All Non-Plats come inside here.

[AAP]

Ahhh so much stuff to say, not enough flaming to say it lol

Send me a PM. Just lay it on me. No worries about saying the wrong thing, no worries about me repeating anything. Just me and you. No pressure to change your mind. Just want to hear your reason(s).

 

[sensational]

1. I am a full time student who's money is spread to thin as it is. I am a member of other boards but pay for none of them as I can't justify the small expense.
2. Make it affordable for me.
3. "" I once spent the money I was going to use on a plat membership on a book from EF...the secrets to mail order success, and was very disappointed, I thought the book was all common sense and not worth 5 bucks, and certainly not worth the hefty price tag.

Those are my honest answers.

 

[2evil]

The subscription business model for information is pretty much dead. Newspapers and magazines are dying because information "wants to be free." Unless you have VERY unique information (think WallstreetJournal.com) then a subscription model doesn't make sense.

As great as EF is, the information isn't all that unique. It's a great community and a board with great features, but there just isn't enough here to justify the Plat membership. The best part of the membership is ones ability to search. However, all pages seem to be indexed by Google, meaning anyone that digs a bit can manipulate the Google to return only results from EF. Even better, you can create your own Google based search engine and index EF along with other BB sites and search them all for free.

My guess is that Plat membership sales make up about 8% of total revenue. This is typical of vertical sites like EF. How many more pageviews could be generated if the internal search and other Plat features were free? Membership revenue could easily be replaced by the additional advertising inventory.

I support the site by buying supplements almost exclusively from board sponsors. Perhaps there should be a points system that allows EF members to earn Plat membership and EF gear (hats, shirts, whatever) based on how much they buy from participating sponsors. However, any good SEO/SEM e-marketer would tell you to dump the Plat system and move to a 100% advertising supported business model.

 

[swole]

I've been a non plat member for several years. I've learned an amazing amount of information in that time and helped out other members when I could.

I've supported many of the sponsors and recommended them to others when appropriate. I just don't see what going plat would do for me other than allow me to see full size pics in postings. Maybe I just don't fully understand the benefits of platinum membership.

search function

you can research at will in an endless database

seriously TONS and TONS of info tucked away here

 

[79steeler]

Bro's become a Platinum member. My feeliing when I joined was that I knew that the information I recieved off of this site was valuable to me. I asked myself if I'm recieving valuable information from this site why should'nt I help support it. It's not that much money, I have easily gotten my money's worth.

Just my two cents.

 

[2evil]

Bro's become a Platinum member. My feeliing when I joined was that I knew that the information I recieved off of this site was valuable to me. I asked myself if I'm recieving valuable information from this site why should'nt I help support it. It's not that much money, I have easily gotten my money's worth.

Just my two cents.

I agree that the info is valuable. However, the question is why aren't more users Plats?

If this were the 90s the pay for info model would work a little better. The reason people aren't Plats is that there is so much info available for free and nothing here is seen as unique. It's worth "a lot" just not worth cash money to most because we've been conditioned to believe that information is free.

The key today is traffic and audience. It seems that the audience here has shrunk over the past year or so. This devalues the site more than fewer users paying for a membership.

The fact is that the most valuable asset EF has is it's membership base - total Unique Visitors, Pageviews and registered users. The Plats are just gravy...

That all said, a combined membership offer of SourceCheck and EF Plat membership would be unique.

 

[sicilian2579]

I def would become a plat member if there was a way to test drive it first for a month or even a couple weeks to c what its about

 

[SouthernLord]

I def would become a plat member if there was a way to test drive it first for a month or even a couple weeks to c what its about

How about a week free trial???

A Plat Membership is a small price to pay to keep this great site up and running. It is very inexpensive and the extra features are well worth it.

 

[sicilian2579]

Thanks bro makes all the diff to try something out b4 buying wish gear was that way lol

 

[needtogetaas]

I've been a non plat member for several years. I've learned an amazing amount of information in that time and helped out other members when I could.

I've supported many of the sponsors and recommended them to others when appropriate. I just don't see what going plat would do for me other than allow me to see full size pics in postings. Maybe I just don't fully understand the benefits of platinum membership.

This is a good point bro. I am sure others feel you on this. You do get a lot more out of plat though.

Plat search so you can search years of post. 11+ years of post. I also like to be able to find a thread. Some times a rmember seeing a thread 2 years ago and I want to see it again. If not for plat search I would never find it.

Karma. Ya not for every one but it is fun. I am here on ef almost all day long. So I like to have fun as well as learn. Karma makes it a little funner. I can share it with my friends, bomb an asshole. Give out a free plat and help out a new member. Play in the karma bookie and much much more.

Ads. Hell every site has its adds. There is a hell of a lot more ads when you are a non plat. As a plat I can turn off most of the ads.

More pm's. I guess for me this is very big considering as a non plat you can only hold 50 pm's at a time. I get over that amount in a day. If you are a active member in the ef community you prob get just as many pm's as I doo.


Giving back to the site. This site gives so much. The people give so much. They help each other so much. So when I get a little extra cash I like to give it to the site to help keep it around.

Pics. I can see all the members pics man. I like to not just talk to people but get to know them,see them. Its nice when you can put a face to the screen name. I like to see the pics of there progress as well. It gives me a bit of motivation and I can also give them some to.

not having to wait between post. As a plat I have a hell of a lot less wait time between posts.




I want to stress the fact that its ok to be non plat. No one is going to like you less around here. Or help you any less. I know I sure wont. You can get involved with the site in many many ways. It does not mean you love the site any less then the next guy.

You may not have the money. You may just like being non plat (I know I don't). You may think its not for you. all of this is fine. We all love ef and we all give to ef the best we can.

I feel going plat is just one more way to enjoy the site and the company of people that come here each and every day. Going plat give to this site and it also give more to the members around me. It also gives to me. Its just one of my things here on ef and I love it.

I love it so much I want others to share it with me. So I give free plats to others when I can. I try to get people real good deals on going plat and make it as cheap as I can for them. Its just another great part of the site.

You can take part in it or not. I will still love ya just the same. So will the others. Give it a shot though if you have never had it. Once you have had it for as long as I have you will see just what I am talking about.