Marketplace threads, on the other hand, do have a very direct impact on those who take part in the deal, and in turn an impact on the reputation of BHW itself. And in my opinion, making 100 low-content posts should not be the sole qualification for a staff-approved marketplace thread.
Agreed 100%.
I have seen posts requesting to reduce the price but the OP is the first asking to increase. Might be he is rich to afford..
No, not rich, just opening debate to see if there is a way to improve the quality of services and content. Maybe you have some ideas as to how that could be achieved?
Or just 'VIP'
I love the idea of basing a level on thanks received, to me you can only get them by being helpful or sharing good ideas with the community.
The reputation button was abused previously, thus removed. If this was re-introduced, the only way to control it is to give it to Mods, Jr Execs, Staff members only.
I think raising yearly cost or post count doesn't matter
What matter is the knowledge
Put members on test before they upgrade besides the $97
You will only see people who qualified to take that place
That would be too prohibitive to manage, and I imagine hugely reduce BHW's profitability as a LOT of folk here would not qualify or even attempt to do so.
With $500 there would be no roi on signature space selling for the most of us, which would be a huge turn off. Also, I already pay like $30 extra as vat, so no thanks.
Surely Jr VIP is not just about selling your signature. Yes, its a nice benefit as is creating a BST but it is not the reason why you pay your $'s.
$500 for Jr VIP would be a turn off for many members. However, I feel that BHW needs restructuring in threads and memberships.
Memberships:
The memberships from a normal member's perspective are just free and paid. So, most discussions about memberships talk about Jr VIP (which is major paid category). So, to avoid clutter, BHW should make a middle-ground or advanced memberships or both. This will help filter helpful or knowledgeable members from the crowd. This will also encourage users to provide more value to the community. I suggest the membership structure should be as follows:
I think it is the current membership levels that encourage the wrong attitudes and lower the overall quality.
In my mind, given how most admit that they only pay for Jr VIP to sell services, this would be a better membership structure.
- Regular - free
- Marketplace - $97 / 100 post contribution / 60 day registered member
- Marketplace+ - $499 - no other requirements
- Jr VIP - $499 / 500 post contribution / 6 months registered member - access to Jr VIP forums and permission to reply in HAF and WTB forums
By extending the Jr VIP 60 day registration period to 6 months, you negate the inflate post count issue somewhat and you provide real tangible benefits to these members with the extra forums and additional ability to sell services.
The existing Premium membership is pointless, as who would have paid the same amount for something of less value. Makes no sense. Personally, I think this should be ditched.
BHW is a business and want as many users to pay for membership upgrades as possible. However, restructuring the memberships could maintain or even increase revenue streams whilst adding more value for members and to the BHW brand.
$500 is way too much. Even the $147 is a lot of money for many people.
For someone like me (a newbie), buying services and looking for information, I really do not know I want to pay the $147 for the current subscription.
Reason: I do not know what I get with the subscription. I know there is a hidden section for JrVip, but I don't know if it worth $147.
I think that most people join Jr VIP to sell to others, be it via a BST or HAF and the extra forums are a nice bonus. If you are like me and do not sell services but make money through what you have learnt in the 'regular' forums, then you will undoubtedly make more money from what you learn in the 'Jr VIP' forums.
If you are looking to open a BST or sell via HAF, you know your own capability and what you have to offer, so should be able to make that decision quite easily.