Become a Patreon supporter and help to unlock free ads on RFS!

Since 2015, RFS has helped recorder players around the world find a new home for instruments they don’t need anymore, and other players discover new ones. With over 350 instruments sold so far (and counting), it’s proving to be a helpful and much-needed resource for recorder players.

In these five years, I’ve seen the service and its audience grow (and, what’s more incredible, entirely by word-of-mouth) to the point that I believe a different, crowdfunded reward system would make more sense now and would be more convenient for all. See the stats below:

The site gets over 9,000 monthly views a month, which suggests that the pay-per-ad model is no longer the best option. By creating a Patreon account, I aim to reverse that model. How? Instead of asking a few sellers to pay for their ads, I believe it makes more sense to ask the broad RFS’s audience to become supporters so that those who can make a small, regular contribution that would allow the following:

1. If we reach a monthly fee of €100, I will stop charging sellers for ads on RFS. This way, instead of having a few sellers who pay for a few ads, a small contribution from the RFS community of visitors would allow for free ads on RFS.
2. Free ads equal more recorders for sale!

That mid-priced recorder you were hesitant to sell? With free ads, it’d be a no-brainer: up on RFS! That rare recorder model in an odd pitch you were sure no one would be interested in buying? With free ads, why not give it a try? That large consort consisting of 10 recorders that would previously cost €100 to get posted? With free ads, it’ll be travelling on to its new owner in a matter of days! These are some examples to show why I believe it makes more sense now to ask the wide RFS audience to become supporters so that those who can make a small, regular contribution to unlock free ads on RFS.

There are already four [updated: 19] generous RFS’s patrons: many thanks! So, at the time of writing, we’re now just about €28/month away to unlock free adverts on RFS! But we still need a few more to reach the €100 per month goal. Some basic maths will be handy here. See what it takes to unlock free ads on RFS:

Tier no.	Patrons × pledge	1st goal	Result
1 (€3)	34 × 3	102	By joining only the lower Patreon tier (€3), it would take just 34 out of the thousands of monthly visitors to become patrons
2 (€5)	20 × 5	100	By joining only the second-lower Patreon tier (€5), it would take just 20 out of the thousands of monthly visitors to become patrons
3 (€10)	10 × 10	100	By joining only the third-lower Patreon tier (€10), it would take just 10 out of the thousands of monthly visitors to become patrons
4 (€25)	4 × 25	100	By joining only the fourth-lower Patreon tier (€25), it would take just 4 out of the thousands of monthly visitors to become patrons
5 (€50)	2 × 50	100	By joining only the higher Patreon tier (€50), it would take just 2 out of the thousands of monthly visitors to become patrons

You get the idea.

I’m sure it would be a win-win-win situation:

• For sellers: Having to pay a fee (even a small, reasonable one) when they most need cash —which is precisely the moment they decide to sell an instrument— is not the ideal situation. With free ads, this is not a barrier anymore!
• For buyers: Free ads will make posting an advertisement on RFS a no-brainer, which means the number of recorders advertised on RFS will probably grow considerably, so… more recorders for sale!
• For myself: Counting on even a small, but a regular fee will mean a great help to me —especially now, just a few months after I quit my teaching job— and will allow me to plan better ahead

Instead of asking a few sellers to pay for their ads, I believe it makes more sense to ask the broad RFS’s audience to become supporters so that those who can make a small, regular contribution

Here’s where Patreon comes in.

Become a Patron!

Why I’m starting a Patreon

I have never charged a sales commission. Instead, I’ve been asking recorder sellers for a small, reasonable fee in exchange for posting their ads on recordersforsale.com. Although my primary motivation for offering this service is not a financial one, the truth is that, like all good things, these ads take time to produce. A lot of time — between processing and formatting your text data, marking up the HTML, entering the metadata, adding tags and categories, resizing, renaming and retouching seller’s photographs, etc., each post takes between 20-30 minutes to produce and publish.
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​But I don’t just post the ads on RFS. I also post them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (pssst!… and I’m even thinking of launching a YouTube channel [please, subscribe!], as interested buyers are increasingly demanding audio clips). Unfortunately, finding time is exceptionally difficult. This is time that I have to squeeze into my busy schedule, trying to survive and build my career as a musician. As I’m a professional player and teacher, my time resources are limited. And now that I’m currently doing a PhD, more than ever — I can’t just do it for free.

So, basically, I need your help to not only keep RFS alive but to allow it to grow and improve.

The goals

If we would manage to unlock free ads on RFS, I would still need to find the right balance: imagine I ask for too little, but I get an avalanche of free ads to post. Whether I charge or not, my time resources are still limited, and this can never become my full-time job, especially if it does not allow me to keep the lights on by itself!

Therefore, my plan is:

• When I reach €100 per month, I will stop charging sellers for ads. I will then commit to posting ten free ads per month! Remember, free ads = more recorders for sale!
• In the event I reach €200 per month, I would determine to post as many as 20 free ads per month. Again, free ads = more recorders for sale! And so on, although I’m not betting that high.

Become a Patreon supporter to unlock free ads on RFS!

Will you help us achieve free ads on RFS by becoming a Patreon supporter today? Free ads = more recorders for sale!

Check out the discounts and other exclusive offers for patrons

→ Please visit the new RFS Patreon page for the whole story:

Visit RFS’s Patreon page

Thank you for your generosity and goodwill. Together, we can get recorders moving in the right direction! 😀

I look forward to seeing RFS grow and improve with your help.

Thanks!—VP.

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For those interested, here are some more details from the Patreon About section:

What if…?

I become a Patreon supporter, but we don’t reach a minimum of 100 € per month. In the meantime, you continue charging sellers per ad?

I guess it will take a while to reach the point in which the conversion to free ads can happen, so please be patient (in the meantime, RFS will continue working on a fee-per-ad basis). But fear not. I have a great, exclusive offer for Patreon supporters contributing €5 per month or more: you will get to know about the next recorder for sale earlier than everybody else! This way, when a new instrument arrives that particularly interests you, you will have more chances to get the instrument yourself!

I’m a new seller, and I have just sent you a request to post my ad. How long will it take to get online?

Once I’ve got the required information and photos, I will try to get it online as quickly as possible. As I promised to patrons in the Patreon page, new ads will either first appear only there, or as well here but only accessible for patrons during the first two days. Besides, it may be the case that I will need to give priority to ads from sellers that also are Patreon supporters. Finally, it has happened before that an ad arrives while I’m traveling or rehearsing for a concert. Or maybe I am in the middle of any other kind of project. In such a case, please be patient if it takes a bit longer than usual.

WIP

As long as this idea is still a work in progress and considering I’m new at this Patreon thing, please expect to find changes and adjustments shortly. They will allow me to keep the process as consistent and as fair as possible for everybody.

Thank you!

This is a one-man venture, but thanks to Patreon and your support, it can be so much more!