Thread will remain closed, but I just wanted to say a few things.

Changes to the Classifieds section have been needed for YEARS, I've just never had the desire to take it on because of all the bitchers and moaners. Every time I tried and wrote people who were clearly vendors, they'd write back with some sob story about how their Mother is living with them and they need the money to pay the rent on their mobile home - no joke. I'd offer the standard advertising options, they'd say they couldn't afford them, I'd offer some discounts, and they'd still say they couldn't afford it.

Of course, most of 'those' people are the ones in this thread.

It's pretty simply, advertising here has always been much less than other automotive forums of similar size and traffic. I've always known the rotary community isn't about the companies like K&N or Bridgestone, it's about the 2 and 3 man shops who live, breath, and eat rotary. The decision for them to advertise isn't always easy, even our low rates are a lot for some shops. But the proof that it works is clear, the vast majority of advertisers we get stay on for a long time.

To those who have been trying to skirt the rules by running your business out of the Classifieds section, you deserve to get shut down. It's not only an insult to myself and the other site Admins, but it's an insult to the other hard working vendors in the rotary community who play by the rules here and pay to play.

It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to tell the difference between a vendor and some guy who's just parting out a couple cars. The regular guys who just happen to sell a lot of parts have nothing to worry about. But now that the site has some more man-power to run things, the people trying to bend rules in their favor are going to get caught - and get no sympathy from me.

 

After reading some more of the thread, a couple more comments:

- I'm working with IB on advertising. They bought this site and a whole lot of other sites at the same time, perhaps they took on too much at once, but they haven't got a hold on it all quite yet. They will, but in the meantime they asked me for some help and I was glad too. Every site they acquired has it's own character, that's both the cool part and the headache. I don't think I ever once signed up an advertiser from one email, they all take an effort to understand their needs and their budget. A lot of people need a dirt cheap rate up front so that they can get some revenue coming in, I understand all that and am working with them to make sure the little guy isn't forgotten in the future.

- I don't see us ever charging a membership to the classifieds as they are now. IB is however working on a new classifieds system that 'should' make things much easier to use, and be more powerful for sellers. I think that's just for cars though, and not parts. It is essentially up to them, they'll I'll encourage that they always give sellers a free option here. The Classifieds have always been one of our busiest sections, one of the first new users visit, and something really helps bind the whole community together. I'd like to see private sellers continue to have the ability to easily sell their parts for free, and I think that will be the case.

- As far as costs of running the site, it's really nobody's business - when I stopped asking for donations and charging for advertising, that's when I stopped telling people what it costs. If we ever offer rx7club.com stock, you can look at our financials, but until then it's an internal business matter. But as always when the issue comes up, the people who speculate obviously have no clue. I had a full half rack of servers and a 6 mb/sec connection that was pretty much tapped 24/7. That ain't cheap, and it sure doesn't run itself. People who've been there know exactly what I'm talking about, those who haven't make silly guesses passed off as some insight. It's a non-issue now.