Membership benefits?

[ecoreefguy]

I notice that there's a few forums that indoor have access to. I know this might sound selfish, but besides funding speakers and meetings( which I will personally have a very difficult time attending due to scheduling conflicts and distance they usually are from me), I'm somewhat curious about benefits to me as an individual to subscribing as a member. I recently purchased a few things and when asked about the discounts that would com along with membership, I was told that nothing I plan to purchase would be discounted, regardless if I have membership or not. I ended up buying it anyways lol, but still left me pondering. Please advise if I am missing out on slmething.

I will likely never sell livestock as most friends will have priority over anyone else
I will missed 99 percent of functions and events due to work

 

[jbdreefs]

1) you support the administrative costs of the club, like the costs for our server.
2) there is a 10% discount on purchases (I am sure some exclusions apply), but considering the amount of livestock, tests, salt, supplements, etc that we buy, it doesn't take long to recoup your membership fee.
3) access to all forums and threads
4) larger private message inbox
5) avatar

I am probably missing some...

 

[hiimsean]

They fund give-a-ways, which are pretty nice, as well as the end of the year party which IMO are worth it alone. Also you get to vote for new leadership each year, again this is huge since it will shape our club and how those funds are spent for the coming year(s).

My wife and I paid, including my initial membership, $70 to the club to make sure she could attend the party the last two December. This year's for us would have been around $200, the year before with the seven course meal would have been more I'm sure.

 

[stacy22]

EcoReefGuy;1005977 wrote: I notice that there's a few forums that indoor have access to. I know this might sound selfish, but besides funding speakers and meetings( which I will personally have a very difficult time attending due to scheduling conflicts and distance they usually are from me), I'm somewhat curious about benefits to me as an individual to subscribing as a member. I recently purchased a few things and when asked about the discounts that would com along with membership, <span style="color: blue">I was told that nothing I plan to purchase would be discounted, regardless if I have membership or not.</span> I ended up buying it anyways lol, but still left me pondering. Please advise if I am missing out on slmething.

I will likely never sell livestock as most friends will have priority over anyone else
I will missed 99 percent of functions and events due to work

Please PM me, rdnelson99, or any other BoD member with the details of what was denied. If sponsors are not honoring their agreement we need to know about it.

As far as why join? Here are some reasons to go along with those John already mentioned.
1) There are some awesome people here in this club. I'm talking about people who will drop what they are doing to give someone a hand even if it's the middle of the night.

2) Our (ARC) presence helps with promoting conservation and proper care of animals.

3) We have some top-notch sponsors that rival any in the country.

4) ARC is going to be doing some pretty cool things this year (and hopefully onward) that will be awesome to be involved with.

5) $30 for a year's membership to ARC is less than a trip for two to a 2 hour movie. :up:

 

[organ builder]

My partner and I live in Stone Mountain. We have the luxury of having several sponsors near enough to us that we can shop around. What they discount will vary from store to store, so it does depend on what you are purchasing. I'm not sure I've ever seen a club discount apply to salt, for instance, because most store already sell it at a heavily discounted price. Some stores only offer discounts on hard goods, others offer discounts on livestock. If you're buying things on sale, it is quite possible you could get out without the club membership giving you any extra discounts.

That said, we just renewed our membership. Last year was our first year in the hobby, and we have a 215 gallon display tank (Go Big or Go Home, I guess--but we bought it off the forum and it was SUCH a DEAL)! It took us less than two months to recoup the membership fee. That was before we went to the Christmas party...

I'd be hard pressed to name anything else in my life right now which costs so little for the savings involved.

 

[Jaycen B.]

JBDreefs;1005981 wrote: 1) you support the administrative costs of the club, like the costs for our server.
2) there is a 10% discount on purchases (I am sure some exclusions apply), but considering the amount of livestock, tests, salt, supplements, etc that we buy, it doesn't take long to recoup your membership fee.
3) access to all forums and threads
4) larger private message inbox
5) avatar

I am probably missing some...

I thought google had that covered....

sorry I couldn't help it.

 

[ecoreefguy]

I stated earlier, besides the community support and the selfish disclaimer, I was more interested in personal benefits. I purchased quite a few pieces of equipment from several sponsors, all of which did not honor my friends membership in the items I purchased , but the stores were more than helpful so it wasn't too big of a deal. The supplements and maintenance items were actually quite a bit cheaper on Amazon than any stores I saw when I was out. One store even had the Reeflink for twice as much as online and when I asked them about it, their response was "buy it online" which put me back a bit, so I most likely will not return. As for forums, I was looking over a members access. I think I lack the ability to view " rants and complaints" which I found odd, and post in a few sections.

The main reason which I found valid for me to be a member is helping the staff and maintenance cost. Which I understand can be of great strain and stress, that alone deserves support, but it seems that should be a donation vs a membership fee.

 

[rdnelson]

All of the reasons given are very valid. But here are some of the biggest ones for me. When I joined, other members immediately started treating me a little bit different. I became one of them. If the money side of it was my number one concern, it paid for itself over night. I had members giving me stuff right and left. While that is nice, it is only a perc. Watching the club help beginners is great. Seeing them give over $12,000 to research to better the hobby, the natural reefs and possibly the health of the humane race alone is worth my $30. But you know what the real reason is for me? It's the right thing to do. Plain and simple.

 

[ecoreefguy]

I understand all of that, but I'm asking for purely personal benefits.

 

[kevinbeth]

^ Because it's the right thing to do. If you use something you should contribute.

 

[ecoreefguy]

But wouldn't that be classified as a donation and not a fee?

 

[ecoreefguy]

To clarify I did do some reading. For long time users it seems it's more than worth it to support something you've been a part of . But it's also seems that a lot of members with low thread count join exclusively to buy and sell, than move on.

 

[kevinbeth]

I feel like you are looking for drama now, could be wrong. I'm out

 

[mattgee87]

To join a community, to be a part of something. If it helps you "feel better" then think of it as a donation. The bills have to be paid and if you make something donation only , then its like the salvation army stores , do you see anything in there you would actually want to keep? Reason you typically don't see a lot of nice things is people don't just donate for the good of mankind and if they do its because it was now trash to them and they don't want to deal with it. ARC would be the same way, but since we a required to pay , we are able to have such great events and giveaways. IF you only worried about what the club can do for you then this may not be the place for you. Its 30 dollars for one year of membership. That is less then a tank of gas, a 36 pack of beer, a cellphone bill, Xbox live membership and you get so much more.

 

[bulkrate]

Seems you've gotten the answer... but OK:
Selfish personal reasons:
<ul>
<li>10 percent off and periodic group-buy access easily recoups the $30-45 per year cost. I know you've had issues getting said discount, but most livestock and foods tend to qualify - call around before you go shopping and you should be able to figure out which store becomes your go-to destination for what.</li>
<li>Trades and purchases with other members tend to be better values than even the above or from online vendors.</li>
<li>Someday you'll have one of those "desperately need help" situations, and a couple PMs to other members you've put some effort into gettign to know will get you all the help you need.</li>
<li>Even if you make it to almost none of the club gatherings (as I have unfortunately not) making time for the annual coral swap and holiday party easily puts you into a 10-fold return category.</li>
</ul>

A little more on that last one - my wife and I went back to Oak Steakhouse for my birthday, having enjoyed it so much when the ARC event was held there. Same food & drink with some minor changes, check came to be 4x what the membership + attendance fee was. Still a great experience... but a much better deal when the club came a callin'.

Less selfish personal reasons:
<ul>
<li>We're one (if not "the") of the largest non-profit reef clubs in the country. Do it for the reefs! Or the children! Or whatever initiatives we've collectively funded! ( for example, acro eating flatworm study and treatment got some actual research attention this year)</li>
<li>The community - probably the main reason I pay up each year even though my work also makes me a hermit, too.</li>
</ul>

 

[rdnelson]

EcoReefGuy;1006015 wrote: I understand all of that, but I'm asking for purely personal benefits.

Based on your initial question and subsequent responses, I don't think you will understand what I am saying but I will try 1 more time.

Purely personal, selfish reason #1....because of the people. Nuff said.

 

[ecoreefguy]

If this has felt like drama I do apologize. So I will leave this as my final thought.
The 10% was the reason I was interested in joining ( selfish I know) . But even if I had been a member none of the stores I went to it called would even honor the 10% on any items I asked about... Well one did but item was marked at 199.99 instead of 99.99. Even with livestock, I asked if I ordered something would a discount be applied if I were a member. Some said yes, but when they quoted the livestock was extremely high in price compare to places that would not discount on items being ordered. So the 10% is really hit or miss it seems. This hold true for many items live or dry. I'm not sure what meeting you are referring to about, but I'm guessing there a fee to enter for non member which is perfectly understandable there is. This is the first time I have heard of a large annual meeting. My purchaed so far from members have been very nice, I have had no complaints on them or their professionalism in shipping. Paying for something and not attending might not be for me though. I will try my best to make at least one meeting to try to talk to members , it's much more personal that way and the reasoning may sound much better vs text on a screen. I think rdnesldom said donations are made which ties in with the fact that this is non profit. As a member are you allow to see where funds are allocated? If so I would definitely sign up if a large portion is towards conservation. Would I be less of a trouble maker if I asked these questions as a member? Or does it feel like that because I'm asking very selfishly? Again im sorry if I'm coming off as drama, I'm honestly trying to validate things. For those that will meet me at later time, I will admit that my personality can be odd, regardless if it's 30
Or 300, I will sometimes over analyze

 

[tonymission]

One thing you need to realize is that it will NEVER apply to MAP pricing products. Looks like you're talking about a Reeflink ??

Ecotech, apex, etc. all have controlled pricing from the manufacturer. So high end items, yep-- you pay the same price locally plus tax. Buy it local to support and have it the same day. Don't need it the same day then don't buy locally especially if the price is double.

Think about it, really shouldn't take you more than a trip or two buying some livestock and you're set,

Personally, being able to participate in the buy/sell forum and meet people that way has been more than worth it.

I'm pretty selfish. Didn't know anyone here before I joined so obviously it was just for me. Worked out fine.

 

[meeetch]

How long does it take to get my membership card?

 

[tonymission]

Meeetch;1006055 wrote: How long does it take to get my membership card?

Forever. Lol..... Sorry


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