What's worth paying for online? [Archive] - Front Office Football Central

QuikSand

08-25-2006, 08:06 AM

Interesting question came to me this morning (for some reason I have since forgotten)... in the modern ager where there is so much damned informaiton out there that's free... what sort of thing do you find actually worth paying for online?

This is fantasy football season -- seems like a good example. There are any number of sites out there that will give you free analysis, cheat sheets, news updates, and so forth. There are also other sites that charge you money for the same sort of thing. If you're the type to pay for this sort of thing -- what pushes you over the line from a free-rider to a paying customer?

Fantasy football league host sites - probably the same argument, I guess.

Same goes for lots of stuff, I guess. I know I pay for a subscription to Consumer Reports and use their online reviews probably 10 times a year. But there's no shortage of places to go to get somebody's review of a given product. I just have had so much success with CR, and find their purpose to be sufficiently noble as well, that I don't really mind paying. But I also suspect I'm a bit skewed toward the "willing to pay" than are many/most others.

Newspapers, magazines, pr0n, who knows what else -- there's some line that divides what you get for free and what you pay for. Are you the type to pay? If so, what makes you do so? A fairly low price? A dynamite content difference? Loyalty? Something else?

What about sites that are technically free, but ask for a donation if you're a regular user? How often do you knuckle under and offer up money for nothing?

Just a curious phenomenon to me... and this seems like a fair place to fish it around a bit.

MJ4H

08-25-2006, 08:14 AM

I can't remember ever paying for anything online. The only money I've spent over the internet has been poker and buying a product on ebay or software. I doubt I will ever pay for a subscription site.

vex

08-25-2006, 08:19 AM

Subscription to SoonerScoop.com is the only thing I've ever paid for on a regular basis online.

EDIT: and thanks to ct for reminding me, hattrick.

cthomer5000

08-25-2006, 08:34 AM

I also can't recall paying for any online content at any point. And as far as donating/upgrading at free sites I remember pitching in the $20 or so for the hattrick supporter thing a while back. Outside of that donating to IHOF is the only other thing I can think of.

Maple Leafs

08-25-2006, 08:37 AM

FrogMan

08-25-2006, 08:42 AM

I forgot about the Hattrick supporter thing, yeah been paying yearly for the last three years of that but it's given me back plenty of hours of mindless fun.

As for paysites, I subscribed to footballguys.com for a few seasons then last season switched to thehuddle.com (for no real reason other than having daily news). I figured that I used to buy some $30 or more per year in all sorts of football magazines (fantast and NFL preview mags) that were outdated the minute they hit the stand so I stopped buying these and paid one yearly subscription. I decided to go all free this season.

FM

Crapshoot

08-25-2006, 08:52 AM

I might for Baseball Prospectus - but THT has pretty good analysis as well. I know someone who pays for ESPN so I use their account - but I might pony up for that. I imagine if there was some access I could get online (The Atlantic to take one example), I probably would pay for it - but I still have an odd fascination with paper copies.

BrianD

08-25-2006, 08:55 AM

I decided to go all free this season.

FM

Got any tips for good free fantasy football sites?

Buccaneer

08-25-2006, 08:56 AM

I pay for all sorts of content online. Basically if I think the content I can buy is even slightly better than what's out there for free (and it usually is), I'll consider paying. Having been on the content creation side of things, I believe that good content is always worth paying for, even online.

For some reason, I find this incredulous. In my years of doing historical, genealogical, general interest/academic research online, I have never found the need to "pay for all sorts of content online". It usually, though, takes more digging beyond the search engines. There are some where I had to pay a subscription, like to certain genealogy sites, but most software comes with free subscriptions anyway. If there was a source I needed to pay for, I would avoid that and use other channels to get it free. Most of the other academic subjects have superb knowledge that are purposefully free - that being the essense of how we got the web in the first place. Beyond that, I never ever support sponsors but I have helped cyberfriends through donations.

Arctus

08-25-2006, 09:00 AM

I have online subscriptions to Beckett Magazine's Baseball Card and Football Card Price Guides. Its cheaper than the magazine and offers much more detailed pricing.

rewissick

08-25-2006, 09:05 AM

I've been a subscriber to Baseball Prospectus for about 4 years now, and wouldn't think of canceling it anytime in the near future. I just find their thoughts and analysis to be refreshing, and use their roto-stat tool each spring for my drafts. Ever since I've started using that tool I've been able to finish in the money in my main league, so I'll stick with it for no other reason than I'm a bit superstitious. For the cost ($40 a year, iirc) it works out to a pretty low charge per article each day.

I paid for a few months of Baseball Mogul on-line when it first came out...then I realized what a mistake that was.

Besides that, I haven't paid for any online content/sites. I usually feel that I need to justify the expense by taking in all that I can from what I buy, and I don't feel I have the time or inclination to spend that much time staring at a screen. ;)

VPI97

08-25-2006, 09:07 AM

http://www.books24x7.com

Online reference books

FrogMan

08-25-2006, 09:12 AM

Got any tips for good free fantasy football sites?

I will start scouting for real this weekend, as our draft only starts next week, so I'll probably find more then, but here are a few that I've used over the years:

KFFL hot off the wire (http://www.kffl.com/hotw/nfl) is free.

www.footballdiehards.com (http://www.footballdiehards.com) is pretty good. They put out some 20+ pages weekly reports for free, or at least you only need to put in an email addy.

www.draftsharks.com (http://www.draftsharks.com) has some very good tips. (edit: but they've gone all pay it seems)

www.footballguys.com (http://www.footballguys.com) has a news blogger (http://news.footballguys.com/new/blogger.php) that is also free

Hope these helps...

FM

wade moore

08-25-2006, 10:09 AM

Minor Threadjack:

QS - do you find the only CS content to be worth the extra money above and beyond the subscription? I've had a magazine subscription for years and it is my bible during certain purchases, but I've never seen the on-line site in action.

st.cronin

08-25-2006, 10:27 AM

I used to have a subscription to Baseball Prospectus, but when it was time to re-up I realized the only column I read regularly was the medical column by Will something, so I let the subscription expire.

Kodos

08-25-2006, 10:31 AM

For some reason, I find this incredulous.

Alert! Alert! Please use the correct word "incredible" here. I do not think this means what you think it means...

digamma

08-25-2006, 10:33 AM

I subscribe to pay sites for college football recruiting information and premium message boards.

spleen1015

08-25-2006, 10:33 AM

I pay for footballguys.com because I like the Draft Dominator application and I like the weekly e-mails. A buddy and I split the cost every year.

stevew

08-25-2006, 10:37 AM

I'm pretty well a big time free stuff advocate. I use as much freeware as I can, I just don't see the need to buy a lot of it. The other day my dad was talking about shelling out around 100 bucks for 2 years of Norton, and I just couldn't imagine paying that.

As far as pr0n goes, it is unbelievable to me that anyone would pay for it. No real reason to when there is so much free content. A house guest of my brother in law once charged something like 200 dollars onto BIL's bank for porn. Gizoogle bitches.

Marc Vaughan

08-25-2006, 10:46 AM

http://www.books24x7.com

Online reference books
Interesting enough that I've requested a trial - expensive enough to make me dubious that I'll subscribe ...

Pumpy Tudors

08-25-2006, 11:35 AM

Not counting GameFly (which doesn't fit in with the spirit of Quik's question, I think), the only things I subscribe to are porn. Lots of porn. It's so hard to find porn on the internet that I decided to go ahead and put out the $10/month to get 5 JPEG files delivered to my e-mail address every day. Sometimes, it doesn't really seem to be worth it, but I'm only paying $0.33 per picture, so I could be doing worse.

I'll probably re-up my EverQuest II subscription soon, too, but I think that might also be something different than what QuikSand was talking about.

Ksyrup

08-25-2006, 11:39 AM

Not counting GameFly (which doesn't fit in with the spirit of Quik's question, I think), the only things I subscribe to are porn. Lots of porn. It's so hard to find porn on the internet that I decided to go ahead and put out the $10/month to get 5 JPEG files delivered to my e-mail address every day. Sometimes, it doesn't really seem to be worth it, but I'm only paying $0.33 per picture, so I could be doing worse.

I'll gladly email you 5 JPEGS a day for only $7.50 a month!

spleen1015

08-25-2006, 12:16 PM

I'll gladly email you 5 JPEGS a day for only $7.50 a month!

I'll do it for $7!

rkmsuf

08-25-2006, 12:17 PM

I'll gladly email you 5 JPEGS a day for only $7.50 a month!

*no home movies please

Desnudo

08-25-2006, 12:27 PM

Things I will pay for online: porn
Things I won't pay for online: everything else

Pumpy Tudors

08-25-2006, 12:28 PM

Wow, people are bidding for the right to send me porn. This is a huge development.

GoldenEagle

08-25-2006, 12:29 PM

Why would anyone pay for porn on the Internets?

Pumpy Tudors

08-25-2006, 12:30 PM

Why would anyone pay for porn on the Internets?
Because they will send you 5 JPEGs a day direct to your e-mail. No visiting websites to clutter up your Internet Exploder history, so wife can't see.

Ksyrup

08-25-2006, 12:30 PM

Why would anyone pay for porn on the Internets?

Because porn stars are no different than Lars Ulrich. Well, except for in one way, I imagine.

rkmsuf

08-25-2006, 12:31 PM

Wow, people are bidding for the right to send me porn. This is a huge development.

spleen's quadruple penetration spectacular is on it's way via the tubes.

sovereignstar

08-25-2006, 12:33 PM

People that aren't paying for their porn should be shot; their mothers too.

Ksyrup

08-25-2006, 12:33 PM

People that aren't paying for their porn should be shot; their mothers too.

That's "People who..." Let's show some respect - this is a QS topic.

rkmsuf

08-25-2006, 12:35 PM

That's "People who..." Let's show some respect - this is a QS topic.

Grammar Gaggers IV

Pumpy Tudors

08-25-2006, 12:37 PM

Question for QuikSand: Is there an online version of Black Tail, and how much would you pay for it?

rkmsuf

08-25-2006, 12:40 PM

Question for QuikSand: Is there an online version of Black Tail, and how much would you pay for it?

That was one of the most interesting references in quite some time. It wouldn't suffice to leave it at Playboy...he had to throw Black Tail out there. Too funny. Either it was polictical correctness or Q has broad tastes.

Ksyrup

08-25-2006, 12:42 PM

Either it was polictical correctness or Q has broad tastes.

Now that shit made me LOL when I read it as written.

rkmsuf

08-25-2006, 12:43 PM

policktickle

Ksyrup

08-25-2006, 12:43 PM

policktickle

Apparently you have specific plans for your Black Tail.

Farrah Whitworth-Rahn

08-25-2006, 01:07 PM

For me, it's mostly about convenience. I pay for a subscription to the WSJ and tax research sites.

I don't care for newsprint, it gets on my hands and all over my desk, plus I'd have to go track one down and I don't have time for that. The web version is so much easier, and cleaner. Plus they archive their articles, which comes in handy for my job.

The tax research sites are something I consider to be a huge timesaver - I don't have to hunt through pages and pages of legal books to citate a case or find a Revenue Ruling and all the cases that cited that ruling. It's saved me a ton of time, and my sanity.

I'll ocassionally hit the tip jar at blogs that I find entertaining, but I wouldn't pay a subscription for one.

rkmsuf

08-25-2006, 01:19 PM

Eaglesfan27

08-25-2006, 01:28 PM

I pay for Consumer reports. I also used to pay for some myfico services when I was house shopping, but probably won't renew that. I don't pay for too much else online. I haven't found a fantasy football site that is significantly enough better than the free sites to justify the analysis. However, I do pay 9.99 per year to be able to access my various Fantasy leagues on my cell phone, since I'm now traveling more during the week and don't always have computer/internet access.

Edit to add: I also pay several hundred dollars/year to access a professional psychiatry website. It gives me access to several text books that are useful, as well as most of the leading professional journals, and a few other interesting tidbits.

Farrah Whitworth-Rahn

08-25-2006, 01:44 PM

Porn?

There's so much free porn on the net, why pay for it? :p

Pumpy Tudors

08-25-2006, 01:46 PM

There's so much free porn on the net, why pay for it? :p
I just got my daily JPEGs, and you're in 3 of them.

THANKS, INTERNET!

Ksyrup

08-25-2006, 01:58 PM

That is a huge development.

Farrah Whitworth-Rahn

08-25-2006, 02:30 PM

I just got my daily JPEGs, and you're in 3 of them.

THANKS, INTERNET!

Photoshopped. All of them. :D

gkb

08-25-2006, 02:33 PM

I subscribe to Consumer Reports online and in the past I've paid for one season of Clutch Racing and one year of Allakhazam.

FrogMan

08-25-2006, 02:39 PM

Photoshopped. All of them. :D

yeah, to protect the identity of whoever was with you on the pics :D

FM

Shkspr

08-25-2006, 02:40 PM

Question for QuikSand: Is there an online version of Black Tail, and how much would you pay for it?

And that's something I don't get. Black Tail magazine offers tastefully photographed adult material aimed at the sophisticated urban consumer. White Tail (http://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/), however, is a different magazine, and quite frankly, not arousing in the slightest. When will we demand accountability of our magazine purveyors? I urge everyone to write to White Tail magazine and lobby for an editorial change.

On a tangenially related note, 5 JPEGS a day? And this is acceptable? Look, when I was twelve maybe 5 JPEGS a day could suit me fine. But these days a man needs 150 pic photosets, with nubile Hungarian women on fully dressed sets. Perhaps a period costume or three, with alluring lingerie. 5 JPEGS? Christ, and two of those 5 pics are probably of underfed 19 year olds who need to wash their hair. :rolleyes:

Oh, yeah, and, er, Consumer Reports and Baseball Prospectus are about all I subscribe to, too.

rkmsuf

08-25-2006, 02:41 PM

someone post the penguin pic with her head photoshopped in.

Pumpy Tudors

08-25-2006, 02:43 PM

5 JPEGS? Christ, and two of those 5 pics are probably of underfed 19 year olds who need to wash their hair. :rolleyes:
...but the other 3 pics are FARRAH.

Shkspr

08-25-2006, 02:49 PM

...but the other 3 pics are FARRAH.

Ah, and may I assume that the juggalo in the background wearing a gimp suit is Subby?

sabotai

08-25-2006, 02:58 PM

I pay for GameSpot, so that I can get all of the E3 videos every year, but that's it.

Pumpy Tudors

08-25-2006, 03:00 PM

Ah, and may I assume that the juggalo in the background wearing a gimp suit is Subby?
Usually, although JeeberD guest-starred in Subby's place once.

Eaglesfan27

08-25-2006, 03:15 PM

I pay for GameSpot, so that I can get all of the E3 videos every year, but that's it.

I forgot that I also pay for this.

FrogMan

08-25-2006, 04:48 PM

I forgot that I also pay for this.

please stop creating hype around stuff...

FM

MJ4H

08-25-2006, 04:51 PM

nice

sterlingice

08-25-2006, 06:44 PM

I pay for hattrick supporter but that's more of a donation than anything. Other than that, I don't really pay for anything online- it's just not worth the price paid.

SI

Terps

08-25-2006, 07:36 PM

The only online subscription I pay for is Hangout Plus on orioleshangout.com.

Axxon

08-25-2006, 07:46 PM

I pay for pewterreport.com. It is a Buccaneers site with very capable reporters and I get information there that I don't find on the web and in a timely fashion. For example, their mock draft done the week before the draft had us choosing Davin Joseph and it was dead on. That type of content and inside information is worth it to me. It's also really inexpensive too.