Why don't you become a supporting member?

[Hello World]

ECF is not an e-vendor. Do you realize that the CC authorization companies and CC issuers take a percentage of every transaction? Not to mention the time and effort it takes to account for all of these fees. It sounds great from your sofa but it doesn't really work in reality.

Take a gander at this to get a basic idea of the costs involved, and why ECF probably doesn't want to get involved with it.

Credit Card Processing Fees & Rates | Credit Card Processing Insider

I was fully aware of that before I posted as is every vendor who uses it, whether ECF is a vendor or not, be it from a sofa or anywhere else.

Nonetheless, the advantages, in terms of convenience and legal consumer protections far outweigh minor fees.

 

[Thomasis]

I was fully aware of that before I posted as is every vendor who uses it, whether ECF is a vendor or not, be it from a sofa or anywhere else.

Nonetheless, the advantages, in terms of convenience and legal consumer protections far outweigh minor fees.

I have been following this thread without remark until your last statement. About" advantages in terms of convenience and legal consumer protections far outweigh minor fees". It sounds to me as if it's a matter of convience to you, and no CC fees are not minor. ECF has chosen another route and I don't believe this thread will change that. Most people dont have a problem with the way things are set up and that's probably why things are the way they are to begin with. You have made a choice as well as the rest of us. I do appreciate your decision and respect your reasons, but I dont think this thread is going in a positive direction.

 

[SissySpike]

I like the irony of using PP as a verification to gain access to the classys. I enjoy that PP is against ecigs and is utilized by ECF.

 

[meli.]

ECF is a UK registered entity, they fall within the UK Trading Standards regulations regarding e-cigs as well as PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A.). Besides, they are not selling electronic cigarettes, they are charging for Subscriptions.

 

[dspin]

I'm going to say this because it appears that people really do not understand the expenses of running a large site.
ECF runs a cluster of servers on a fat pipe. We have multiple web facing servers, a database server and multiple VPS servers to handle ancillary functions such as monitoring, email, IDS, Live chat and the live chat statistics and moderators sites. We get around 12-14 thousand posts per day, and bandwith costs money. Additional expenses include server technicians and vBulletin technicians (code and server monkeys) and banana's don't come cheap. (The going rate for a linux admin is about $110/hr and app developers charge comparable rates.)
The ECF staff consists of unpaid volunteers, thank god -- if we had to pay the staff we'd have to turn off the lights today.

Without the supporting members and advertisers (read suppliers) we would not have been able to afford to upgrade the servers last year to handle the exponential growth of the forum.

By supporting ECF you are helping it grow and keeping the lights on. We aren't selling memberships we are offering folks a chance to help support the Forum so It can grow and offer more services to the community.

Thanks O for posting this, it was truly necessary for those who dont understand

 

[dspin]

For THOSE who dont read; Supporting member can pay by PP OR Moneybookers


I just copied the following from my subscription link:::


Subscription Information
Subscription
Supporting Member
Duration
1 Year *
Cost
US$24.00
To pay for your subscription, please click the order button next to your preferred payment method and follow the instructions on the following page. We recommend the Moneybookers option.
Subscription Payment Method
Order Using paypal

 

[wacdenney]

I also think its ironic they choose to utilize PP given PP's attitude towards ECigs.
But whatever, I don't have a problem with whatever they choose to do with their forum.
I use PP myself all the time. I don't necessarily agree with all their policies but I still use the service.

 

[JudeD]

I was fully aware of that before I posted as is every vendor who uses it, whether ECF is a vendor or not, be it from a sofa or anywhere else.

Nonetheless, the advantages, in terms of convenience and legal consumer protections far outweigh minor fees.

Glancing through your post history, you seem to be very "confident" about many things. Frankly, I find it offensive to watch you criticize the people who set up this board as a place for vapers to exchange information and form a community. The founders have donated unimaginable time, energy, and yes, their own money to gift us with this forum so we can help each other, have a safer experience, and not be alone on our vaping journey. They, along with the mods, keep this place civil, well-organized, and up-to-date with the latest news in the vaping world and with no personal benefit to themselves. I'm sure that the admins appreciate polite suggestions, but your insinuations of supporting memberships being a scam and your criticisms of the way they've chosen to set the system up don't come across as polite suggestions, at least not to me. And it is "their" board--we are merely guests they have invited to stop by.

My mother always told me, "If you don't like the ingredients I'm using, feel free to cook your own dinner." I offer the same advice to you. If you are so confident in the way things "should" be done, start your own board. Find moderators, build a board, contact vendors, work your way up in search engines, stay on top of e-cig news, pay credit card fees, release all funding and operating info to members on a regular basis, and then respond to those who will come on the board to tell you how you've done it all wrong. If that sounds like a lot of hard work without much of a payoff, that's because it is, which is why it offends me when I hear others criticizing those who are willing to sacrifice time and money so the rest of us can benefit.

It's hard to read tone through posts, so maybe you are trying to be helpful and it just isn't coming across properly. But trust me, it isn't coming across as trying to be helpful.

 

[the_vape_nerd]

Hmm...I'm the OP here and I guess I'm a bit shocked this has gotten so much response.

I didn't literally mean "why don't you become a supporting member?'" I guess I just wanted to encourage a few people like myself who had planned to do it, but were just too lazy to do it.

In any case, I'm not trying to get on anyone who doesn't become a supporting member. Just figured ECF could use the extra cash about now seeing as the hobby is growing, an fda fight looms, and so many new devices are sprouting up.

 

[Caridwen]

I like the irony of using PP as a verification to gain access to the classys. I enjoy that PP is against ecigs and is utilized by ECF.

Questions regarding classifieds go in Site Feedback.

 

[oldsoldier]

I didn't literally mean "why don't you become a supporting member?'" I guess I just wanted to encourage a few people like myself who had planned to do it, but were just too lazy to do it.

I believe you

 

[2nd chance]

Hmm...I'm the OP here and I guess I'm a bit shocked this has gotten so much response.

I didn't literally mean "why don't you become a supporting member?'" I guess I just wanted to encourage a few people like myself who had planned to do it, but were just too lazy to do it.

In any case, I'm not trying to get on anyone who doesn't become a supporting member. Just figured ECF could use the extra cash about now seeing as the hobby is growing, an fda fight looms, and so many new devices are sprouting up.

While thats all good and fine, I do think a few of the non-supporting members may feel a bit (being careful here) "uncomfortable" if they indeed are not ready to become supporting members yet? Lets please consider what this feels and looks like from that angle too.
It does feel like there is becoming a separation of sorts with these types of threads:

"supporting-members-chat-thread"