actually, this site is subscription based. people have to pay a minimal 10$ fee to access the features like download of freely available stuff and asking for support/requests.
this subscription is not ther eto pay for the releases but to pay the hosting, software etc… this is minimal, people do not understand how it cost to have such a site with thousands of hits per hour… (actually more than 25000 hits per day)
anyway, i was questioning myself at giving a Freebies section with free stuff for registered users, the ones who do not pay for the access. this spring, i had the site subscription-free, no payment needed, and there not that much downloaders anyway.. there is more downloaders now that the site is paid, so go figure…
people always whine when they have to pay, these leechers i do not care. what is important is to have coders and designers like you being respected for their work and retributed when it was obvious the work worth it. That being said, i decided to drop the subscription for coders willing to release their work here. I had a fight with the sponsor — which left after the fight — and i decided to review all the subscriptions… now there is only one.
but i’d like to debate the paid logic with the Acolytes, the ones who are to release stuff on the site… what are your thoughts about how it have to work?
there will be a « releases system » soon by the hand of Drew, a commercial script that let you have your own releases paid or free on the site, with a licenses tracker for your own stuff… and it will be way more productive and efficient than anyother systems, even the one from Jelsoft or aMember… so i suppose that your suggestions will help us release a better engine — each request could be an option, not hardcoded… 🙂
so yes, what do you think of the free stuff vs subscriptions?
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I think they way you have it now works. Dont let anyone intimidate you. 10$ is nothing. As long as the site stays supported and *cough* open! haha
It works to have opportunities for those who have no funds (very young coders etc) a chance to get one, like referral contests and other things. Give-a-ways.
nobody is intimidating me actually, that’s why my last sponsor was kicked out of the project. i hate being « considerably suggested » to apply more fees than needed. the guy upped the subscriptions and permissions last weekend when i was away all day — family life — and i decided it was enough moronish… no more partner who can not stand that i’m the leader, even if money is interesting.
now everybody’s on the same level… one single fee and it is just to sustain the service. visitors will stop posting stupid requests like « give me your hacks i will give you porn »… yes yes, i received that kind of offer lately!
anyway, if i check right, if you go to any of the coders site where they sell scripts, like theGeek, Lionel, Mary, vbTubes, BFC/BlueFire, vbCredits etc, they do not provide free addons beside their paid products, they focus on their own paid scripts and they provide service for them… on my side, i already have more than 50 free small products delivered freely, and not even a paid script even if that was the case in the past… (tomorrow i get up with my banners engine though, will be paid!)
there is a difference between a service site and a community, that’s why there is a debate to start right now… 🙂
$10 for this site is WELL worth it. If people don’t understand that or think that is to much then screw them.
I don’t think it is uncommon for a site to have a small members fee, if something is always offered to the them, and then on top of it have ‘extras’ that are more that need to be paid for. Like your banner system, and whatever else you may have up your sleeve haha
i have a lot under the sleeve, but damn, have no time to execute everything… just updating everything that is in the Homeworks forum is a long run, even for a quick coder like me… have to handle the kids more than before, thing that is damn complicated too.. lol
I always feel it’s a nice gesture to provide some free stuff, it opens the doors to those who won’t spend right away but once they are comfortable with you. your products they might dig deep and invest in a product further down the line.
I can’t say I would ever pay for a subscription to any forum (I entered the vbulletin arena) with the intention of providing my graphics for free. And vbulletin was always a hobby (which has turned out to be a pain nowadays) but those are my circumstances on free products that you may want to offer.
Like some members have stated 10 bucks isn’t alot but there are people who won’t pay this purely down to they don’t know you and will not use their credit card or other means of paying to purchase a subscription.
My training of thought on this is if they know what you are all about and know your products and feel comfortable with them during a probationary free period then there is a higher chance of more purchases being made by the same members who wouldn’t have purchased at the start.
Anyway, I never looked at the time or date this thread was created so you may have already made such changes since then.
actually the changes i was planning to do already are done… the site will still be on subscription for my own stuff, but if we provide stuff like yours in the showroom, it is still available for « registered users », freely!
if you can’t get to just register to download, you do not worth the effort for the free stuff. 🙂