Regular members can't post to classifieds?!?

[knappymer]

Hello all,

Haven't been on here in a while and I'm noticing a significant change that I am not too happy with.

About a year ago when I first started my membership here I was happy to see that anyone in this social network could share, trade, and sell gear to others in need; and find gear if they so needed as well. Now I come back a little time later to find that if I would like to sell, trade, or buy gear from other trusted bass players on this site I have to pay a supporting membership fee. Now, while $20 isn't a whole lot of money I don't have it to spare, nor do I feel that that should be necessary to be a part of the networking of gear trade on Talkbass.

While this may a new change for most others on here, it is for me. And to find now that instead if trading or selling my unused gear here on Talkbass with other people who share common interest, I have to go forth and post it out on the dreaded "Clist" and 'the Bay" Where I have to worry about no-shows and spammers.

Ah well, maybe I'm speaking on deaf ears or just not with the time, but either way this overall minor inconvenience really sucks at the moment.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far,

Marc

 

[James Hart]

It was implemented WAY before Jan 2011... non-supporting members can buy and respond to trades, just can't post stuff for sale or trade. Since most the stuff I buy here is a couple hundred bucks or more, I'm glad that sellers are committed enough to the site to have chipped in $20 for the year to keep it running plus it helps cull the no-shows and spammers

 

[lowsideonacurve]

Many forums charge to get on period. Owning and operating a forum ain't cheap or easy. Paid membership to use a classified section is pretty common on many forums, somebody's gotta cover the expense.

CList and Ebay are for-profit organizations that either track and collect information, use and/or and sell it for marketing., Or charge a fee.

At least with this forum there is a wealth of information for free. until you decide to sell or get into members only areas.

Thanks TB for a great forum.

 

[fourstringdrums]

It's been that way as long as I can remember, and I'm just fine with it. As James head, it keeps out the spammers. I love the fact that because of the system TB has in place, you know fairly reliably whether or not the person you're dealing with is trustworthy.

 

[bongomania]

The information, education, discussion, and entertainment are all free. If you want to use the site to make money, you have to pay for that privilege. MORE than fair!

 

[Febs]

While this may a new change for most others on here, it is for me. And to find now that instead if trading or selling my unused gear here on Talkbass with other people who share common interest, I have to go forth and post it out on the dreaded "Clist" and 'the Bay" Where I have to worry about no-shows and spammers.

If you're planning to sell anything significant on eBay, you'll probably pay more in fees than the $20 you would spend on a TB membership.

 

[guy n. cognito]

It's been that way as long as I can remember, and I'm just fine with it. As James head, it keeps out the spammers. I love the fact that because of the system TB has in place, you know fairly reliably whether or not the person you're dealing with is trustworthy.

Yep, me too.

It's disappointing to me that people want to use the full functionality of this site, yet expect it all to be free.

 

[alembicguy]

It was implemented WAY before Jan 2011... non-supporting members can buy and respond to trades, just can't post stuff for sale or trade. Since most the stuff I buy here is a couple hundred bucks or more, I'm glad that sellers are committed enough to the site to have chipped in $20 for the year to keep it running plus it helps cull the no-shows and spammers

+1

 

[Chainsaw Willie]

I think one of the reasons CL is so full of kooks is because it is free.

I am on a few other forums, and an admin on a motorcycle forum. I think TB is pretty great, and that it is totally reasonable that I cannot sell using TB without tossing in a few bucks to pay for the operation and maintenance of TB.

 

[David Wilson]

Just to add the 'official' response, as noted the supporting membership has been in place for a LONG time. I've been here since 2002, and it was in place then.

Of course, you don't have to buy a supporting membership - you can keep posting in all other sections of TB without any problem.

A $20 Supporting Membership allows you to buy / sell as much as you want per year. While eBay is a very useful resource to sell items on, the fees seem to keep climbing - seems like final value fees are now 9%

Final value fees

As such, a single sale of a $400 bass on eBay would cost you more in fees than a $20 yearly membership to TalkBass

 

[themacinator]

If you're planning to sell anything significant on eBay, you'll probably pay more in fees than the $20 you would spend on a TB membership.

+1, just dumped fee-bay for this reason. I'll be renewing my TB membership tomorrow so I can sell here now.

 

[Curmei]

Just to add the 'official' response, as noted the supporting membership has been in place for a LONG time. I've been here since 2002, and it was in place then.

Of course, you don't have to buy a supporting membership - you can keep posting in all other sections of TB without any problem.

A $20 Supporting Membership allows you to buy / sell as much as you want per year. While eBay is a very useful resource to sell items on, the fees seem to keep climbing - seems like final value fees are now 9%

Final value fees

As such, a single sale of a $400 bass on eBay would cost you more in fees than a $20 yearly membership to TalkBass

Yeah - I don't post too often here, but I visit the site just about every day. I have been a member for a number of years now and seem to recall the supporting level being necessary to post to classifieds since I signed up. Things that I haven't been able to sell here, I do post to eBay, and the post-sale fees are always higher than I was expecting - just got a bill today from eBay for $54 from my last sale there. The $20, to me, is just something I would do to support the site - even if I was able to post to the classified section without donating. I pay much more every year for subscriptions to a few magazines I read, but I spend much more time at this site, and if I add in scores from the classifieds, the return on that $20 has to be as good as anything else I pay for annually.

I don't want to minimize the fact that there are folks out there who do consider $20 to be somewhat considerable. But, again, for what I get back in useful information, market opportunities, and entertainment from this site, I still think it is a worthwhile expense.