Since I post a lot, mostly in the Politics section, I didn't mind paying 25 dollars a year as a courtesy, but I don't see any benefit to paying $50.00 for Cafe membership.

Maybe there should be different levels of voluntary membership, for example: a "green" membership for 10 bucks a year, "red" for $25, "gold" for $35, "Cafe" platinum for $50, "Cafe" sustaining would be $75, etc. Maybe this has already been tried here - but I don't know. My postings on the Cafe-only threads account for a very small percentage of my input, and are not worth 50 bucks a year - while many other people are using this site much more without Cafe membership and pay nothing. There are people getting free grow advice, that are making, or saving, money on their plants - which is fine, but I'm not one of them.

No, I will not renew my membership for $50.00 a year, unless EVERYBODY has to pay an annual fee to post - or there should be options, some examples of which I listed above. It seems like the vast majority pay nothing, and the Cafe members are pulling their weight, and that of others. I'm sure that other Cafe people will feel the same way and drop their support.

I don't know anything about the in's and out's of website economics, but I know the buck stops when prices are doubled for a "luxury" item like this.




Just my :twocents: