Worth joining Astromart?

[coliea]

Hi guys - I was wondering if any of our UK members had joined Astromart and if so did they think it was worth the $12 registration fee? I regularly browse the Astromart classifieds (http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/), some of which are available to the UK, but to get detailed information you need to be a member and register an account at a cost of 12 dollars. I've never come across a forum before that required payment, and while I can see the benefit to our US cousins I would like to hear the opinions of any UK members - worth joining do you think?

Ta

Col

[John]

I joined before the joining fee was applied. I've bought a couple of times but got clobbered for import duty plus customs handling fees both times which more of less negated the savings made unfortunately.

Most of the sellers on Astromart are only prepared to ship to CONUS I've found.

The forums are quite good and I like generally browsing around the site but I would not pay for the priviledge. Cloudynights is free and many AM members post there as well

John

[canuck]

This is a big can of worms...

See here: http://ukastroimaging.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=32431.0

This is only one story of the unpleasantness people have experienced with Astromart, and there are many (to add some balance, I'm sure there are lots of happy users too), although I'm no longer one of them. I joined before the fee was created, but was quickly deleted without notice when it was decided my ISP was no longer acceptable (although they're happy to have me back if I pay).

Cloudy Nights is free, and becoming busier all the time (probably at the expense of Astromart...). I'd go with Cloudy Nights.

Just my two cents.

[beamish]

Thanks Canuck that really is an eye opener, umm Astromart, had thought about it once or twice, glad I haven't !!

[coliea]

This is a big can of worms...

See here: http://ukastroimaging.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=32431.0

Cloudy Nights is free, and becoming busier all the time (probably at the expense of Astromart...). I'd go with Cloudy Nights.

Whoa... thanks canuck for saving me a few dollars :salute:

The ukastroimaging link was a bit of an eyeopener, as was the astromart-uncensored Yahoo group.

I already use CN a lot and find it the perfect companion site to SGL, so not only will I give AstroMart registration the swerve... I've deleted their bookmark too.

Adios AM.

[canuck]

The ukastroimaging link was a bit of an eyeopener, as was the astromart-uncensored Yahoo group.

:shock:

I haven't thought about Astromart in awhile, and had never actually visited the Yahoo group...so, I just had a look and WOW!

[nitram100]

I bought an ultima barlow from there for like 25 quid, but i was lucky in that i had it sent to my mates house in the states and picked it up when i went over last month.

I managed to get in before the $12 registration fee and don't use my account anymore so coliea if you want to use my account to check it out, you're more than welcome.

[coliea]

I managed to get in before the $12 registration fee and don't use my account anymore so coliea if you want to use my account to check it out, you're more than welcome.

Cheers Nitram - email sent.

Best

Col