(Topic ID: 173588)

Announcing Pinside Shops!

By robin

7 years ago


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  • Latest reply 2 years ago by swinks
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    Post #1 Announcement and summary of new Pinside Shops feature. Posted by robin (7 years ago)

    Post #54 First round of changes made based on Pinsider feedback. Posted by robin (7 years ago)

    Post #101 Promotion box feature change Posted by Xerico (7 years ago)

    Post #171 Response to suggestions made by Pinsiders. Posted by Martijn (7 years ago)

    Post #177 Feedback provided including mention of sales fee cap. Posted by Martijn (7 years ago)


    Topic indices are generated from key posts and maintained by Pinside Editors. For more information, or to become an editor yourself read this post!

    There are 237 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 5.
    11
    #1 7 years ago

    Announcing Pinside Shops!


    Pinside Shops is a brand new section of the Pinside Marketplace aimed specifically at aftermarket pinball parts and mods (new, from stock or built to order). It’s the counterpart of the Classifieds section in the Pinside Marketplace (which is meant for second-hand listings).

    Background


    When we set out to create our Marketplace, our intention was to build a platform for used games and parts where Pinsiders could list their games for sale (or place wanted ads). But since the mods and aftermarket parts “industry” has really set off, we are seeing an huge surge in new/original items placed on the Marketplace. From flipper bat toppers to led kits, illuminated aprons and mirror blades. As well as many game-specific mods: we love them! But they do conflict with what our original intent for a secondhand marketplace - plus they’re a pain for sellers to maintain due to the auto-expiring nature of Marketplace ads.

    A brand new section of the Pinside Marketplace, aimed specifically at aftermarket pinball parts and mods Enter Pinside Shops. Shop items are the counterpart for classified ads and are meant for listing new aftermarket parts and mods in a sellers own little space on Pinside. Essentially anything that is newly created and probably delivered from a stock supply.

    Imagine being able to see everything sellers on Pinside are offering for the games in your collection. Go ahead and check out the personalized shops offerings for games in your collection!

    Pinside shopping cart


    One of the cool features of Pinside Shops is that Pinsiders can immediately add items to their shopping cart on Pinside. Pinside handles orders, payments and tools for communication between shop owner (seller) and Pinsider (buyer). Your cart is persistent (i.e. "remembered" as it does not time out) and doubles as a wishlist: you can hold as many items from as many shops in your cart as you wish. But don’t wait too long with ordering for items can still sell out regardless of having them in your cart! Another advantage of the Pinside shopping cart is that Pinside remembers your shipping address(es), which can then be used for any order at any shop on Pinside. .

    Product and shop reviews (coming soon)


    This is a planned feature that will allow customers to place a review about their experience with a shop as well as review the shop items they bought. Pinside is a community and we feel that reviews/ratings are an important aspect of our shops ecosystem. On the other hand, we also believe in protecting shops from foul play and therefore only actual customers can review items. Plus we offer the shop the option to reply to any feedback that gets published.

    Promo boxes: displaying relevant cool items throughout Pinside


    Much like classified ads (and especially featured ads), we try our best to make shop items appear everywhere where people may be interested in seeing them. The archive page for any particular game (e.g. Wizard of Oz or Ghostbusters). But since a lot of these items are such a large part of the hobby we also wanted them to be more visible. We came up with the concept of a cool little promo box which will be shown in forum topics and contain relevant items that may interest you (we hope!). The appearance of this box can be managed in your forum settings (for plus members only).

    We try our best to make shop items appear everywhere where people may be interested in seeing them.

    Launch partners!


    We are very proud to be launching Pinside Shops with some of our favourite mod makers: Ulek Store, Modfather and LerMods as well as the great aftermarket parts from Kahr.US Circuits and PinSound.

    Creating a shop


    If you are a parts/mods manufacturer, chances are that you are already registered in the Pinside Biz index. From your biz profile, it’s easy to create your own shop. It’s as simple as configuring some settings (like your shop name, shipping etc) and then you can start adding your items. Visitors will now be able to easily browse your inventory in one central location and your items will pop up in all the relevant places on the site.

    How do payments work?


    All payments, whether via Credit Card or a Paypal account, are handled by Paypal (using their “adaptive payments” system). It’s important to note that whenever you place an order, the total amount is immediately sent to the shop owner and NOT to Pinside. This is important because it also means all orders fall under Paypals protection and potential disputes will also be handled by them. Pinside does not get in the way and only serves as the shopping/e-commerce platform.

    Go ahead and check out the personalized shops offerings for games in your collection! When you place an order:
    - Your payment is sent directly to the owner of the shop where you ordered.
    - The order is created in the Pinside order management system.
    - Both you and the shop owner get notified via e-mail about the order.
    - Both you and the shop owner can view the order in the Pinside order management system.
    - Communication about the order is done in the Pinside order management system.
    - Pinside automatically charges a fixed percentage over the order total, our platform fee, to the shop in question.

    More information about the terms, conditions and inner workings of the Shops system (Pinside Shops Policies and Seller Quick Start Guides) can be found here in the help section.

    Future plans


    If you already have an existing e-commerce solution, you may be hesitant to add another shopping system that needs managing (although that drawback may not weigh up to the amount of added exposure Pinside generates). We are considering adding an option for cart-less shops if there is interest. We are also considering adding options for game distributors to have a presence on Pinside where they can list stock games. More on this in the near future.


    Pinside shops are in beta. Please report any issues, bugs or feature requests - PM Robin!

    35
    #2 7 years ago

    These pop up marketplace adds with the pink background are terrible. If I wanted to look at for sale items I'd click on marketplace. I was just reading a stern issue thread and a huge pink ad takes the place of around 3 average posts it's ridiculous. I will never donate to pinside again if I'm gonna be forced to look at something I didn't click on. Especially ads.

    #3 7 years ago

    Thanks for your honest feedback. I can imagine it will require some getting used to the promo box. What we're always striving to do with Pinside is create coherence between various sections of the site and in this case we wanted to offer mod-makers and featured ad owners the opportunity to bring their items to the attention of the thousands of daily forum visitors.

    The block is designed to take the space of an average post. It's kind of a challenge to introduce something that is designed to stand out while at the same time blend in to not be too distracting.

    We hope people will appreciate learning about their wishlist games for sale and about cool mods and aftermarket parts for their collection games. Our stats show us that many of you rarely leave the forums, which is one of the reasons why we allow for market ads to have an associated forum topic. But creating a forum topic for each and every shop item seemed like overkill and so we came up with the promo box, which we feel is a good solution. That said, if you really dislike the promo box, you can disable it in your forum settings or make it collapsed by default (+ feature).

    Change always takes some time. We've been looking at this for several weeks now and really enjoy seeing the items, relevant to the topic. We expect that if more shops are opening that the promo block content will become only more interesting. And we're also planning to feature things like events and (new) locations in the box - the idea is to keep people informed in new ways.

    #4 7 years ago

    It needs some tweaks Robin.
    I'm for 90% on the 'tech:modern games' part of PinSide helping people with their (wpc) problems and not interested in market at all.
    These are the ads I get in the tech section:
    PS-Shops for tech.jpgPS-Shops for tech.jpg

    Also the personalized shop is not adequate.

    #5 7 years ago
    Quoted from Mitch:

    These pop up marketplace adds with the pink background are terrible. If I wanted to look at for sale items I'd click on marketplace. I was just reading a stern issue thread and a huge pink ad takes the place of around 3 average posts it's ridiculous. I will never donate to pinside again if I'm gonna be forced to look at something I didn't click on. Especially ads.

    Beginning of the end.....

    #6 7 years ago

    I understand the need to monetize the site and have absolutely no problem with it. But the pink mid thread ads are really obnoxious on an iphone - way too big. they take up a whole screen.....

    IMG_6110 (resized).PNGIMG_6110 (resized).PNG

    #7 7 years ago

    One line of 3 would maybe be OK.

    #8 7 years ago

    I think this is a nice solution to monetizing the site, I'd rather see classified listings and items from the "Pinside shops" than unrelated banner ads from random companies.

    But...judging from the way previous changes went down, you better brace yourself Robin

    #9 7 years ago
    Quoted from cooked71:

    I understand the need to monetize the site and have absolutely no problem with it. But the pink mid thread ads are really obnoxious on an iphone - way too big. they take up a whole screen.....

    That looks like a bug, it should never be more than one line of items. I'll fix this shortly.

    Edit: this is now fixed.

    -5
    #10 7 years ago

    I'll just be writing a simple plugin for myself that always hides it on my browser (similar to running AdBlock), then it's smooth sailing for me.

    I don't know how I would feel about having to deal with that all of the time. You noted that being a plus member allows you to edit this feature... does that also include turning it off entirely?

    In my honest opinion I think this is the first Pinside update I am unhappy with and feel almost duped as a member of the community, like I am now some sort of walking profit. It seems like the site already has many willing donators - is it not enough to keep the site afloat already? Just curious if this is being done still to support the site or if it has stepped into being a for-profit venture.

    #11 7 years ago
    Quoted from robin:

    That looks like a bug, it should never be more than one line of items. I'll fix this shortly.
    Edit: this is now fixed.

    Wow, that was quick!

    Much better.

    #12 7 years ago

    I'm all for pinside having a shop for mods, but it sucks that you are forcing us to see adds on every page of every thread. Feels like you are turning the site into Facebook.

    You never did this with paid market adds so I don't see why you need to with the pinside shop.

    #13 7 years ago

    Ughhh... 3 Hours later edit: Well, my first reaction was originally "Ughhh...", as can be seen to the left over there. But, 3 hours in, I can get used to it. The pink was originally kind of glaring, but now that I've become accustomed to it, it's not too bad, and if it's gotta be, I guess it's gotta be, and Robin made some decent changes to it already.

    I also need to re-up my donation.

    #14 7 years ago

    Pinside is not a charity. Is it really such a problem?

    At least it's "in-house" advertising.

    10
    #15 7 years ago

    Don't care for it. It's like the loud guy in the restaurant. No matter where you sit, you can hear him. With this, no matter what thread I click on, it's there.

    It's the obnoxious pink line from hell.

    #16 7 years ago

    Before everyone hyperventilates, you can turn the ads off in the settings. But only if you donate.

    Which is fair enough. If you want to use the site for free, you get the ads.

    #17 7 years ago

    Bam, done. Removed mine forever via a Chrome plugin & CSS coding. Although I'm sure a tutorial wouldn't be welcomed, [removed] works great on any site for unsavory things like this. I figure that couldn't cause any harm to mention as it's not as easy as it seems even if you download it, as you need to write your own custom line of code to adapt it.

    Anyhow, I previously felt like donating but I feel stuff like this that is supposed to make me feel like I should donate makes me want to donate less. Might as well just call it membership at this point. Ads are gross.

    If I'm going to donate, I want to donate because I want to and not because using the site is a pain in the ass if you don't.

    #18 7 years ago

    I don't mind the ads at all. At least it's ads for pinball products.

    Just lose the neon pink.

    These ads in the basement are like a disco ball... really obnoxious.
    faz

    #19 7 years ago
    Quoted from Otaku:

    Bam, done. Removed mine forever via a Chrome plugin & CSS coding. Although I'm sure a tutorial wouldn't be welcomed, if you know what you're doing [removed]. I figure that couldn't cause any harm to mention as it's not as easy as it seems even if you download it, as you need to write your own custom line of code to adapt it.
    Anyhow, I previously felt like donating but I feel stuff like this that is supposed to make me feel like I should donate makes me want to donate less. Might as well just call it membership at this point. Ads are gross.

    Seriously!?

    #21 7 years ago

    I think people will quickly develop "ad-blindness" for that pink bar with ads, since it is shown on every thread, and the displayed ads seem to be irrelevant to the thread.

    I think it would be more effective if the bar only displays whenever there are relevant ads available

    #22 7 years ago
    Quoted from Otaku:

    Anyhow, I previously felt like donating but I feel stuff like this that is supposed to make me feel like I should donate makes me want to donate less. Might as well just call it membership at this point. Ads are gross.
    If I'm going to donate, I want to donate because I want to and not because using the site is a pain in the ass if you don't.

    You don't donate and you hack the site, nice.

    28
    #23 7 years ago
    Quoted from Otaku:Deleted post

    You're an extremely regular user of this site with over 1500 posts in one year and you come into a thread started by pinsides' creator/owner telling people how to bypass a major feature of the site that he just implemented, just so you don't see ads that help fund the site you enjoy posting on so much.

    And then you proclaim you don't want to donate now in protest of the ads which you bypassed anyway. As if you were going to ever donate.

    -11
    #24 7 years ago
    Quoted from solarvalue:

    You don't donate and you hack the site, nice.

    It's not hacking the site, it's like being given a car as a present and wanting to repaint it to your favorite color. Maybe in questionable taste, but I'm sure that's a personal decision. I am not offering it up as a service, it's just a personal decision - I'm editing my browser, not the site. If it were "hacking", Google wouldn't allow it.

    Quoted from cooked71:

    You're an extremely regular user of this site with over 1500 posts in one year and you come into a thread started by pinsides' creator/owner telling people how to bypass a major feature of the site that he just implemented, just so you don't see ads that help fund the site you enjoy posting on so much.
    And then you proclaim you don't want to donate now in protest of the ads which you bypassed anyway. As if you were going to ever donate.

    I appreciate the work Robin puts into the site and realize that such a large major site surely should not go without thanks & helping out with the site but I did not expect it to be pushed on us in this way, I mean, I saw it coming with the changes to the market earlier in the year, but didn't think it would actually go this far in fruition. Again, it was a personal choice to remove my ads (none of which appealed to me nor could I afford), and I'd like to still donate to the site not to remove the ads but generally give my thanks. I was just very let down by this new update. Perhaps I could have kept my mouth shut a little more but besides that I do not think I am in the wrong elsewhere. I cannot afford right now to put a large donation in to ward them off the "correct" way at this point in time. Don't get me wrong, I am very aware we are not FORCED to donate and I could just simply put up with the ads, but you can't deny at this point it's kind of being shoved in our faces to go and donate. This new update was made this way (bright pink) for two reasons: To make the premium ad system more convincing for sellers, and, to make users feel inclined to donate to toggle off the system. It is designed to be noticed, for good and for bad. The donation system has become more than just donating to get a cool little icon next to your name, it's a superiority kind of thing. You need to donate to have a better experience. Which is kind of disappointing. It seems like tons of people were already willing to donate willingly before this.

    I am not financially in the position to be sending big payments of donations to Pinside (run by people highly-likely in a much better financial position than me), sure I have a ton of machines which each have their price, but that doesn't mean I don't want to spend that last $30 portion of my paycheck I worked hard to earn on continuing a restoration or buying new parts. I do not feel like a leech. I have thought about this in the past as I like to give thanks for sites like these and decided the best way for me (personally) to do this was to be as helpful as I can within the site (i.e. offering support in the EM section) and benefit the community rather than sending in monetary donations, and it brings me joy to do so anyways. I sincerely hope Robin or the other staff are not offended as I hold high respect for them, but I was simply not fond of this update. Please don't look into it deeper than that, because that is all it is. I found it to be an eyesore, so I got rid of it. I am not trying to rebel nor cheat & get something for free from good, honest people like Robin. I am simply probably the last person it would be useful for.

    Again, I ask, is this new update geared for-profit or is Pinside in dire need of donation funding to stay afloat? If there was some kind of epidemic I would see why it is crucial to gather extra donators (and would feel much better about this update), but I'm confused as it already seems like there are voluntarily a ton donating (previously for nothing in return) due to just how great this site is. I feel that should be the focal point for donating. It's a beautiful thing that the site is that great to where it can do something like that, not a ton of sites can do that, and usually THOSE are the ones who resort to things like this. Why are we doing the arguably worse, experience-tainting, method on top of the good one? Usually it's one or the other.

    I am not in any position to dictate how much money Pinside should and shouldn't receive nor is that even what I am trying to do but I think it was a great thing that people felt the site was great enough to voluntarily send in money during a time when nearly nothing was offered in return, or at least things that benefitted these donators *while not bugging the non-donators*, like private message image capabilities. Usually the whole "Sorry, we gotta run ads" thing is pulled when you don't have that great fanbase that gives back. We have that great voluntary attribute, and while this may coerce users into donating, it really makes me lose the whole "voluntary" thing about wanting to donate. I feel pressured now. Perhaps this new updates will cost more donations rather than raking them in? Especially since it seems the donators are not happy with their new options - if they don't get that, then I'm sure they may be questioning donating again next time around.

    #25 7 years ago

    I don't mind ads or anything, but these are obnoxious and nothing is ever going to catch my eye...

    I appreciate the ability to hide them at all (you might want to make that more obvious, or on by default), but man are they garish right now

    #26 7 years ago

    As someone that has donated and uses the market regularly I have sent a lot a money to pinside this year. If we are going to be forced to look at these at least make them tagged to the correct games so that they are relevant to the thread. Otherwise you are just spamming us with junk.

    #27 7 years ago
    Quoted from solarvalue:

    You don't donate and you hack the site, nice.

    It's an individual browser edit, not a sitewide hack.

    No different from AdBlockPlus.

    Quoted from cooked71:

    And then you proclaim you don't want to donate now in protest of the ads which you bypassed anyway. As if you were going to ever donate.

    No, that isn't what he said. He said he wants to donate by choice, not by having his arm twisted further up behind his back and coerced into it.

    The sooner the plebs from AA recognise the difference between the two concepts, the better off they will be.

    #28 7 years ago
    Quoted from robin:

    you can disable it in your forum settings

    instructions on how to do this please.

    #29 7 years ago
    Quoted from Whysnow:

    instructions on how to do this please.

    "(for plus members only)."

    (You need to have donated >$35 within the last year)

    Screenshot_3724 (resized).pngScreenshot_3724 (resized).png

    12
    #30 7 years ago
    Quoted from cooked71:

    Before everyone hyperventilates, you can turn the ads off in the settings. But only if you donate.
    Which is fair enough. If you want to use the site for free, you get the ads.

    to be more accurate, ONLY if you donate again, and again, and again...

    WTF Robin? Seriously lame. Many of us donated plenty when this site was still growing out of the kindness of our hearts and a thanks for hosting the site. Hell, many of us bought you a Fricking NIB pinball machine to say thanks just 4 short years ago. oh, how the memory fades so quickly of the good times...

    You now pull this crap.

    In case you have not realized, the drop you are seeing in classifieds is due to the changes you implemented already. People are taking the ads elsewhere. Once the ads drop off then people drop off and start going elsewhere. Now forcing people that frequent the forum to see ads is taking it a step further. Make a long time member pay to not see the ads? really?

    It seems to me that you made a decision to try and make Pinside a full time job for not only you but also your brother and in doing so, you have gone snowblind to those that have been around for years and helped to keep the lights on and build the foundation over those years. Many of us felt like you were a friend from afar, a pinball brother, and a pretty cool guy that was part of a larger family helping to grow the family. Sorry, but it now feels like this is a job and all about business. Hope you are still enjoying that brand new pinball machine your friends bought you while you are asking them for more $$$.

    #31 7 years ago

    You have every right to start monetizing the site. But the ads in the middle of a thread are sincerely obnoxious. I'd recommend putting them as the last post rather than smack dab in the middle of the thread.

    With respect, at this point, just call it a membership and not a donation. If that's the only way to turn off ads, and the ads are meant to drive profits, just charge for a membership already. You've been walking a line resisting charging for membership because it's a hobby site - then institute these ads which are obnoxious and only way to remove is donation plus. Again, respectfully, you crossed the line you've been walking and it's ok. Time to call it what it is - a membership.

    Another recommendation: Build a mobile app for viewing the site and charge something for it. The site is painful to view form a mobile phone at times.

    15
    #32 7 years ago
    Quoted from Whysnow:

    to be more accurate, ONLY if you donate again, and again, and again...
    WTF Robin? Seriously lame. Many of us donated plenty when this site was still growing out of the kindness of our hearts and a thanks for hosting the site. Hell, many of us bought you a Fricking NIB pinball machine to say thanks just 4 short years ago. oh, how the memory fades so quickly of the good times...
    You now pull this crap.
    In case you have not realized, the drop you are seeing in classifieds is due to the changes you implemented already. People are taking the ads elsewhere. Once the ads drop off then people drop off and start going elsewhere. Now forcing people that frequent the forum to see ads is taking it a step further. Make a long time member pay to not see the ads? really?
    It seems to me that you made a decision to try and make Pinside a full time job for not only you but also your brother and in doing so, you have gone snowblind to those that have been around for years and helped to keep the lights on and build the foundation over those years. Many of us felt like you were a friend from afar, a pinball brother, and a pretty cool guy that was part of a larger family helping to grow the family. Sorry, but it now feels like this is a job and all about business. Hope you are still enjoying that brand new pinball machine your friends bought you while you are asking them for more $$$.

    Lol, I think you might have went way to far. You chose to help buy a pinball machine because you wanted to and had gotten value out of this site. These adds do not go back in time and remove the value that you got. This is a huge site that takes time and money to run. Your response is extremely personal in nature. So are you going to take your ball and go home?

    I'm all for some of the modders having some adds for cool stuff they are developing and if pinside can help promote those items and also benefit great. I do not want to see a line of adds for TAF mods in a LOTR thread though. If they are specific to the game the thread is about I'm fine with it as long as they don't show up constantly. I'm against random spam adds and will just turn them off if that is going to be the case.

    #33 7 years ago
    Quoted from Whysnow:

    to be more accurate, ONLY if you donate again, and again, and again...
    WTF Robin? Seriously lame. Many of us donated plenty when this site was still growing out of the kindness of our hearts and a thanks for hosting the site. Hell, many of us bought you a Fricking NIB pinball machine to say thanks just 4 short years ago. oh, how the memory fades so quickly of the good times...
    You now pull this crap.
    In case you have not realized, the drop you are seeing in classifieds is due to the changes you implemented already. People are taking the ads elsewhere. Once the ads drop off then people drop off and start going elsewhere. Now forcing people that frequent the forum to see ads is taking it a step further. Make a long time member pay to not see the ads? really?
    It seems to me that you made a decision to try and make Pinside a full time job for not only you but also your brother and in doing so, you have gone snowblind to those that have been around for years and helped to keep the lights on and build the foundation over those years. Many of us felt like you were a friend from afar, a pinball brother, and a pretty cool guy that was part of a larger family helping to grow the family. Sorry, but it now feels like this is a job and all about business. Hope you are still enjoying that brand new pinball machine your friends bought you while you are asking them for more $$$.

    Go start your own site and do it better?

    19
    #35 7 years ago

    I respect everyone's opinion, but I've got to say I'm surprised (and honestly a bit shocked) by some of the reactions thus far.

    And most of it seems focused on the promo box. I never would have thought a ±250 height pixels bar is such a terrifying, disastrous thing as some make it out to be. Especially compared to many websites out there. I also never considered this to be an ads bar (after all, we don't charge the shops to have their items appear), but rather a way to spread word about in-house content: classifieds, mods and in the future events and locations. Point people to things they wouldn't know about otherwise. And even if you consider these ads, they are all generated from content on our site and as such very much pinball-related and a part of the fabric of the site.

    As for monetization, donations etc. It's important to note that Pinside is my business. I need to make sure Pinside keeps running, keeps growing and that I have the resources to ensure its longevity. And yes, I have a family to feed too. Donations are awesome and are an important reason why Pinside can keep all of you browsing the site every day, but donations alone unfortunately are not enough to run this site.

    As for the displayed items being off-topic. This should not be the case.. well mostly. You see, items are shown for games relevant to the topic. In the case of this announcement topic, no games are linked and so instead you'll get stuff targeted to your wishlist (games for sale) or collection (mods/parts for your games). And if you don't have anything in your collection we'll finally select random items.

    What we released today is a first step. It's beta. And this forum promo box is only a tiny feature in the whole scope of things. Everything I do is constantly tweaked and refined. Colors and positioning are all subject to change. I think most of you know how responsive I am to feedback. I'm not gonna respond to individual posts right now, but will be looking for good feedback and suggestions.

    #36 7 years ago
    Quoted from robin:

    no games are linked and so instead you'll get stuff targeted to your wishlist (games for sale) or collection (mods/parts for your games).

    This doesn't appear to be working. All of the ads on my page are random.

    #37 7 years ago

    Wow guys, these aren't random viagra ads or anything. These are ads for pinball products.

    I imagine they will become more varied as more people use the shop to list items.

    The shop is perfect for folks who only have a basic website and don't have a storefront or the know-how/interest to set up a storefront, especially if they only have a small handful of products. The shop will offer a lot more exposure to their wares, and people who normally wouldn't stumble upon their website might see their items here and find them useful.

    I imagine that soon you'll be seeing NVRAM, LEDs, interesting mods made by other pinsiders, refurbished boards, board repair services, and various other items. So, as time goes on, the ads may become more relevant.

    Pinside Plus donators have the option to disable them. Click the gear icon for forum settings and scroll down until you see this:

    pasted_image (resized).pngpasted_image (resized).png

    #38 7 years ago
    Quoted from robin:

    I respect everyone's opinion, but I've got to say I'm surprised (and honestly a bit shocked) by some of the reactions thus far.
    And most of it seems focused on the promo box. I never would have thought a ±250 height pixels bar is such a terrifying, disastrous thing as some make it out to be. Especially compared to many websites out there. I also never considered this to be an ads bar (after all, we don't charge the shops to have their items appear), but rather a way to spread word about in-house content: classifieds, mods and in the future events and locations. Point people to things they wouldn't know about otherwise. And even if you consider these ads, they are all generated from content on our site and as such very much pinball-related and a part of the fabric of the site.
    As for monetization, donations etc. It's important to note that Pinside is my business. I need to make sure Pinside keeps running, keeps growing and that I have the resources to ensure its longevity. And yes, I have a family to feed too. Donations are awesome and are an important reason why Pinside can keep all of you browsing the site every day, but donations alone unfortunately are not enough to run this site.
    As for the displayed items being off-topic. This should not be the case.. well mostly. You see, items are shown for games relevant to the topic. In the case of this announcement topic, no games are linked and so instead you'll get stuff targeted to your wishlist (games for sale) or collection (mods/parts for your games). And if you don't have anything in your collection we'll finally select random items.
    What we released today is a first step. It's beta. And this forum promo box is only a tiny feature in the whole scope of things. Everything I do is constantly tweaked and refined. Colors and positioning are all subject to change. I think most of you know how responsive I am to feedback. I'm not gonna respond to individual posts right now, but will be looking for good feedback and suggestions.

    Come on Robin, you should know by now that we don't like anything

    The targeted part of the adds does not seem to be working. Mine are completely random.

    -13
    #39 7 years ago
    Quoted from Otaku:

    I'll just be writing a simple plugin for myself that always hides it on my browser (similar to running AdBlock), then it's smooth sailing for me.
    I don't know how I would feel about having to deal with that all of the time. You noted that being a plus member allows you to edit this feature... does that also include turning it off entirely?
    In my honest opinion I think this is the first Pinside update I am unhappy with and feel almost duped as a member of the community, like I am now some sort of walking profit. It seems like the site already has many willing donators - is it not enough to keep the site afloat already? Just curious if this is being done still to support the site or if it has stepped into being a for-profit venture.

    Just did this. Won't be donating to pinside as long as these forced ads are here.

    #40 7 years ago
    Quoted from Otaku:

    If I'm going to donate, I want to donate because I want to and not because using the site is a pain in the ass if you don't.

    I think you may underestimate the amount of money it takes to maintain this ever growing site; the enormous amount of time given freely from the top (Robin) right down to the mods. I also don't want to seem as if I'm dismissing your right to block, donate, or simply state your opinion. I merely think that we all benefit from this site so I'm "in" for whatever it takes.

    #41 7 years ago

    I made a simple click in my forum settings to disable the ads. Thank you for allowing it to be disabled by Pinside Plus members.

    Pinside is transitioning to a site that is free, but can be enhanced by paying. It may be called a donation, but it functions like a membership. I'm fine with that. Anyone that has more than a few hundred posts here is a regular user. If you sincerely feel that an annual fee is outrageous, don't pay it.

    #42 7 years ago

    My suggestion is to have the ads show only after the latest post in a thread and make sure they are relevant to that thread. For example, only tz-linked mods would be in a tz thread. You might consider changing the color scheme of the ads as well.

    Pinside has been a valuable resource to many people, ranging from buying and selling games, tech support, introducing new products, interaction with manufacturers nd even making new friends in the hobby. The tone of some people seems unwarranted. Relax, it's only pinball!

    21
    #43 7 years ago
    Quoted from Syco54645:

    Just did this. Won't be donating to pinside as long as these forced ads are here.

    You did't donate in the past, so I don't see a change to your behavior so far. And you're more than 3 years on that forum!

    No one is forced to donate, no one is forced to view this forum...

    Robin did a good job on these ad, as they fit into the sites design and colors are a personal taste (not mine ).
    These ads are all pinball related, matching your owned games (for me that feature doesn't work for now) and only giving you some hints to things that might interest you.

    All of us are surrounded by ads that we don't give a sh... about and these just look a little like some "candy" that might interest us

    Why do people always complain about the differences between donation and membership?!
    If you don't want to give money then you'r not forced to do so on both systems.

    If the site owner decides to change a part of the site and you don't like it, keep your eyes on other forums!
    Creating a script is your personal choice, and your personal right, at least on your own computer.
    If it's fair to someone, decide by yourself!
    And all people that did donate in the past have the option to change that particular setting in their account settings...

    Placing all theses ads in a single bar is a far better option than all those shop owners (me included!) placing a footer on every single post they make. I've used this feature in the past and still do it. But not here because it would destroy the clean look of the site.

    So, from my point of view

    So, these were my 2 cents

    Dom

    -10
    #44 7 years ago

    I personally don't believe pinside needs to be a business with multiple employees, staying busy creating mostly "improvements" that are designed to extract profit from the user base. Pinside went down during Expo which I assume was due to load, plus pinside has had some other outages, so I'm not convinced a proper percentage of donations is going toward the site.

    Pinside the ecommerce platform is laughable and not needed except that Robin you want MORE of a piece of every transaction dollar which in turn gets passed on to us anyway. You are not Apple, and I don't think the Apple Platform Tax will work for you.

    Thankfully my pinside account is verified due to my previous donations, because though I was going to upgrade to Pinside Plus, I now will not be donating at all.

    #45 7 years ago
    Quoted from Mitch:

    These pop up marketplace adds with the pink background are terrible. If I wanted to look at for sale items I'd click on marketplace. I was just reading a stern issue thread and a huge pink ad takes the place of around 3 average posts it's ridiculous. I will never donate to pinside again if I'm gonna be forced to look at something I didn't click on. Especially ads.

    Agree 100% - this blows.

    #46 7 years ago
    Quoted from Otaku:

    Anyhow, I previously felt like donating but I feel stuff like this that is supposed to make me feel like I should donate makes me want to donate less. Might as well just call it membership at this point. Ads are gross.
    If I'm going to donate, I want to donate because I want to and not because using the site is a pain in the ass if you don't.

    Like he said.
    Hmm, back to RGP?

    #47 7 years ago

    I could care less about viewing pinball ads...

    However, I think a "storefront" or "shop" is bad for another reason, not yet brought up by others. Who is stopping someone form creating and selling bootleg art or parts they do not have the rights to sell in these Pinside shops?

    This will be fuel for the fire once someone gets "ripped off" by a "Pinside shop" selling questionable items. I realize all this is happening already on the interwebs but why bring these shady dealings to Pinside?

    Seems like a bad idea that will make more work for those that maintain such things and leave a sour taste in people mouths.

    Only a matter of time before someone gets ripped off with bootleg junk or some else's mod to which they don't own the rights and it's all Robin's fault because he's not policing the shops.

    I'm sure there is some fine print stating the site owners are not responsible for such things but customers don't know or care. They will just blame whoever will listen, and it's not going to be the bootleggers!

    #48 7 years ago

    I find it strange (and annoying) that by default external links load in the same browser tab, but internal ad links force a new tab and there's no setting to change that behavior. I do think there's some value to having the shops, though. I'd suggest allowing non-members to still have the option of hiding the bar. Typical user behavior patterns are such that most won't hide it anyway, as ~80% will use the defaults for everything. YMMV, of course.

    #49 7 years ago

    It looks like Robin already made some adjustments based on the feedback so far, which should be pushed out shortly.

    Specific constructive suggestions are helpful--thanks guys.

    #50 7 years ago

    Two more suggestions: 1) Make the hidden/thin ad bar still have a few text link ads (one line only, so the current height is unchanged) so you can at least have a hint of what is being hidden. Could just put those in place of the "flavor text" that's there now. B) After showing a previously hidden ad via "click to display", provide a link to re-hide the ad. Currently once you show it, it's there for good.

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