Re: [Alpacasite] Re: Farm visitorsay they "would not pay for the F&R Guide"

I agree this is the wrong thing to do. We should not charge for a free item.

sharonkennels <sharonkennels@yahoo.com> wrote: Janet: I think you are right. All the farms that I have visited had
listings in the AOBA farm and ranch guide. That is the way I found
them.
I am disturbed that the farm and ranch guide is now being sent to
only the people who will pay the so called shipping fee.
Anyone that knows anything about advertising cost and shipping costs
will see this new charge as a ploy to get the potential buyer to pay
for the advertising which is for the benefit of the alpaca farmer
who is doing the advertising.
No one will order a farm and ranch guide under these new conditions.
This latest move by the AOBA marketing committe is downright stupid.

I have just sent in a payment for an ad. Now that I see what is
going on I will call back that payment. If I have to use legal means
to get it back, I will do so.
And I will also not pay for the AOBA membership which comes with the
package.
The AOBA was doing a good job in the advertising department.
I don't need the AOBA any more the way it stands.

I urge all alpaca farmers to get in touch with the AOBA marketing
committe and stop this nonsense.

The AOBA has charged a fair price for a nationwide advertising
program in the Farm and Ranch guide program that has no equal
anywhere else.
Now the marketing committe had made that advertisig program
worthless.

The persons who made that decisoin to stop sending out free catalogs
must have been on the BOD of Sears, and got fired from there after
the stockholders saw the results.

Suppose we in the AOBA do the same. Get our Farm and Ranch guide
program back on track, or else get all our monies back for services
not rendered and get an audit of just where our money is going and
is going to go in the future.

Sharon Kennels.

--- In Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com, "Dream Chaser Alpacas"
<hufford@d...> wrote:
>
> I know this has been discussed on the site previously, but I have
> recently had a complaint from someone interested in alpacas about
AOBA
> requiring interested parties to "pay for AOBA's advertising".
This
> person has informed me that they would not ever pay to have
someone
> elses advertising sent to them....and the price of nearly $10 to
> receive the advertising material is outrageous. One farm visitor
> stated there were only 5 farms listed in their area they would be
> visiting and if they had had to pay for the guide, they wouldn't
be
> visiting them unless they had learned about them another way. As
his
> wife said, "I wouldn't pay 2 bucks a farm just for names!"
>
> This is of high concern to us as a small alpaca farm. Four of the
six
> contacts made by us with prospective buyers this past year was
through
> our ad in the guide (including one from Canada) and one was from
the
> online farm site listing. And although we are not actively
pursuing
> sales currently, we have tried to show our visitors that even a
small
> farm venture can succeed, as we have grown from 5 to 11 alpacas in
> just over a year, built our outbuildings, and begun agisting
animals.
> We try to help them understand what is entailed and what they can
> realistically expect. Then we refer them to farms we believe
> are "reliable" to purchase animals or research further, and we
refer
> them to a couple of alpaca sites to learn the "good, bad, and the
> ugly".
>
> Most of our visitors are not looking for a get rich scheme, they
are
> researching a possible change in lifestyle for their families and
a
> future income - which will at least allow them to live comfortably
and
> as some have said, spend more time with their families.
>
> Since the anouncement of the changes in policy, we have also asked
our
> visitors if they received the guide or just accessed us on line,
and
> if they would have paid for it if necessary. ALL have said they
would
> not have paid for the guide. At least two have bought into
alpacas,
> one a dispersal herd. The others are continuing their research,
three
> of them are on this site. This is at least four people who might
not
> have found our farm if they had to pay for the guide.
>
> Since our ad in the guide is paid for by us with the intention and
> understanding that our listing be made available to possible
future
> buyers and those researching alpacas as a business, we have become
> even more concerned with AOBA charging $9.95 for the guide under
the
> ruse of shipping. I ship packages to Alaska, and sometimes that
> doesn't even cost me $9.95.
>
> Does anyone else share these concerns? If what our farm visitors
have
> said are true, I don't see a reason to use the farm guide as part
of
> our advertising plan.
>
> Janet Hufford
>

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Jim and Sharon Dear
St. Lawrence County
Potsdam, New York
Alpacas came home 9-11-04
THE DEAR ALPACA FARM
www.dearalpacafarm.com

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