Membership subscription would you be prepared to pay?

[Simon13]

very good!

[m-dtech]

need a bullshit room lol

[gareth]

i don't think that charging for membership in any way will stop bad transactions. the recent one came about mainly as a result of one silly mistake and an accident with the post. both parties got too wound up too quickly and we have all seen the result. a fee would not have stopped this as both parties would have probably paid up anyway.

regarding fees, i've seen a good system on the 205gtidrivers forum. a donation can be voluntarily sent though paypal and if you do so you get a donor symbol next to your name. there is no fixed donation amount and most people would be only too happy to throw in a few quid. i personally feel that even without an official method for doing so, i would like to make a donation to the 'zone running costs. a donation equating to 0.1% of the money the 'zone has saved me would be more than adequate for my fair share! then donations can then be varied on hom much each member 'values' the zone.

to prevent pure scammers, a block on all new members (less than 50 posts?) using the for sale / wanted areas would help things but again, not in the recent case.

[320Touring]

need a bullshit room lol

its here

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... highlight=

[dips346]

i don't think that charging for membership in any way will stop bad transactions. the recent one came about mainly as a result of one silly mistake and an accident with the post. both parties got too wound up too quickly and we have all seen the result. a fee would not have stopped this as both parties would have probably paid up anyway.

regarding fees, i've seen a good system on the 205gtidrivers forum. a donation can be voluntarily sent though paypal and if you do so you get a donor symbol next to your name. there is no fixed donation amount and most people would be only too happy to throw in a few quid. i personally feel that even without an official method for doing so, i would like to make a donation to the 'zone running costs. a donation equating to 0.1% of the money the 'zone has saved me would be more than adequate for my fair share! then donations can then be varied on hom much each member 'values' the zone.

to prevent pure scammers, a block on all new members (less than 50 posts?) using the for sale / wanted areas would help things but again, not in the recent case.

50 posts is easy if you reply with "nice car,yes , , "and so forth
i am sure true zoner would be happy to pay a little amount say Ԛ£10 a year for full use of the zone in the year plus the money can go towards keeping the zone running faster and better works on other sites

[eldarvanyar]

i think a fee for a higher level of membership which would allow you to sell cars and parts and gain entry to certain sections of the forum as passionford does with their gold member scheme etc but still allow other members and browsers access to see the rest of the site would be a good idea.

I think this could be a way forward. It would enable the zone to continue in the free spirit and goodwill that it has but maybe be able to do something a bit different for the diehard zoners.
I also remember the thread that got out of hand with threats to someone and his family which doesn't benefit anyone.
Someone mentioned a voluntary paypal payment, get a symbol by your user name, which could be a way to help share the cost.
If there was enough Ԛ£10s we might even buy out Total BMW Mag and call it E30 Zone about 50should do it I immagine

[oguz327]

A few good ideas there both the volontary pay pal payment or free access to certain area's and payment mebership to access other parts of the site could work well.

I for one would be happy to chip and i am sure many others would as well.

[dark_sounds]

im gonna have to agree with the payment idea.....

free.... access to e30chat, and core area.. viewing of the for sale/wanted etc... pub chat..

paid... pub chat exclusive... bitch fest.... acess to all sites and all rights to post..

take a leaf out of the ford guys, it works with them...

[jon_pure_british]

even people in saxos have direct debit cards mate! and if they were really intent on hounding us, im sure a tenner wont make them stop, if they had some sort of pathetic pikey point to make.

[dark_sounds]

they might hound once, but then what? pay another tenner after they are banned to hound again ?

tbh a tenner to prove a point then fair enough.. not bad... though they have no point??

i dont think a saxo prick will pay a tenner personally

he will be like, " nah 'low it bruv, i can buy 2 packs of 20 mayfair for that!"

[m-dtech]

ok, im going to say what i always said to staff under me when i was a database developer.................

Its all very well raising a point of concern or idea, but unless you have thought it through and have the soloution get out my office.

Need to consider all possible scenarios

So,

1.Plan
2.Meet / Discuss
3.Pass to mods / decision maker.

Mike

[mattG]

where do i make my donation mods,

[dips346]

ok, im going to say what i always said to staff under me when i was a database developer.................

Its all very well raising a point of concern or idea, but unless you have thought it through and have the soloution get out my office.

Need to consider all possible scenarios

So,

1.Plan
2.Meet / Discuss
3.Pass to mods / decision maker.

Mike

mods have known about this idea for a long time now and talks are still going on about it again

[e30bmlover]

i totally agree with the Ԛ£10 fee. i mean jesus christ, i earn more than that in an hour! whats a tenner? @uck all. plus it will get rid of the nobs as mentioned before.

will you marry me?

Hannah the Ԛ£5 an hour skivvy...

lol, i dont think my missus would be too pleased!
its funny how when money is mentioned people start saying i dont agree. websites cost money to maintain... end of. Ԛ£10 a year is not going to be missed, no matter what your income is. STOP BEING SO TIGHT!!!!!

[DaveD]

Lets face it most of us can afford the "Ԛ£10" per year that has been floated but how much backbighting would such a charge produce...currently there are 14281 members = Ԛ£142k in income .a lot of money by anyones standards..and who does the zone belong to ,,,if it belongs to its members there are no articles of association (like a club) and who would control how the money was spent...who would do the accounting......Before anyone put money in there would have to be trustee bank accounts ..would it be a limted company ...these are questions that need addressing before we rush into a precipitate course of action....

[Rosc0PColtrane]

[quote="march109"]Firstly whoever mentioned data protection is wrong, the data protection act doesn't stop ou storing dta about people, what it makes you do is hold it securly so its only accessable by yourself or company and upon request you ust provide a person with any information you may store about them. For the purposes of a community like this keeping a handwritten note in a locked filing cabinet and photocopying and posting those details when requested would solve both those issues.

I have worked for DVLA, marketing firms and currently new media outlets so know that it is infact very easy to satisfy the law as regards data protection and that it is often miss-qouted.quote]

Actually, in simple terms, data protection act says, any personal information you hold about people must be accurate, up to date and stored in a secure fashion.

The point I raised was the implication of satisfying those points. Oh and my experience with data protection was around the 6 years I spent in banking.

I too agree the zone should stay as it is though!!!!

[m-dtech]

DPA is only relevent to business with so many employees, and if the data is used for certain functions, blah blah blah. Can be combated by a single line disclaimer when anyone makes a payment / registeres their details.

You are welcome to borrow my DPA Manual from HMSO, but its very large.

If the zone was to be set up as a charity / non profit making company then there are so many exemptions especialy for tax.

Would be fairly easy to set up a zone budget

[Rosc0PColtrane]

DPA is only relevent to business with so many employees, and if the data is used for certain functions, blah blah blah. Can be combated by a single line disclaimer when anyone makes a payment / registeres their details.

You are welcome to borrow my DPA Manual from HMSO, but its very large.

If the zone was to be set up as a charity / non profit making company then there are so many exemptions especialy for tax.

Would be fairly easy to set up a zone budget

Data protection is relevant to any business holding personal information about it's customers or clients, regardless of size

[Rosc0PColtrane]

I believe the term is "resonable steps" with regards to compliance

[316eyes]

1. I like the idea of a FULL MEMBERS pack with sticker and maybe tax disc holder and tasty symbol next to your name. Could be extended by full members giving each other a fixed discount on parts sales.

2. I wouldn't mind paying a membership fee - the zone has saved me a fortune.

3. I agree that charging won't stop rip offs or prevent the type of dispute we have seen between Bob S and Spadge.

4. However, I think we all have to consider that a form of charge to enable full access to the zone defeats the original concept of what this forum is all about.

5. My biggest concern is that a lot of people are saying YES without any idea of how much extra work that will be dumped on the mods to run such a scheme!!! They do a great job as it is and they are there to RUN a FORUM, not, what in effect, will be a fair sized small business.

In balance then. Leave well enough alone. The zone isn't broken, it just runs a little rough occasionally.

[Rosc0PColtrane]

1. I like the idea of a FULL MEMBERS pack with sticker and maybe tax disc holder and tasty symbol next to your name. Could be extended by full members giving each other a fixed discount on parts sales.

2. I wouldn't mind paying a membership fee - the zone has saved me a fortune.

3. I agree that charging won't stop rip offs or prevent the type of dispute we have seen between Bob S and Spadge.

4. However, I think we all have to consider that a form of charge to enable full access to the zone defeats the original concept of what this forum is all about.

5. My biggest concern is that a lot of people are saying YES without any idea of how much extra work that will be dumped on the mods to run such a scheme!!! They do a great job as it is and they are there to RUN a FORUM, not, what in effect, will be a fair sized small business.

In balance then. Leave well enough alone. The zone isn't broken, it just runs a little rough occasionally.

Well said mate, I agree and voiced similar opinions, I just chose to waffle more!!!!!

[FBF]

cant be bothered to read 3 pages of drivel but my opinion is that id go to another e30 forum for tech help and save my tenner.

[DaveD]

more drivel

[andyp]

good luck.