What is up with FPN?

[Sailor Kenshin]

It's not a matter of being lazy, it is that blogs or videos simply bore me.

Or give you viruses.

[manoeuver]

Isn't that a sad fact?
It's amazing how lazy people can really be, even when all they have to do is twitch a finger every so often. "Oh a link?!" *sigh

yeah, only the supremely lazy fail to click on every link that presents itself.

I know, I'm a professional link clicker.

[Imahawki]

I think it really comes down to the fact that FPN is very expensive to run and there are a lot of people that freeload off of it in the classifieds area or by posting links to a "blog" that is tied to a retail venture. Their rules probably have some unintended consequences and I'm guessing the forum is down right now, not for "maintenance" but to slow the onslaught of negative posts while they tweak the rules.

It is probably MUCH more expensive than the average person knows. I run my own hobby forum that is MUCH MUCH smaller than FPN (think 50-60 active users compared to FPN that has several thousand that log in every day) and even it gets expensive. Forums are resource intensive. Every time you open a thread multiple queries are made to the back end database to pull each post, user profile information, avatars, signatures, images, etc.

In my years I've seen many forums go down because they actually got too popular. It gets too expensive for the owner and they either close it, or they start implementing rules that seem crazy to the average user because they don't understand how the forum works on the back and or what the costs are.

I empathize a lot with FPN right now.

That said, what is going on over there is one of the reasons I finally registered here as well.

[david i]

I think it really comes down to the fact that FPN is very expensive to run and there are a lot of people that freeload off of it in the classifieds

While Fountain Pen Board is much smaller regarding post count than FPN, I note that it costs all of $200/year to run. I would take big claims with a grain of salt. Too a good pen board designed for fun and enjoyment of members, would not view the "taking advantage" of a sales forum as "freeloading". Rather, a good pen board would be happy that an active trading site could be created for our pen friends to use.

regards

david

[Sailor Kenshin]

I have long wanted to operate my own forum. Something like facebook, for friends, but semi-private.

Someone quoted a figure of $25K/year to run and maintain FPN.

Can this be true? If so, that puts forum operation far beyond my means.

[jar]

You can run a forum for considerably less but it would still cost hundreds of dollars a year.

[pajaro]

I strongly suspect that $25K is a good less than the cost of running a forum like FPN. Software licensing could be more than that.

That said, If I wanted to sell off my collection in their classifieds, it would take a long time in their classifieds, so I got the impression they were trying to gaff a lot of members for the price of "premium" memberships.

[jbb]

A typical selling fee (like at Etsy.com for example) is 3% so $90.00 per year at FPN works out to $3000.00 per year in sales. The $180.00 membership is for $6000.00 in sales. Granted Esty also has a 20¢ listing fee -- but they have millions of members too. Anyway after doing the math the fees seem high at FPN and they're in advance of any sales.

[david i]

I strongly suspect that $25K is a good less than the cost of running a forum like FPN. Software licensing could be more than that.

That said, If I wanted to sell off my collection in their classifieds, it would take a long time in their classifieds, so I got the impression they were trying to gaff a lot of members for the price of "premium" memberships.

IPB full package costs a couple-few hundred dollars... once. And full access to upgrades runs $25-50 twice a year. Software licensing does not cost much.

regards

david

[KrazyIvan]

I think a off the top per sale fee when a transaction is completed would be more feasible and acceptable to board members. They do have to contend with the board software which is probably not that flexible when it comes to modifications. I never used IP.Board so I am not real sure. I have used VBulletin and phpBB (moderator and admin). Of the two phpBB is open source and you could get into the inner workings pretty easily. I do not know if the sales and a per transaction fee would be enough to pay the bills.

@Sailor - running your own board can be free, especially if your audience is small. I used to run one for our gaming clan and never paid a dime. Search for "free forum hosting" and several services should come up. You can make it as public or private as you want. You will have to contend with advertising for a free board. Most of them run on phpBB forum software.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I think a off the top per sale fee when a transaction is completed would be more feasible and acceptable to board members. They do have to contend with the board software which is probably not that flexible when it comes to modifications. I never used IP.Board so I am not real sure. I have used VBulletin and phpBB (moderator and admin). Of the two phpBB is open source and you could get into the inner workings pretty easily. I do not know if the sales and a per transaction fee would be enough to pay the bills.

@Sailor - running your own board can be free, especially if your audience is small. I used to run one for our gaming clan and never paid a dime. Search for "free forum hosting" and several services should come up. You can make it as public or private as you want. You will have to contend with advertising for a free board. Most of them run on phpBB forum software.

Thanks, KI...I think I should have used the Quote button for my fleabay question.

I'd be willing to pay for my own forum... Just not 25k/year. If I can get free, I can probably get lower cost sans ads. Or could I?

[KrazyIvan]

Thanks, KI...I think I should have used the Quote button for my fleabay question.

I'd be willing to pay for my own forum... Just not 25k/year. If I can get free, I can probably get lower cost sans ads. Or could I?

There are different services and yes, lower cost options are also available but I am not totally up on what is offered these days.

[Silent Speaker]

I think a off the top per sale fee when a transaction is completed would be more feasible and acceptable to board members.

I was wondering why they never did this, and just left the marketplace to be "free" before these changes happened.
I thought that perhaps it would put the forum into a position of responsibility it didn't want nor have to take if something went awry with the transaction. By not charging anyone a commission like ebay and pretty much having the attitude of "you can advertise and trade here freely, but don't expect restitution from us if things go sour" then they could keep the forum out of any legal unpleasantness.

I wonder, if that was the case, how this will be managed in the current system?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
On a related note, has the board been "offline" for everyone today?

[Sailor Kenshin]

What about comparing to fleabay?

[Imahawki]

If you are serious, PM me and I'll quote you some figures. My forum is larger than "private" or even semi-private but much, much smaller than FPN.

[earthdawn]

It's been offline all day now.. I wonder what they could be updating now????

[thagbert]

It's been offline all day now.. I wonder what they could be updating now????

There's been an insurrection! They've been taken over by ball point pen users!

[jar]

Most likely rebuilding the database. It would not surprise me for that to take more than one day.

[picautomaton]

I think it is good what FPN is doing. Personally I hate it when small retailers are peddling their wares under the guise of enthusiasm. I overlook links and video reviews as they are lazy posts. I'm ok with the changes as long as I can have my odd chirp now and then. FPN has become rather tame now days and you actually can not express yourself freely so what the heck, moderators are in power mode.

[fountainpenkid]

I think it is good what FPN is doing. Personally I hate it when small retailers are peddling their wares under the guise of enthusiasm. I overlook links and video reviews as they are lazy posts. I'm ok with the changes as long as I can have my odd chirp now and then. FPN has become rather tame now days and you actually can not express yourself freely so what the heck, moderators are in power mode.

This power mode is the problem.