What price for peer support?

Haymarket, 20 Jan 2009
Originally uploaded by ela_jo2005 / Georgina

There are many possible negative aspects to the internet, temptation, withdrawal, fast and easy access to just about anything you desire and the ability to submerge yourself in an online life + neglect the real life friends + family you have. My husband and I have been 'sad' enough as a teenager would say to sit in the same house and previously text each other and more recent IM each other on facebook.

But, four years ago while pregnant with my son I stumbled across a site called babyworld.co.uk and ignored all the 'expert' articles and went straight to something which was at that time fairly unique; a forum for peer support from people expecting a baby at the same time as you and at the same point in pregnancy. Over the interceding 4 years our group has declined and whittled down as members found other forums, had new babies and joined new groups or simply lost the time they once had to spend online but we have maintained firm friendship bonds that we know we can call on for advise when needed. Together we've faced the death of parents, divorce, life threatening illness in a child, diagnosis of life long disorders and more bumps in the road than any of us can probably remember. We exchanged Christmas and birthday cards and hold meet ups and the webspace on which all this was made possible was free to join and use.

But in these tough financial times it seems nothing is without its price and now new members must pay for their opportunity of friendship, the exact price I'm not sure of, I've heard £35 and £50 and lots in between. The premise behind introducing these charges is that 'expert' advise is provided on the forums, and that these experts are on the payroll.

I am not entering into a debate about the quality of such advise but I will say I have found it neither timely or helpful in any circumstance and certainly would not pay for it, especially considering the NHS in this country is free at point of contact.

Its sad that new mums coming to the site may now miss out on the opportunities for friendship I have enjoyed, I hope babyworld can see its greedy behaviour will loose it members and therefore it will loose its advertising revenue as well, which I suppose will lead to higher fees for those who stick around.

Good job facebook is still free!

Tired of ebay & paypal?

Yes, us too!  Having been a seller on ebay for many years (pushchair addiction knows no bounds and is easy to indulge with ebay saved searches...) I periodically swear off the whole site alone with the paypal payment system in disgust at a fee rise, change in feedback policy or listing guidelines or as recently all three at once.

There are reams of websites devoted to HOW evil paypal and ebay are, but realistically if you want to make a little extra cash there are few other options to do so online.  That said is there actually any money made in the end?  With buyers moaning about paying for packaging as well as postage, listing fees, final value fees, paypal payment fees and paypal transfer fees can anyone seriously expect to come out with more than they are paying the vast corporation that operates it?

Despite all the expenses involved my number one irk remains the inability to have even medium speed access to money you have 'earned' through ebay, never mind fast.  Having recently been away for a fantastic weekend at center parcs Nottingham I went into overdrive planning auctions, ironing baby clothes, finding old textbooks and hours photographing and listing in order to ensure whatever money was raised would hit the bank before we went away so we could have some extra treats.  And what happened?  None of the buyers paid on time they all delayed by several days and the funds we raised hit the bank when we got home.

So I was all excited to hear about a paypal top up visa card, excellent idea to be able to transfer smaller amounts of money free onto a more readily accessible format.  Great idea, of course subject to the usual paypal drawbacks.  Having decided to be sensible and not transfer my whole paypal balance (a whopping £60!) at once incase it all went horribly wrong I test transferred £10 to my shiny new paypal visa.  Of course despite the fact paypal state it would appear on the card the next day, it in fact took 3 days, although it whizzed out of my account instantly, as ever.  Having complained and actually received an e-mail reply which apologised for teething difficulties I decided to try again and transferred a huge £20, which dutifully left my account 2 days ago, I'm still waiting for it to arrive on the card.

So the moral of the story is, no quicker, no cheaper, same old story.