Comments on: What's the opinion on selling-on user ID's?

What's the opinion on selling-on user ID's?

Frasermoo — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 02:23:43 -0800

What's the opinion on selling-on user ID's?

By: Pretty_Generic

Pretty_Generic — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 02:26:59 -0800

I think it's great.

By: Frasermoo

Frasermoo — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 02:28:02 -0800

I'm not going to do this but was interested, particularly as the site's popularity continues to grow... (hello google ads... a mention in The Sunday Times last weekend...etc..)

I am proud of my sub-12K user ID and even though I very rarely post or comment anymore I am glad I have the option. Just curious.

By: riffola

riffola — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 02:38:19 -0800

If the user ID has been used, then no, it shouldn't be sold. If Matt himself is doing it, ala #8, then yeah it's a good thing.

By: wendell

wendell — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 02:43:19 -0800

If I put mine on eBay, I'd probably net more than mathowie from a year of ads.

But the mathowie did me a couple nice private unexpected favors recently, so I won't do it (but if I did, I'd split the proceeds...)

(Note to self: never post after 2AM local time again... sober)

By: crunchland

crunchland — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 03:05:37 -0800

who owns your userid?

By: hama7

hama7 — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 04:25:10 -0800

Don't tell anybody, but I'm going to sell my user ID to Hama8. Sshh....

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 04:34:38 -0800

it would be a bit odd to sell on an id with an established personality, while "anonymous" ids wouldn't raise much money anyway. so what's the point? iirc you can get an id if you pay matt some small amount.

either way, i can't imagine the world ending if someone did sell one.

(i have a spare id that i registered thinking i'd use it for an evil sociology experiment. but i could never be bothered and now i've forgotten the login name...)

By: quonsar

quonsar — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 05:44:07 -0800

well, just think - you not only get a username, you get a posting history! and a rep! wish YOU'D said this? now, you can make it so!
not valid where prohibited. some dissipation required. gastrointestinally distressed pachyderm not included.

By: corpse

corpse — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 05:52:16 -0800

I'd sell mine but then I'd have a baseball shirt with someone elses user number on it.

By: darainwa

darainwa — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 06:18:32 -0800

What is the going rate for a MeFi user ID?

By: quonsar

quonsar — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 09:50:17 -0800

for mine, or anyone elses? cuz everyone wants to be quonsar, ya know...

By: riffola

riffola — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 10:51:43 -0800

I want to be a quonsar!

By: ashbury

ashbury — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 11:11:47 -0800

Actually, I'm the real quonsar. The person who's been using quonsar's id is a cheap off-the-shelf knockoff . . .

By: quonsar

quonsar — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 11:22:09 -0800

...and thus, is better equipped to be quonsar!

By: mhaw

mhaw — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 11:36:29 -0800

Has anyone considered that maybe they aren't theirs to sell... I think this post brings up an important question as to the rights of the user in the eyes of site owners...

By: Mars Saxman

Mars Saxman — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 12:02:11 -0800

Ahh, but it's not the user ID you are selling: it's the password. And the password, of course, is your own creative product, your invention, your intellectual property. And we all know how crucial to the success of a democracy the absolute protection of the Intellectual Property principle is.

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 13:02:45 -0800

Marx Sasman has it.

By: walrus

walrus — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 13:03:20 -0800

Previous ebaying episode.

By: y6y6y6

y6y6y6 — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 13:19:21 -0800

"So free mefi pro, which I hope to implement in September."

Ahem..... That would be Sept. 2001?

By: quonsar

quonsar — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 13:21:54 -0800

passwords get you through the security, right? i would think they are illegal circumvention devices under the DMCA.

By: anathema

anathema — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 14:06:14 -0800

Interesting question, quonsar.

By: KiloHeavy

KiloHeavy — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 18:46:52 -0800

I'd be fine with metafilter looking like MSNBC with ad content, as long as there aren't any pop ups, pop unders, or pop overs.

Matt, is the ad revenue eyes-based or click-based? I'd gladly hit refresh a few hundred times or click like a crack rat once or twice a day if it would defray some of your costs.

By: matteo

matteo — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 19:45:12 -0800

oh, by the way, I have a relatively low usernumber, and of course my ID is for sale (offers by e-mail thank you, PayPal, Western Union and bank money transfer accepted)

By: namespan

namespan — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 20:26:09 -0800

Sell? Sell? My metafilter ID? My sweet nickname? Not for any amount of money.

(Now leasing, on the the other hand, that's the ticket. It's all about the revenue streams, not the one-time windfalls, folks...)

By: padraigin

padraigin — Thu, 27 Mar 2003 13:36:01 -0800

mmm...popovers.