[Panky]

Originally Posted by Ruby2Much

Why would they do that? Can you still use your sig after it is sold? How do other people benefit from using your sig? Do they change the link that it leads to?

Signatures are considered to have value. This is why some people choose to sell their signatures and why some companies and/or individuals look to purchase them.

The deal usually works like this. The board poster, usually someone with a high post count and/or good reputation offers to sell their sig. A company or individual who is looking to increase exposure for their program, services, or items for sale will purchase the sig of the board poster. In return, that board poster carries the company or individuals ad and links in their signature for a predetermined amount of time or until a specific number of posts have been reached.

So instead of the board poster carrying random sponsors, links, and advertising in their sig, they carry only the ad chosen by the buyer. Every time that board poster makes a post on the board, that company or individual gains some more exposure, which leads to branding, possible new affiliates, and/or possible sales. Some companies or individuals will choose to purchase multiple board posters signatures. This increases their exposure. In return, the board poster(s) is/are paid for the use of the sig space.

It's like when a company purchases ad spots on a billboard along side a busy highway. The busier the highway, the more exposure and possible business for the advertiser. The busier the highway is, the more expensive the ad spot on the billboard. The board poster is the billboard and the webmasters/affiliates are the cars passing by. The more a board poster(s) posts, the more eyeballs that view the ad carried in his/her sig.

Some boards do not allow for the practice of selling sigs. One reason is, is because of paid advertisers on a board. The paid advertisers have paid for exposure on the board through the use of banners/buttons/sticky threads/random contests. When you have people who are selling their sigs and posting like mad, some people feel it is in direct competition with those who paid the board to advertise. When a person sells their signature, boards generally don't get a cut of that either.

Another reason some boards don't condone the practice of sig selling is because some board posters will abuse it. They will post constantly because they have an obligation to the buyer, but at the same time, more often than not, these posters fill the board with junk, which takes advantage of point systems as well as potentially pissing off the regular posters.