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

Instead of trying to "monetize" the forum directly, what A'gon should realize is that people coming to the forum will likely jump over to sales too.  Indeed, reading forum threads probably inspires people to make purchases there that they wouldn't otherwise have made.  Seems greedy and unnecessary and potentially counterproductive to me.

THE forums are populated by only a few hundred active people. I would say, aside from dealers, if all of us vanished, Audiogon would not even blink. I do not think our collective buying and selling (again, aside from a few dealers) is keeping this boat afloat. ON THE OTHER HAND... For every post, there are perhaps a hundred views, of folks reading but not participating. So that alone may be a good reason to not kill the ’free’ forums. Folks get used to reading, then when they want to buy something used, (or new) they come here to browse the actual adverts. As a question: Can ANYONE (ie non member) read the secret posts? or only ’member’? If members only, I DO think Agon’ is shooting themselves in the foot. Particularly if the public forums die off.

I would say it is a result of the change of ownership where the new owners only see Audiogon as a pure business venture and all business have to make money.

It is not the enthusiast owned Audiogon of old I am afraid. 

I think beating that* dead horse is a mistake.* Audiogon ancient change in ownership.
I bet they love it too. And I think no one would bother just to 'make money'. Way easier ways to make money than own this boat.           

Everyone entitled to their own opinion of course.....

Just my musings