What do you think is fair?

[JSR]

Just a reminder for everyone who says "I'm happy to pay a tenner"...

The link at the top of the forum that says "Donate to DSF" (http://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/forum/donate/) would be a good place to visit if you haven't donated already.

Justin can't bank promises and the server bill won't be paid by wishful thinking. Donate now... I'm sure if paid membership is required, Justin will take into account any recent donations by contributors.

And the good thing about donations is that you don't have to donate a tenner. A fiver will do if that's all you have spare right now. Rather ten people donate a fiver than five people decide they can't afford a tenner.

Go on, you know you want to do it...

[AJLA]

All done me andsum !! I even chucked the penny in whispy

[thespringonion]

I've paid my contribution too! Frankly I've never noticed the donation link otherwise it'd have been done much earlier on!

[Whispered Spirit]

All done me andsum !! I even chucked the penny in whispy

Hahaha! well done Mandy. But Do you reckon the mugs shown on ebay sound more attractive at £6.99 than telling someone there 7 quid?

I dont have paypal but Someone mentioned that you can make 1 off payments via the site. Dont know how you do it but I'm all ears ready to part with £9.9... ok a Tenner

[Justin]

Anything helps, no matter how small a donation. I don't like to ram the donations down folks throats but I will be introducing a full page flash PayPal button and screaming banshee asking politely for a little help

[AJLA]

Yes your'e right whispy it is a phsycological thing, I often hear people say they paid a fiver for somthing when actually it was a penny less than six pound. Crazy.

Anyway every little helps....the option is there to pay by credit card or paypal. The sites worth every penny and without our good ole Justin arranging it for us just where would we all be.

[DREAMGLASS]

As a relative newcomer to this site, I guess that I can sit on the fence and take a more detached view of the forum and its 'commercial feasibility'.

In its current format, I personally think you would really struggle to get any form of paid membership. At the moment you have a relatively small number of members, very little technical resources by the way of tutorials, videos or technical information sheets and not a great deal of activity in the forums themselves.

I know a lot of people come into sublimation via eBay. They buy a press and a few supplies hoping to make a quick killing, until they realise that without the ability to create original designs and an enquiring mind to assimilate a technical knowledge the proposed business will be going nowhere. The fact that there are as many virtually unused presses and sublimation gear for sale on eBay as there are new items, speaks absolute volumes.

From the prospect of the forums, I guess you need to attract the folks that are in it for 'the long haul' and for whom sublimation forms a decent part of their production methods. Quite how you attract and retain those folks, is a subject in itself.

[Paul]

In its current format, I personally think you would really struggle to get any form of paid membership. At the moment you have a relatively small number of members, very little technical resources by the way of tutorials, videos or technical information sheets and not a great deal of activity in the forums themselves.

i think you just answered your own question. becose there is no great amount of members mean we wont get ANY money from ads etc. as you need 1000s clics or impresions to make any thing. regards to tutorials i already made few videos on request so its no a problem to do more if needed. but i still think there is biger benefit of this foru... real people talk. stright, helpfull and always ready. thats better then videos, pdfs etc... and i dont think we need 265 members to answer question or help if any one got a problem. 1 member who experienced problem before and got solution is enough. personaly i would be more then happy to pay 5 or 10 quid for mmbrs ship and get my issues sorted then seat on my bum whole week and scratch my head thinking 'what to do...' btw. all 'yellow' colored members already contributed to the forum so its like they already have mbrs ship.

[DREAMGLASS]

Looking back at the listed users over the last 24 hours, there are three times as many that haven't made any sort of financial contributions to these forums.

Therein lies the problem. Once you start charging for something that folks are historically used to getting for free, people will just vacate and find alternative venues. Same thing happened with Lycos search engine and the online newspapers that now charge. It's nothing personal, just human nature.

[Justin]

As a relative newcomer to this site, I guess that I can sit on the fence and take a more detached view of the forum and its 'commercial feasibility'.

Always nice to get a different angle

In its current format, I personally think you would really struggle to get any form of paid membership. At the moment you have a relatively small number of members, very little technical resources by the way of tutorials, videos or technical information sheets and not a great deal of activity in the forums themselves.

Don't underestimate the knowledge held by the members, better to have a few dozen highly experienced members than 1000's of new starters! Questions are almost always answered very quickly. I have mentioned tutorials etc. before would need some help with this due to time constraints. I'm always keen to push the forum forward and have as much info. in one place as we can so I do welcome any suggestions/offers of help.

I know a lot of people come into sublimation via eBay. They buy a press and a few supplies hoping to make a quick killing, until they realise that without the ability to create original designs and an enquiring mind to assimilate a technical knowledge the proposed business will be going nowhere. The fact that there are as many virtually unused presses and sublimation gear for sale on eBay as there are new items, speaks absolute volumes.

We must spread the word! or rather letters D.S.F! "Now I've built it they should come".....sounds familier

From the prospect of the forums, I guess you need to attract the folks that are in it for 'the long haul' and for whom sublimation forms a decent part of their production methods. Quite how you attract and retain those folks, is a subject in itself.

I'm not keen on advertising nor am I keen on regular memberships which is why I have deliberated so long over the available options. I had hoped donations would become somewhat more regular as I don't need a huge amount to keep things ticking over. There's no mad rush to get funds in, I'm happy to continue as we are for now.