Tony-<br>I can understand your sentiments here but, for me, the over riding factor is the continued existence of Astromart. If the effort to reward ratio is too low I expect Herb to pull the plug. I'd rather less value than <i>no value</i>.<br><br>It's his company and I have no solution to offer him for this feature; perhaps you have a solution for him though.<br>-Guy

Tony--I couldn't agree more. First, I think I should say that I'm grateful to have A-Mart available to me. It's a wonderful asset; however eliminating the email alerts is a giant step backwards. If I have to log in and search every day for what I need, I will be using it far less. I go online right now a few times a week, but only because I get email alerts. Without the alerts, I may not browse at all. Nothing is more disappointing than to go browsing on A-Mart only to find that exactly what you were looking for was sold to someone else the day before. As far as making it more fair to everyone, isn't the email alert feature available to everyone right now? <blockquote class="blockquote"><div class="italic"><i>Tony Karian said:</i><br><br>Ok, I may be the sole dissenting voice here, but be that as it may. To me it seems the lack of email notices will probably seriously reduce the number and value of items being sold, whether from individuals or from businesses. I'm not retired, I have children at home, and I can't afford to be online constantly, therefore I rely on the emails to let me know if something of interest is listed for sale. Without the emails I will be less likely to purchase from an AM'er, and I can't imagine that I'm the only one in this situation. So if others are similarly situated, then there will be less overall demand for items, and prices may fall. It's the old law of supply and demand.<br><br>Paul/Herb et al: Let me take your reasons one at a time.<br>1) Banned people will still have access the only way they do now, through their friends.<br>2) Everyone has the option to get emails now, so rather than making it more 'democratic', only those who can afford the time to be online constantly will have a shot at making purchases.<br>3) As far as I'm concerned Sponsors & Supporters will get less visibility, as instead of having ads 'pushed' to potential buyers they'll have to wait for buyers to come looking for them.<br>4) I see less hits in other areas of AM: Think of the classifieds as "loss leaders" to use a marketing term, meaning this area draws people in and then they go on to see what else is available.<br>5) To me, Herb's work load is the real issue, though honestly I don't understand why. I haven't a clue how this site's operated, but it <u>shouldn't</u> be manually operated; the emailing of ads should happen without anyone's intervention. If that's not the case then there would seem to be something else at play.<br><br>This is just one guy's take on things, but my area is business and I'm willing to bet that rather than making things better this will not be looked on as a successful move in the long run.<br><br>Paul/Herb: My apologies for disagreeing with your take, I just have to give an opposing point of view.<br><br>Regards, <br><br>Tony<br><br></div></blockquote>

I agree in principle with Tony's input and would like to take it one step further:<br><br>Astromart provides a service unique to the amateur astronomy community in that it is the most trusted and secure. In an effort to keep it that way, I suggest a step forward as opposed to a step back.<br><br>If Herb's work load is the bottom line here, and if the IT framework is insufficient, then it's time to step up to the plate and supply what the demand is apparently creating: an IT step forward. If this requires more sophistication then supply it, and charge a bit more for the service if you have to...Astromart's devotees will still be here.

I Agree with Tony in that the loss of E-Mail notification will reduce my use (and several of my Astro Buddies) of AM/Anacotes. Fewer eyes will see the ads which will in turn reduce the value of AM.<br><br>I understand that Herb feels that this change will reduce his workload so as a suggestion I was wondering if the AM Classifieds could have a RSS feed. Changes (new adds) to the site would be downloaded to your RSS reader thus reducing the E-Mail work load. The RSS feed should be made automatic w/o a daily workload for Herb.<br><br>Thanks for all the hard work and for the support of the Astro community, Bob

<blockquote class="blockquote"><div class="italic"><i>Joe Lalumia said:</i><br><br>When I am in the market to buy something I logon several times per day and look for it-------- no problem for me----- in fact I never knew there was an EMAIL function !!! Ha.</div></blockquote><br>SAME HERE!<br><br>Seriously, this is a very sensible business decision, and for the life of me I have no idea why anyone with common sense would object. That's probably not a very politically correct answer, but Astromart is a GREAT resource, and has helped me immensely, not only in Classifieds, but in writing and ready reviews, reading some great news items, and a great forums section that is sensibly run.<br><br>If folks don't like it, I say don't let he door hit you in the posterior on the way out.<br><br>HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!<br><br>Timm