Current Subscription Plan | FerrariChat

Current Subscription Plan

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by rob lay, Nov 4, 2003.

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Do you like the new subscription plan Rob is proposing?

  1. No - Still a bad idea to even have optional subscriptions.

  2. Yes - I like this whether I choose the optional subscription or not.

Multiple votes are allowed.
Results are only viewable after voting.
  1. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,582
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    Of course this isn't final, but from discussions we've had the past year and the recent discussions I'm coming up with this proposal for approval.

    Timeline: Nothing will change as is until registered base reaches 3,000 unique users. At that time the following subscription plan will be implemented.

    Unregistered Users (Free): View GFD and Tech Q&A only.

    Registered Users (Free): View and Post all sections.

    Subscribed Users ($7.95 per 6 months, possible other options like lifetime): Additionally allow other functionality like Search, Avatars, Profile, Private Forum, email address, and sponsor discounts. This list would change, but the idea is to return the subscription value and then some.

    Moderators (Free): Same as Subscribed.

    FerrariChat.com Tech/Historian Consultants (Free): Same as Subscribed, with additional dedicated Consultant page that includes commercial information and index of articles and other info the Consultant wants.

    ---

    I think this would be a happy medium for everyone. No one is being blocked from participating in the community for financial reasons. New users can try before they buy. The subscribed users get additional features and value for their small contribution. The Tech/Historian value adding users will have no costs and just more reasons to participate and help the community.

    This doesn't address filtering out trolls from paying, but maybe more moderators and the additional controls this software offers will help that.

    How could you not love this? :)
     
  2. beast

    beast F1 World Champ

    May 31, 2003
    11,479
    Lewisville, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Guess
    sounds good to me. I think i can afford $1.30 a month to be a an active member. Keep up the good work Rob.

    Rob Guess "The Other Rob"
     
  3. Nuvolari

    Nuvolari F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Sep 3, 2002
    6,396
    Toronto / SoCal
    Full Name:
    Rob C.
    This actually sounds quite fair. I am normally very much against pay sites because it discourages growth however in this case you are paying for some extra features and that is OK by me. F-Chat has already saved me tons and it would be exceedingly cheap to not want to give a little something back.

    Hey Rob...I hear those Challenge cars can be a little pricey to run :)
     
  4. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,582
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    :) Actually, only if you hit or blow. Rotors are lasting me 5+ weekends, pads are lasting 5+ weekends. Oil Change is only about $90. Tires I get from Grand Am series. Pretty cheap.

    You want to hear expensive? That would be not having a real job on top of my FC job. :)
     
  5. Shadow DN8

    Shadow DN8 Rookie

    Nov 4, 2003
    23
    Rob, you may want to allow registered folks to use the search function. Otherwise there might be a lot of repeat posts of the same old questions.
     
  6. Chiaro_Slag

    Chiaro_Slag F1 Veteran

    Oct 31, 2003
    7,789
    CA
    Full Name:
    Jerry
    Sounds good. :)

    Sign me up for a moderator slot. :)
     
  7. JOEV

    JOEV F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Aug 6, 2003
    2,825
    Ontario, Canada
    Full Name:
    Joe
    No one can object on financial grounds, as the subscription rate is basically a token fee from the subscriber's POV.

    So all that remains is an objection to the subscription model in principle only.

    I hope everyone gets on board because the value for money simply can't be beat.

    Rob - thanks again for all your hard work.
     
  8. F SPIDER

    F SPIDER F1 Rookie
    Owner

    Jan 30, 2002
    2,873
    NYC, A'dam, W'stock
    Full Name:
    rijk rietveld
    Finally

    Rijk
     
  9. ntingle

    ntingle Karting

    Nov 1, 2003
    52
    Los Gatos, CA
    Full Name:
    Nick Tingle
    If you don't allow free users to search but do allow them to post then you are going to have even more people asking the same old questions over and over.

    You could perhaps limit free users to X searches per minute, I've seen that done before.
     
  10. Mark(study)

    Mark(study) F1 Veteran

    Oct 13, 2001
    6,052
    Clearwater, FL
    Full Name:
    Mark
    "This actually sounds quite fair. I am normally very much against pay sites because it discourages growth however in this case you are paying for some extra features and that is OK"


    I agree. And I don't see how anyone can worry about $20 a year for this much entertainment.
     
  11. jhjvdm

    jhjvdm Formula Junior

    May 28, 2003
    261
    Rob,

    Since the month of June this year I am a member of Ferrarichat.
    As you perhaps know my primary interest are classic/vintage Ferrari's
    and any models with special bodies/conversions.

    That's the reason why I suggested to try a separate department
    dealing with older Ferraris. I'm glad it was created and I think
    it has proven its reason for existence.

    The forum gave (and gives) me much information and adds a lot to
    my Ferrari knowledge (and the databases on my computer).

    And all that information came to me free of charge.

    But: I from my side tried to provide as much information as¨possible
    in terms of pictures, serial numbers, etc. And despite the effort I
    put in that activity - by searching in Ferrari literature
    and many documents on my computer-
    I never thought of asking any financial compensation for that.
    That's why I do not want to pay for it either.

    The idea of preventing people to participate by creating a subscription
    has shown up with other forums, but many of them did not survive.

    By the way: who is considered a Tech/Historian Consultant?

    Rob, this post is NOT intended to bagatellize the work you do for
    this forum, but if I have to become a paying member I will end my participation.
    For me it's a hobby and not a profession.


    Joop van der Meer
     
  12. WJHMH

    WJHMH Two Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Sep 5, 2001
    25,397
    Panther City, Texas
    Full Name:
    WJHMH
    I have no problem with it. Rob puts alot of hard work into this site & he should get something in return.
     
  13. Tyler

    Tyler F1 Rookie

    Dec 19, 2001
    4,274
    dusty old farm town
    Full Name:
    Tyler
    Sounds very fair. Thanks Rob!
     
  14. jordan747_400

    jordan747_400 F1 Veteran
    Lifetime Rossa

    Dec 9, 2002
    6,928
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Jordan
    I love it!

    I think ill be paying for a subscription :)
     
  15. PeterS

    PeterS Four Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 24, 2003
    48,128
    Goodyear, AZ
    Full Name:
    PeterS
    I'm in. Rasberries to all naysayers that Rob should not make a buck on this forum. The fee stated is extremely reasonable and well worth its entertainment value! (How about charging DES a percentage of his income to join..Say 15%?)
     
  16. eric

    eric Formula Junior

    Aug 3, 2001
    705
    Albion, CA
    It'd sure be nice if you could go to something more along the lines of what the PBS television and radio stations do here in the US: annoy the heck out of viewers/listeners a couple times a year till they pony up for the service. Only be a little cleverer than PBS and only annoy those of us who haven't "donated" to our favorite cause. Once a user has made a donation, flip a bit in your database associated with that user and make their FChat viewing experience be Fchat Pledge Drive advertisement-free. For those who choose to not donate, keep the ads coming and make it worth their while to pay to get them off the main page, search page, heck every page on the site. Shouldn’t be too hard to code in a server side data field that tracks who paid and thus gets to view the pledge-drive-free site and not.

    I for one would happily donate right now for the privilege of never having to see another banner ad or read another thread about making this a pay site. Give me your Paypal acct info, and $100 is yours to put me in some special category that allows me to log on and never see the occasional banner ad asking for money.
     
  17. 308GTS

    308GTS Formula 3

    Dec 27, 2001
    2,223
    TN
    I still say take donations. Why charge? Many will donate. Even Mustang, Cadillac, and NSX forums are free and they have the same style board. (some of these boards with much higher member #'s too) Why should this site charge when many get just as much help, info, from their Ford or NSX site. I am not putting down your effort in anyway but I don't see anything wrong with asking for donations. Charging just doesn't seem like the message board thing to do.
    Also it would be much better if everyone could search otherwise we will get the same ?'s over and over. (when do belts need to be changed, which wax, hot start problem, etc.)
     
  18. Horsefly

    Horsefly F1 Veteran

    May 14, 2002
    6,929
    Rob, I think I could live with a $16 or so per year "donation". Just be sure to give us an address where to send the "donation". None of that on-line credit card stuff for me, thank you.
     
  19. timgos

    timgos Karting
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 8, 2003
    127
    Rochester, NY
    Another option which may or may not work for ferrarichat that I've seen on another forum is:

    $10 donation gets you a little star by your username, access to a donators forum, access to the quick reply function, and the ability to attach images to your posts. This is a one time fee.

    $3 to change your title and/or avatar.

    $5 to change someone elses title and/or avatar. This is actually pretty popular with a lot of people changing avatars as jokes, etc. I don't know how well it would go over here but it works on some forums.

    That's all I've got :)
     
  20. JOEV

    JOEV F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Aug 6, 2003
    2,825
    Ontario, Canada
    Full Name:
    Joe
    If this plan was implemented, Rob would be driving an Enzo in a matter of weeks. There are at least three people I can think of that would be having their avatar's etc. changed on them every five minutes or so. :)
     
  21. Dr C

    Dr C Guest

    Rob:
    ferrarichat is a great service. Count me in.
    Nothing else like it that I know of. Sure wish that I'd had fchat when I first purchased my 308.
     
  22. squidracing

    squidracing Formula Junior

    Mar 2, 2001
    626
    NYC
    Full Name:
    Matt
    Rob......5 weekends on a set of pads? Either you don't use them (which makes me smile....or you need to go loads deeper and press (with feel) that middle pedal a lot harder (which really makes me smile).
     
  23. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,582
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    You don't have to become a paying member. What don't you understand?
     
  24. wax

    wax Five Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Jul 20, 2003
    51,521
    SFPD
    Full Name:
    Dirty Harry
    Member #3001 will never live it down... heeheehee

    1,156 Fearless F-Chatters have already joined the new board in just the first 100 hours. While the goal of 3,001 F-Chatters to put up or shut up won't be reached by way of such exponentional increases anytime soon, it is an excellent benchmark for talk of $7.95 every 6 months to turn to action.

    I can't think of a single reason for anyone outside the Pros to not to put their bargain-of-the-century fair share in the pass-the-hat. I honestly feel obligated - in fact, honored to do so. Other "free" forums suck). One in particular is like kissing Hitler. Ferrari has busted more molds than anybody, so too shall FerrariChat continue to do so. That's why Ferrari and FerrariChat are Number 1. Belly on up to the bar, gents - it's Happy Hour.
     
  25. vraa

    vraa F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Oct 31, 2003
    3,567
    Texas
    Full Name:
    Mr. A

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