Author Topic: Websites that charge a fee? (Read 3777 times)

Monkeyleg · « **on:** January 18, 2009, 06:26:21 PM »

I'm trying to think of websites that charge a fee for the service they offer. Not ones that sell products, but ones that sell a service. The only one I can think of right now is Eharmony.com, which sells a matchup service.

Can you think of any sites off the top of your head that are similar in fee arrangement and services to Eharmony.com or others like it?

MillCreek · « **Reply #1 on:** January 18, 2009, 06:29:13 PM »

Match.com and the website of the Wall Street Journal come to mind. The last one would depend upon if you consider an electronic paper a product or a service.

Viking · « **Reply #2 on:** January 18, 2009, 06:47:26 PM »

Depending on how you look at it: Porn sites that require you to pay for membership.

41magsnub · « **Reply #3 on:** January 18, 2009, 07:22:28 PM »

experts-exchange.com unless you answer more questions than you ask.

taurusowner · « **Reply #4 on:** January 18, 2009, 07:46:02 PM »

I believe IGN does to some extent.

BridgeRunner · « **Reply #5 on:** January 18, 2009, 08:04:17 PM »

A couple magazines and such. Then there's Westlaw and Lexis, which charge enormous amounts of money, and other online databases like Jstor.

GigaBuist · « **Reply #6 on:** January 18, 2009, 09:31:22 PM »

eBay.com - no surprise there.
Fark.com - their TotalFark membership is $5 a month
Jott.com - just went to requiring all users to pay $4 a month
SalesForce.com - business apps
BizStream.com - business apps
Slashdot.org - removes ads if you pay

There's a ton of them, mostly dating and porn related though.

41magsnub · « **Reply #7 on:** January 18, 2009, 09:32:12 PM »

Quote from: The Viking on January 18, 2009, 06:47:26 PM

Depending on how you look at it: Porn sites that require you to pay for membership.

Generally those are more of a self service model though.

HankB · « **Reply #8 on:** January 18, 2009, 09:36:38 PM »

There was a site that offered a free search of Garand serial numbers, so one could determine if a particular specimen was (for example) a military "Trophy" rifle, awarded to a service member who won a match.

But that site now charges a fee.

Headless Thompson Gunner · « **Reply #9 on:** January 18, 2009, 10:07:28 PM »

My father buys a subscription to an internet feed that provides real-time financial data. I know there's lots of money if feeds of that sort.

roo_ster · « **Reply #10 on:** January 18, 2009, 10:44:43 PM »

weight watchers

mfree · « **Reply #11 on:** January 18, 2009, 11:05:39 PM »

wunderground.com. $5 a year unlocks the best online weather radar system I've *EVER* seen.

zombienerd · « **Reply #12 on:** January 19, 2009, 01:29:57 AM »

There are several forums out there that charge to view anything that's not in the first page of posts, or to post anything of your own..

Somethingawful.com is one, but IIRC, it was a lifetime membership.

Monkeyleg · « **Reply #13 on:** January 19, 2009, 09:00:44 AM »

Thanks for all of the replies.

Let me tell you why I'm asking about this. There's a guy named Markus who started a site called Plentyoffish.com several years ago. He noticed that there were many dating sites, so he offered a dating site that was free. He spent no small amount of money on multiple servers and hiring the best coders for his search functions.

The result was that his site became #3 in the US for traffic for an independently-owned site. He traffic and page views measures in the billions per month. He also makes several million a year from advertising on his site. It's a simple business plan, really: offer what other sites do, but for free, and do it as well or better.

Dating sites are high traffic. I've been looking at other high-traffic niches, but it would seem that there's already many people who picked up on the success of Plentyoffish.com and went their own way. I'm trying to find a niche that would generate good traffic.

Plentyoffish.com gets about 1,000 times more visitors and page views than my site does. If I had even ten times the traffic I do now, I'd be making a couple of million myself annually.

If anybody is interested in collaborating on a niche site like that, let me know.

K Frame · « **Reply #14 on:** January 19, 2009, 10:42:49 AM »

"Websites that charge a fee"

This one. Send me $5.

Tallpine · « **Reply #15 on:** January 19, 2009, 10:54:48 AM »

Quote from: Mike Irwin on January 19, 2009, 10:42:49 AM

"Websites that charge a fee"

This one. Send me $5.

Here you go: $5

Ex-MA Hole · « **Reply #16 on:** January 19, 2009, 11:13:20 AM »

Northeastshooters.com does, and they do it in a very, very cool way...

They have one forum that you can see, and unless you "go green" (when you pay, your name turns green), you can't see the forum. They hype it up, and everyone pushes everyone to go green. They have special discounts, special group buys, and members only shoots.

They give freebees and treat eachother like part of the "in" crowd once you join.

Think of it like our Amongst Friends forum, but instead of being nominated, you need to pay to play.

Racehorse · « **Reply #17 on:** January 19, 2009, 12:17:56 PM »

Quote from: Monkeyleg on January 19, 2009, 09:00:44 AM

Thanks for all of the replies.

Let me tell you why I'm asking about this. There's a guy named Markus who started a site called Plentyoffish.com several years ago. He noticed that there were many dating sites, so he offered a dating site that was free. He spent no small amount of money on multiple servers and hiring the best coders for his search functions.

The result was that his site became #3 in the US for traffic for an independently-owned site. He traffic and page views measures in the billions per month. He also makes several million a year from advertising on his site. It's a simple business plan, really: offer what other sites do, but for free, and do it as well or better.

Dating sites are high traffic. I've been looking at other high-traffic niches, but it would seem that there's already many people who picked up on the success of Plentyoffish.com and went their own way. I'm trying to find a niche that would generate good traffic.

Plentyoffish.com gets about 1,000 times more visitors and page views than my site does. If I had even ten times the traffic I do now, I'd be making a couple of million myself annually.

If anybody is interested in collaborating on a niche site like that, let me know.

angieslist.com is a site where I think your idea might work. They have reviews of local mechanics, doctors, roofers, etc., but they charge $5 a month. I think a free site like that would do very well in terms of traffic. The only problem with a free site would be keeping the reviews relevant and meaningful. You'd have to figure out a way to keep the spammers, etc. from posting a bunch of fake positive or negative reviews.

ilbob · « **Reply #18 on:** January 19, 2009, 01:13:53 PM »

ar15.com

Viking · « **Reply #19 on:** January 19, 2009, 02:07:42 PM »

Quote from: GigaBuist on January 18, 2009, 09:31:22 PM

eBay.com - no surprise there.
Fark.com - their TotalFark membership is $5 a month
Jott.com - just went to requiring all users to pay $4 a month
SalesForce.com - business apps
BizStream.com - business apps
Slashdot.org - removes ads if you pay

There's a ton of them, mostly dating and porn related though.

The SomethingAwful forums as well. Atleast if you want full access, and get rid of the advertising.

Thor · « **Reply #20 on:** January 19, 2009, 02:13:40 PM »

togetherweserved.com charges a fee in order to receive emails, messages, look at profiles, etc. They have one for each branch of the Armed Forces.

News:

Author Topic: Websites that charge a fee? (Read 3777 times)

taurusowner