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Posted 12/19/2024.
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I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?
So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.
But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.
Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.
I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.
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Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.
And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
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Responding to email notices you receive.
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In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.
Inquiry Dan at DTS Herps, Inc (Boca Raton, Florida) - Good guy?
- Thread starter shelledfriends
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2007
- Messages
- 1,668
- Reaction score
- 213
- Points
- 0
- Age
- 47
- Location
- Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey
I will tell you of my personal experience with Dan....not a transaction, mind you, but an experience.
In the midst of one of Dan's first BOI "blowups", I posted my number and asked him to call me so that I may be able to give him some advice on how he could best deal with what was going on. At the time, there was suspicion of IBD, and questions about quarantine due to some dead ETB's.
I suggested he relax and explain to everyone exactly what his QT procedures are, and that he sells only hots and colubrids, so no risk of IBD. He had just finished swearing to me that this was the case (anyone can check the python or boa sections on KS to verify....he really doesn't have numerous ads in each section...really, I swear.
).
I also suggested he use better QT protocol than his kitchen counter, and used an example of a rat snake that I had given to a friend and had returned after becoming infested with mites at his house. I explained that if I had quarantined that animal in a common area of my home, the rest of my collection would have been at risk.
Well, when Dan got back to his keyboard and began being....well....Dan, I called him on it. I reminded him about what we had just spoken of, and made it clear that what he was typing was in direct contradiction to what he had told me. He was blatantly lying....period. In response, Dan began attacking me, and started making false statements about how I was crying over my dead rat snake (an animal that is currently being used in educational programs in Texas).
He is blatantly dishonest, and while not all animals he sells are sub-standard, he is a flipper who buys and sells with minimal concern for the well being of the animals in question. Sickly animals inevitably fall through the cracks of his strict kitchen QT. These animals are passed on to his buyers....along with the blame when said customer makes their dissatisfaction known. I could not in good consience buy from him, and any animal originating with him would require a 4-6 month off-site quarantine before entering my collection....and I didn't have to give him any money to reach that conclusion.
In the midst of one of Dan's first BOI "blowups", I posted my number and asked him to call me so that I may be able to give him some advice on how he could best deal with what was going on. At the time, there was suspicion of IBD, and questions about quarantine due to some dead ETB's.
I suggested he relax and explain to everyone exactly what his QT procedures are, and that he sells only hots and colubrids, so no risk of IBD. He had just finished swearing to me that this was the case (anyone can check the python or boa sections on KS to verify....he really doesn't have numerous ads in each section...really, I swear.
). I also suggested he use better QT protocol than his kitchen counter, and used an example of a rat snake that I had given to a friend and had returned after becoming infested with mites at his house. I explained that if I had quarantined that animal in a common area of my home, the rest of my collection would have been at risk.
Well, when Dan got back to his keyboard and began being....well....Dan, I called him on it. I reminded him about what we had just spoken of, and made it clear that what he was typing was in direct contradiction to what he had told me. He was blatantly lying....period. In response, Dan began attacking me, and started making false statements about how I was crying over my dead rat snake (an animal that is currently being used in educational programs in Texas).
He is blatantly dishonest, and while not all animals he sells are sub-standard, he is a flipper who buys and sells with minimal concern for the well being of the animals in question. Sickly animals inevitably fall through the cracks of his strict kitchen QT. These animals are passed on to his buyers....along with the blame when said customer makes their dissatisfaction known. I could not in good consience buy from him, and any animal originating with him would require a 4-6 month off-site quarantine before entering my collection....and I didn't have to give him any money to reach that conclusion.