The poll needs a third option. Perhaps you could do a mix? A few of the textures from each set could be freely accessed but you pay a premium for the entire set....

definitely. I think your free textures are already worth a lot more than that. If you can keep the free textures coming too it'd be a no brainer, at least for me.

I would definitely be there. I also like the combining idea of one free and the rest premium.

Sounds alright to me for such a low price! Would you be collecting all the textures yourself? I think it'd be a great opportunity for other 'texture-makers' out there to earn a little cash (from you) as well as get their name known! Sounds like a good idea either way!

Thanks for the input so far guys!

I've never thought about offering part of a texture pack and the other part for a small fee. I might give this a test run sometime in the near future. It would sure be easier than having to create account and logins for everyone...and all that.

@Callum I would definitely be open to other photographers contributing! Let me know if you're interested ;)

$2 a month sounds like a bargain, especially if I could sign up for a year and pay it all at once. Another way to add value, I think, is to continue offering tutorials. They are really fun and useful.

I'll be interested! Shoot me an email when you're ready!

Do it man! you do such a great job so i would be stoked for you if you could make this your main source of income for sure! keep it up bro. i appreciate all you do!
-your fellow caleb

As a new RSS Subscriber, you have great work and you should definitely be compensated for it. I really appreciate your content but I would rather you find more advertisers to offer it free to your readers. If you are going to charge, I think $2 is a small enough price where people do not feel burdened. Thanks for all you do!

As a new RSS Subscriber, you have great work and you should definitely be compensated for it. I really appreciate your content but I would rather you find more advertisers to offer it free to your readers. If you are going to charge, I think $2 is a small enough price where people do not feel burdened. Thanks for all you do!

Really appreciate that you've taken the time to poll your readers on this. I know that it can be really tough trying to monetize things that people might have come to expect for free.

If you think that you can provide the added value, and frankly $2 is remarkably reasonable, then I'd be more than happy to make that kind of subscription because I think you provide a great service.

Sorry, wouldn't work for me. There's some really cool stuff on this site, but really, just anything on here I could create if I really felt the need to and my only other option was paying for it. I've sold a lot of people on this site on the argument that it was free & high quality. I think creating a completely separate, but linked to site for "premium" content (like texturevault) is the way to go if you're looking to monetize something. If that means every other new texture set is "premium" then I guess I'd be ok with that. If L&T became a paid-for site, I would pretty quickly delete my RSS feed to it.

@Adam - Thanks for the constructive criticism, I really appreciate it.

At this point in time, based on the poll and comments I think I'm going to opt for not including premium content here on Lost and Taken. I feel confident that I'll be able to find other ways of monetization though, so don't worry ;)

Do it man! I love your textures. 2$ is totally worth it for the quality you provide!

There's got to be a way to make money at it. I don't know all the answers...probably not even most...but I do know that thanks to you and your textures I've been able to come up with some great things. But I'm a newbie to your site and to creating my own stuff. Just wanted to say I like what you are doing! Thanks for sharing...and so far...making it free! ;D

it's only $2 a month for god sake and people still complaint? :D
i think u should go for it!!
you've created a wonderful site here, test the water for premium content
if it goes well, go for it!

I dont' use textures very often so personally I probably wouldn't pay a membership... that's just me, but if I did, 2$ per month is reasonable to ask :) Hope that helps. I keep your blog address in my favorites and just pop in from time to time to see what is new :) Thank you for everything you have already done for us! whatever you decide!!

I chose "keep it free" and feel a little sorry about that. But truth is: I wouldn't buy it. There are loads of free textures out there. But how about just adding a huge "donate" button to yout site? I am sure you would make some money.

I have just discovered this blog and I have to say that it is amazing. I'm sure that I will use some of these textures for my future projects.

And yes, I would pay $2 a month (or even more) for premium textures.

While I feel a little bad about this, I know I wouldn't subscribe to a texture pay site, because push come to shove, I'd take the photos myself, or use a lower quality texture. Sad, but true. Also (and even more sad) I would probably opt to not part with my $2 not because of the expense as much as the hassle of sign up, credit cards, etc. Most people loathe filling that stuff in, and in the prospect of it many will turn away.

However, I would be totally unoffended by a LOT of relevant ads... or even flash ads, actually. I understand that this site requires work, and you should definitely get paid for your work somehow.

Just to clarify my vote - I think it's more than worth it, and you'd probably have lots of people who'd pay for the premium textures. I voted no because I know that I wouldn't pay for them. But I do think it's a good idea for you.

I want to thank you guys for your continued input on this subject.

I believe I found a way to increase my income from direct ad sales, which should help out quite a bit. I'm also planning on releasing a test set of premium textures off-site, just to see what the outcome it....like an experiment ;)

Based on the input I've gotten through this post, I will keep Lost and Taken free for as long as it exists...which is the way it should be.

I'd definitely pay. And a monthly charge, done as you described, would be a smart method. Non-intrusive (once a month is not any kind of hassle). And the price is right.

Caleb,

Have you noticed that while your poll shows strongly that people don't want you to have a paid membership, the complete opposite is the case with these comments? Maybe the commenters are more avid about your textures, or just more serious that they want to comment.

I for one would say:: DO IT! I love your textures. While alot of peeps are right... we could all go out and make our own, we know our time is limited. $2 for great textures is totally worth it in my opinion. I've used them to make plenty of money thus far, so how could I not be interested? (I donate to the site alright, however!) Anyhow, to me it is a matter of my time. I could spend 1 hr. making my own textures, or 10 seconds downloading great ones from you. I could use the other 59.8 minutes of that hour making $$$. Easy decision. :-)

I think 2$ a month is a bargain for the resources you're offering here. It's fantastic that they're free, but adding a premium section is a great idea.