I want to charge a $10 fee per new thread in my classified section

[Make Money?]

Hi

Yep my sites clasifieds section is ROMPING along! :squareeyed:

Lots of commerce, :nervous:

Me and the webites co-owner not getting a SINGLE penny of it. :tired:

I dont want to get too deep into auction software (I would if I could co-opt out the auction admin work to a 3rd party that would handle security & dispute issues.. I dont want to carry THAT hot potato.. any suggestions?)

But I DO feel a charge of $10 per "thread start" in the classifieds would be totally fair...(course every one that enjoyed the free ride will go bananas for a while.. but they will settle down... the core activity is not the classifieds - so this wont kill the site off.. IMHO)

Folks are FREQUENTLY selling items worth over $2,000, I gotta be able to collect a FEW ten Dollars.....???

How can I do this please?

I am using VB3.0.7

Charge for thread creation in one designated forum? (all susequent posts on the thread are free / no charge)

PayPal = fine

(BTW If no provision exists for it at this time, could you point me in the direction of someone that could write a hack for a fee? What should that cost?)

Leftfield ideas welcome...

TIA

[Marco van Herwaarden]

I don't think such a hack already exist. You could post in the Service Request forum a request for a paid job if you want.

[Make Money?]

Thanks for the tip.

Still keen on left-field / alternate ideas...

Thanks

Well I posted up a request for a custom hack... what do you suppose that could cost me?

Thanks

Jules

[FastCougar]

I have already suggested such a feature. I too host a site with a rather large amount of classified transactions that take place. I think the only other solution would be to create a subscription to list in the classifieds section and the subscription could run however long you feel is appropriate. I personally plan on charging $25/year for a subscription to the classifieds section OR making it part of my subscription service levels.

[Make Money?]

Thanks for your interest.

Since the starting post we figured a few things out..

1) Charging might annoy people too much to be worthwhile and create a negative backlash.

2) If we did it, it would be nice to allow everybody say, 5 free ads THEN have to pay... (that would be as hack I believe)

In truth our advertising business (non generic banner ads, custom ones made specifically for the discussion / genre of the forum) had slowed a little.. It is picking up again. So the rush to charge was probably a desperate move (often unwise)

I ran a poll, and charging was deemed VERY unpopular!

(what a surprise! :tired: )

What nags me, is the feeling that someone will one day say, 'hey - I paid to advertise in your classifieds and someone ripped me off - what are you going to do about it??

I dunno.....

I wish Ebay would create "auction franchises" - so folks like us can benefit from our traffic's commerce but not have all the hassle..

Since the poll I have deleted SEVERAL threads where folks were discussing 'potential trading websites' and asking folks what they thought, polling them .. (basically trying to figure out how to make money themselves off the trade on my site)
:tired: :tired:

My web tech / partner says - don't kill off the Golden Goose, I tend to agree... the classifieds is a perk that keeps our visitors happy.

So I waver...... one day on the fence the other 'we should charge them' then another 'keep it free'

Any insights out there?

Thanks in advance...

Jules

[pcoskat]

Sitepoint has a feature like this. In order to post in one specific forum, you first have to pay $9.95. It's nifty.

[AL-min]

I would also be interested in this hack for the same reasons, if you find a freelancer willing to do this I will share the cost with you!

The only difference is that my users welcome the idea for paying for their classifieds :surprised:

[Chris M]

One way to do it would be to have a points system; These points can only be acrued from purchasing them via a Paypal script ;)

The user buys 10 points for $10 from you via Paypal, and you then make creating new threads in a certain forum 2 points per thread - That way no direct money is associated with new threads in certain forums but to get points you have to pay physical money over PayPal or other methods :)

Chris

[ericgtr]

Sitepoint has a feature like this. In order to post in one specific forum, you first have to pay $9.95. It's nifty.

I have been looking for this exact same thing for a classifieds area on my site to work with paypal. If anyone is interested in creating it I would be willing to pay.

[ericgtr]

Surely you just use paid subscriptions, when people subscribe they get into a usergroup that is allowed to post/start new threads in your classifieds forums? That's what I've had (but I added other advantages too like discounts with supporting companies) on my forums for a long time.

It's completely different, we are talking about paying per post and not having access to post any more than that. With the current subscription setup that is not possible without making modifications.

[Make Money?]

Yes and once paid it would be good if they didn't have endless chances at 'bumping' thier ad.

[Make Money?]

Zero admin time & maximum money!

[ffevo]

I dont see why this hack doesnt exist seeing as how there have been so many requests

[Make Money?]

There HAS been an interesting development

My webmaster partner in this business has discovered that PayPal now has REVISED their 'micro payment' option..

So a dollar a post could work.. even 50c

This might seem more reasonable to my forums members as - TEN BUCKS??!!!!! :confused: was greeted as a total SCANDAL amongst them...:tired:

Read about micro payments here and let me know what you think..

PayPal Introduces New Micropayments Pricing to Increase the Convenience of Purchasing Digital Goods

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 31, 2005 - PayPal, the global online payment service, today announced new micropayments processing fees for digital goods. The new pricing will provide merchants with a more affordable way to process payments for low-cost digital content such as video games, online greeting cards, news articles, mobile phone content and digital music. PayPal's micropayments pricing is designed to give customers the convenience of a-la-carte purchases, such as 99-cent downloadable ringtones, without having to sign up for annual subscriptions or pre-funded payment accounts.

An extension of PayPal's existing payment service for digital music providers, PayPal's new micropayments pricing is designed especially for payments less than $2. The new fees will enable merchants to process payments at a rate of 5 percent plus 5 cents per transaction. Because of the reduced fixed fee, merchants can save 40 to 60 percent when processing low-cost payments, compared to the industry's current payment processing rates of approximately 2 percent plus 20 to 30 cents per transaction.

"The consumer response to a-la-carte pricing for music downloads has clearly shown that customers want to be able to pay as they go," said Peter Ashley, director of PayPal's micropayments business. "With our new pricing tier for digital goods, merchants can affordably provide customers with what they are demanding - the opportunity to purchase the content they want without the need to sign up for subscriptions or pre-payments."

PayPal's new fees enhance the convenience of downloadable digital content. Customers can buy as many or as few items as they choose using any funding method - including credit cards, bank accounts and stored PayPal balances.

PayPal's new micropayments pricing will complement PayPal's standard, volume-based transaction fees, which range from 1.9 to 2.9 percent, plus 30 cents per transaction. Digital content merchants can choose to process transactions at their current PayPal rate or the new micropayments rate, based on whichever is more favorable to their businesses.

Merchants can learn more about PayPal's new micropayments pricing by contacting micropayments@paypal.com.