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

[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