Just to clarify, I think the paid memberships aren't a bad thing. I'm all for it, sites need money to operate so the people enjoying the site shouldn't be surprised that eventually they'll be asked to pay for that service. My issue stems from some of the more dismissive and disrespectful replies from those in-the-know. The points I made earlier are not all about not being found out. Only one of my concerns is based on anonymity, the others I'd have concerns about anyway.
I have no apprehension about paying to become a member. I, like many many others here, do have apprehension about not being found out. Judge me on that if you wish but I'd still be a paying customer and shouldn't have to defend or explain my reasoning for how or why I join the site.
As an owner of a small business, I certainly understand the need to offset costs and/or raise revenue. It happens in all forms of business and Lush is no different. I applaud Lush/Nic for making the hard decision to make the necessary changes. And, as we've all read... people are resistant to change.
However....
While I appreciate this forum thread that allows members to ask questions and offer praise or criticism, I have to say that I find some of the responses by mods/high ranking members/whatever to be a bit dismissive. Many people have brought up very valid questions only to be chastised or invalidated for doing so. When someone comes into my shop with a question about our service or anything, my first job is to listen to what they have to say. Occasionally, it'll be something totally off the wall. But, 9 times out of 10, it's a valid concern. I take that concern, consider it, and respond appropriately and respectfully. I don't tell them they're foolish for having that concern or feeling the way they feel. Sometimes I can fix what they need fixing, sometimes not. But, I never condescend to them that they're unworthy to have even brought it up.
Who are any of us to tell someone what is or isn't costly to their budget? If someone came into my shop for a service and was concerned about that it cost $x and I told them to eat less McDonald's so they could afford it, chances are I'd lose that customer for good. Instead of invalidating reasonable concerns, someone should hear what's being said and take note. Some people may not really be able to afford $10/year, and that's okay. But, rather than saying.. "you're griping about $10? YOU FOOL! Do you know how much it cost to run this site!?" Someone could simply say, "we're sorry that we've had to make this decision and that it affects you more than it may others. We'll miss your business, but if your financial situation changes, we hope you'll consider coming back and becoming a paid member."
Shitting on someone because they can't afford something isn't exactly a great way to garner customer loyalty.
If you're going to open a conversation about something, you must be willing to hear all the comments about the topic at hand. If you give members a chance to voice their concerns, take them seriously and respectfully. Otherwise, just make the policy change without the pretext of wanting to hear criticism of it.
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I have not yet tried to make payment to become a silver or gold member (I'm very thankful for the gifted Bronze membership) but I hope that prepaid Visas are accepted now. I'm not going to use my joint paypal account and I'm not going through the process of getting a prepaid Visa AND creating a new paypal account to make my payment. It is up to the business to accommodate the consumer, not the consumer to accommodate the business. A Visa or MasterCard that happens to be prepaid isn't really all that far outside the realm of reasonable.
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I do have a question/suggestion regarding Bronze vs Silver membership. There are two things Silver gets that Bronze does not; Surf Ad Free and Upload Videos. I'm not sure that's really enough of a difference. In the original post of this thread, Nic states, "With declining banner advertising revenues (I can't remember the last time I clicked a site ad for anything online)"
If banner ads are declining, ie.. there are less banner ads.. is there really much advantage to Silvers to pay to not get any ads? (unless by declining banner ad revenues, you mean they're paying less money for the same ads) However, if the number of banners is declining, how long until there aren't any banners at all? If premium memberships are the answer, how long before advertising is no longer required at all, thereby seriously minimizing the added cost between silver and bronze. I'm not sure what other perk could be offered, but that's one thing I'd recommend revisiting.
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I'd also recommend not diminishing the value of free members. The people who take the time to join Lush, even if it's just to take a look around and then decide to not be an active member, still hold value to the site. I would venture to guess that when advertisers were considering Lush as a place to put their ads, one of the positives of this site IS the total number of members. If whatever site is looking to drum up my hits to their site, comes to Lush and sees there are 250k members, that's a lot of eyes to see ads. Those free members, even the ones that rarely or never come to Lush anymore, but still have profiles... have contributed by way of garnering those ads. I would assume a site with 250k members would be able to charge more to advertise than a site with 100k members.
edit.... free, bronze, and silver members do not have "unlimited image uploads". What are the limitations of those limits? Are uploads to profile pages and forum limited? What are the limits? Are those limits a weekly, monthly, or lifetime limit? Let's say the limit is 50mb (or whatever), does that reset each week or month? Or once you post your 50mb, you're restricted for the lifetime of your membership until you upgrade to gold?
When the Gold membership first became available, for my personal security, I purchased a prepaid Visa card to use for my membership. It didn't work. Something with Lush's banking or the processor's banking would NOT accept prepaid credit cards. Consequently, I didn't purchase the Gold membership. Although I was gifted a membership by a friend and by Lush. I'd consider contributing to the site this time as well, but ONLY if I can do it via a prepaid credit card, as I cannot have any unknown charges appear on my "real" account.
Masturbation is usually a means to an end and rarely will have the same "pop" as fucking or a blowjob. Usually when you have sex with a woman, it involves some kissing, and fondling, and fingering, and licking. All that takes time, time spent in an aroused state. By the time you cum in a woman's pussy or mouth, usually you've spent the previous 5, 10, 15, 30, 60 minutes engaged with her in some form of sexual or sensual or loving activity. The longer that build up, the more intense the orgasm.
Waking up with a hard-on and deciding to rub one out in the shower, while not a bad idea and something I do often, it's not going to offer the same intensity as a good fucking.
Changed my mind... delete please. Not fair to the officer, especially after he states his name
Why are things sent via ship called cargo and things sent via car called a shipment?
Deception at it's best.... that is NOT a thong!
"Heeeere pussy, come here. Yeahhh, that's a goood pussy."
In my neck of the woods, it's called Coke. This type of conversation is had daily...
"Want a Coke?"
"Sure"
"What kind?"
"Dr. Pepper."
"Okay"
Your breath smells cockish.
I kinda think it's a little demeaning to women to describe them as "bones" or "meat".
As if a woman who is naturally lean and thin, is bony and therefore defined only by her boniness. And somehow lumped into a category/fetish.
Or a meaty woman that is only defined by her girth and now only attractive to chubby chasers.
I've known very thin and skinny women who were beautiful, known some that were ugly. Known some that were attractive or not because of their attitude and personality. Same with "meaty" women. I've known plenty that I found to be very sexy, also known some that weren't.
Harry Potter's invisibility cloak
Agreed, big difference between the two. I wasn't sure what level of bodybuilding you meant. As for amateur training, some guys may be threatened by it, it doesn't bother me. What's not to like about a fit and attractive woman? Sign me up.
Earlier in my life I was a licensed massage therapist. One of my regular clients competed in fitness competitions. I loved working on this woman, her body was like working on a perfect specimen. I could see the striations in her muscles as I worked on her. She was an outcall client, I'd go to her studio where she trained and instructed others. She had particular trouble with her hips and groin muscles, I did some very intense and specific work. Even though she was draped, it was impossible to NOT see things. I was working less than an inch from her most intimate places, and she was not modest at all. One more than one occasion, as I'd be setting up my massage table, she'd go into the restroom to change clothes, then would walk out naked to get on the table. It was very difficult to maintain my professionalism as I found her to be very attractive.
A couple of months ago, there was a segment on HBO's "Real Sports" about women bodybuilders and their relationships/sex lives. If you haven't seen it, it may be something you enjoy.
It seems for most of the women in bodybuilding, most of the men that are into them, see them as a fetish or a notch off their sexual bucket list. Bodybuilding women tend to take bodybuilding dudes. Or they end up with men who are only attracted to them for their own kinks. Guys that fantasize about getting crushed or squeezed or having a thing for enlarged clits. Many of those women have to supplement their income by selling themselves to those men.
There was also talk about the women's bodybuilding scene going through a transformation. Seems competitions now are rewarding more lean and fit contestants over the bigger, more muscular contestants. I'll see if I can find a link to the segment.
edit... there are actually two stories about women's bodybuilding on that show. First one was a few years ago, then just recently they revisited it.
