Facebook group admin charging for adverts

marcus449

The admin of a music gear selling facebook group I'm a member of (along with 9500 people) has recently stated that he will start charging a subscription fee for advertisers people due to the amount of time it takes to run the group.

Initially he came under a lot of criticism and didn't handle it very well, not really arguing his case logically, now he just has pinned posts to the group and closed the comment section of the posts.

Obviously it's completely against Facebook's rules and regulations and if someone was to report it, once his 'subscription fee' was implemented, then I assume the group would be shut down. Either that or no-one will advertise through it.

Personally, I'm against him/any admin of a group charging, the buy and sell communities on facebook are a lot of the time just show and tell, I've found, and any transactions are done through messenger or off of Facebook.

Obviously the payment for advertisement offers no buyer/seller protection, it's simply paying to get your advert out to 9000 or so people.

Really I'm more ticked about the way it's been handled; first it was a suggestion - which the majority of people disagreed with, then there was a poll - which people stated they wouldn't be happy paying, now it's just going to be implemented (for a short period) and then the group will most likely get shut down. 

I won't name and shame but some people on here might know the group I am talking about.

Thoughts?

BRISTOL86

I'm not familiar with the group by my initial thought is that the admin is a dick.

He is voluntarily running a Facebook group whilst moaning about the time it takes to run a Facebook group whilst violating the terms of use to boot.

Sporky

marcus449 said:

Thoughts?

Running something like that is a thankless task.

Suggesting that the people using the service might want to contribute towards all that effort rarely ends well.

If it's not worth paying for, is it worth using?

marcus449

@BRISTOL86 yeah, there are similar groups with double the amount of memberships who handle just fine

Fretwired

He needs help - more admins.

fretmeister

Plenty of others do it.

Like the Helix users group - there is the common free one, but the admin also has a premium page. No money - no access. 

Has tons of ready made presets for people who don't want to learn to use it properly.

Bidley

Why would you use that over eBay? And surely policing the ads and charging the fees just adds more admin busy work?

He just wants to make a few quid. It won't work and people will just make another group to trade on.

monquixote

This all sounds very familiar.... 

BigMonka

Sounds like he needs to invite a few people to be admins, but it also sounds like he wouldn't want to give over control to anybody - can't see this working out well for him or the group.

TheBlueWolf

I cope just fine as an admin of one group and as a moderator on another. I'd get laughed at if I charged for it.

Sporky is right; it's a thankless task but worthwhile if you go about it the right way.

guitarfishbay

Sporky said:

marcus449 said:

Thoughts?

Running something like that is a thankless task.

Suggesting that the people using the service might want to contribute towards all that effort rarely ends well.

If it's not worth paying for, is it worth using?

I think it is one of those situations where nobody wants to pay.  Rational arguments about time spent don't apply to the internet - everything is supposed to be free, right (I'm sure even if billed at minimum wage this webforum would cost thousands a month between all the time the admins spend)...

I've done a couple of deals through FB, though I actually think it is a really poor setup.  Unlike Gumtree or eBay where you can easily search nationally, you have to be a member of multiple overlapping groups to find items you are looking for.  So personally I wouldn't pay because I don't think the service is any good.  I've obviously paid eBay fees when using eBay, and I've spent extra for some Gumtree features before (and found that useful).  But FB groups as a selling platform are fairly poor IMO.

joeyowen

Tell him to make calendars and sell them! 

marcus449

To clarify, it is a subscription based fee that is to be implemented.

I guess that no subscription fee means no approved ad...surely that'll be more work to sift through who's paying and who's not?

Chalky

I've seen this plenty of times in business. Large number of people use 'something' that a few people provide for very cheap or free. Dickhead, who thinks he has a business-brain, starts charging or ups the fees. Result is large number of people stop using the 'something' and go elsewhere - and there is always an 'elsewhere' on the internet.

The funny thing is that the dickhead blames the users, or anybody else, rather than himself.  Its really easy to say the users are mean for not paying but that just shows you don't understand business.

marcus449

Chalky said:

I've seen this plenty of times in business. Large number of people use 'something' that a few people provide for very cheap or free. Dickhead, who thinks he has a business-brain, starts charging or ups the fees. Result is large number of people stop using the 'something' and go elsewhere - and there is always an 'elsewhere' on the internet.

The funny thing is that the dickhead blames the users, or anybody else, rather than himself.  Its really easy to say the users are mean for not paying but that just shows you don't understand business.

indeed. it's a shame as he doesn't seem to be open for conversation. comment section closed and previously just slated people who didn't agree, even used people leaving the group (which I'm pretty sure would have been just normal levels of fluctuation in a group that large) as a reason to charge and people as they are clearly "ungrateful". 

John_P

Given that his group isn't one of the biggest on FB then it's a non-starter and only going to see people stop using it.     Should be obvious to the admin.  

I run similar group and it's great to see local people meet and talk about music, gear and gigs that might not have come into contact otherwise.     Plus I get first heads up on anything for sale locally which has resulted in a few bargains.