Original Message:
Re: Charging for contact informationon Redweek.com (by KC):
Let me first clearly state that I do not work for RedWeek, nor do I speak for RedWeek in any way, nor am I authorized to do so at any time on any subject.
That said, I fully support the RedWeek system. Paying what actually amounts to 83 cents per month to access honest listings is not the least bit unreasonable to me.
Those objecting to this minimal fee seem to focus only upon their own unwillingness to pay 83 cents per month (that's averaging out the cost of of a $9.99 per full year membership) to contact advertisers, viewing the matter only from their own narrow perspective.
Consider also, however, that some RedWeek advertisers (and yes, I have been among them in the past and I am among them right now) actually WANT some mechanism in place for screening of contacts. That screening has never once impeded the success of MY few occasional ads on RedWeek.
I've placed "free" ads on Craiglist in the past, just to provide a very specific example for comparison here. Responding to such ads is "free". Almost immediately, however, I receive notifications of winning the UK Lottery, bogus business offers from far away lands, cash offers from Nigeria expressed in semi-lierate English, inheritance notifications regarding ancestors I never even had, assorted non-existent "contests" won, etc., etc. ad nauseum. My time is valuable to me and I'll GLADLY pay 83 cents per month to AVOID having to ever even see and have to remove all that other unwelcome, irrelevant, unsolicited crap.
Just my personal opinion. I respect your right to harbor a different point of view, but please keep in mind that yours is not the ONLY perspective on the matter...