Are you really going to charge for this site?

heroe2001 · 07-16-2008, 03:30 PM

To the Owner

First of all I join this site because it looks trusty and have good posts. It has a good support but it is something that other sites have as well.

I think that you earn all the people that join this site because we recommend you. Now it results that if we didn't recommend you in first place we can still join you for free? Maybe your site will be not so big? I don't completely understand this point.

As a business man you should take advantage from this situation and charge more to your sponsors not to your clients. Also get new sponsors because of the same.

I know, I know it is only 2 dollars but this is not the reason that I'm complaining it is about the reason that you explain to your costumers that you're going to start charging. Because you're GROING?! c'mon!

To be honest I already start looking for a new site and I already download the file that I need for free.

After all it is your site and you know what you do with it, this is just a comment. I wish you the best and keep up with the good work, I hope this situation not affect your site

txsgent · 07-16-2008, 03:57 PM

We hope you will stick around.... and still be a member here....I am not going to get into details and or an arguement or long discussion on this topic... but when the owner has to pull money out of his own pocket to keep the site up.. month after month after month... you have to do something.. because it is breaking you... as much as they would love to keep from charging, there was no choice... but to charge some kind of fee.. to offset the rising costs to keep the site up... We, wish we had more sponsors...to help with these expenses.. but even though we are growing fast... our sponsors are not growing with us... Even though, we now charge a fee for the downloads.... it is not that much to quibble over.... sure you can go elsewhere and get the downloads... that is your choice... but, will you get the same kind of support.. that you get here? Will you get the respect, that you are treated with here.. at other sites? I doubt it.... we have stressed in our staff discussion.. that we want to keep this site on the up and up.... and to treat all members with the same respect, we would like to have from the members... we never put members down.. or belittle them.. or try to talk down to them.... we all were newbies at one time... and remember how we were treated, as we were trying to learn.... We do hope you will still be a member here.. but if you chose not to.. we will wish you the best of luck... and you are more than welcome to come back and visit any time you want to.... our doors will still be open to you and any other member.... good luck... txsgent

Tirconnell · 07-16-2008, 03:58 PM

heroe2001 ,

I am glad you have enjoyed the site benefits and still can . We have implemented a $2 per month donation fee for Downloading Files . All other site features are still free .

With rising cost$ we had no other choice as Member Donations were stagnant and we felt that the new policy was the fairest for all .

mr shady · 07-16-2008, 04:57 PM

we are also offering other things aswell with the donation like a chance to win a free reciver ! im happy you found a place to get files from but remember so of the files floating around out there are fake and can fry your reciver i joined this forum from the get go and knew it was a good polace because i was refered from another mod i worked with else where please remember to look into where you are headin to i would hate to see you fry your receiver and remember we do have great help to offer and 1 man can eat all the bills! this is why we switched to a donation forum!

heroe2001 · 07-17-2008, 05:35 PM

Hi

Thank you for your replies, I think the hold concept that I'm trying to explain in here was misunderstood.

I understand that you have expenses to keep this site open, but you need to look at the business man way. You need to see the market and you need to see what make you strong. There are a lot of other places but why everyone comes in here? Good service, respect, on time, FREE, etc.

But what happen if other place gives you the same and for free? You are going to loose your competitiveness and you will loose your clients, so what you can do?. There could be several ways to avoid this but you need to think in the best option for you, your clients and your sponsors. This is one example, maybe your sponsors complain that they don't have enough visitors and you charge per visit, well you can put some links that randomly opens one of your sponsors web page at the moment that someone login. Another example you can create a Top ten FTA sites and then if you're the best you can show it in this page and show to your sponsors that you're the best option, etc...

Charging to your customers is like a raise in taxes, if there is no other choice you raise it but this should be the last thing that you do.

Again this is just a comment because I like this site and I want the best for it. Please don't misunderstand my comments

Alumicor · 07-17-2008, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heroe2001

"well you can put some links that randomly opens one of your sponsors web page at the moment that someone login"

Charging to your customers is like a raise in taxes, if there is no other choice you raise it but this should be the last thing that you do.

I don't know about you but personally I can't stand random popups.

Please don't impliment this.

With that being said, I fully plan on donating/sign up once my CC balance is 0 which should be before the end of this month.

Reasons for Signing up will be as follows:

1) Extreamly good forums with lots of knowledgeable members and Exellent layout
2) Files / ECM Fixes are posted in a timely fassion, ususally in the top 2-3 Forum/File sites
3) Prompt replies with relavent tips to help anyone having trouble with most FTA's
4) Great mods (At least in the 2 areas I frequent Coolsat/NFusion)
5) 0 Crappy pop-ups! Yay

The only thing that is missing which isn't a huge deal would be a FTA Concept IRC Channel. (Unless there is one that I don't know about?) There are a few good IRC channels available from other sites but it would be nice to see one from FTA Concept, I for one would participate there.

Site Operator / Mods keep up the good work and you can look forward to a paid membership fee in the near future from this happy user.

heroe2001 · 07-17-2008, 06:49 PM

Alumicor

This was only one example that could be post to discussion after all the owner should always take into consideration the VOC (Voice of customer) like your suggest on the FTA Concept IRC Channel

Thank you for remark the competitive advantage of this site and it is great that you want to support this site by voluntary donations but your post don't refer to what I'm trying to remark.

Like I say I like this place and I will like to have it for a long time but I don't want to see it close because this was the only idea that they have and they loose some members.

Anyway maybe I'm the only one with this vision and I hope I'm making a mistake, the best of the luck for this site and as for all the projects I hope this become a success

Viewsats.com · 07-17-2008, 07:14 PM

you know what heroe2001, your concerns make sense to a newbie who doesn't think too deep into the issue here.

Maybe you are used to going to forums that are totally free, but those are pretty much going the way of the dinosaur.

The fact is, anything with good information is something I consider valuable, and I don't mind paying a measly $2 a month for it. Especially the content and help this site brings.

You should be thankful there is an admin and staff that exists like this on here. They bust their ass to bring you customer support.

Think about me, I am a sponsor on this board and I provide customer support to my paying customers. So tell me, why should the admin and mods on here provide customer support when you aren't paying anything?

Because they are nice? Yeah a ton are, and that's awesome. But I find that most of the time its like a job for them. A newbie like you comes on here with less than 10 posts and asks for so much help...and often give nothing back in return.

To me, as long as what you are providing is of value, I say go ahead and charge for it. This is how things grow and evolve--get better. I am sure the owner is 100% reinvesting the funding into supporting the server costs and creating new features, etc.

So the next time you question some action like this, please think on a deeper level. You can tell the staff here has character--shoot i'd pay just to read their jokes they post.

ufcwatcher · 07-17-2008, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heroe2001

Alumicor

This was only one example that could be post to discussion after all the owner should always take into consideration the VOC (Voice of customer) like your suggest on the FTA Concept IRC Channel

Thank you for remark the competitive advantage of this site and it is great that you want to support this site by voluntary donations but your post don't refer to what I'm trying to remark.

Like I say I like this place and I will like to have it for a long time but I don't want to see it close because this was the only idea that they have and they loose some members.

Anyway maybe I'm the only one with this vision and I hope I'm making a mistake, the best of the luck for this site and as for all the projects I hope this become a success

You have some good suggestions and good ideas. I will add only a few things. Have you ever come accross posts from HenDawg? What about XRange? What about other paying members that are in the 300 post rage(t_clealy). They paid and still help out without asking for anything in return.

At one point they were bronze members and they voluntarily donated money to become VIP members. That was when we didn't require it. Now XRange is a moderator. You have been at this site about the same time I have. The point I am trying to make here is that we do lots for the community without complaining but when we ask for a little bit of help everyone is running away and bashing the site.

snitzhel · 07-17-2008, 08:57 PM

heroe2001, its not personal, it's business..................

heroe2001 · 07-17-2008, 11:05 PM

Again thank you for your replies

I know that this is not personal and as I mention I like this site and the support that everyone brings. I'm not so familiar with this technology as Viewsats.com mention as "newbie". But this is not the point.

Viewsats.com

I clearly understand your comments because I'm posting to charge the sponsors instead of the customers, but this is real this is marketing and publicity for you! This is what they should do! Marketing is not free and if the site have a better ranking they should charge more to the sponsor, this is real! you can see it in any network that you choose!! yes I have less than 10 posts, so what? this is because the most of the post are asking for "When we are going to have a new bin?"; "We have a very lame support"; "We need to change to another receiver" etc... (nothing personal to anyone) I don't want to complain like that, I know that they don't have those answers and we should not complain to them because they aren't the programers. They give us the answers that they have an thats it

So I hope I made myself clear, my intention is for real I'm looking the best for this site and I hope you understand it in this way.

ufcwatcher

As I mention before I'm not so familiar with this technology that is why I prefer to not get involved and misinform somebody. I don't know if you refer only to my comments or you already perceive something saying "but when we ask for a little bit of help everyone is running away and bashing the site." This is exactly what I want to avoid for this site! You're loosing one of your competitive advantages. There are always people that are faithful to one brand but why?! It is like in the industry, in the beginning quality and support represents a competitive advantage now everyone that wants to have a share of the pie should have this and also price this is the key PRICE!! Believe me I know what I'm talking about.

Anyway only the time will say if I'm wrong or not. I really hope that I'm wrong

mr shady · 07-17-2008, 11:10 PM

A newbie is a neew member or person to the fta community!

Tirconnell · 07-18-2008, 12:19 AM

heroe2001 ,

You bring up some great and valid points as well as a good overall impression of the site , Correct me if I am wrong .

The vast majority of the Staff on this site were the First to Contribute to the VIP Program when it came about some months back to help build the site for the betterment of all membership providing improvements and helping the site owner defray some-o-his out-o-pocket costs . But we did it Voluntarily as a Team .

Over those months we all ( Staff ) have tried to entice new VIP Membership for extra cost revenues for the cause , But you as well as I know we are upon some tough economic times and that forced us to look at new revenue raising ideas .

One thing to bear in mind is this site is Hosted Off Shore for every-ones privacy and protection , And with that comes extra Cost$ . Many sites have and will become Private with a $50 per year membership fee and we did not want to go that route .

You had mentioned the Sponsoring Site Retailers paying back to the site to help the cause . Well Mike at Viewsats.com has done just that . I believe he is the one who donated the Sonicview 360 Receiver we are giving-o-way .

Passing the extra cost on to the retailer ultimately has to pass it on to the consumer by charging them an increased price/fee for site add placement so they in turn pass it along to the buyer in increased pricing . That's something we didn't want to do and opted not to do . We want our Site Sponsors to to be able to sell to our Membership at a Competitive price as an added site service for our membership .

Mike - Viewsats.com has some great prices and Fantastic Service both before and after the sale . He's not just here to make a buck and dash . If you notice he is an Active Posting Member and I for one am Confident in referring a potential buyer to his store knowing he will treat them right and his reputation speaks volumes .

So it is a Team Effort with much going on behind the scenes that the average member does not see . The Staff hopes that we will have Many Happy New VIP Members . And sure we will loose some members to other add ridden sites that many will soon instill new charges . But this site was built on a Good Friendly Helpful Reputation of the Staff , Well other than Me .

So heroe2001 , I Thank You for your helpful comments and Civil Demeanor and hope one day you may become a VIP Member , If not still enjoy the site and site sponsors ,,,

boboisno1 · 07-18-2008, 12:38 AM

As a member of a few different sites I'm seeing more and more sites being forced into charging fee's for downloads. As the fta market grows ,and more and more people are getting into it, when an ecm hits this is causing larger numbers of people trying to connect to sites like this, so in order for the site to keep up to the ever growing demands of new users they are forced into adding more servers to handle the increased volume of users. I believe it's only a matter of time before free sites will shut down for a while when ecms occur, so in order to stay on top of the game sites will have to add more servers to keep the masses happy.

ufcwatcher · 07-18-2008, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heroe2001

Again thank you for your replies

I know that this is not personal and as I mention I like this site and the support that everyone brings. I'm not so familiar with this technology as Viewsats.com mention as "newbie". But this is not the point.

Viewsats.com

I clearly understand your comments because I'm posting to charge the sponsors instead of the customers, but this is real this is marketing and publicity for you! This is what they should do! Marketing is not free and if the site have a better ranking they should charge more to the sponsor, this is real! you can see it in any network that you choose!! yes I have less than 10 posts, so what? this is because the most of the post are asking for "When we are going to have a new bin?"; "We have a very lame support"; "We need to change to another receiver" etc... (nothing personal to anyone) I don't want to complain like that, I know that they don't have those answers and we should not complain to them because they aren't the programers. They give us the answers that they have an thats it

So I hope I made myself clear, my intention is for real I'm looking the best for this site and I hope you understand it in this way.

ufcwatcher

As I mention before I'm not so familiar with this technology that is why I prefer to not get involved and misinform somebody. I don't know if you refer only to my comments or you already perceive something saying "but when we ask for a little bit of help everyone is running away and bashing the site." This is exactly what I want to avoid for this site! You're loosing one of your competitive advantages. There are always people that are faithful to one brand but why?! It is like in the industry, in the beginning quality and support represents a competitive advantage now everyone that wants to have a share of the pie should have this and also price this is the key PRICE!! Believe me I know what I'm talking about.

Anyway only the time will say if I'm wrong or not. I really hope that I'm wrong

Let me tell you why I like this site. It won't take long. We support just about every single receiver and never bash anything or anyone. Newbies come in here without knowing anything(including myself 7 months ago). The sites where you get files for free get their support from some where else and bash everything that has nothing to do with them. All of the sites are like that. They support what they carry and bash everything else. If you want to support a site where you can express your opinion and supports just about everything then welcome.

mr shady · 07-18-2008, 01:58 AM

Well said ufc well said!!!!! Ill second your opion on this !!! And dont forget we are like one big family here ~ and try and treat everyone like part of the family and or team!

txsgent · 07-18-2008, 02:08 AM

The site, speaks for itself... we appreciate everyones opinions and views.. on this subject... good and bad... pro or con... you will not find a better site.... than this one.. and yes.. from time to time.. we hate to, but we do have to ban some members... because, they choose to not follow the most important rule of this site.... to treat everyone from the Admin down to the newest member and every sponsor with respect. But, as anyone can see... we have very few issues like that.. here.... We, made the decision to charge a very modest fee.... to download files.... that is the decision that was made... and that is the way it will be..... as I have already said... we hope all members will stay and even contribute to the site... in the forums and by joining the VIP. It will only make this site, even better.... If we lose a few good members, because of this, we will still wish them the best of luck... no matter where they go.... and hope, they leave as a friend and not mad or upset... and hopefully, will return to at least visit from time to time to say Hi.... jmo...... txsgent

mr shady · 07-18-2008, 02:11 AM

well said txsgent ! well said!!!

Satbum. · 07-18-2008, 09:18 AM

There are many good compliments, comments and ideas running in this thread.
I want to thank all for the inputs.
I think I'll let this run longer and may make a sticky out of it later,
if it doesn't get nasty.
LOL

RANDY B · 07-18-2008, 10:06 AM

I must say ,,that its so much nicer to know where to go to get what you want when you want it,,in saying this ,,I know i can come to this site and enjoy the FRINGE benefits of being a VIP member,with out any friction,,some one posted above that most sites are starting charge for their services ,and why not,,you are getting a service,,fact is we get a lot of service here when we need it,,,this particular site has been more than helpful,,when i have posted questions in the past,,no less than 3-5 responses every time,,that was before the VIP thing,,,i guess what im trying to say ,,at the end of the day..we all pay the same price for a COKE,,it was worth it to ME to make my donation, or what ever to know these guys will be here when i need help,,or i guess i could spend half the night going through other sites trying to find answers to the questions i may have,,and after hours of typing my info ,,they still ask you for a debt / credit card ,,,I do want to thank all the support here, as it is EXCELLENT,,A lot of good points were said in the above threads and i respect it all,,as this site may not be for everyone ,,it sure made a believer out of me,,,keep up the good work guys you have my support,,,thanks