Paying for FetchEveryone.com

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Sep 2015
5:20pm, 7 Sep 2015
24,983 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
A new era?

http://www.fetcheveryone.com/blog-view.php?id=3

I hope Fetch doesn't mind, but would be interested to see what opinions might be from all Fetchies: those who know a bit about web commercial models, those of us who are just consumers etc.

My feedback was I'm happy to pay £10 (turning the ads off is irrelevant for me - they don't really bother me and if they did I could block them with a free ad blocker). So basically I'd be donating £10 cos I think Fetch is a good egg. But wouldn't pay much more.

I'm sort of thinking everything is free on the internet. I pay for very little. I mostly use free services, free apps. Lots of other logging sites - strava map my run, run keeper etc. are free, aren't they?

To be clear, this is not me challenging Fetch the fella in any way, just asking how this commerce model might best work. I'd hate to leave, but equally, my spare tenners tend to go into charity fund raising tins, not to be big magazine companies...!

What do we think? (oh and tell me I've missed a thread that's already been going for half an hour on this very topic...?! ) :-) G
Sep 2015
5:27pm, 7 Sep 2015
5,346 posts
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Jambomo
I think it's absolutely wonderful. I'd pay much more than that to get rid of the adverts as I utterly detest them, they ruin the whole usability of the site for me.

I am a member of forums elsewhere that have a similar charging structure and it's fine, if you want to pay you can but, crucially, if you don't want to or can't afford to then it is not reducing the service for you. It's not as though Fetch will be hidden behind a paywall - it'll carry on as before.
Sep 2015
5:30pm, 7 Sep 2015
24,984 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Hmmm, so have you paid Mo?! :-O If you pay £5 to a charity of my choice I'll show you how to install an ad blocker! ;-)

Joking aside, it's interesting that you see a fee model, even if voluntary, as normal. Maybe I'm just old fashioned (or just old!) because I tend to think everything on t'interwebs is free. What else do you pay for? Do you mean newspapers like The Times and stuff?
Sep 2015
5:33pm, 7 Sep 2015
2,011 posts
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Alice the Camel
My initial reaction was "that's a shame..." but when I think about how much money I waste on things like Starbucks coffee, a tenner a year is very little for something that brings a lot of pleasure. I don't belong to a running club but think of Fetch as a running-related hobby. All of my other hobbies involve some sort of annual subscription, so why not Fetch?
I'll be interested to see how it improves in light of all this extra dosh though! I'm not sure what it will be spent on, my other hobbies (band/choir/gardening club) hold annual general meetings where accounts are disclosed...
Sep 2015
5:41pm, 7 Sep 2015
24,985 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
And Fetch has answered my main question already. It's to make it "gooderer". Which is as good a reason as one could ask for!

My original question/comment: "Hmmm. I didn't see that coming. Will be interested to see how much response you get to voluntary. How many "active" fetchies are there? 5,000? Even if you got £10 or £25 out of half or 1/4 of them you're talking 30 - 60K. Is that really "useful" money to a big company like NutMeg-Roedeer? Anyhoo, I suppose I would pay £10. Or £15. Don't think I'd pay £50. I've got 2 shirts and a buff already. And a tattoo. Not a criticism in any way of your work, the site, the community etc. All brill. But I think someone in Big Office needs to have another wee look at their goals? Good luck. :-) G"

Fetch's reply: "HG - the response so far has been really quite amazing. And as per the message, the goal really is to get the website to a position where it can look after itself, so I can concentrate on making it gooderer. It's totally down to you whether it's something you want to do (hence voluntary)..."

As I said though, I would have thought ads, even annoying "click here to take a survey" type stuff and a genuinely free model, would have been sustainable?
Sep 2015
5:49pm, 7 Sep 2015
5,347 posts
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Jambomo
Not yet, going to wait till payday and get the t-shirt. The problem is that the Internet isn't free, it costs money to host the site, archiving the information, storing digital info, I think there are a lot of costs involved. At the moment advertising is paying for it (I guess) but as dab lockers and such reduce that so then who pays?

It would be different if not paying meant getting a reduced service but in this case it won't make a difference to those who don't want to pay.

I pay for another forum in the same way, £10 a year and no adverts. It's bliss, site runs faster, no annoying pop ups and I don't mind contributing to the running of a site that I enjoy, why would I?
Sep 2015
5:52pm, 7 Sep 2015
7,057 posts
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Sharkie
My heart ruled my head and, even though I'm downsizing at the moment, I went for the middle option. I certainly couldn't do the 'big' amount. But now you've made me think about the charity thing... Hmm. No, that's not relevant, I can cut down some where else - Fetch has given and continues to give me a lot of pleasure - as Alice says 'all my other hobbies involve some sort of annual subscription, so why not Fetch?'

No ads now. Straight away! BRILLIANT. I could see they were necessary but it sure is nice no to have them.
Sep 2015
5:57pm, 7 Sep 2015
33,538 posts
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Foxy
No adds !!! FFS I'll never get my penis enlarged now :( will have to make do with this wee 12 incher - sorry ladies all Fetch's fault ;)
Sep 2015
6:07pm, 7 Sep 2015
86 posts
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PCleasby
I'm happy to contribute. I ignore the adds anyway but I really, really like my training log and I'm prepared to contribute to keep it the way that it is. What I do not want though is a pin badge or a car sticker which come into the junk category for me. T-shirt I can cope with, even a running cap but not a pin badge or a car sticker, they are for people who like ornaments. Sorry to any and all who like such things.
Sep 2015
6:13pm, 7 Sep 2015
11,403 posts
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mulbs
Have signed up, like PCleasby though I wouldn't use the car sticker or pin badge, T-shirt will be welcomed to my running drawer and used regularly, a running cap would also be good. I've used the site for a good few years and as a self-employed WFH person it's the social part of my day as well as my go-to running resource. I'd used an ad-blocker so haven't noticed the difference since contributing, but I'm happy to accept Mr F's reasoning as to why he's asking for a voluntary registration/contribution he does after all appear to be a chap that thinks things through :-)

About This Thread

Maintained by HappyG(rrr)
Here's the link to the subscription page, if you want to read the letter and find the options:

http://www.fetcheveryone.com/standing.php

If you want to pay directly, send me some feedback, and I can give you some bank details to do a direct transfer. (Errr, to be clear, the "me" in this sentence is Ian, Mr FetchEveryone, not me HappyG, who is just a muppet muppet :-) G )

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