Now that armslist is locked behind a paywall

[TGO David]

Using TGO is free.  Buying from someone on TGO is free.  We don't charge for either of those things.  The only way I can imagine we would charge anything for the ability to view Trading Post listings is if we had to charge some silly low fee like $1.00 per year in order to make you a "member" to work around egregious laws.

Am I forecasting that or predicting that it will happen?  NO.

But I'm not stupid and I've been involved in businesses for a few decades now and I know that sometimes legal loopholes exist for businesses that operate as a fraternal organization and charge a small membership fee.  Case in point?  Many fraternal lodges are able to sell and dispense beer or alcohol on Sundays in states where such a thing is not allowed, by dispensing it to members of their organization only.

We have tried to think strategically at TGO and have contingencies for the ever-changing political and legal landscapes.  It's just smart.

 

Back to the topic, if anyone feels guilty about something that's between them and their conscience.  Ain't my fault.

 

[papa61]

I sill look at armslist, but I don't buy there anymore. let me give two examples of pay vs free and you will understand why I do pay my dues here:

when I watch TV, if I pay for a channel I have search options to find exactly what I want to see. I also have no commercials (advertisement) and can use other functions like pause and fast forward/reverse
this is comparable to having forums and being able to search by word here. and look around...NO ADVERTISEMENTS

"free" antenna tv has none of those benefits. one must look elisewhere to find listings, commercials every 4 minutes. you all know what I'm getting at.

satellite radio vs free over air radio...see examples above.

when I signed on to armslist the search was comprehensive, fewer advertisements in the margins, ads that were there were relevant to my interests. and the classifieds were free. since then they have taken away the comprehensive search, put in ads for cbd oil and clickhole "look a this star now" crap. they went commercial over private AND began charging their audience.

saying that those who still use it by phone and don't pay the fee are thieves is smacking some of your own customers in the face. just do a search for phone on armslist and see, they do not take down the ads telling others to list their phone number.

[papa61]

and now back to our regularly scheduled catfight