Should I or should I not...

amyb

amyb

New member
I just got an email notice that my Gold membership expired at DST. I'm trying to decide if I should renew it. What do ya'll think?
 
What exactly does a Gold Membership at DST get you? Or any membership at DST for that matter? I've always wondered that.
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NATASHA4u live
 
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You get the featured kit every month for free- exclusive to DST for I think at least one year.
I have wondered whether to renew this summer or not. I wish there was a preview for the next few months and then it would be easier to decide.
 
I've never signed up to be a gold member and I don't think I suffer b/c of it. LOL. It depends if you like the kits you receive.
 
I didn't renew this time. I find that I rarely use the kits and I also find that I'm at DST less than I used to be.
 
I haven't used any of the DST kits once and I can't justify spending $25 for something that I don't use so someone can have a website.

So, to answer your question - nope, I won't be renewing and if you don't use the kits, then I wouldn't either.
 
I didn't renew because 1) I've never used any of the kits and 2) I've really found most of them to be rather underwhelming. I mean these are some of the biggest names in the industry, I want to be WOWed by what they come up with and I just haven't been...at all.

Honestly, if I were you I'd probably wait simply because at this point only three months of designers are listed. That's a lot of unknown for me to spend $25 on.
 
I didn't renew when mine was up either (last September I think?) and it was mainly cause I never really used the free kits either. A couple of them I didn't even bother downloading. I'd rather spend my $25 on kits I know I'll use.
 
I have been debating this also - I know that many people use dst....but is it worth it??? Im thinking not -
 
kresta said:
I didn't renew this time. I find that I rarely use the kits and I also find that I'm at DST less than I used to be.
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I don't use the kits immediately - I haven't used the kits for the last two months but at some point I do use them because I have them. However, I'm like you - I'm just not over at DST nearly as much! I'm parked here most of the time!
 
I never subscribed, though I thought about it often. The reason I decided not to was just like Nettio said. After seeing the kits month after month, they just didn't really impress me. It seemed to me that most of them were more like mini kits instead of full kits, but maybe that was intended.
 
I didn't renew either. I never used the kits, one of the reasons being some of the designers were just not my style.
 
I was wondering about the memberships too, I am glad this thread is here, it is so much easier to decide now NOT to join. I did however join SCRAPBOOK WOW a long time ago and your membership is FOREVER and so some of the kits are actually pretty nice. I have not used all of them but I do get lucky every so often. I have gotten more kits than the $$$ it cost to join so I guess it is all good. You can post all your layouts there, with unlimited space ( I think) and send e-mails to all your friends & family yo see them. All in all I think it was a really good investment.
 
I also won't be renewing, I'm just not using the kits like I did way back in the beginning when DST started.
 
well, I think you SHOULD renew if you use DST as a resource to learn about sales, new products, what's going on in the community, etc. Shannon started DST because of a DEFINITE need in the community, and it serves its purpose, imo. She has a right to make a profit off of it, and I hope she makes a good profit for all the crap she takes. She does a good job of running the site and works really hard to keep things positive and clean. I support it, not because of the free kits, which I rarely use, but because I use the site and think it's a valuable resource.

But if you don't use DST, then I would't bother renewing.
 
I can see where you are coming from, Kellie. I initially got a DST membership not for the kits but b/c I upload all my layouts there and I felt I should support the site financially (they must HAVE huge bandwidth) since it doesn't have a store that I buy from. I don't think I ever used an DST entire kit, just an element here and there.

But having said that, I didn't renew . . . :unsure: . . . maybe I will in the future . . .
 
If I could financially support the site, I would, but it's not something I can do. My scrapping budget is roughly $20/year at the moment, unless my job situation changes that is.
If they want to charge me to use the site, then I wouldn't post there anymore (not like I do much anyways).
 
I have a diamond membership, which I am happy to have. That said, I do not use or even download the kits most of the time ROFL. Still, I really do go to DST a few times a day, and I still really like it there, so I'm happy with my decision. I guess if you don't go there often, then I wouldn't bother, but for myself, I still go there a lot, so it is worth it.
 
This is in no way intended to hurt anyone's feelings, only to state my opinion.

Kellie, I understand what you're saying, I really do. But, Shannon started that site. Since she started it, she should pay for it. That's just my opinion. I have a genealogy resource site that has helped a lot of people and offers invaluable resources and tutorials, but I don't go asking my patrons for money to keep it going or to make a profit. I don't offer memberships for money. My site is something that I took on myself and something that I'll pay for on my own.

I have a hosting business, and I know the costs involved and I know that with people paying $25 and $99 for the memberships along with advertising money, Shannon is making a very nice profit. As of ten minutes ago, there were 441 downloads of the April kit. Now, IF all of those were paying customers, at $25 each that's $11,025 per year. I KNOW that hosting that site doesn't cost that much. I have hosted sites on my server that are website competition type sites similar to The Site Fights and it caused a LOT of bandwidth usage along with the heavy graphics involved. I have a dedicated server and it was no where NEAR $11,000 a year.

I would much rather give Robin my $25 to help her with the costs of running this site - because I absolutely LOVE it here and really only shop here and one other store anymore. This is my digi home on the web!

I rarely use DST. I go in there occasionally. The only section I ever use is the chatter section and I don't go there very often. The only reason I use the gallery is because my CT ladies require that I do.

My favorite non-store, digi scrap forum is My Scrapbook Art.
 
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I don't think I am going to renew, I forgot all about the free kits until I got my e letter this month and I signed up in November, too bad I didn't find this site sooner!
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I've never subscribed to DST, but I did so at other sites. I found that I didn't use the stuff that came with the subscription that much. There's just too many new releases every week, and I end up buying what I like rather than using what comes with the subscriptions.
 
Paula said:
This is in no way intended to hurt anyone's feelings, only to state my opinion.

Kellie, I understand what you're saying, I really do. But, Shannon started that site. Since she started it, she should pay for it. That's just my opinion. I have a genealogy resource site that has helped a lot of people and offers invaluable resources and tutorials, but I don't go asking my patrons for money to keep it going or to make a profit. I don't offer memberships for money. My site is something that I took on myself and something that I'll pay for on my own.

I have a hosting business, and I know the costs involved and I know that with people paying $25 and $99 for the memberships along with advertising money, Shannon is making a very nice profit. As of ten minutes ago, there were 441 downloads of the April kit. Now, IF all of those were paying customers, at $25 each that's $11,025 per year. I KNOW that hosting that site doesn't cost that much. I have hosted sites on my server that are website competition type sites similar to The Site Fights and it caused a LOT of bandwidth usage along with the heavy graphics involved. I have a dedicated server and it was no where NEAR $11,000 a year.

I would much rather give Robin my $25 to help her with the costs of running this site - because I absolutely LOVE it here and really only shop here and one other store anymore. This is my digi home on the web!

I rarely use DST. I go in there occasionally. The only section I ever use is the chatter section and I don't go there very often. The only reason I use the gallery is because my CT ladies require that I do.

My favorite non-store, digi scrap forum is My Scrapbook Art.
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I absolutely love MSA also, it's my favorite non-store forum also, obviously here is my favorite store forum. But I do still like DST. I was able to get a diamond membership when I was relatively new to the scrapping community, and at that time, MSA did not exist. Of course, they opened about 2 months later LOL

This place is my home, this is the first store I bought a kit from last Spring, and definitely where I spend the bulk of my digi-dollars. I love it here, and I love how active we've become over the past few months!
 
I spend most of my time here at SSD, but I also do a fair amount of pimping my designers @ DST.
I also use it as my main gallery, so when my subscription is up I'm sure I will re-new.
I have never ONCE used any of the kits that I get with my subscription, and have only downloaded 2 and quickly deleted them when I realized that I would never use them.
Before I scrapped I belonged to a mainly talk community and I paid $50 bucks a year to have a premium memebership there, and I did it because I supported the community, not any one person in general. That is how I think of DST, if this is how Shannon decided to make her living, and its something I enjoy then I don't mind paying for it. I'm sure the overhead at DST is HUGE and I sincerly doubt that Shannon is making a ton of cash, if she is, then well...more power too her. She is only making $25 a year from me and in all fairness that is a drop in the bucket compared to what I spend on scrapping supplies.
I love MSA as well, and know that the owners there are also making a profit from the ad space they sell. They chose not to make it a subscription site and I can understand that, but I would not hold it against them if they did decide to go that route.
I have no idea of the cost of bandwith, but with the galleries at MSA and DST being as large as they are I'm sure it isn't cheap.
I think its a personal choice, and those are my reasons for signing up for a paid subscription and why I will continue to renew! :)
 
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