As far as I am aware there are no plans to change from the current cost structure. For nearly the first year of the site operation, the site was completely free, with the owners of the site paying all the costs out of their own pockets. Toward the end of last year, an entirely new version of the site was coded. This new version added new features, including multiple challenges, improved forums, more personalization features, etc. In order to support the increasing bandwidth costs, paid membership was introduced, and some of the features were made available to paid members only.
It is worth noting, though, that all of the features that existed for free before membership was introduced are still free, and some of the additional features are also free.
To answer your question, I am not aware of any plans to convert this site to pay-only or to otherwise change the cost structure. Please note, however, that I am NOT saying this will never happen. Never is a long time, and a lot of inforeseen things can happen. That said, I would expect the cost structure will remain the same for the foreseeable future.
-Terry (speaking for himself and not for the administrators/owners)
i think that there should be a "members-only" area. I think this site should be free to try and i realize that a lot of people spend a lot of money on their photography. However, for the amount of money ($25 a YEAR) i think this is a great opportunity to learn more about photography.
To me, it's like the kiddie pool and the adult pool. kids swim for free with adult admission. Another comparison would be playing your favorite sport all day. if you want, you can play baseball in the little leagues against all the "kids" that really can't play very well or for $2 a month, you get someone better than you to play against so you can stretch yourself and become better.
I am speaking for myself and have no other ties to this site except a membership
That's not really a valid comparison because there's no required skill level to be a member. The only thing differentiating members and nonmembers is the money. I suppose that in theory, those willing to pay are going to be the more serious ones, but that doesn't necessarily mean better.
I think this site is a great value for $25 a year. Basically, if you enjoy the site and use it regularly to submit your pics and learn a little more about photography, you are showing your support and hopefully helping to keep the site up and running for another year. :)
It's really well worth the minor cost I think to become a member and your support helps the owners make improvements and make the site better and better over time.
$25 US a year isn't all that much money, but since I'm over here in canada and have no credit card to pay for it with, I have to resort to other methods of payment. If I were to pay for a certified cheque ($10) and send it in 25 american dollars (which is more like 40) and factor in postage,etc. Paying for a yearly membership ends up being more like $60 than $25.... Luckily for me someone else on the site was generous enough to offer me a gift membership :)
$25 US a year isn't all that much money, but since I'm over here in canada and have no credit card to pay for it with, I have to resort to other methods of payment. If I were to pay for a certified cheque ($10) and send it in 25 american dollars (which is more like 40) and factor in postage,etc. Paying for a yearly membership ends up being more like $60 than $25.... Luckily for me someone else on the site was generous enough to offer me a gift membership :)
Foreign Exchange and excessive surcharges are part of the disadvantages of being Canadian. But, when you consider the innumerable advantages, would you want it to be any other way? Face it, we live in a foreign country, as do many other fellow DPCers. So, it is all part of the deal to belong to such a great web site. You are lucky that someone made such a generous gift to you. Enjoy it.
It seems that this site is going to be only a pay site isnt it?
We have no plans on removing the open challenges from the rotation. In fact we like having an open challenge so that the new users can get the `try before you buy` experience.
I think this site is more than reasonable, it's great. I do not mind paying a little over $2 per month to compete in a second challenge. I think it's great that the owners have left a free option to anyone that wants to use it. The open challenges are far more competitive (number of entries and variation of entries)and get more views than the members' challenges. And I really really love having no ads popping up everywhere and cluttering up my screen as almost every other photo site has.
I think if someone is worried that the site is going towards being all payed memberships, it would have been better to address this with the owners, or at least ask instead of making a statement; although it seems to have conjured up some good discussion!!
We also need to remember that there is no advertsing on this site. Advertising is what pays for other free sites. It is expensive in time and money to keep up a web site, especially one of this quality. To me the $25 fee is cheap considering the value we get, and I am by no means one of the better photogs.
Thank you all, I think that this site is going to pay only because of the site news say something like that. Before being a member I would like to know more about photo in general because if not I think this will be vane, I am learning tons because of you all, and I think the 25 fee is not that much but right now is not a good moment. Thank you for your answers, I want to try a little longer.
If you factor in all the time you spend looking at this site from "work", just to check your score of read the forums, etc, it almost seems like a portion of your salary is going to pay off your membership fee. If you look at it like that, it's really free! ;-)
Besides, where else can you pay $25 and get countless hours of enjoyment and addiction, and learn something all at the same time. Plus you get to showcase you prints on DPC Prints. I've already gotten $2.32 of my fee reimbursed in sales profits! LOL
Best $25 (approx can$45) I've ever spent. Thanks DPC
