Hi All!
Before I get to the change, I'd like to explain "why" the change first. In 2011, when we started we grew incrementally. Unlike many forums across all subjects, I never wanted to start the forum in order to make money. So I didn't. Within the first few weeks of our existence, I had a number of dealers reach out to me behind the scenes and ask if they might be willing to help sponsor the forum financially. I would always profusely thank them but in the end decided that I wanted to keep finances out of the picture.
As our forum has grown so have the requirements in order to keep it up and running. I have been operating in the red since the beginning in 2011. We have now reached a point, where I believe it would be beneficial for the forum to generate funds in order to pay for itself.
SO with that being said, effective immediately, in order to post an actual guitar for sale in the Marketplace we are asking for a $15 dollar donation to the forum. Please keep in mind that this is ONLY for an actual guitar. ALL other items can still be posted for FREE as long as the 30 post minimum has been met.
The 30 post minimum will no longer be required in order to post a guitar for sale, just the $15 donation. $15 dollars percentage wise is so very minimal. $15 dollars out of 1000 is 1.5%, $15 dollars out of 2000 is just a mere 0.75% etc. All previous guitar for sale ads currently in place now are good to go and this new rule only applies to guitar only ads from now on. (3/2/2019)
The way this will work is that the user that wants to list 1 guitar for sale will select the "Donate" PayPal button on the upper right hand of the homepage.
They will then input the 15 dollar amount and in the "Add special instructions to the seller" field the user will simply put: 1. their UTGF username & 2. Guitar Model they are selling and finish the transaction.
Once the donation has been completed, then the user can then go directly to the Marketplace and list their guitar. I will check the donations and make sure that they line up with what has been listed, and I'll edit the title of the Ad at the very end with "Approved." The ad can stay up until it sells. The ad only expires when the seller has sold the guitar or if the seller decides that they no longer want to sell the guitar.
Again this is $15 dollars per 1 guitar for sale, per ad. Guitar ads that have been posted by users that haven't donated, will be deleted.
So to recap:
1. $15 dollar donation in order to post 1 guitar for sale ad.
2. Non guitar ads still require a 30 post minimum. NO fee.
Please know again this is not a money grab. If I was interested in going that route, things would have been different from the start. I appreciate all of you and I believe that this will be a great way to help keep this forum running and growing!
Thank you all!
Your friend,
jjrpilot
