Professionals and Amateurs Together

Membership at 30 Years

March 3, 2020
News: General News

Guild membership levels have been steady for the past seven years averaging 549 and normally staying within a range of ±15. Membership stood at 561 at the start of 2020—a new high to start a calendar year. However, what has happened since has been somewhat remarkable.

Current one + two year memberships stand at 590 (March 3, 2020). Since our new membership service was activated in early December...

  • 53 people have joined the Guild
  • 90 members have renewed their membership
  • 93% have paid their dues online (up from 85% in CY2019)
  • 414 members have logged into the new system

So why is this happening? Obviously, we can't know for sure. We had a record number of meetings last year (65), eight active subgroups, a well received Journal (thanks to our authors) and a new "friction-free" member renewal system in place since early December (retention rates have been high). Perhaps it is simply the economy. So why do you think we are on this run?

Bottom line—the Guild is healthy and growing at 30 years.

Jim Seroskie—Membership

Be Aware of Scammers
Answering These Ads!

Please be aware that there is a scammer answering these ads. Be careful!!!!

I recommend that you only take CASH or checks from people you know. Very little of the stuff that is advertised is so rare or such a great deal that someone would hire an “agent” to ship it.

BE CAREFUL!!!!

Peter

HOW THIS SCAM WORKS

If you are selling something online, as a business or through classifieds ads, you may be targeted by an overpayment scam.

The scammer will contact you, make you an offer—often quite generous—then make payment through credit card or cheque. They will be for an amount that is greater than the agreed price.

The scammer will contact you with an apology for the overpayment, offering a fake excuse. The scammer might tell you that the extra money was included to cover agent’s fees or extra shipping costs. Or they may just say they simply made a mistake when writing the cheque.

The scammer will then ask you to refund the excess amount or they will ask for you to forward the amount through to a third party. They will ask for this to through an online banking transfer, pre-loaded money card, or a wire transfer such as Western Union. You then discover that their cheque has bounced or the credit card had been a stolen or fake card.

A newer variation on this scam involves online sales, usually through classified sites, where the scammer pretends to have made a payment for a larger than agreed amount through services such as PayPal by sending a fake receipt of payment. The scammer will claim that the money is being held until you forward on the extra money.

If you send any money, you will not get it back. If you have already sent the ‘sold’ item you will lose this as well. At the very least, the scammer will have wasted your time and prevented you from accepting any legitimate offers on your sale.

I just wanted other Sellers to be careful as I see some valuable machines for sale here.