Insider or Outsider? To be or not to be,...?

Actually, in a way it might attract exactly the members here who tend to bore us to death, special pass for you to stay gk.  Maybe we can chip in towards the $100 for those who we want to vote onto the new island.

That is an interesting concept: "Minimum audio system requirements". I wonder what the level would have to be, or if longevity of interest in audio could substitute?           
Would it be a dollar amount?    Brand name?     
Maybe need a current member to 'vouch' for a new member, like plenty of private organizations.

elizabeth
Now you’ve got it, many different scenarios for clubs so everyone felt like they could fit in somewhere and some could even have multiple memberships. Of course, the main objective is to have everyone paying a monthly/yearly fee to participate.

Maybe have a system to bill people for mentioning a product name. Say a quarter. Think of it. every time a person wants to mention some gizmo they bought they would have to pay some small fee. The little fees add up.I must have mentioned Furutech a hundred times in the last month. Oops another quarter.
On the other hand, the number of ’mysterious’ no name new toys would skyrocket.
Or, every post is a quarter. Jeesh Geoff would owe them a bundle!Or a two way street. If you start a thread, and a lot of folks contribute, YOU make money (or at least get a credit on your bill, no cash paid out) Where all the contributors just paid in. If you start a thread, and fail to garner at least 20 posts, you PAY.
Hey I am not evil, just inventive on ways to 'acquire' your money!

12 month insider subscription and change, or a blue fuse?

Some interesting ideas there Elizabeth.
Are you on Audiogon payroll?

😉😉

Geoffkit

Were you intentionally quoting the Beatles song Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except For Me and My Monkey”

geoffkait is hiding a lot.

"Some interesting ideas there Elizabeth.
Are you on Audiogon payroll?"

If not, I think there's a good chance she will be there real soon.

I’m with Woody Allen on this: "I'd never join a club that would allow a person like me to become a member."

To attain critical mass, it needs to provide a tax haven....

mahler123
Geoffkit

Were you intentionally quoting the Beatles song Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except For Me and My Monkey?

glupson

geoffkait is hiding a lot.

>>>>One thing I’m not hiding is glubson is my monkey.

I’m with Woody Allen on this: "I'd never join a club that would allow a person like me to become a member."

Best post so far, nearly spilt my coffee. I took it to heart.
Thank you

stevecham

I’m with Woody Allen on this: "I'd never join a club that would allow a person like me to become a member."

That's Groucho Marx.

Woody Allen is more like the Zelig type.

The Queen of England could have said it for all I care.
It made me laugh and that's a good thing on a Friday morning before 2 cups of coffee even.

"Working closely with some of our most dedicated audio enthusiasts, we’ve launched a premium membership tier"

So, maybe I missed it. Anyone want to step forward and identify themselves?

The model that I've seen that has worked well this way is for specialty auto forums where there is a fee for seeing and advertising paid member to paid member classified ads along with other minor perks. Rennlist, as an  example. That forum however makes it's revenue from member subscriptions almost exclusively. No fees collected from sales transactions. About the same price. People there who are "unbadged" are generally seen as lurkers and not actual owners of these particular vehicles. There are some potential parallels here. Will this become the "true high end Forum" however that term may be defined?

What Audiogon is referring to there is that some time ago they sent out emails to members ( no idea what they based that selection process on though) to see if interested in providing feedback to Audiogon on future ideas, plans etc.
Nothing nefarious at all.....

And nobody got paid for it...lol 

I can see the analogy with high end car forums to high end audio forums for sure but we will have to see how this goes.

Still do not see anybody having joined or admitting to joining yet.

Maybe might have to stump up $10 just to see.

Folks get harassed on Audio Asylum from time to time for not being 'paid members'. But there is no actual penalty to not being a member.Other than getting kicked off if one is 'annoying' the powers that be. Apparently they put up with 'annoyances' from dues paying folks way way better than from freeloaders..  

Elizabeth.
I better not go then as already been accused of being "in bed with Audiogon" and getting preferential treatment due to being a "high post count member".
Just think what they would make of that if was a true "insider".
😝😝

😎

I’ve been an audio insider like forever. No big deal. I’m not like I’m trying to hide it or anything. 😳

And here was me thinking you was just plain inside out.

Ah I see my error,I was thinking

I would not pay a buck a month for this stuff. Audiogon should be paying me. And anyone else offering any thing viewers click on. WE drive the interest. So us paying to let them make more money? Not me.
Consider every post is viewed by others posting a few times. The silent readers, read them thousands of times. If Agon has any advertising, then MY posts and YOURS are making them money already. So IMO my contribution is worth money. If they think I will PAY THEM to post? they are crazy. It reminds me of cable TV. WHY does anyone pay for cable TV? the system should beg folks to take it free, since the advertisers basically pay for all of it. The viewers are just so stupid they pay too. Lucky so far no one has figured out we too are that stupid??? (are we???) Anyway, if Audiogon went to a fee to play here, I say good bye.

I DO want to thank Audiogon for keeping the forums alive. I know they cost money in data stroage and equipment costs and even the electricity to keep running. I do not think the adverts cover the full cost.. But also I do think the forums add to the bottom line in that forum browsers and users both turn to Audiogon for buying used.So I certainly hope the 'free' forums remain.

Reminds me of the TV show, can’t remember the name, where next to the city bus stop bench, they put up a “elite bus stop bench” where for a few extra bucks you sat on essentially the same bus stop becnch, but roped off from the riff raff by the classic velvet ropes- the outcome?
many said it offered “added value”,& was worth the premium- go figure.
A friend of mine once said:” There’s a chair for every ass- ya just gotta find it.”

OK, so when you join a little yellow i inside a little yellow rectangle pops up beside your name.  Like jayh, d2girls and mahler123.  So now we know what we're missing out on...

$100 isn’t going to break me but I am tired of being nickeled and dimed to death with everything now a days. Cable TV, satellite tv, internet, hula, Netflix, AT&T, pandora, Tidal, MLB, NFL, NHL, Adobe Creative Cloud, PS4, XBox, Amazon Prime, Costco. The list never ends, I could go on and on and now Audiogon. I’ll remain an outsider until I find a real need. 

OK, so when you join a little yellow i inside a little yellow rectangle pops up beside your name. Like jayh, d2girls and mahler123. So now we know what we’re missing out on...

Seriously?
Jayh?
Did you read the previous post by them?
Kinda funny now...…

So now we know what to look for …….

Wonder how many are going to give it a try?
I may well do but just start with the $10 month and see what shakes.

Not seeing to many yellow badges( at least I think that is what it is supposed to be) as of yet.

+1 for elizabeth, exactly my thoughts on this. And yes, I watch free TV, OTA broadcast and a few other ways through streaming.

It's a sign of the times that so many businesses want some way to create a monthly/yearly fee for customers to keep paying. No doubt it makes good sense for the business, a steady revenue stream. So many people don't realize that all those monthly fees for various services add up to be a large amount at the end of the year.

cleeds:  Thank you!

As an old guy I remember the sales pitch for pay cable TV was" No Commercials" now cable has more ads than over the air. 

Oh look a spangly yellow badge!

However all I am going to say so far is that it was worth $10 to me.

Without calling them names I will not be talking to the people with yellow badges. Farewell.

Elizabeth, according to what you said you are already 'paying' Audiogon by theoretically making money for them without any compensation to you. But you are not leaving. If you want to be a person of conviction - leave now. You put yourself in a trap. Paying membership fees would change nothing in this respect. I am against differentiation and splitting of membership not against reasonable fees.

Also, yellow badges will steer clear of threads that I start. I will throw you out right away even if to do it I might have to cancel the entire thread. I hope I made it perfectly clear.

Not having a yellow badge is, for me, a badge of honor.

Like Elizabeth said only about a hundred active members here. Most won't subscribe me included. Someone puts a post on the insider. 2 hours. 12 hours. 2 days. 3 days. Then you might get a response similar to " Well I haven't personally  listened to the Acme 309 MK II but if it's anything like the Acme 206 from 01 it should be a winner"  All because there would be a few survivors on an island and would have to count on each other to survive. If audiogon wants more cash in their coffers I would rather them place ads between forum posts and increase ad fees. AKA Youtube. With the increased revenue place the moderator in a more aggressive role. Send out forum rules to all members with a check box to acknowledge. If they make me pay to play then I will just sign up to Audiokharma or Audioasylum and hang out there. 

inna" yellow badges will steer clear of threads that I start. I will throw you out right away even if to do it I might have to cancel the entire thread. I hope I made it perfectly clear."

You have made it clear that you are angry, abusive, and arrogant you have no authority over the other contributors to this group we are all free to post, contribute and respond hear as we see fit individually and any punitive, disciplinary or enforcement action is done by this groups' moderators so you would be wise to silence yourself in this regard sorry to tell you but you are like all the rest of us

Pretty clear Inna.

Do not really think too much of a loss tbh.

It also appears that those members who had subscribed to the BlueBook prior to the Insiders Forum being created have been merged into the Insiders.
So they are "joined" and have a yellow badge without joining if you understand.

I was until now, totally unaware that I “joined”- autopilot UNLESS we opt - out?
HOW do we opt- out?
I guess it’s a conspiracy to swell the numbers of the “insiders”?
(Or maybe I just got on my phone, having had one too many- My bad)

So current members who have subscribed to the BlueBook automatically become an "insider." Is there an opt-out giving the member a choice? If you signed up for BlueBook today, is there an "insider" opt-out in the process? And the big question, will there be "insider" meetings with Kool-Aid being served?

I’d pay some people not to post. 

I have looked it up, its seems a similar system to ROON where you pay someone to help you in your hobby. If I was a roll over winner of the lottery I would try it, (tip money) otherwise the benefits of the ’Insider’ don’t make any sense to me, but maybe a good way of making money with the gullible?

wcfeil
I’d pay some people not to post.

>>>>I’m still thinking about the concept. 🤔