Membership FAQ

So what's the deal?

Beginning August 1st, GasStations.com will be implementing a pay-for-service business model. Since our launch in November 2007 and up until this point, we have offered our proprietary listing services and seller contact tools free of charge. However, due to the current economic conditions affecting our industry and the industries of our affiliates, we are faced with the decision to either (1) charge for usage or (2) eliminate our services.

Given the steady growth in both new membership and usage statistics we feel that we are providing a valuable service to the gas station community and have decided to continue providing those services. However, our service will now be associated with a nominal fee.

Why now? Why not charge from the start?

Excellent question. GasStations.com was launched as a free site based on the idea that the expenditures associated with operating a commercial site and subsequent profits would be made from affiliate advertisers. In short, our business model was that of an ad-supported website. Initially this worked quite well and all parties were satisfied.

However, recent economic pressures have caused businesses, big and small, to reevaluate their marketing budget and media expenditures.   As a result, businesses and companies are spending less on advertising (just ask anyone who works in the newspaper and magazine industry). Couple this with the fact that consumer attention span is waning to the point that many advertisers are unwilling to allocate ad dollars to non-search related banner ads; and you have a situation where companies that rely on ad-supported business models are forced to reinvent themselves or close (see the Rocky Mountain News).

OK, that makes sense. But again, what's the deal?

So beginning on August 1st, we will be implementing a usage fee of $9.95 for unlimited access and usage for the GasStations.com listing services and seller contact tools. This will affect all new and existing users.

New users who elect to signup will go to a credit card checkout page and enter in their payment information. Once the card is processed and accepted, you will be emailed a receipt and your account will be created using the name and information supplied on the credit card form. When your account is activated, you will receive another email containing your login information and instructions on how to edit or modify your account info.

I already have an account. What should I do?

Members who already have an account will follow a slightly different procedure. On August 1st all active accounts will be suspended. To reactivate your account, you will also need to go the credit card checkout page and enter in your payment information.

Under the heading labeled: Are you a new member? Be sure to select the option for "No, I am already a member". Once your card is processed and accepted, you will receive an email on how to "unlock" your account. After that, it's business as usual.

NOTE: Suspended user accounts will only be available for unlocking for 45 days. After 45 days we will assume that you have decided not to continue using our services and all accounts that have not been paid for and unlocked will be removed from our servers.

Can you tell us a little more about the $9.95 fee?

Sure. The $9.95 is a recurring membership fee that will be charged to your credit card every 30 days. We don't have any long-term commitments or requirements. This is a month-by-month agreement. As long as you elect to use our services your card will be charged the $9.95 fee every month and you can quit at any time. Just send us an email or use the contact form.

We feel this price point is very generous considering that many business-for-sale websites charge $79.00 or more per month for some accounts.

Can you summarize this for us?

Yep. Here it goes:

• Pay-for-usage business model beginning August 1, 2009



• $9.95 membership fee to be charged monthly



• Unlimited access and usage



• No contracts or commitments, cancel anytime (just notify us)



• Searching businesses and the community forum will still remain free

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us or post your opinions or thoughts here.

-Jon D.