On Fri, 24 Feb 1995 07:03:19 PST Dave Gomberg <[log in to unmask]> said: >So you see, I am very happy with what is happening. It is LONG overdue. >Do you agree? No, I don't agree :-) The lists we're talking about are clearly not idle. If they didn't generate any traffic in months, people wouldn't bother sending 10 requests for help a week each to find a new home. If you find that the lists aren't worth your time, you don't need to be asked for $1 a month to sign off. You can ask yourself the question even if the list is free - adopt a policy that you won't stay on lists unless you think you would be willing to pay $1 per month for them :-) Again Dave the problem is not having to pay $1 per month, but actually performing the payment. Let's say you're on 10 lists that each require a $1 contribution every month, and let's further assume that you've agreed the contents are worth $10/month to you. If a central organization would automatically debit $10 from your credit card every month, you would be happy. But that's not the way it works. There will be several providers and several list owners. You're going to have to make 10 payments to 10 different people - individuals who can't take credit card orders, besides you can't bill $1 on a credit card and make money unless this is all handled by a computer (I'm not even sure you can debit as little as $1). Even quarterly payments of $3 would still be a royal pain. You'd have to go with yearly payments to reach a level where the overhead becomes reasonable. And imagine the list owner having to process 200-500 checks every year. Now, that's assuming you're paying $1, but in fact you won't be paying $1. The list owner won't want to make a profit, just cover the charges, which are some $500-750/year depending on size (I don't have handy access to our price list from where I'm typing this). So we're talking about collecting $1-2 a *year* from hundreds of people. Loads of fun... Eric