Is premium membership worth it?

[sodahucker]

Hi,

I'm only interested in snowbikes. Can anyone tell me if there is an abundance of information in the private forums specifically relating to snowbikes?

Thanks,

Travis

 

[J&L Snowhawk]

yes

its 15.00 and i think its worth it. JMO

 

[mnsnowhawk]

No. Most threads don't get large enough. The ones that do, most guys start new ones for you. There are a few that won't for you. They are too special I guess. Waste of money. Between here and backcountryrebels you will find what you need.

 

[summitboy]

Not really. Lots of censorship and brand loyalists lol. Snowbike thread is pretty sane, thats because there is only one brand of kit imo. Depends if your a trouble maker or not. Keep your cash and burn it in your tank !

 

[Rush44]

The $15 helps to keep the site alive and viable. As a Network Administrator and a former Web entrepreneurial suit, I know how much these sites cost to operate both in administrative overhead and bandwidth. If one piece of information saves you $15 in labor then it's a no-brainer. I can't count how many times someone's info has saved me a trip to the $85/hr shop.

Support the things that support you.

 

[mtn-doo]

I just paid mine. It was $30 for three years. That's only $10 a year! I can't even buy a pizza for 10 bucks, and that's gone in twenty minutes! ha!, Ten dollars a year for three years is super cheap, I think?.... let me calculate... 365 days a year X 3 years is 1095 days for $30. That is .028 cents a day X 1095 days. ??? I don't even have a .028 cent coin.? I think that is super cheap for everything we get and enjoy out of it?

 

[summitboy]

Lol. You know whats better than .28 cents per day. Free ! The forums were built on the information provided by its contributing members way before we paid. The users made it what it is today and they continue to do so. Now the owners have decided to make money on the info we provided because they can. Some choose to pay others dont. Kinda funny we pay money for our own information ! I guess that is ok for some ! Rather strange if u ask me.

If you feel like supporting those who support you feel free to send the users their due ! Just my opinion of course

 

[Rush44]

My last input on this matter...

The forum growth is in itself a problem for the people who own the domain. It's easy to give it away for free in the beginning when it doesn't cost but maybe $100/mo in bandwidth and hosting fees. At that point you have someone who rolls out the forum and does all the administration in their spare time as a project or a cool service to see what could result. The masses answered by visiting the site a lot and the growth exploded.

Right now, as I type this, there are 6,293 people currently viewing the site. There are 3,142,000 posts that all require some form of oversight... be it code, be it administration, be it moderating... someone has to watch over it. All of that traffic COSTS MONEY... even if you didn't pay anyone to administer the site, your host bills you based on traffic and based on data transfer. The more people, the more it costs. So as the site attracts people to share information it costs SOMEONE and a check has to be written each month or the site is shut down.

Surely some of you are thinking "Well, what about all those annoying ads?". True, ads can generate revenue... but it is not like it used to be. People hardly ever click them (which is how the site gets paid) and there are countless browser plug-ins like AdBlock for Chrome that block all ads automatically. Lots of people use them and circumvent the possibility of a site to generate ad revenue. I've tried to deploy ad solutions in the past to some of our sites and they never returned much and hampered the "experience" for the end user.

It's a slippery slope when you move a site from free to paid. Very few people can do it and maintain an audience since there is always someone out there willing to give it a shot and give the milk away for free. When that person or group gives up another service will pop up. It happens all the time. The fact that SnoWest Online is still alive today shows that what they provide is important enough for people to want to stay AND pay for.

I'll leave it at that. Since I have been on the other side of the virtual wall I have a different perspective.

 

[snowmobiler]

pay for me too.

 

[Rush44]

pay for me too.

I would happily pay for you, but I'm only allowed to sponsor a few douchbags a year and I'm all full up.

 

[christopher]

I would happily pay for you, but I'm only allowed to sponsor a few douchbags a year and I'm all full up.

 

[snowmobiler]

richies.LOL

 

[powdermuncher]

Rule of thumb is that any time spend riding or even in the shop is many times as valuable than any forum will ever be this is just cheap entertainment to me
If I can get some helpful info out great.
The spirit of Forums used to be by riders for riders.
The pay for deal is just one more tax to me. And that is just my personal thoughts on the issues -- to each there own.
I spend way more money on magazines than that -Why?
Cause I can, and if I don't want to than I just don't buy them.

cheers...........

 

[Devilmanak]

I can see both sides. I keep paying even though it pisses me off because I lose all my pm's if I don't. There are a TON of ads we have to deal with, and almost ZERO moderation of the guys that just want to be jerks. (Probably because they are buds with the "moderators".) I have belonged to probably close to 50-60 forums over the years, various interests, and have never seen so LITTLE moderation, or had to pay anything for a good forum. There is lots of info here, but there are few threads that don't go to hell due to douchebags.
My opinions are backed by those I have talked to. This forum could be better, but it is obvious what drives it.

 

[PalousePoo]

For me it's worth it to pay. Much more interesting reading than magazines. And I've had great luck with the classified's. Sold 3 sleds and numerous accessories through it over the years. Why, because this is all sled heads looking for just what I want to sell!!! No way craigs list could give the same results. The annual fee is cheap for an unlimited amount of personal for sale ads you can get here.

 

[Robster]

I bought a life time membership and those money I can easily pay for the site to have the possibility top upgrade the servers etc. Very worth it in my opinion.

//Rob

 

[Scott]

I can see both sides. I keep paying even though it pisses me off because I lose all my pm's if I don't. There are a TON of ads we have to deal with, and almost ZERO moderation of the guys that just want to be jerks. (Probably because they are buds with the "moderators".) I have belonged to probably close to 50-60 forums over the years, various interests, and have never seen so LITTLE moderation, or had to pay anything for a good forum. There is lots of info here, but there are few threads that don't go to hell due to douchebags.
My opinions are backed by those I have talked to. This forum could be better, but it is obvious what drives it.

If you could only see how much moderation we "get" to do in the turbo forums. LOL

 

[snowhawkaddict]

John Kerry

Yeah but moderators NEED their jobs.

Anybody here can see this http://www.backcountryrebels.com/showthread.php?t=24587 for free, as long as you join.

Still paying to be here is worth every penny, why the guys whining and wanting info complaining about it is beyond me.

 

[sodahucker]

Thanks for the input. I don't think the premium membership is for me right now. It sounds like there is just not enough information there to make it worth it. I do appreciate the hard work of those behind the site, but I'd prefer to give a few $ donation. Is that possible? I do think that I will at least click through any ads that interest me to support the site.

 

[snowhawkaddict]

RER

At least the non members get their answer after the second post, your questions fate will linger till you can't view the distance. Maybe that blank post will read like this, Poster: "Give me your member password so I can use my debit card and keep you from missing out, thank you for letting me."