This wouldn't be my call so I'm only giving an opinion but I think that would give free advertising to non paying companies rendering sponsorship moot. Just make a favorites folder with all of the sites.
personally,
my opinion on this is as follows.
I think sponsors pay a price to be given a bit of extra consideration, however, just because a company hasn't paid to be a sponsor doesn't mean we can't list that they make a product for our vehicles. I've never seen a shrockworks sponsor ad, but, I guarantee they're talked about fairly often, and what products they make are discussed pretty openly. I'd LOVE to see a whitepages style list of companies and just a general list of what they carry, not an in depth list, nor even anything listing pricing or anything else, just like "shrockworks.com : bumpers 1st/2nd, skids 1st/2nd, sliders 1st/2nd" and a sponsor would get their banner inserted into the list along side their listing. I'm a HUGE believer in competition drives innovation and helps keep timelines as well as customer satisfaction.
For example, if I call Dave up because I want a custom light bar for my 2nd gen, but, xoskel already makes one, and Dave says "hey, I'd love to, but, it's gonna be X amount of time before I'd have time to get that worked up for you" there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to look at a list that says xoskel makes light bars too, I bounce over there and find out that he's got a lead time that's X plus or minus a couple of days, but his price is considerably higher than what Dave offered, that's a great thing, I'm gonna tell Dave to hop to it and get it knocked out asap. On the other hand, if Dave says it'd take him a month to start on it and probably 2-3 weeks to iron it out, but John (xoskel) has them in stock, if I'm in a hurry, it'd be pretty helpful to know, since if Dave can't meet my timeline, I'm going to have to go to a local fab shop to get it within my timeline...
I'm not suggesting something that'd make sponsorship a moot point, the list wouldn't be advertising for them, at least not in a "hey, you should go check these guys out" way, if they're going to come actively offer their products, they should still become a sponsor, or at least purchase a "Vendor" status, since technically, all of us that're supporting members are sponsors of the site, as we're giving our funds to the site to help it in whatever manner it needs.
However, refusing to list people that make products for our vehicles on the principle that they don't pay for sponsor/vendor status on our site is in turn limiting the exposure of the companies that make products for our rigs, and that's not good for the community either.
I personally agree with Mac. Sponsors are a very important part of keeping a great site running.
agreed, fully, there's a difference however between advertising for sponsors and refusing to let anyone but sponsors be referenced as making/selling products for our rigs
Ahhh, what it seemed like and how others took it was for like a directory of all sites producing Xterra parts.
that's EXACTLY what I'm suggesting, like the whitepages, not with ads (for non-sponsors) like yellowpages
I'm not trying to make anyone mad, or take anything away from sponsors, I'm just suggesting that if we make a list of stuff of whom makes what (makes, not sells, makes), it'll make competition better as well as being great for the community as a whole as opposed to what's best for a handful of advertising sponsors. Isn't that what the point of the site was after all, a community site for the community, instead of a corporate owned and corporate advertising driven site?
if I'm crossing the line Dave, delete the post, I'm not trying to stir the pot, just offering my personal opinion, and trying to explain my mentality clearer rather than make a remark and leave my intent open for misinterpretation.
