I actually don't like the idea of adding a surcharge for non-automated payments - that is needlessly penalizing those who choose to pay "manually", which could be for many reasons, including not having a PayPal account, a bank account, regular income, or privacy concerns.
If the on!y problem is chronically late payments by a few, let them be assessed late penalties, or have their keys /&/or memberships suspended. There is no need to penalize those who are not casing any grief. On Jan 27, 2014 6:26 PM, "Nathan Wild" <[email protected]> wrote: > I actually kind of like Ron's idea. I usually round up my payments to > cover pay pal etc. anyway. The way Ron suggests seems realistic and would > encourage people to get off their assess and get pads set up. > > (Disclaimer: by "people", I mostly mean me) > > Nathan T. Wild > On Jan 27, 2014 5:33 PM, "Ron" <[email protected]> wrote: > >> On 2014-01-27 17:17, Brittany Postnikoff wrote: >> > If we allow people to pay in advance and they decide to quit, what then? >> >> We refund them. Always have. We find a way. :) >> >> Here's another suggestion: instead of giving people a discount for >> paying in advance, why don't we charge people an administrative fee >> whenever they pay us? If they pay us monthly, it's $45. If they pay for >> 6 months, it's (6*$40) + $5. etc. That more accurately reflects the real >> world. :) >> >> Ron >> >> > know the natural response to this idea is that we give them their money >> > back, but this is not always easily done as funds may be tied up >> elsewhere. >> > SkullSpace is stable and will be able to survive on our current earnings >> > plan and we do have savings, but savings does not equate to money that >> is >> > easily dispensed. When considering plans it is important to note the >> > extremes and whether we can ride through that easily. For example, 10 >> > people pay a bunch of money up front for the year, two months later we >> make >> > an investment to the space such as a lazer engraver or what have you. >> Month >> > three those people decide to quit and all of a sudden we have to >> dispense >> > over four thousand dollars to people leaving. This is a possibility we >> need >> > to be aware of. >> > >> > The other point about making a piece of software to do automation is >> great. >> > Considering we are a hackerspace this is a wonderful idea! The offer to >> > maybe turn this into a Ruby project is great as well. If someone would >> be >> > willing to step up and create an operations team for this, they would >> be my >> > temporary SkullSpace hero. (Until next obstacle comes and someone helps >> us >> > clear it) I for one volunteer as a tribute to help get part of this >> done. >> > >> > I would really like to see us stay as a month to month organization >> because >> > that would best display our expenses and incomes in a directly parallel >> > comparison. We are not a big corporate entity that is amortizing things >> > over years or other large periods, so I would like to say even in "real >> > world" scenarios, which SkullSpace definitely is, that this is likely >> not >> > feasible due to the size, structure, and purpose of the SkullSpace >> > community. >> > >> > --BP >> > >> > On Mon, Jan 27, 2014 at 4:58 PM, Aemilianus Kehler <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > >> > > Ian... There will always be more costs to those that can't budget >> properly >> > > and prepay in advance... You'll see this in every possible business >> > > transaction.. Or how about we just go straight to run in a credit >> system >> > > like most of the business world and offer a deal to those that day >> their >> > > debt early... Perfect to get those in accounting the practice it as it >> > > would be in the "real" world... One thing I never understood in >> business.. >> > > Borrow from us and repay with 2 weeks and you get a better deal than >> just >> > > paying for it straight up... Uhh what? >> > > >> > > Cheers!! >> > > >> > > > On Jan 27, 2014, at 3:44 PM, Mark Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: >> > > > >> > > >> On 27/01/14 03:02 PM, Ian Trump wrote: >> > > >> IMHO Monthly PAD is preferred - less overhead to worry about, >> tracking >> > > >> anniversaries of renewal or issuing refunds. Were a Month to Month >> > > >> organization. Discounts are a pain in the ass and punish those who >> don't >> > > >> have sufficient means to up front $480.00 >> > > > >> > > > Even with banking fees, anyone we can get on PAD is ideal for >> > > administrative reasons, but some people are always going to turn it >> down as >> > > an option and pay irregularly. >> > > > >> > > > So how best to deal with them. >> > > > >> > > > Getting people who aren't on PAD to pay in bigger chucks should >> reduce >> > > the admin overhead in dealing with them. It's not fair to Skullspace >> to >> > > have so much admin overhead, which technology can help with, but can't >> > > eliminate. >> > > > >> > > > But a 1/6 discount (10 out of 12 months example) [16%!] is going too >> > > steep, enough that it does feel like a kick in the teeth to everybody >> else. >> > > > >> > > > Should be big enough to incentive some people who are already paying >> > > irregularly every month to step up and do this (bi-monthly, quarterly, >> > > annual), but not so big that we got people dropping their monthly >> PADs or >> > > big enough that people who pay irregular feel it out-paces the admin >> burden >> > > they create. Sweet spot might be closer to where those PAD bank fees >> are >> > > at, like 2%... not 16%. >> > > > >> > > > And however done, shouldn't strike me as bylaw territory, should be >> in >> > > the board's purview. >> > > > (Bylaw fix needed if the board doesn't have some discretion on >> this... >> > > not formally moving something...) >> > > > >> > > > _______________________________________________ >> > > > SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List >> > > > Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss >> > > > Archive: >> https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ >> > > _______________________________________________ >> > > SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List >> > > Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss >> > > Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ >> > > >> >> > _______________________________________________ >> > SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List >> > Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss >> > Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List >> Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss >> Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ >> > > _______________________________________________ > SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List > Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss > Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ >
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