago, Marc said:

Anything is possible with some custom programming I guess.
My only thing is always to "keep it simple".

What about just Annual membership?

 

You do realise that if there is a limit to posting a set number of ADs there are ways around it.

 

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when ebay charges in total about 10% of sale

audiogon charges for a listing 

I find SNA ,may need to charge a very small amount per listing even if its only 1 or 2 dollars,

mark would know the average adds per month to see if it would be worth while!

a percentage of the sale may be a bit hard to do,

and as usual ,if you pay for a service

you might respect it a bit more than expecting a free handout ,and complain if someone asks ,if you would CONSIDER a donation ,to help with the running costs of the site

and of corse it would not stop people donating if a sale comes to pass as many do !

its a bit like should they stop bouncing the ball in the AFL,

I'm for a small fee

this site is too valuable to loose,

not just for the selling part 

but the info,and wisdom of many of the people here

and most of all 

friendships made on and off line

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I think a fee is a good idea though the structure of same needs a bit of thought and further discussion would be useful. I'm against a flat fee of a couple of dollars per listing. Utterly meaningless when selling a $10,000 pair of speakers but what about when selling something for $10? Sliding scale can be as simple as:

 

List price                        Fee

Under $50                      Free

$50 - $200                      $5

$200 - $500                   $10

$500 - $1.5K                  $20

$1.5K - $5K                    $35

Over $5K                        $50

 

Agree absolutely with @blybo that there are a number of 'quasi-business' operators using the site but not having sponsor fees. If it's obviously a business, there could be 'semi-professional business' fees that are paid annually based on average annual revenue generated. That may be getting a bit complicated though.

 

 

Edited by Hensa
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I think those that obviously use this site a lot, and have successfully bought & sold a lot of gear over the years (and I’m in that category!) should contribute.

If they’re not already, they’re really having a bit of a lend, imho.

Sites like this are few & far between...

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These suggestions overcook it.

 

Try this:

"By selling on this site you agree to public disclosure of the number of Classifieds you've posted, and the $ you've donated, in the past 12 months."

 

Every new listing has this info appearing below the first post:

# of Classifieds by user in last 12 months

$ donations linked to user in last 12 months.

 

(Calculating actual sales would be tedious and not simple.)

 

Hard luck on people who donate anonymously, or donate Free items, or who sell on condition of the buyer sending the money as a donation to SNA, or who sell at the cheap end of the market*.

 

 

* I have a bucketload of generic RCA interconnects to sell and am considering doing it by weight. Sigh.

 

Frankly I see this debate as a SNA equivalent of Shakespeare's "Winter of discontent". Given that some people always find ways to exploit or game systems, I'm in favour of the status quo.

 

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I support some kind of fee upon the sale of an item and I agree with the sliding scale that @Hensa proposed earlier.

I also strongly think that people who just join-to-list should be vetted in some manner and quasi business sellers should be banned entirely. We really don't want to become like Gumtree and everyone here has seen those who join,list,sell and disappear

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Or you could pre buy an adds package.

Once you use them up they're gone until you buy another.

 

eg, buy 5 x FS adds for $20, use them at your will.

Perhaps sales under $100 or freebies are free?

Sliding scale from there

 

Dam you @Hensa

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@Hensa 's sliding scale idea is good and fair :) The possible issue with it is how to deduct fees from seller since the account is not linked with PayPal like eBay. I bought an item recently here and the listing is still not marked as SOLD so if it is not marked sold by seller then no one may know if it is sold or not.

 

@joz's idea is also good. The possible issue is how to deal with re-listing. I see many Ads are not successful so they either withdraw or relist a month later. It can be tricky and complicating by tracking all of list and relist etc, I guess.

 

@Qwertyqaz's idea is might be the simplest. How about annual or even monthly subscription $5 per month and those who pay subscription can post Ad? SuperBestAudioFriends site is doing similar thing and only those who donated and became Friend status can post Ad...  By doing so, still newbie's can join the forum and participate but those who want to post Ad, make donation or pay for subscription.  :) 

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1 hour ago, Spider27 said:

How about annual or even monthly subscription $5 per month and those who pay subscription can post Ad? SuperBestAudioFriends site is doing similar thing and only those who donated and became Friend status can post Ad...  By doing so, still newbie's can join the forum and participate but those who want to post Ad, make donation or pay for subscription.

This has merit IMO. But only if the majority vote yes to a change on the poll.

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1 hour ago, rantan said:

 

We really don't want to become like Gumtree and everyone here has seen those who join,list,sell and disappear

Or like our neighbour the Kiwi--who eats, roots, shoots and leaves

 

Sorry:P

 

Willco

 

Oh yes the topic--My vote for Hensa's

Edited by Willco
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3 minutes ago, Marc said:

This has merit IMO. But only if the majority vote yes to a change on the poll.

I have to admit my eyes glazed over and I promptly voted 'No' when I saw the word 'Subscription' mentioned...... :huh:

 

I personal opinion is if it ain't broke why fix it ??

As long as you are upfront and honest about the fact this is a business and what those 'donations' go to (which as far as I can see is above board) then whether the word is 'Donations' or whatever title is just semantics.

 

For the record I have no problem donating some funds occasionally either though do prefer to click the 'anonymous' button !! :thumb: 

 

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1 hour ago, Spider27 said:

@Hensa 's sliding scale idea is good and fair :) The possible issue with it is how to deduct fees from seller since the account is not linked with PayPal like eBay. I bought an item recently here and the listing is still not marked as SOLD so if it is not marked sold by seller then no one may know if it is sold or not.

 

@joz's idea is also good. The possible issue is how to deal with re-listing. I see many Ads are not successful so they either withdraw or relist a month later. It can be tricky and complicating by tracking all of list and relist etc, I guess.

 

@Qwertyqaz's idea is might be the simplest. How about annual or even monthly subscription $5 per month and those who pay subscription can post Ad? SuperBestAudioFriends site is doing similar thing and only those who donated and became Friend status can post Ad...  By doing so, still newbie's can join the forum and participate but those who want to post Ad, make donation or pay for subscription.  :) 

Then if all the sales are posted as a mass of listings or mass listing then a $5/month of listings seems too cheap.

 

With my concept..

If they pay per add then they may wait to relist or they will be charged again.

 

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9 minutes ago, joz said:

 

Then if all the sales are posted as a mass of listings or mass listing then a $5/month of listings seems too cheap.

 

With my concept..

If they pay per add then they may wait to relist or they will be charged again.

 

 

Good point. Yes, it is not fair to charge same  to those who list all the time and those who rarely list Ad. :) 

 

this is just throwing an idea and How about monthly subscription + Donation after sale? So those who feel forced to pay feel eased a bit and make after sale donation voluntary but still regular subscription coming into SNA... :) 

 

For me, I rather purchase an item that mentions that Donation will be made after sale so I know my payment at least goes to donation a bit. :lol:

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16 hours ago, Hensa said:

I think a fee is a good idea though the structure of same needs a bit of thought and further discussion would be useful. I'm against a flat fee of a couple of dollars per listing. Utterly meaningless when selling a $10,000 pair of speakers but what about when selling something for $10? Sliding scale can be as simple as:

 

List price                        Fee

Under $50                      Free

$50 - $200                      $5

$200 - $500                   $10

$500 - $1.5K                  $20

$1.5K - $5K                    $35

Over $5K                        $50

 

Agree absolutely with @blybo that there are a number of 'quasi-business' operators using the site but not having sponsor fees. If it's obviously a business, there could be 'semi-professional business' fees that are paid annually based on average annual revenue generated. That may be getting a bit complicated though.

 

 

Here's an interesting thought, and using Hensa's example above just for arguments sake-

 

I donate more than the suggested amounts! One wonders if we started charging, if the site would receive less than what was being donated? Just a thought.

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As one of the largest donators (not a word, apparently) on SNA, and a regular big time seller of vinyl here, I have a vested interest in things being free as long as I can.  :na:

 

But honestly and seriously, I'll just go with whatever promotes the site SNA the longest, and with most financial ease.

I don't get a free ride (my minimum donation is $20 each and every time I list), but I know plenty of regulars seem to, so perhaps it would be good to reign them in?

 

Loads of good suggestions above, and I'd happily accept almost any of them.

 

 

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