Want to help us change our NBR discount program? -- feedback from senior members only

Hey guys,

This discount program I got them start with NBR has been great on one hand and horrible on the other. The biggest problem for me are the emails I get all day long about people who want the discount but aren't members - let alone have any posts. My idea for the program was to help build the community (because people would have to register and particiate to get the discount)..... and then hopefully like the place enough to stay and obviously the more heads involved on one problem, the better........ plus I then wanted to give something back to people who have at least been around to help out the forum.

Now we've been talking about setting up a tiered system.... something that will give something to people who just sign up but may never post.... say a 1% discount........ then something for those in the middle... say 3% for people around a month with 30 posts......... and then maybe as much as 5% for the true senior members that have been around 6 months or more and have more then 300 posts.... I'm debating exactly how to work this, but I'd like some thoughts. I don't have a problem with newbies chiming it, but I think most of their comments will be whatever is going to benefit them the most.... so I'd rather just senior members help me come up with something that's fair.

We'd also like to continue to do something special with our aluminum briefcases -- maybe give a certain percentage off with each tier....... maybe something with free shipping or a bundle type discount when purchasing batteries or other accessories?

I'm only going to take into consideration thoughtful and realistic ideas.... so if you'd like to help out, just consider that.

 

5% is a pretty good discount!

One thing I want to mention is a student discount, and I'm pretty sure 60%+ laptop buyers who are interested in ASUS laptops(Most commonly Z70va/W3v/?) are University/College students, and a discount would help them alot. Not only that, they(and 'we' ) are the future, who pay for my healthcare(hahaha just kidding )

I think a 1%/2%/3% discount would be good for forum members being New(30~ relevant posts, 2 weeks)/Member(100~ relevant posts, 1 month)/Seniors(300+, 6 months), as well something for the students and people in the workforce, a universal 2% student, and 2% small business discount as well.

Free shipping is always a good thing, but, I'm not sure for you - is your shipping prices based on location? A flat rate would be nice to see.

Free shipping with accessories perhaps?

Just some ideas to throw around

Best of luck!

 

Yes I know this is my first post here but as I don't live in the US and will never buy from your site I think I can safely say I am not doing this for my own gain.

Of course any discount is great and I'm in no way trying to belittle what you are doing but for me a 1% discount or even a 5% is not going to be the deciding factor. Even on a $2000 purchase that only saves $100 at most. On a purchase that large $100 is not a shocking amount. If that $100 was the only price difference between two stores things like better after sales support or even faster shipping could be a deciding factor for me. Perhaps a better idea would be free, or in price reduced, extra's. A better then standards bag and/or free shipping is always nice. I think things like that draw people more then a small price reduction.

Hope you not offended,

Niles

 

Seconded. Even a 5% discount wouldn’t tingle my jollies.

I won’t be buying from you either, but that aluminum briefcase promo you had almost made me wish that I could. Stuff, and it doesn’t even have to be big stuff, that make you feel appreciated as a customer is (IMO) much better. A shop around here silently just started to throw a bag/bar of candy worth like $1 in with every order, and soon – I kid you not – people were ordering stuff just for the ‘extra goodies’.

A small rebate only attract penny pinchers, while added value, a surprise, or anything else that give the customer a positive shopping experience generate positive buzz and repeat business.

 

Niles - it's ok for you to post and I appreciate it...... but margins on this stuff is tight and good or not, it's something.......

Coriolis - I'm semi oppossed to student discounts because, hell, i'm not far removed from school myself and honestly I think a computer is the least of your worries (in terms of saving $50-100 on a $2,000 laptop when you already owe $200k in students loans) ........... I'm more apt to offer a discount to a single parent working 3 jobs..... or a parent of a kid who's in college!

We do have certain accounts with a couple dozen colleges who by systems from us and we try to offer those their quantity discount to students from those schools as well........ By other than that, I'd rather be more fair and give everyone the opportunity to get the same discount... at least on some sort of scale.. if they're members.

The few times we tried student discounts and required student ids be scanned and emailed...... I'd say half of them were forged..... I allowed the guys to let a few of the really good ones slide - but no one is going to beat me with a photoshop image... so that's sorta a bad idea....... Most of those people were former students who just forged the dates on their student ID......... that's borderline illegal... at least it's morally wrong.... so a better idea needs to be made up.

I'm not opposed to say offering a free aluminum breifcase to all members who buy a notebook and say a battery......... then maybe offer second level of earnings... maybe a discount on top of that for more senior members.....????

 

I think the ideas that have been suggested are good ones... some more freebies rather than a discount may be more effective.
What about throwing in a webcam... mouse... maybe an extra AC adapter?

Perhaps keeping the 1/2/3-5% discount for newbie members would be good...whereas senior/more contributing members get a partial discount and freebies? Or perhaps vice versa... whatever you can justify, Justin.

 

I signed up pretty early on here when I was looking at a laptop purchase. I also hung around the Dell forums for a bit after I purchased. I stopped in now again when friends were considering a laptop and asked my opinion (so I stopped in here to get one ) In general though, I only visited and posted when I was making a purchasing decision.

That said, you might as well implement a tiered system but don't expect too much activity at the upper tiers. Something free (like shipping) for the the first tier and discounts for later tiers. Also, for the upper tiers, I'd say weight the criteria on post count so you screen out people who have some "seniority" here but don't really contribute.... like myself.

Hope this helps.


PS. Placed an order for a W3V today (newegg)... had there been a discount/spif for old timers, and based on my reading of this forum and your helpful posts this past few weeks, I would have dseriously considered giving you my business. So, I would say that a small discount, combined with long time users familairity with you (i.e. a perception of helpfulness and credibility that you cultivate here), would help your business and the site.

 

You know... that's right..... 5% off on a system in this industry is like gold and very very hard for us to do.... that's why I would only want/or be able to, offer it to a select few who are really around here a lot....... I really wanted to give people the aluminum cases....... but that is not something I could give to absolutely everyone..... but people who just glance by the site want something. I don't want to offer someone who just registered today and has no posts the same thing that I'd give someone who's been around for a year and had hundreds of posts.. .it's just not fair to people who actually contribute.........

Right now - I'd say these are on the table

bundle specials........ maybe something like a free 2nd hard drive kit with purchase of a system? ($35.00)

aluminum briefcases ($145)

maybe the media center keyboards for W2v and Z83v buyers ($100)

Or.. maybe something like what we did with the W3 pre-orders..... wireless AP's, routers, wireless hard drive kits... ($70-100)

 

ok... I don't want this to turn into a "ok, I would never buy from you, so here's my idea" sort of thing, lol....... I find it amazing that even a 5% discount (which would cripple us if we offered it to many people) may not even be considered a huge deal.... which for us it's like offering the same discount I would give our employees families (as long as the employee does their own tech support ) -- anyway.....

Yeah, I see what you mean YummyPork........ but just so you understand the reason we had the program set at a number of posts and a length of membership was so people didn't come in and post like 50 useless posts a day just to get the discount.. that would end up making the forum a mess.......


With that said....... we also have another program which gets used a LOT, but after I did an audit the other day.... doesn't get used much from NBR members. We have a referral program which any customer of ours is automatically registered for. Anyone they refer to us and that customer mentions their name when ordering, they get a 3% commision in proportable dollars. We used to write out checks to everyone after every referral, but that got to be a lot of work and some punk decided to make copies of our checks and tried to cash "payroll checks" for $50-100,000... so I had them cut that off for those few reasons....... But basically, everyone who has an Asus laptop is referring someone else to buy one and once the customer has one, everyone they meet wants to know what it is and where they got it...... so it's not like they've got to go out and work the streets... it's really the easiest thing in the world and it's what I consider our "student program" because we started it for a couple of kids in college who said they loved their laptop but they couldn't go anywhere public on campus because people would come up to them and ask them about their computer. So we came up with this program to help two kids a couple years ago and those two kids actually ended up paying for their laptops before the school year was over. Since then we mainly get family and business partners who make use of the program...... I would totally expect more people from this forum to use it..... or at least know about it... The ONLY requirement I've got with this program is that they can't refer other forum members..... someone tried to do that last year and this one forum basically had a few guys going head to head and getting new people to mention their name if they bought something.... So basically what I'd do is have this program and the NBR member program and if someone made use of the member program, then no one could refer them..... So that helps limit that little weird issue.

 

I didn't mean to put down the magnitude that a 5% rebate is for you. I know that margins are tight in your business, but that’s exactly why a ‘small’ rebate wouldn’t matter much to me (I know that it’s *your* bread and butter). Prices tend to be so similar that it won’t matter much to the customer in the grand scheme of things. A positive shopping experience, on the other hand, do.

Also note that I wrote ‘it doesn’t even have to be big stuff’. I wouldn’t expect you to run something like that case promo indefinitely. A BT-dongle or a webcam for models without those, a 2.5’ HD enclosure for people ordering an extra HD with a system, maybe a BT headset for a higher end model with internal BT. These things shouldn’t set you back more than $15-$30 and will be greatly appreciated, because these are things that people only realize they want after the purchase, and are rarely big revenue generators for a shop. Call it a mystery gift (or let people pick), whatever.

Sorry if you think I’m out of line answering you not being a potential customer.

 

No no.. I realize that... but offering a smaller discount to lesser members just helps us give an excuse when those people who aren't even registered want the big member discount... we can say, sorry, but rules are rules and it's not hard to at least get to the first level......... but I totally understand what you're saying and appreciate the input!

t-shirts and polo's and things like that also aren't a bad idea..... my only problem is when we get stuff made it's "only the best"... and it ends up costing a fortune because I actually have them go out and by actual polo golf shirts and have them embroidered or something....

All the input helps....

 

$1500 Laptop will now cost $1425 roughly with a 5% discount, savings of $75, which is basicaly the price of one or two upgrades.

$2000 Laptop will now cost $1905 roughly with a 5% discount,
savings of $95, which is basicaly the price of one or two upgrade.

To the people, do you (we) think this is good? Besides even to get a 5% discount will take 6 months, so you would basicaly havta wait 6 months to save 75$... not worth it so alot of people.

Overall, ask the people of wht they also think, maybe run a poll.

Hence, its a nice thing to do, but to me won't affect the forums at all in my opinion, and the discounts take too long to reach for a person who wants a laptop within a month or even within a week. =\

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

... This isn't made to make people wait... it's made to benefit community members..... if someone wanted to wait it out for a discount like that... then they're stupid -- but you know people would do it....... Those discounts are mainly to give back to the people who are actually giving to the forum..... as the forum grows, it means more people are getting systems and spreading the word about them... and in turn people have to buy them, so there is a benefit to us obviously........ but it's to help those people who have talked about them for a long time and finally are able to afford them..... or those looking for another laptop... etc... The same reason I mean the post and time requirements were sorta for that reason.

If I said you must be a member for a month but no posts needed -- some people would sign up and then get a computer in a month....... but not contribute to the forum, which is what I'd like to see..... I mean, this isn't even our forum and I'd still like to see it grow.

If I said 75 posts but no time limit, then they'd post dumb posts in a weekend and cloud the forum with useless junk....

There's a good and a bad no matter how you look at it, but I'll consider extras as opposed to discounts and or a mixture of both some how.

 

My opinion when somebody buys a notebook from your place they should be given a one time use coupon.. The coupon will be good for various items.. such as a notebook mouse, a computer game, notebook carrying bag or notebook protection case, sleeve.

business users would probably prefer a high quality carrying bag while the gaming user would prefer a computer video game such as battlefield 2 and etc.

The coupon will be good for one time on their next purchase of a new notebook if they do not plan to use the coupon they can give it to a friend and the friend will be given the choice of these extra gifts.

that is one extra thing.. not sure how good it is going to work however.. people might start selling their coupons for other people to use.. maybe not allow the sale of the coupon and just a gift.. no begging of a coupon should be allowed either.

another one: *special* pay just .01 cent for ground shipping.

- And your discount for the halloween holidays wasnt too bad... maybe a christmas holiday coupon.. That would start from black friday and ends on christmas day.

- or maybe pricematching? stuff like that

just a couple of recommendations.

 

Humm... good ideas.... the price matching won't happen because of contractual obligations with Asus, but the other ideas may work.

 

Hmmmm good point..

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but how about a 'laptop starter kit' with like, a retractable USB/Ethernet cable, a microfibre clothe, or something..

Something that's normally a hassle for a regular person to find..

True, 5% isn't really that eye catching, a large flashing red 'FREE' sign would catch eyes easier

 

How about we just put all these good ideas to rest and just send me a free W3V?

haha..

 

Put all these good ideas to rest just to do a bad one?
riiiiiight....

 

That's a good idea, and if you still wanted to "teir" it, you could offer additional things to more senior members, such as free upgraded overnight shipping for the same price as ground or added memory or free upgraded capacity hard drives for the price of a slightly lower model.

 

ok as you can see I'm new to this forum but am finding myself clicking here a few times a day to learn some interesting tips everyday


I sell notebooks at work (salesman) a few toshiba, some acer, and most importantly ASUS . I really do know what your margins are like, and sometimes customers dont understand that making 5 to 10% on a notebook can be concidered as a good profit...

Our customers ALWAYS ask for a discount, and obviously its not always possible, expecially on new models.

BUT one thing we do for customers is give them a discount only if they take out a extra warranty, or buy other accessories with a bit of markup on them

This is just a suggestion, but possibly you could give those seriour members (1000 posts +) and regular posters only maybe a discounted extended warranty?
I'm not sure how large your business is, or if that is finantially viable for you to offer, but people dont mind forking out money if they know its a safe purchase.

2nd option.
knowing that % discounts are hard to give on notebooks, perhaps give more genorous discounts on other accessories. (I liked the idea of the extra batteries) Or freebee USE flash drives, those are always good to have around...


I'm sure you'll figure something practical and easy to implement. At the end of the day its your business and any discount anyone gets should be seen as a privilage and not a right as a forum member. Just nice to see someone give something back for once.....


Jonathan

 

RIght....... Well we already give everyone a stanard 2 year warranty and have a really cheap 3rd year availabe -considering the dangers we're thinking of bumping the cost of that 3rd year way up... because we're not getting what a best buy or some one else may get for extended warranty and service.

I don't really like the idea of free crap...... and by crap I mean crap..... Most people give out stuff that isn't selling or that they have a ton of...... that's a great idea, but I set the quality and professional levels of this company and I know what I'd love to get ........ In the spring when we gave away $100 wireless AP's with W3 pre-orders... I thought that was great... and a few people really thanked me for coming up with that plan........ The truth is, that cut in the the margins a lot... there isn't much to work with on the wireless and that's basically $90 for that $100 item... I thought maybe people would actually use them and talk about how generous of a gift it was and how great of a wireless product it really is............... something that might boost the sales of the wireless stuff which is truely first class.......... that never really happened in this forum because everyone who bought a w3 at that time basically went back to work and left the forum..... I'm not afraid to suggest good things to give out with out systems, but I'd expect more talk about it and maybe thank you's for something wicked cool like a $100 wireless AP that is usefull and something that may never have bought, but use every day........ than a $5 usb flash drive that they never use...... I might just be thinking about this wrong, but if that flash drive is what they want then great...... they lose out I guess....


Just thought I'd make this thread to get an idea of what others thought so I can help come up with a final decision.

 

i like coriolis' idea about those small items that are usually a hassle to find. another idea may be to do a sort of package deal or kits for things that are related. for example if someone buys a laptop and decides to get an extra main battery maybe throw in a free extra ac adapter. or people getting a modular battery may get a discount on a wireless ap or router seeing as they want to stay on the go as much as possible. people getting a port bar could get a kensington lock for free or at discount or a mouse or something. this would solve the issue of people getting freebies that they wouldnt use as it provides them with something related to what they're getting and so are more likely to use them. It doesnt even have to be based solely on what extra accessories they purchase but maybe a certain combination of upgrades that they choose might warrant a certain freebie or discount off some related accessory.

 

how about senior members get discounted upgrades?
For example... if they spend 2000+ on a barebone, they get a free/discounted upgrade to xx MB of RAM or free upgrade to xx CPU speed...
perhaps the more they spend, the better discount/freebee is given?

 

I think this is the best idea yet. As I mentioned above, I just placed and order for a W3V and am driving myself nuts worrying about dead pixels... Work hard, contribute, help other... get a bit of peace of mindfor cheap. It's got a "good karma" feel to it.

 

Oh no... I mean we have the reputation and the backing...... so I find it funny when I talk to our sales guys saying they're getting emails and calls from nervous people who are wondering if we got the order and making sure we're not going to screw them..... they had to find us someplace and if they're looking for an Asus notebook, we have a name for ourselves and an easily searchable rep....... that's never been the issue.

But yeah... as said above.. it's like a karma thing.... we don't want people making dumb posts just to get a discount, we want to reward those who are helping the forum --- if you figure they are doing it for no reason other than just to help and for somethign to do... then any discount or special for them is just that..... it's just that adults are just as bad as kids and they want something someone else gets even when there is a clear description that it's a "special like club discount".....

 

Well if you like then, I suppose you could always have three lists of 'extra' goodies, one list for each tier and then the members here could choose the gift/discount that they like. That way you can engineer it in a way you can arrange the gifts and/or discount you so dont go under.

Nothing quite like picking your own prize


hope you didnt find that idea stupid :decision:

 

there are some people who could careless about a warranty.. like me i baby my notebook so i could care less about my warranty.. if it breaks i fix it lol.. i rather get a discounted price of -$100 for having no warranty than having a warranty thats my opinion. So warranty wise it might not favor some people..

 

same here, i don't really care about warranty. if components break it will likely to happen under one year. i'll rather have some free stuff like external speaker than $100 off.

 

I would go for the free aluminum case or maybe a battery that was mentioned earlier.

I just got my z70va and to be honest the reason why I didn't order from you guys is that your prices are ~$100 or more above other vendors for any given configuration. I realize you might have a different cost structure or you spend more on support or something, but because of this I don't think a discount would really have any effect.

I think if you included some good accessories that an owner will buy anyway would have a greater effect. For example, I am now looking into getting a port bar and that battery that goes in the drive bay. If someone had some sort of deal that included one of these with the laptop that would have definitely influenced my decision of who to buy from.

 

Justin...I've owned several of my own businesses over the last 10 years and I would consider myself a seasoned veteran in the area of sales promotions etc. I'm sure your business savvy customers will recognize that a 3-5% discount is serious for a big ticket Item. Anyone who works in purchasing or a credit department for a company is used to seeing things like 2% 10net30 terms and yet not giving terms at all but handling credit card transactions with the built in percentages you have to pay to process those transactions I'd say you are being very generous. Despite this I know that much of the forum viewers here are college age students and other things besides discounts will appeal to them. With regard to participation in the forum I think that time on board has to be taken into consideration for the higher discounts. I am on the forum almost every day learning although I don't participate in a discussion unless I have something significant to say. I have around a 100 posts but I've been in here for 7 or 8 months. I never do a one line post and you wouldn't have the time or wherewithall to determine how many posts an individual makes are useless or useful. To be fair a combination of time in and/or posts should be taken into consideration. Regarding the promotions.....the discounts are one option I would definitely take advantage of but you might also want to calculate based on post/time a reward points system that would allow inclusion of certain accessories in the purchase price based on contribution to forum and or time in like a memory upgrade or a USB flash drive or a bigger or faster hard drive in a customizable configuration.

 

You should have people write essays explainning why they deserver 5-10% discount. Depending on the validity of reason, discount will be disburse in varying degree. LOL. Actually i was thinking if you give extended warrantee to those that have 1000+ post or are senior member. Chance are they're intermediate to advance user and usually do not rely on their warrantt so much. Even I am willing to take just 1 year warranty instead of 2 if that will decrease the cost the system just by a little bit. I think the Gift Certificate or Coupon idea is very plausible. if set at like $50 Gift Certificate per $1500. Then set limitation on it. Like certain brand, or in your case mostly ASUS. Either that or make it a coupon for 50$ with minimum purchase of ####

Man i'm not complainning. Too bad i'm not qualify for the 5% discount. I just recently cancelled my order from another company and at the moment searching for dealer who will start shipping the Z33AE soon. To some 5% isn't much but with that much i can upgrade a few thing. Or buy some protection like sleeves
EDIT: LOL Got so absorbed in reading this thread I forgot the whole feedback from senior member only. I have no objection to my post being remove

 

All suggestions are welcome I would think, I'm pretty sure ALL the senior members already have ASUS laptops and probrbaly can't afford another one as of yet haha

$50 for $1500 is like a 3% coupon isn't it? heh

 

I'm not a senior member so you can ignore this if you want.

Actually I am partial to the idea of "freebies" although it's only the useful freebies that are actually the ones I remember. Perhaps 'useful' isn't the right word. Anyways, maybe you could have a tier system for members and give out free cordless mice for notebooks (i.e. Logitech mice). I don't work for Logitech. But think about it; if everyone is buying a notebook, they expect some sort of mobility, even from a DTR, when they're carting the notebook back during winter break or what have you. The cordless mouse is compatible with the mobility theme. The constant and regular use of a mouse will allow them to appreciate the "freebie" and its cordless feature is more like a wow factor, as well as the bragging rights of a small, portable, compact mouse.

So when someone comes up to a person and asks what kind of notebook they have, they can say "Asus", and oh look, I got this cordless mouse for free and it's really useful. You could implement a tier system based on the type of mice, V200, V270, V400, V500 (mice with BT, laser, etc). Everyone needs a mouse--and it's a lot more probable that they'll be thinking about the free mouse more than an AP they connect to everyday; they don't necessarily see the AP daily. But they interact with the mice. Also, using different mice from computer to computer might remind them how much they appreciate their own cordless mouse, when they have to deal with some wired fiasco or something. Just my two cents.

 

Alot of ASUS laptops have free Logitech wireless mouse+Targus rebranded bag anyways(All have bags, ENSEMBLE have mice?)

 

My Z63a came with a bag and a cordless logitech mouse

 

a problem was that the w3v ensemble came with a logitech mouse with a usb reciever when the system already has built in bluetooth.. should've just given a bluetooth mouse instead one that needs an extra paper weight.

 

.... do you know the difference in the cost of the logitech bluetooth mouse? Also, logitech didn't even make a bluetooth notebook mouse till about a month ago. It would be a great idea but I'm sure we're going to see them on next year's models as the cost goes down and supply goes up.

 

Difference between Logitech V200 and V270 is approximately $20 (give or take, dependent on where you look).

 

... now and that's also one of the cheapest bt mice out there.... since production to retail on something like the W3 is about a month and half... technically they couldn't have even had any of these included with systems at this point if they wanted to. But prior to the v270, the only logitech bt mice they could have included were much more expensive and full-sized.... since logitech is who Asus deals with, it would have had to been from them.

..... but I guess the bottom line is... it's a *free* bonus... they don't have to include anything and it doesn't decrease the value of the system.......... but lets get back on track because this thread isn't about Asus.

 

Well, I haven't gone through and read all this, but I did read most of the posts on the first page. And I would have to say I disagree with everyone's comments in general there. I will be buying a new notebook probably early on next year. From what I have seen, and with how much I like my wife's W5A, I will probably be getting an ASUS. And having dealt with Justin personally a time or two here, I would prefer to purchase a notebook from his site rather than some random site on the internet.

Now given that I will probably be taking advantage of this program if it is still in effect when I purchase a new computer, I would really rather have the initial plan put into effect than the free items people had mentioned. First, I like the idea of a tiered system, since it would be nice for the people that have helped so many people on this site (including helping me ALOT!!) get a little bit more. While 5% may not be much, I would gladly take any discount I can get.

As far as free items, I have just never been a fan of that. Sure, an aluminum case is great for those that would use it, but for people like me, you really get no benefit out of it. At least with money, EVERYONE can take advantage of it, even if it is only $100.

Anyway, just wanted to throw in my 2 cents. Thanks for helping us out no matter what you do Justin!!

 

um im new. hope u dun mind.

i have a suggestion. though on hindsight, might make it a tad too much.

how bout timing since recent posting? like how long ago was the last post, coupled with how many posts and how old is the membershp..

or.. time in between posts. erm. not sure, but is it possible to keep track of what was the longest time in between posts? then u can set a minimum threshold to alert you before you check out the guy..

but you know no matter how you look at it, people will just find a way to go around it if they really want to.

maybe you should just it's subject to approval. heh.

oh on the topic of whether it's cash or freebie? i personally think freebie is good, but give them the option to cash it in- like how much it would sell outside if they were to sell it. u can give like ur in-store pricing or something.. anw..

two cents, without the 5% discount

 

Yeah, there's never going to be a 5% discount... it's a little too much to absorb.... But there is no "in-store" pricing.... customers will pay the same locally as they do online and if anything, online pricing would be cheaper... honestly, that's just how it goes.

We settled on shipping and ram sticks and a combination of shipping and a percentage off as options..... a LONG time ago.... I thank you for your new comments, but just for experience, I set it up so that a lot of people could use the program, but we've got to make them participate in the forum.... There's something like 23,000 members and 21,000 have less than 10 posts....... 1,500 have less than 50 posts... and the last 500 are between 50 and 5,000 posts..... so the program would suit the masses right where we have it.... but it can always be modifed.

 

Since I have been dealing with online vendors for approximately the past 5 years or so, I can honestly say the only "free" items I have gotten were crappy..free stickers and such. If something were free, I usually wouldnt expect much from it, although what you are trying to do for this forum seems to be very respectable.

Honestly, I do not believe post count should matter. I have been a member of forums where post count mattered, and they did the infamous one liners or instead of helping someone with there question they respond with "lmao!!! i love cheese and chilli" or something along those lines.

I do like the tiered idea. a small % off is much better then nothing, and being a student, I will take any discount I can (hehe). Saving on shipping, or getting accessories at 1/2 price would be nice....BUT these promotions do not have to run all the time. you can have seasonal promotions (winter/fall you can have sleeves given out to keep your laptop from getting "cold" while traveling, spring/summer you can give out discounted wireless products to promote portability/travel in the nicer weather), or holiday promotions. Nothing too drastic or too often, but quality discounts do mean something to me. I dont care about a free sticker or a pair of cheap headphones, but something that I can actually *USE* with my new purchase, would sweeten the deal. In fact, it is one less thing I need to buy, and knowing that it will be something of decent quality..i wont have to re-buy it.

When i bought my dell monitor for my desktop, I specifically waited for when they had a deal on it ($150 off iirc) since they have them every other week.

In your case, I will assume that you are not the size of dell and cannot afford huge discounts like this (500 monitor for 350 + tax/shipping), but like I said above...QUALITY over QUANTITY. dell has crappy support (speaking in my case, me dealing with them for my father), and my fathers laptop from dell seems to flex/creak almost everywhere. they cut corners just to lower their prices. I would rather spend the money to have a solid build, knowing it will last, reliable, and of course reliable tech support when needed (if ever).

this is all IMHO of course, and I am a noob on these forums, but ive been around the block on a few others.. thanks for reading

pb,out.

 

... I think someone lost track that I asked for senior forum members opinions..... not that the above don't matter, but the exact reason those who are new think membership time and post count don't matter are always those who are new members with no posts....

..... there is nothing wrong with that... so don't think I'm pissed off or anything.... but where I see the problem is that those of you forget why we started it.... It was started to increase forum interaction and get "trolls" off their ass and asking and responding to questions. Our post count is ridiculous, I make more posts than we require in day.... so to keep from dumb posts, we add a length of time.... if you can't wait, tough... that's my opinion. I want people to not only use the forum, but expand the community. If someone can decide on a laptop in under two weeks and with less than 10 question or comments.... they're probably not doing enough research.

Now, I know it may be hard for some to understand, but this is about growing the community (which in the end helps my company and the fellow members, without a doubt). The rewards are minimal but so is the profit margin in any type of hardware sales... so minimal in terms of the cost of the product is one thing, but sizeable in terms of percentage of profit. It's meant to give people who join the community and plan on staying and helping, something back for their help when going to purchase their system..... it's to make them feel all special and warm inside, while knowing it's a perk of "joining the club".

Like I said, no one should take offense to it, but I think most people get it and like it that way..... there's nothing that pisses me off more than the trolls who take my email and say they came across this forum and want the discount or whatever and when I tell them they need to be a member and post, they simply say they don't want. That's fine, but if you want to absorb all the knowledge we all put into this forum..... and don't want to contribute even remotely, then like hell are you also going to benefit from further discounts. It may just be my way of thinking, but I hope this post makes others understand.

But to comment about one thing from the above post.... certain places do certain things.... in the case of what you're wondering... you do realize that when you put your name on something it becomes yours and therefore you tell people what it costs and if you tell people it costs more than it does and then give them "deals", they'll eat it up. If you combine that with quantity.... the "cost" comes way down. So, lets throw out the window the fact that they are on a totally different profit margin than anyone else in this industry and can make more money on a $1,000 system than we could make on a $2,000 system...... and yet with piss poor quality and support.... they get return business because they replaced parts that broke (that shouldn't have in the first place).... and in the end these repeat zombie buyers think that a computer lasts for a year, year and half and then you need a one....... You said it, I just needed to vent.....

 

hey, i dont take it offensively..the reason for this forum is to learn, and help others when I can. i recently joined this forum, mostly because of the way the forum was setup. it had reviews, forums for each manufacturer, etc...i didnt not even notice that there were vendors registered on the website until i saw your post last night!

and i do realize that you asked for senior members only, but this is a public forum, and hey..i like to share my opinions.

i understand what you are saying about "deals" if laptop x costs $1000, but you charge $1500 ..yea its easier to give a deal since you will still make a large profit on it..but if that laptop cost $1000 for you, and your selling at $1100, there is barely any room for profit there...this is why i brought up the quality vs quantity.

(speaking for myself, i would rather spend more cash *knowing* that i have a company backing me, who sells quality laptops gives quality support and is knowledgeable, over saving $100-$200 and getting smacked around by their company if anything does go wrong.)

i do agree that the senior members deserve a bigger discount then the forum newbie who stops reading/helping after they get what they needed out of people.

(i do think im on the same page as you, just on a different line)

pb,out.

 

I gotcha... no I liked your post and the thoughts you had.... the reason I original request more senior members was becasue otherwise you get these newbies who just think about themselves and not the group and waste people's time by suggesting whatever will serve them the best. Most senior members already have systems or aren't going to be buying for a while...

I think the real problem is people think there's more money being made than there really is.... so their suggestions are too far fetched and they don't appreciate what we're able to offer because they don't realize how big of a deal it is for us... because you have other companies who can give $750-$1000 off their systems...... what that should tell people is that they'd be crazy to ever pay full price for a system from those places... because when you do, there's obviously a TON of money that's being made on you... that just doesn't cross the lines to companies who sell quality products. The sad fact is, we have to compete with those other companies and therefore our products are a better value because the margins are tighter to at least get into the same range as some of those other names.... so we take less to compete on a similiar level... while they take more on crappier products just because they can.

I think we're on the same line.. lol