Upgrade to premium?

PB Forum :: Dirt Jumping & Street
Upgrade to premium?
Author Message
flag sorbet
Posted: May 26, 2010 at 20:38 Quote
Or atleast delete your past. That could be useful:P
flag laurie1
Mod
Posted: May 26, 2010 at 20:48 Quote
ericvan wrote:
the thing is, this shouldnt turn into a battle of someone is better then the other on this site. right now, everyone is equal except the MODS, but there not many of them. I dont care if someone is paying for it, but i think for sure lose the little PLUS logo beside the name, it will just instigate. theres no need for the fight, but trust me, theres kids who will start shit out of nothing. and as for the buysell, i say the farthest you should go is to highlight the persons add, make it stand out. This was a great idea, but if you keep adding features that the PLUS people can have, soon it will turn into private forums, private profiles, private videos, etc. who knows, maybe even a whole 1/2 of the site for paying subscribers

You can look at the plus logo one of two ways. The first is your way whereby some users may get this “better than you” attitude since they have a Plus account and you don’t. The second, is that it adds more legitimacy, increases awareness, makes people feel more connected to a site and more proactive in posting positive comments and being better overall users as they now have a ‘stake’ in the website. If someone is willing to pay to be a member when the website still offers a free service, this shows that the user is an active user, proactive user, committed to the wellbeing of the website, and legitimate person. Hopefully, this will increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the buy/sell process as one of the benefits. Chances are if a user has a Plus account they will not be super flakey like some of the other users who go about using the buy/sell in an inefficient manner. This will hopefully decrease scammers, time wasters, low-ballers, etc. If they paid for a membership, why would they risk being suspended/banned and lose out on their membership cost? Essentially, this service has the ability to “weed out” the bad apples that make this site less enjoyable to others because they have a vested interest of $30 in the site. Personally, I think this will actually generate better users over time.

As for the Buy/Sell advantages, lots of sites offer features/services to bump your ad to the top, highlight your ad, mark your ad with ‘urgent,’ feature it on the homepage gallery, etc. and I think these are reasonable features to offer Plus members. I mean after all, they are paying for something. This doesn’t really affect the other ads. They’ll all still be there just priority of the first ads will be from Plus members and the free users’ ads will follow behind the Plus members’ ads. Maybe, a new filter can be added in order to sort for Plus members ads, sort by year, sort by distance based on how far the item is from your profile’s location, etc.

You have to remember that the free users are still having access to the same types of services and that their service will not be impeded or impacted based on whether or not they pay or not. There are just some additional features that may not be available to them. Maybe Plus members can choose different Pinkbike skins such as the retro Pinkbike theme from years past, the old dashboard look, or some of the past April Fools themes. Basically, make Pinkbike fully customizable. Does this impact the services of free users, no. Does it add a feature to those who paid for something, yes. Little things like this help to add a value to a membership.

I am NOT a supporter of private forums or anything that segregates users as chances are, a lot of the wealth of knowledge will be unable to post answers to your specific question as they will be unable to see it. Since everyone is not going to pay for a Plus membership, it is important that everyone is able to see the forums. I can understand private videos and photo galleries that allow the user to select friends from their friend list as to the content they can see. Also, maybe a Plus member can have more dashboard settings to choose who can notify them of what forum threads, which users’ ads can come up on their dashboard when they’re selling something, whose blogs appear on your dashboard notification, etc. Little things like this where a user can individualize their Pinkbike experience is important to members.
flag jefo
Posted: May 26, 2010 at 20:51 Quote
I think being a member for over 3 years makes my profile legitimate in buy/sell without the need for a PLUS. It also shows that I am a proactive user as I still use the site to this day. -

i guess this would work for new members wanting a reputation. Rolleyes


But hey, I know your just finding a way to make an income radek, and I respect that. btw: thanks for the monster!
flag snickkers
Posted: May 26, 2010 at 20:52 Quote
Sounds like a bargain
flag heldt
Posted: May 26, 2010 at 21:02 Quote
snickkers wrote:
Sounds like a bargain
yea I dont know why everyone is complaining, $30 a year is peanuts. Could make that in a few hours out of 365 days.
flag lafalot
Posted: May 26, 2010 at 21:04 Quote
Would it be too difficult to add a little more website code and allow you to toggle the [PLUS] tag off? That way Premium members can keep the benefits of membership without being called out on/hassled by the selfish jealous members who adamantly refuse to give up $30 a year for a website they've been on years, and resort to ragging on people that do want to support Pinkbike...

Forget the benefits I'd pay $30 a year just to USE this website. Pinkbike Buysell has sold so much bike stuff for me the $30 would be way worth it. Yes, there's other classifieds, Craigslist, Kijji, Ebay..etc but what other classifieds has such a huge GLOBAL audience that is specific to this niche sport called MTB? None other than Pinkbike..

Seriously people, look at your $2000+ bikes in the garage.
flag jackwashere
Posted: May 26, 2010 at 21:07 Quote
think a good thing about the plus sign, is that when your buying non-local from somone that has the plus, you know they actually paid for
pinkbike and kind of have the sense of security with less chance of being scammed. if you know what i mean
flag radek
Mod O+
Posted: May 26, 2010 at 21:11 Quote
jackwashere wrote:
think a good thing about the plus sign, is that when your buying non-local from somone that has the plus, you know they actually paid for
pinkbike and kind of have the sense of security with less chance of being scammed. if you know what i mean

Exactly. We get some many people that made a raw deal and the only thing they have and we have is "johny23@hotmail.com".
So yes, users can get some sense of security that with a plus member there is some track record at least. Especially if they used a credit card that means that there is some sort of address verification too. It's not full proof, but it is a step closer.
flag jackwashere
Posted: May 26, 2010 at 21:13 Quote
radek wrote:
jackwashere wrote:
think a good thing about the plus sign, is that when your buying non-local from somone that has the plus, you know they actually paid for
pinkbike and kind of have the sense of security with less chance of being scammed. if you know what i mean

Exactly. We get some many people that made a raw deal and the only thing they have and we have is "johny23@hotmail.com".
So yes, users can get some sense of security that with a plus member there is some track record at least. Especially if they used a credit card that means that there is some sort of address verification too. It's not full proof, but it is a step closer.

i think you should add alot of new bike shops and stuff to the card. also somthing like discounts on the pinkbike store would be kool. maybe free stickers with the purchase?? idk somthing kool
flag mistercrabb
Posted: May 26, 2010 at 23:56 Quote
Sounds like a good idea tbh, needs more benefits though, especially for other countries like the UK Smile

Don't think ill be buying, I don't really use pinkbike much any more.
flag terri-anne
Posted: May 27, 2010 at 0:26 Quote
mistercrabb wrote:
Sounds like a good idea tbh, needs more benefits though, especially for other countries like the UK Smile


I was just scolling through to see if anyone from the UK had said exactly that- if the benefits were good for me then I'd maybe consider it. At the moment it revolves around US/Canadian users (which is understandable) but just not relevent to me.

Otherwise, I am happy with the current set up, I don't mind the adverts/banners etc.

Once we've decided we don't want it, could the 'Upgrade to Premium' button be removed? It's annoying the OCD in me Wink
flag manicmastiff
Posted: May 27, 2010 at 0:41 Quote
I have been on PB for a few years now and I have never had any issues with accessing content, sure the videos take a little longer to stream than other sites but it's not a issue that would make me pay a premium.

As for the adverts or pop-ups on this site, I have never seen a pop-up on PB as my browser is spot on. Some of the adverts are interesting for example the Knolly ad showing the Podium bike range, I saw it and found the bike interesting and would have not seen this bike otherwise until it's in a mag. What's wrong with having ads showing us new gear? It doesn't distract me from posting in forums, most of the ads are on the homepage which is fine.

This Plus icon is a mistake, no matter what it will cause all sorts of problems with members attitudes towards other members and others. Having a premium account will not clean up PB forum posts either, xbox live is a good example of how paying for a premium doesn't stop trash talk and bad etiquette.

When I sell something on PB there is a link to the ebay item for security, and when I but from PB I buy from who puts the item on ebay, protected. Having a premium will not protect me any more than paypall payment protection will.

Honestly, I think that 99% of PB users (myself included) don't mind paying for a premium if it had a universal benefit, like event streaming similar to Freecaster. I feel the benefits offered are bogus, faster web streaming? It's fast enough for me. The discounts are a cool idea... ...If you live in Canada, what about the rest of the world? I know more will follow but this is kinda bad marketing to sell a half thought out idea to a loyal user base..

For free at the moment I get everything I want, a mailbox, media sharing, forum access, online sales etc.. Most sites charge premiums for this kind of access/usage with no bonus discounts, it would seem that PB should have charged for a premium from the start but this was not the case and we are all grateful for it.

Other than a PLUS next to the user and a small discount for Canadians, what are you really offering? If I was to upgrade to premium I would certainly NOT want a PLUS next to my name.

I don't buy it, my 2c.Salute
flag hoolydooly
O+
Posted: May 27, 2010 at 0:52 Quote
mcdoogus wrote:
sniperbob02 wrote:
if the people that pays for the membership gets priority on the buysell it wont be the same. dont know but like I like pinkbike and the way that everybody are at the same level and all compare to other forums and shit.
Gandhi.

yeah, i agree. you dont have to sign up or anything. cant riders just chat with out having to pay for levels of goodness?
flag uttanutta12
Posted: May 27, 2010 at 1:44 Quote
hoolydooly wrote:
mcdoogus wrote:
sniperbob02 wrote:
if the people that pays for the membership gets priority on the buysell it wont be the same. dont know but like I like pinkbike and the way that everybody are at the same level and all compare to other forums and shit.
Gandhi.

yeah, i agree. you dont have to sign up or anything. cant riders just chat with out having to pay for levels of goodness?

+1 when i saw the 'upgrade to premium' button, i thought, 'oh dear, now PB has levels of goodness like all the other sites....'

Blank Stare i would buy it for the card if i was a candian, but there are no benefits for a brit Frown
flag duncz
Posted: May 27, 2010 at 2:30 Quote
uttanutta12 wrote:
hoolydooly wrote:
mcdoogus wrote:
Gandhi.

yeah, i agree. you dont have to sign up or anything. cant riders just chat with out having to pay for levels of goodness?

+1 when i saw the 'upgrade to premium' button, i thought, 'oh dear, now PB has levels of goodness like all the other sites....'

Blank Stare i would buy it for the card if i was a candian, but there are no benefits for a brit Frown
Same, id maybe buy it if there was benefits for people in england. But at the moment i dont see much point in paying for premium.

 


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