I ......

I ......

If $12 a year per user is all it will take to keep Astromart running then I'm in. Trouble is, how much will it cost for the remaining "in's" after the discenters leave?

Feel free to do a bulk email whatever you decide Herb (et al). Even with my sporatic use A-mart is worthwhile.

-Guy

$12/Year?! If that's all, i'm in.

Not quite as good as free, but heck, it'd be almost free!

Could you keep the price that low, even after the soreheads exit??

Granted $12.00 a yr. won't or should'nt break anybody but i personally feel a small charge to place ad's would be better.I like mike come here mainly to read the classified's and then i search the sponcers site's.As for the forum's i seldom read them.......

I agree it does seem like a good value. I voted to spend my money and will if it happens.

What will be interesting to see though is how the potential competition responds to the "willingness" of our group to spend the money to subscribe. Perhaps the big boys such as MSN, Earthlink, Yahoo, Google or heaven forbid eBay will take a look at restructuring some of the things they offer and how they charge for them. You might even see two or more of them team up to compete. They have deeper pockets and could see the business model Astromart is based upon as applicable to other interests and hobbies. I don't know how many members Astromart has but I would guess 250,000 on the low end. At $12 per subscriber that generates $3,000,000 annually. Someone else is going to want a piece of the pie. Hang on tight were in for a ride.

Kent Kramer

A membership fee and a fee per ad (say, $2) would be reasonable. In return, the sellers should be vetted.

Robert Howe

Kent
250,000?
Not even 100,000
We are not on their radar. Astronomy is a pretty small group.
Herb

the problem is that people are very used to NOT paying for material and services online.

yahoo, msn, etc has many astro-forums with large memberships, ebay sells everything known to humankind and then some. astro-news is available everywhere and the number of amatuer websites with great photos and helpful info is beyond count.

if astromart wants to 'own' the online astro-community then they need to develop a business plan and make the investment to accomplish that without the community having to pay the bill.

if astromart is happy to be one of many similar services then they need to re-evaluate the services that are provided and perhaps specialise rather than spreading themselves to thinly.

certainly the classifieds are a clear advantage. but forums, news, etc are, perhaps, not paying for themselves.

i agree with a previous post - apologies to the author for forgetting their name - who suggested eliminating news and forums and required payment for ad placement, leaving the site free for general use.

i would even be happy with astromart making a percentage on each transaction.

ian

I'm principally interested in the classifieds and $12/year is well worth it. As long as the fee stays low, I think most users would be willing to pay it.

I think it is such a great idea that I have been willing to be a Supporter at 10x this rate (yes $120/year if you keep current).

If every person that logs on at least 1/week pitched in the rate would be very very reasonable. Forums, articles, Ads, Auctions, recent News and a Calendar. One bit of good advice or one purchase and you get the $12 back and then some!

Ed