30,000 - January 19, 2003 (11:13 EST)

Nah, missed it. It's 30001 now.

Grattis :}

Do we know what percentage of members are also paying subscribers?

Adam.

Adam, this is such a perennial question, it might be in the FAQ forum. Last I read, I think it was fewer than 700 subscribers.

As an incentive to subscribe, each new member should automatically get one month free trial. It wouldn't cost Dave a penny and would pay off big in the long run.

I can't speak for Dave but I bet "one month free" would give him a lot more headaches. What if after the first month he had 20,000 "Free-monthers" to check up on to see if they really subscribed. We'd never hear from him again! Frank.

That's what computers are for.

Sheesh! 99 percent of the site is already free. Have mercy.
(I never understand it when this topic pops up.) ô¿ô

So all these hundereds of companies who give a free trial period for whatever they are selling don't know what they are doing?

Certainly I can easily program the system to give every member a 1 month subscription. DG is running completely on auto-pilot, with Vols and Trish managing the human aspect of it.

Giving a free subscription has been discussed before, and the idea was ultimately rejected. There are just too many problems associated with it.

We have 786 subscribed accounts on DG.

Dave

One month free trial is not an incentive to subscribe; a one month add-on is.

one month free is a free pass to come on here, start trouble and get a lot of trades lined up that you aren't going to be around to finish. paying something makes it an investment.

I think the one month free trial isn't a good idea, people can start cheating and creating a new account every month.. :/

Well, that about covers all the arguments that came up last time, too. Definitely, freebie blanket subscriptions won't ever happen.

Dave

30,000 people - wow!!!! We really are a massive gardening juggernaut...hehehe.

I remember the free days....started out like a utopia and then eventually ended up something less than pleasant. Sad, but true.

Fortunately, all 30,000 members have free use of journals, seed trading system, the plants database, the watchdog, oh and then there's the scif stores available for anyone....seems to me there is more than adequate entertainment available for free for those who can't or choose not to subscribe. I think most individuals are capable of deciding without lenthy free trials whether or not this community is "worth it" to them.

Thanks again Dave and Trish for sticking with us all through thick and thin :)

Whew, thanks folks. (I was beginning to think I had encouraged a negative thread.) I guess I should've elaborated like ya'll did. RiseAnn, you not only spelled it out perfectly but you also used dave's favorite word, "juggernaut"!

Happy Day, everyone!

It has always seemed to me that people value things more if they have to pay for them. As Evert said, people are prone to cheat, and since the internet is open to the entire world, it's to be expected that numerous people will exploit when and where they can. If tens of thousands of people start using DG freely, with no feeling of being truly involved, the quality is bound to suffer. The cost of subscribing is really low, but would likely have to be increased if vast numbers of members suddenly joined. I remember the free days, too, but always knew it couldn't last after the site became known. The improvements made after subscriptions were introduced are more than worth the small annual fee. But don't tell everyone, or it will get too big and we will lose something valuable. Just tell people who are of like mind, who can appreciate this atmosphere and make positive contributions. Thanks for the stats, Dave.

I agree, Aimee. While I want people to subscribe to DG, I also want it to keep its blessed and beautiful character -- so I only tell responsible, mature and thoughtful people about this site. It's much too special to risk spoiling.

What was I thinking!
Amen

It's very interesting to read the string of posts provoked when I asked if anyone knew what percentage of users were paying subscribers.

I've enjoyed this a lot ;~)

Adam.

So now you know, along with lots of stuff you forgot to ask.

teasing grin at Adam - you do seem to like to watch where threads go after a question or statement! That's part of the charm of the freeform style - I think most of us enjoy that aspect. :)

It's refreshing to be using a site where you don't have to worry about the webmaster deciding any slight deviation from the thread title is "off -topic", and removing it. One of the best parts of DG is this natural stream of consciousness, with one thing leading to another just as in a physical conversation. It sometimes goes entirely away from the original idea, but people keep expanding and posting, so it must not be offensive to the majority. I enjoy it when, after my point is taken, people take my thread to other areas.

I don't think it is necessary to give free membership, the 5.00 to find out if you like it is just fine it keeps out the weeds.(edited)I have been on the other garden site (GW),and had to remove my email address cause people email you asking for things than I realized my email address was out there for every one to see . this is not good. I have also found that Dave's has a very nice gardening crowd.well worth the yearly fee !!! I will join for sure!

This message was edited Wednesday, Jan 22nd 7:50 PM

good to hear that miss!!! and welcome to DG:)

thanks,tiG

Hey, I AM riff raff and totally object!

Welcome to this excellent gardening site.

;~)

Adam.

if you are paying to be here i guess not....hehe .... thanks Adam.

A subscription site keeps out 'weeds'(my name for them)Predators usually won't pay to prey on people...they just move on to a more accessible place. I'm glad we have subscriptions if for no other reason than this. I know that the internet is a big and sometimes dangerous place,but this most likely keeps out most of the baddies. We've got such a close knit community here, that a wolf in sheep's clothing would have to be awfully good indeed not to be caught by us. I'm not saying that it would never happen,but subscriptions will deter quite a few of the creeps.

melody,i like that weeds,nicely put!!!

I must admit, our first and primary reason for initiating subscriptions was to get rid of the weeds, and keep them gone. Financing the site has always been a secondary benefit to the subscriptions. It sure has worked out well!

Dave

I have "Rabbit ears TV". If you have cable or Dish TV, try adding a channel you want for 15 bucks a year. Pay-per-view? 10 bucks for one show! My Dave's Garden channel is the best deal going. Frank