DSF

ck1;65838 wrote:All the 'free' ones typically have a donate button or start a thread for 'forum server fees' or similar.

We had a donate system here before in which Justin would put up a "target" so that we could see if the server costs had been reached or not. If not, we could donate more or encourage others that hadn't donated to donate so that the target would be reached. That offered some sense of transparency of where the donated payments were going.

However, we apparently ended up with the same very few people donating every year (usually the more long-term users that were giving advice, not those short-term users that took that advice for free) which led to the situation of Justin having to put out the begging bowl when it came to paying for the server. As I'm sure you'll agree, it's not right to have to go begging.

We're in a situation now where many people say "I'm happy to pay my tenner because I've made it back in what I've learned", so the donation system should have worked. Odd that it didn't.

ck1;65838 wrote:Newbie comment over!, I notice my member status is now 'member' instead of 'junior' does this mean I qualify to give advice ?
(No, I thought not!! - I'll keep listening and learning and help to add value to this forum soon, one way or another!

You can always give advice. You're doing it now by offering a viewpoint to this discussion. Advice isn't only about the best way to stick a mug in a press - it's about discussing the best way to make things run smoothly that has worked for you.

Forgive my ignorance about the donate option, I didn't know it had been tried before - it does work on the other forums I visit, another thing they do, every now and then is a prize grab based on lottery: a prize is purchased (could be a box of mugs etc) then the cost, plus a bit to cover shipping, some forum running cash etc is totalled up and divided by 49.
Members choose a number between 1-49 and pay for that number, when all numbers are taken, the first number drawn from the uk national lottery on a Saturday night is deemed the winner and receives the prize - that way the forum gets running costs, and everyone is happy (well, one out of 49!!!!)

Would it work here?

ck1;65843 wrote:Forgive my ignorance about the donate option, I didn't know it had been tried before - it does work on the other forums I visit, another thing they do, every now and then is a prize grab based on lottery: a prize is purchased (could be a box of mugs etc) then the cost, plus a bit to cover shipping, some forum running cash etc is totalled up and divided by 49.
Members choose a number between 1-49 and pay for that number, when all numbers are taken, the first number drawn from the uk national lottery on a Saturday night is deemed the winner and receives the prize - that way the forum gets running costs, and everyone is happy (well, one out of 49!!!!)

Would it work here?

Certainly sounds like fun - and an interesting alternative to "membership fees" and even donations. It'd surely bring in enough money to cover forum costs.

I'm sure the 48 "losers" would still grumble, though... :biggrin:

I guess the only thing would be a prize that appeals to all - I'd be happy with mugs, but I suspect the t-shirt printers wouldn't -
It could always be a voucher for xxxpounds from a supplier? - over to forum owner to consider ....

One thing I forgot to mention, one forum had an issue with a user buying two goes at the lottery, obviously cutting his odds of winning, so you do need to ensure its one go per person who wants to play, it's only fair the odds are the same for everyone!

Oh yes, another issue - to get round a legal issue from PayPal (good old PayPal!) one forum had to create the concept of 'forum credits(£1 each) which could be purchased and used for this - if you just paid in the standard way with PayPal it would be flagged as gambling o something, if you want me to double check, I can...

I did pay for Premier membership but I have never been able to find the benefits (are there any?). To be honest I haven't looked that much but I would expect such benefits (whatever they are) to be in plain sight, with a spotlight on them!

Zipdorf;65859 wrote:I did pay for Premier membership but I have never been able to find the benefits (are there any?). To be honest I haven't looked that much but I would expect such benefits (whatever they are) to be in plain sight, with a spotlight on them!

If they were in plain sight then everybody would see them

Just click on Forum at the top left of the page and you will see Official Supporters Section near the top of the page

The list of benefits are in plain sight, look under forum updates and announcements section

A difference between this and most forums (though certainly not all) is that it offers advice and information directly relating to running a business ... on plate we offer a wealth of pre-existing advice on pretty much every topic imaginable regarding sublimation and a few other related areas, and for where there isn't the information already (or it isn't easy to find) then there is a one-to-one consultancy service, where an experienced professional (mostly!) will solve all your problems ... and all of this for free!
It is no wonder this all gets taken advantage of - to a lot of users this forum is a free consultancy service for setting up their business/equipment, or a free tech-support/trouble-shooting service - which outside of this forum (and t-shirt forums) users would either go without the information, or would have to pay. In a way this shows there is actually a need for a pro-consultancy/workshops for sublimation - a need and a gap in the market.
I still think a wiki section covering collated FAQs/subjects could be a useful repository of the information stored around the forum - where only 'approved/knowledgable' people could post definitive info/guides, taking some pressure off the discussion forums to keep answering the same quaestions.

I just paid the £10 to support the forum as the advice I find is very useful. If you get value then you should give something in return. I don't use Listawood after a batch of mugs had too many faulty ones, so that offer is not of use. This website admin must be a lot of hard work (I wouldn't like to do it) - so why shouldn't we pay a little? The £10 I paid has been returned many times over from helpful advice and tips I have found on the forum. Besides, you can usually get discounts from suppliers once you start buying in quantity and they can see you are becoming a regular customer.