Ad-Free

[twyrch]

Tired of the Pop-Ups? Tired of the Ads filling up the board?

Check out ProBoards Ad-Free Service. For $7.00 a month, we can use this board without the annoyance of pop-ups.

I just thought I'd throw this out to everyone.

[Shazammm]

$7/month?.....who's going to pay for that?

[tinidril]

It would only take 4-7 members each month to donate a dollar or two. What if you set up a PayPal account for donations?

I like the way EZboard has theirs set up so that a community can contribute to a "pot" to pay for ad-free hosting. Does ProBoards have anything like that?

[Tegid]

Are you saying that is not an individual, per-person fee thing? That one fee clears the whole forum for everyone using it? Is there any kind of contractual commitment to them for, say, a year, or is it month by month?

[Dred]

I'm pretty sure it's month by month. $7 will cover the entire forum for a month. A very minimal cost.

[DanTheMan]

I would contribute. It would be nice if we could do an automated thing.

[twyrch]

dantheman said:

I would contribute. It would be nice if we could do an automated thing.

I will check into this and see if people can give to a "community pot" type of deal and if there is any way to order for a year at a time... or a month to month deal. A yearly thing would be nice because it would b automatic for a whole year.

I was discussing this with Dawn and we would be willing to put up $7 for a month, if we could get enough interest to keep us going for a whole year. In that way, it would only cost each person who contributed $7 a year... which isn't too bad really.

We have Dawn and I, and Dan the Man.... Anyone else?

I'll update here when I find out the answers to your questions.

[dinadan]

I can probably chip in $7 for the benefit of the forum.

[dreamer]

Just let us know where to put the moolah!

[twyrch]

1) Is it possible to purchase an entire year at once?
You will need to contact Patrick Clinger (send him a PM) regarding this.

2) Is it possible to set up a "fund" where people can add money via Credit Card or PayPal and then purchase Ad-Free service from there?
[/i] You can. One way, which most people do, is set up a paypal account, and place a link on your forum where people can donate as little or as much as they wish, and then you can use that when you want to purchase ad-free. [/i]

3) Can the process be automated at all? Say... if there is money in the account, $7 comes out every month to pay for the Ad-Free Service?
No, that isn't possible. However, if someone purchases adfree on your forum, credits will be supplied to your account, and you can choose which months to activate credits in.

Now... I've looked into Paypal and to receive funds, it's going to charge us for that too.... I could have people send me money and then pay it from that, but that is a hassle for everyone wanting to make a payment....

So I was wondering what everyone thought about this idea...

What if we had a signup page and someone signed up for a month and was responsible for purchasing ad-free for that month. If that person fails to pay for the month, then we just deal with pop-ups for a month. What do you guys think of this idea? Or does someone have any other suggestions?

[tinidril]

twyrch said:

2) Is it possible to set up a "fund" where people can add money via Credit Card or PayPal and then purchase Ad-Free service from there?
You can. One way, which most people do, is set up a paypal account, and place a link on your forum where people can donate as little or as much as they wish, and then you can use that when you want to purchase ad-free.

Now... I've looked into Paypal and to receive funds, it's going to charge us for that too.... I could have people send me money and then pay it from that, but that is a hassle for everyone wanting to make a payment....

So I was wondering what everyone thought about this idea...

What if we had a signup page and someone signed up for a month and was responsible for purchasing ad-free for that month. If that person fails to pay for the month, then we just deal with pop-ups for a month. What do you guys think of this idea? Or does someone have any other suggestions?

Paypal does charge a fee, but it's a small percentage, you'd pay more in most states for sales tax. Plus, people could contribute when they remember (and when they have funds) rather than having to remember a deadline... I know I would have difficulty remembering to purchase my month on time... I have difficulty remembering to pay utility bills on time...

If ProBoard doesn't have a system set up for communities to contribute to a board, how would individual members pay for a month? Wouldn't it have to be the board "owner" who buys ad-free service?

[twyrch]

tinidril said:

Paypal does charge a fee, but it's a small percentage, you'd pay more in most states for sales tax. Plus, people could contribute when they remember (and when they have funds) rather than having to remember a deadline... I know I would have difficulty remembering to purchase my month on time... I have difficulty remembering to pay utility bills on time...

If ProBoard doesn't have a system set up for communities to contribute to a board, how would individual members pay for a month? Wouldn't it have to be the board "owner" who buys ad-free service?

ProBoard's system is just as I described... PayPal is optional... not manditory. And yes, the Site Admin would have to pay for a PayPal account. I am not the site Admin... SteveD is. This is his forum and like you, I am just another member of this forum.

The fee is nominal yes... but it is an additional fee I would rather not incur, unless everyone would want to chip in extra for the fees as well. To accept Credit Card payments, we would have to be set up as a business and the fees are higher than that of a personal account.

Like I said, the least hassle would be a monthly deal on a per member basis. I'm not sure what route to take with this.

[Tegid]

I'm not sure, so someone please tell me whether this is so: PayPal charges less (or nothing?) if the money is coming from the sender's bank account than if it's a credit card payment. If this is so, I've supposed it was because PayPal itself, like any merchant, has to pay the credit card company a cut of the transaction. It may be that if people add a little extra to their bank account and then send that, instead of charging it, the fees won't be (that much of) an issue. (I could be totally wrong on any or all of this.)

[dgan]

<---- Skeptic. I know Ad-Free would be nice, but it sounds like more work to get rid of the ads than to deal with them. They actually don't bother me at all, but perhaps my firewall at work keeps ads to a minimum for me.

Also, I'd like to use this opportunity to point out that PayPal (not thru any fault of their own) users are by far the #1 victims to phishing scams. If ya'll choose to do that, make sure everyone knows PayPal's procedures regarding email and information security.

I'm a team player, though, so whatever the consensus is - I'll do my part.

[chrystalized]

Is there anyway I can help without giving credit or debit numbers out? I'm of the paraniod variety in those cases.
I'd love to help even though I never have seen a pop-up on this site, I've got a good pop-up blocker apparently.