Premium Accounts

Premium Accounts have been created in order to offer something extra for the business people and/or budding entrepreneurs frequenting the Fountain Pen Network. These accounts have significant benefits over Bronze, Silver and Gold membership accounts, and they are specifically intended for traders, vendors, entrepreneurs, sellers, people providing pen services, manufacturers, representatives and anybody else on the business or advanced hobbyist side of the fountain pen community to promote their wares, knowledge, skills, and services. IOW, something that wasn't available on FPN in the past.

Extension of Gold Membership

As these accounts are an extension of the Gold Membership account, they also have a few extended rules, additions with regard to the General Rules and Guidelines. The latter have been updated as well, and an excerpt follows further below for convenience's sake. Here are the rules of engagement for Premium Accounts:

Premium Account Holders

• May email members or send PMs (Personal Messages) from the Board, if they have indicated they would like to receive information from these Premium Account Holders. For the different accounts there are different limits regarding these emails or PMs to be sent or started.
  
• May customize their profiles (valid for some of these accounts).
  
• Have extended signature capabilities, to promote their business or otherwise.
  
• Have extended direct message attachment possibilities, although the use of Upload or the Gallery is preferred.
  
• Have the option to use larger personal photographs to be shown in their member mini-profiles and normal profiles.
  
• May be able to disable the "Edited by" legend for posts in The Mall forum (depending on account type), and have more time to edit their messages and posts.
  
• May be able to open and close topics in The Mall forum (depending on account type). This is convenient for any topic which should only open or start at a certain date and/or time, and also serves to lock a topic for further replies, because it is seen as being out-of-date, etc.
  
• May not use the Market Watch forum for their announcements - henceforth this will be restricted to Gold Members only. Replying to a topic in Market Watch, or any topic for that matter, started by a Gold Member is fine, however.
  
• May start new topics in The Mall forum (and no other members can), in a frequency dependent on the type of account.
  
• May start contests and/or giveaways or post non-stock item listings, although only Diamond Account Holders are allowed to do so, up to once a month. Do note that the giveaways or contest prizes need to be relevant, of decent quality, and worth at least a reasonable amount. It is at the sole discretion to the Moderator and Admin Team to decide whether such a prize is worthwhile, and in case of doubt, do contact the team. F.e., a free ink sample of a few ml, or a single refill cartridge, will not be considered a prize worthwhile offering.
  
• Have the option to create and add blog entries in addition to the posting of new topics in The Mall, depending on the account type, for some even with the option to assign different editors as well.
  
• Get access to the Gallery facilities of the board, with varying sizes and options depending on the account type, and can even create their own albums.
  
• May post additional classifieds, with larger attachment uploads per item, per month, depending on the account type.
  
• Purchasing a Premium Account requires a member to be registered for 30+ days, IOW, it requires a Silver or Gold Membership.
  
• Supporting FPN by means of a Premium Account is a commitment for an entire year, whether purchased by means of the Annual Premium account options.
  

In order to check the advantages of each of the Premium Account options, please check the Premium Accounts Table of Comparison.

Do note that FPN will not refund purchases of Premium Accounts, neither in whole, nor in part.

The general rules and guidelines of the Fountain Pen Network still apply of course, and the FPN Moderator and Admin team reserve the right to change these rules of engagement and any other rules and guidelines as and when required, at the sole discretion of the Team. Continued participation on this board signifies agreement with these rules and any changes to them.

The FPN Moderator and Admin Team

For convenience's sake an excerpt from the general rules and guidelines with regard to commercial and related posts follows.

Commercial posts, advertising and soliciting for business and sales:

• Companies, Retailers, or otherwise affiliated parties without a Premium Account should post all company announcements in the Market Watch forum. A maximum of One (1) announcement per month is permitted. No pricing information will be allowed here. Please see the Market Watch Rules for the rules specific to this forum.
  
• Direct solicitation for business or sales must be done in the Classifieds Section and/or in The Mall forum only.
  
• Creating advertisements in the Classifieds section is limited to Gold Members and Premium Account Holders. Please see the Classifieds Rules for the specific terms and conditions for this area. All registered members are allowed to do business with other members who list their wares in the Classifieds section or in The Mall forum.
  
• Members with an internet and/or brick and mortar store are considered to be traders and will be required to purchase a Premium Account in order to sell or advertise their wares and/or services.
  
• Gold members are allowed to post a maximum of 3 adverts in the Classifieds section per week, with a maximum of 24 adverts on a yearly basis. If you have the need to post sales at a higher volume than 3 times a week or 24 times a year, you may want to look into becoming a Premium Account Holder.
  
• Gold Members without an internet or brick and mortar store may be considered traders in case they are selling items in Classifieds in large quantities, on a regular basis, or of considerable value. This will result in loss of privileges in the Classifieds, and this decision is at the sole discretion and classification of the Moderator and Admin Team. Members who want to sell items in large quantities, on a regular basis, or of considerable value, should consider purchasing a Premium Account.
  
• If a question about your fees, prices, services, etc. is asked in a thread in any other forum than the Market Watch forum or The Mall forum, you will refer to your site and/or, in case of Premium Account Holders, to The Mall forum.
  
• You are allowed to add your site or business contact in your signature. This way, "who does/sells what" will be clear to everyone. Common sense, and a measure of propriety is assumed.
  
• Posts containing links to your own eBay listings are strictly prohibited, except by Premium Account Holders in The Mall forum. eBay auctions may only be discussed after they are closed.
  
• Members are not allowed to direct other members, either through hotlink, through comments or otherwise to any live eBay auctions or other auction sites. No information such as URLs, item numbers, or seller IDs may be posted unless the eBay sale is strictly a "buy it now" sale with no bidding options available, or unless it is available through an eBay store.
  
• Group buys must have approval of the Moderator and Admin Team prior to initiating these on The Fountain Pen Network. This also holds true for charity events and auctions, "vote for me or someone I know" contests etc.
  
• Transactions in the Classifieds section are to be conducted via email. Those in The Mall forum may be conducted through PM or via email. Sellers may choose to whom they sell their items and are not required to sell to the first responder.
  
• For the sake of history and research, we ask that you do not delete the price from your original Classified or post after an item has been sold. Furthermore, please do put the word SOLD in bold letters in the title of your Classified when an item is sold, to make the buying and browsing experience of potential buyers more pleasant.
  
• Listing the same items over and over week after week in the Classifieds section is frowned upon. The Classifieds is not a shop front. If an item does not sell, and you would like to advertise it again, you will have to reduce the price by a reasonable amount in each subsequent relisting. Items which have not been listed for sale for at least 90 days may be relisted without a price drop.
  
• Simple or single parts for repairs may be asked for and dealt with in the Repair Q&A forum. It is not necessary to list these in the Classifieds section, although that is an option that remains open too.