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?
Comments
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.
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?
Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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.
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
He just wants to make a few quid. It won't work and people will just make another group to trade on.
Sporky is right; it's a thankless task but worthwhile if you go about it the right way.
Twisted Imaginings - A Horror And Gore Themed Blog http://bit.ly/2DF1NYi
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.
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?
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.
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.