HELEN’S PAGE UPDATE: Hi Instapundit readers. Last month, we discussed relaunching Helen’s Page, a place where liberty-minded people meet and help each other socially and economically through buying products, selling books, meet-ups etc. I am in the process of setting up a beta site but need your input on access and pricing. In order to keep out trolls, etc. and to pay for the site, I would like to try a subscription model such as the following:
The usual model for a site like this is to view pages for free and pay a fee to post. We’ve chosen a subscription model for the sake of user privacy. For $4.99 a month you get to view all the postings on the site, respond directly to posters by direct-messaging (so that no one has to post a public email address) and to post up to 50 times a month. Additional posts are $2.99 each. Listings can be designated public, or members-only.
Those wanting to post a one-time notice can do so for $9.99, and will be able to hear from, and respond to, people replying to their notice, but won’t have full community privileges.
Categories include job offers, jobs sought, book promotions, business advertisements, product advertising, auto sales, meetups, etc. Anything from a book launch to a virtual yard sale!
There’s also a “headlines of the day” section where you can post links to news stories that you think deserve attention.
This is just an example of how the site could work but I would love to hear your suggestions for pricing as well as your willingness to use a site that has subscriptions or a one time posting fee. Let me know in the comments either way and/or make other suggestions that might be more suitable.