hmm sorta like rate-your-vendor ala ratemypoo hehe.

I think we as consumers should be able to communicate to each other our experiences regarding vendors in the hobby. I will see how much work/time/space it requires and then I will look into implementing my idea.

no, Canreef is not going to affiliate itself with or endorse any type of Vendor Ratings page.

I agree this is something consumers should have, and wish you luck with it. Unfortunately it doens't fit with our goals at this time.

a vendor rating forum would also work as a form of advertisement for stores that dont sponcer the forum. it, like the no selling of reef related items, would use system resources and not bring in a profit. as a person who runs a number of dedicated servers i know the cost involved. I can only assume that canreef is not the only site on the server. if they dont pay then its fat that needs to be trimmed.

same would go with an off site rating forum. I would think if you payed the monthly sponcer fee it would be ok. otherwise its not worth the time and headache that it would create for the staff.

I could be wrong on these points but i think i am prety close.

I want to do something that isn't related or affilitaed with canreef at all. I think the "trimming of the fat" has taken away some of the sites muscle. But as you've pointed out you aren't interested in doing anything like that. Thats your choice.

I don't want to be affiliated with canreef if I did chose to do my own vendor rating site anyways.

setting up a forum takes roughly 10 minutes. the space and resources needed to run a site is minimal. Even a site with a 1000+ members takes very little resources. The server we ran 30+ sites on, some with over 100,000 members, cost us less than $120 US a month to run. you should be able to find a shared host that would fit your bill for under $15.

making the site look like your own takes a bit more time. you would need to find and import a theme as well as make a logo. all of it is free if you search the net a bit.

anyway i have rambled on. im sure you already know most of this anyway :)

if you have any questions please feel free to send me a pm so we dont have to highjack a thread.

I'll pm you in a bit!