View Full Version : Premium Membership
We are now in the final stages of adding our new premium membership into the site. I of course will grandfather some of you in.
There will be a yearly fee of 20.00 but you will get the following:
Forum Premium Privileges
You Get Access to the following:
Articles
Gallery
Auctions
Can Use Custom Avatar
Private Message
Chat Room
Timeslips
Forum Premium Freebees
Free T-Shirt
Free Email Account
The money will go toward the new gallery and new free email account system I will be adding.
Give me some feedback on this idea.
I was also thinking of adding a 10.00 version that will not include:
Forum Premium Freebees
Articles
Free T-Shirt
Free Email Account
This way you have an option.
BlazinLow_inORE
03-09-05, 03:27 AM
i think its a great idea. This will help the site out tremendously with expenses that most people would love to have (email account... ;) oh yeah)
JROD©™®
03-09-05, 10:36 AM
don't we already have access to some of these items?
Articles
Gallery
Auctions
Can Use Custom Avatar
Private Message
Chat Room
Timeslips
will they then be exclusively for members with premium privileges??
sounds like a good idea though...esp the addition of a 10 dollar package...
Yes but a "regular" member will not.
Supercharged-ZQ8
03-09-05, 10:58 AM
We are now in the final stages of adding our new premium membership into the site. I of course will grandfather some of you in.
There will be a yearly fee of 20.00 but you will get the following:
Forum Premium Privileges
You Get Access to the following:
Articles
Gallery
Auctions
Can Use Custom Avatar
Private Message
Chat Room
Timeslips
Forum Premium Freebees
Free T-Shirt
Free Email Account
The money will go toward the new gallery and new free email account system I will be adding.
Give me some feedback on this idea.
Sounds good, but I don't think a person should need to have either type of membership to have use of what free memberships already offer. Right now all members have access to the Articles, the Gallery, Timeslips, custom avatars, Private messaging, and the Chat room. . .
Instead of charging for what is currently free, why not add features and make those part of the Premium package? Email Account, auctions, etc. . . You make mention of a "new" Gallery -- is it different from the one we currently have? Better? More features? I would say that if it is, then include the "new" Gallery in the Premium membership, but leave the current one free.
If we start charging for things that are currently free, that will lose a lot of people. Why need to pay for a lot of the features that other sites offer for free? That will drive people away. I mean, sure, it's only $10 or $20 a year, but it's the principle of the matter. We want to increase traffic, not drive it away.
And why bother with different "levels" of membership? Why not just have the Premium/Subscribed Member and then the "Regular" Member?
Access to an email account, auctions, and upgraded gallery, and a T-shirt would be worth the $20 a year to me -- as I'm sure it would to others. Plus a Newsletter for Subscribed Members as well -- that would be a plus.
Basically, what I'm getting at is that if it's offered without charge NOW, it should be without charge in the future. It's the ADDED stuff that should be included in the Membership.
BlazinLow_inORE
03-09-05, 11:20 AM
is we do leave the current galleyr however... why would people want to upgrade?. It will be the same exact pics.. the only other things they will get is the email and auction.... I dont think that 20$ is unreasonable at all considering you get email and auctions... as well as a t-shirt.
JROD©™®
03-09-05, 12:10 PM
I concur with Supercharged Zq8...in fact that is what I was getting. Something that everyone has access to as of right now should not be taken away from "regular" members and made only available to premium members. T-Shirts, Auctions, that would be nice, in addition to that a sticker or decal and some online storage, as part of new or added features, but thats just me. $20.00 as an annual fee is not much, less than $2.00 a month. I thought the different levels idea was good, kinda like those Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum memberships at porn sites. The more you pay the more you get but you leave options open to everyone who don't want to shell out the maximum amount or opt out for highest level. In most cases talking about paid memberships can drive traffic away, you have to make it worth it.
Sounds good, but I don't think a person should need to have either type of membership to have use of what free memberships already offer. Right now all members have access to the Articles, the Gallery, Timeslips, custom avatars, Private messaging, and the Chat room. . .
Instead of charging for what is currently free, why not add features and make those part of the Premium package? Email Account, auctions, etc. . . You make mention of a "new" Gallery -- is it different from the one we currently have? Better? More features? I would say that if it is, then include the "new" Gallery in the Premium membership, but leave the current one free.
If we start charging for things that are currently free, that will lose a lot of people. Why need to pay for a lot of the features that other sites offer for free? That will drive people away. I mean, sure, it's only $10 or $20 a year, but it's the principle of the matter. We want to increase traffic, not drive it away.
And why bother with different "levels" of membership? Why not just have the Premium/Subscribed Member and then the "Regular" Member?
Access to an email account, auctions, and upgraded gallery, and a T-shirt would be worth the $20 a year to me -- as I'm sure it would to others. Plus a Newsletter for Subscribed Members as well -- that would be a plus.
Basically, what I'm getting at is that if it's offered without charge NOW, it should be without charge in the future. It's the ADDED stuff that should be included in the Membership.
I agree. If you take away what we already have for free, and what we can get at other sites, you are gonna loose memebers, and drive away traffic. I for one would probably leave because of that.
joker2040
03-09-05, 12:37 PM
I'm with JROD and Super.... PM's shouldn't be taken away from "regular" members at all b/c what if a "regular" member had a problem with another member how would they let one of the Admins know?? I know almost all of us Admins have our emails listed but it just makes it easier to pm someone on the board about a board specific issue. I know myself I delete almost all emails that aren't from peeps that I know.
Why not give a custom avitar, user name and email to the NEW MEMBERS who dedice to be. But dont take anything away from current members. This isnt the way it was at the planet
BlazinLow_inORE
03-09-05, 01:08 PM
i agree with all of you... but it wouldnt be very fair to all of the new members if they have to pay and everyone else didnt. If we want the site to become a great site... we need to raise money to add things to the site. I dont see a problem with having membership fees. PMS should not be taken away from regular members... just for the fact that they could need to ask admins or whoever about the site or if they have a problem. I believe that Email, Auctions, Custom Avatars, maybe even a MEMBERS ONLY FORUM, as well as a t-shirt should come with the membership. Making a new improved gallery for members only will include the exact same pics as the current one.... waste of time.. leave the gallery for the new members so they can see what the site has to offer ride wise. I dunno... maybe its just me but I am willing to help out the site anyway possible.... even if it takes $20 to do so. The thing is... is we dont start charging people for things... we wont be able to upgrade the site to accomodate the things that EVERYONE would like to see on here. just my opinion.
I just want to know, how did the planet manage to be such a great site without people paying. Everyone keeps talking about making it a better site. What was wrong with www.s10planet.com? I thought it was a damn fine site, and the fact that it was free was the best part about it. I dont know, I just think that having to pay to visit a site that doesnt have naked women on it is kinda bull****. That is just me.
BlazinLow_inORE
03-09-05, 06:05 PM
we arent here to provide naked women... we are here to provide good articles and knowledge about gm trucks. If you want a porn site.. go to a porn site. I personally dont think it is a bad idea to charge( as i have stated above.... 4 times now)... all of us have our own opinions and i have stated mine already... yes planet was successfull.... but who nows what arthur has in store for this site. Ill pay if need be... if no payment is necessary... then so be it. Either way I DON"T CARE
Midwestkreations
03-09-05, 06:47 PM
I down with paying 20$ and getting a free t-shirt and an email addy...
Well I apperciate all the feedback I will take all this and review to see what the new premium membership will include.
As far as s10planet went, you can't compare to this board, it is in a league of its own compared to the free board at s10planet.
Gallery, Classified, Vbulletin, Hosting Fees, Advertising and daily maintenance require a lot of time and money. The store produces some monthly income but for 4 years now s10planet or sicgmtruck has been in the red. 80% of the proceeds come from my very own pocket. I don't want to shy new members from joining, and I do agree with not taking away current items. I also feel this site has alot of knowlege on it. If you look at the actual fee 13 of that is for the shirt and delivery. 7 for the rest. Also with a premium membership it will insure constant growth.
I will say the email address, free t-shirt and auctions will be added as premium member items. Everything else will stay the same. I don't like charging fees but sometimes in the business world you have to in order to survive. I am not looking for a huge profit just to at least get me out of the red. Thanks for the reply's again.
Supercharged-ZQ8
03-09-05, 10:38 PM
Well I apperciate all the feedback I will take all this and review to see what the new premium membership will include.
As far as s10planet went, you can't compare to this board, it is in a league of its own compared to the free board at s10planet.
Gallery, Classified, Vbulletin, Hosting Fees, Advertising and daily maintenance require a lot of time and money. The store produces some monthly income but for 4 years now s10planet or sicgmtruck has been in the red. 80% of the proceeds come from my very own pocket. I don't want to shy new members from joining, and I do agree with not taking away current items. I also feel this site has alot of knowlege on it. If you look at the actual fee 13 of that is for the shirt and delivery. 7 for the rest. Also with a premium membership it will insure constant growth.
I will say the email address, free t-shirt and auctions will be added as premium member items. Everything else will stay the same. I don't like charging fees but sometimes in the business world you have to in order to survive. I am not looking for a huge profit just to at least get me out of the red. Thanks for the reply's again.
Another thing I thought of. . . We've got a LOT of loyal people here -- for some of us, it is their "home" on the internet. Donations, plain and simple.
It's a weird thing about human nature (and this is one of my minors coming out: psychology) is that if people are REQUIRED to do something, they probably won't (or will grumble about it to no end), but if it is VOLUNTARY, you'd be amazed at how many people will step up.
If we put a spot on the Main Page where people can offer Donations via PayPal or credit card, you'd probably be totally floored with how many you'll see.
The main thing I was attempting to say is that we don't want to leave non-donating members feeling that they are not important. They are. It's just that a donating/subscribed member should feel good (and proud) about contributing to the welfare of the site -- but wouldn't necessarily feel "superior" to non-subscribed members.
Yeah, the added stuff is cool and all -- email account, auctions, upgraded gallery, monthly newsletter, etc. but the biggest benefit to a lot of us is the continued operation of the site. And I'm certain most everyone would agree.
LEADFOOT
03-09-05, 11:21 PM
I agree with everyone about this. When I was searching for a forum the first one I came across I believe was s10 forum or something like that. You had to pay for it. I said to myself, I don't think so. Thats when I ran across s10planet.
ADMIN, pm me with your mailing address and I will send you a check for $20. I don't want anything in return, its simply just a donation. Then when the premium benefits get up and running I send you another $20 for that.
When you guys say custom avatar do you mean bigger or just being able to put in a pic? Maybe the premium benefits could include a bigger avatar. I think this has already been done but the PB could allow the use of the custom user title.
Well I apperciate all the feedback I will take all this and review to see what the new premium membership will include.
As far as s10planet went, you can't compare to this board, it is in a league of its own compared to the free board at s10planet.
Gallery, Classified, Vbulletin, Hosting Fees, Advertising and daily maintenance require a lot of time and money. The store produces some monthly income but for 4 years now s10planet or sicgmtruck has been in the red. 80% of the proceeds come from my very own pocket. I don't want to shy new members from joining, and I do agree with not taking away current items. I also feel this site has alot of knowlege on it. If you look at the actual fee 13 of that is for the shirt and delivery. 7 for the rest. Also with a premium membership it will insure constant growth.
I will say the email address, free t-shirt and auctions will be added as premium member items. Everything else will stay the same. I don't like charging fees but sometimes in the business world you have to in order to survive. I am not looking for a huge profit just to at least get me out of the red. Thanks for the reply's again.
I dont mind paying when I know why I am paying. I was just wondering why all of a sudden, a site that has been free for the past 5 years, is all of a sudden going to be a pay site.
Another thing I thought of. . . We've got a LOT of loyal people here -- for some of us, it is their "home" on the internet. Donations, plain and simple.
It's a weird thing about human nature (and this is one of my minors coming out: psychology) is that if people are REQUIRED to do something, they probably won't (or will grumble about it to no end), but if it is VOLUNTARY, you'd be amazed at how many people will step up.
This is true as well. The people who actually want this site to go forward will dontate, it is when you force people that they feel like they are being taken
BlazinLow_inORE
03-10-05, 12:00 AM
^^^^ not same site.......
BlazinLow_inORE
03-10-05, 12:03 AM
It's a weird thing about human nature (and this is one of my minors coming out: psychology) is that if people are REQUIRED to do something, they probably won't (or will grumble about it to no end), but if it is VOLUNTARY, you'd be amazed at how many people will step up.
If we put a spot on the Main Page where people can offer Donations via PayPal or credit card, you'd probably be totally floored with how many you'll see.
I dunno... i may be wrong. BUT i believe that there was infact a paypal donation area on the front page of the webpage when it had the last "default" look. I noticed with the new views it doesnt. now i dont know how many people actually contributed to it... but im thinking not much. Now, yes i agree that we do have a lot of loyal members that spend alot of time on here... I being one of them... i feel like the premium membership will not be a big deal. And if the only new things added to the premium members woudl be the EMAIL, AUCTIONS, and TSHIRTS like admin stated above... then the non premium members would have EXACTLY what we see now. ALSO like admin stated above... 13$ of the 20$ premium fee would be towards the Tshirt and shipping.... then its technically only 7$ for the email and auctions....
don't get me wrong ZQ... im not trying to argue with you by any means.... i just dont understand why it would effect members so much. Non premium members get what you see now. what we all have access to at the moment. Premium would get a few extras..... eh... guess i just see it different than everyone else.
Premium membership will just include a free t-shirt and email account. If I can get the stickers going I wll throw that in as well. I can put the donate item back up and by doing so you can have the title of donating member or donating member and premium member. The auction will be included as a free feature as well as the new gallery.
I think this should work.
Supercharged-ZQ8
03-10-05, 12:23 AM
I dunno... i may be wrong. BUT i believe that there was infact a paypal donation area on the front page of the webpage when it had the last "default" look. I noticed with the new views it doesnt. now i dont know how many people actually contributed to it... but im thinking not much. Now, yes i agree that we do have a lot of loyal members that spend alot of time on here... I being one of them... i feel like the premium membership will not be a big deal. And if the only new things added to the premium members woudl be the EMAIL, AUCTIONS, and TSHIRTS like admin stated above... then the non premium members would have EXACTLY what we see now. ALSO like admin stated above... 13$ of the 20$ premium fee would be towards the Tshirt and shipping.... then its technically only 7$ for the email and auctions....
don't get me wrong ZQ... im not trying to argue with you by any means.... i just dont understand why it would effect members so much. Non premium members get what you see now. what we all have access to at the moment. Premium would get a few extras..... eh... guess i just see it different than everyone else.
I understand exactly what you mean. No, you're not arguing with me at all -- you're actually just saying the same thing in a different way. Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying to do away with a Premium Membership at all -- I like the idea (and will be one of the first in line).
I'm with you on it: Regular members get what we have right now; Premium Members get the extras (Email, t-shirt, etc.). Heck, for a SGMT email address and a T-shirt, I'd be willing to pay $30 a year! It's cheaper than any other subscription I've got, and a LOT more useful!
No -- again, you're not arguing with me at all -- just saying the same thing from a different angle. We're on the same page, bro!
XxInFaxX
03-10-05, 12:27 AM
ill pay, just let me know when **** is all figured out. too much drama im reading and everyone has their own points and all have good ones and bad one.
bottom line. ill pay!
BlazinLow_inORE
03-10-05, 12:32 AM
alright... sounds good to me...
joker2040
03-10-05, 11:31 AM
alright... sounds good to me...
ditto
I like the idea of paying. I hate to say this but the like the idea of keeping some areas exclusive to members only it keeps trouble makeing people like redvoy off the site.
I completly see where author is comming from on this. These sites arn't cheap. my site was costiong me 95bux a monthes and it was just a small site and only took up about 15gigs of server space with a good little bandwith to alow 10 people to look at it at the same time with out laging. It didn't have a forum section or multiple links and subsites or whatever they'er called like this one either. I would hate to see his bill. We spend our money on our trucks he spends his money and time on this site so we have a place to go and ***** and complain about the way he runs it.
send him some money to keep the site going and say thax for the site.
Mike 92S10
03-10-05, 05:18 PM
I'm in for the membership. I'm sure the loyal members will have no problem paying if its within their finances. Though it may scare off some potential new members.
We could also add a premium members only special forum, like the moderators forum. Just a place to chat, and make fun of the non premium members ;)
LEADFOOT
03-13-05, 01:46 PM
We could also add a premium members only special forum, like the moderators forum. *****Just a place to chat, and make fun of the non premium members***** ;)
Sounds good but, Then when they become premium members and see all the smack thats been said about them they may ask for a refund and leave.
LEADFOOT
03-13-05, 01:50 PM
ADMIN.......please update us on what is included with the new membership. I no longer have the option to choose a scheme. I checked out the FAQ and it still says a bunch of stuff comes with the premium membership. And what if we don't like to use paypal. Can I send you a personal check or money order?
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