I agree with Gail. I think Gregr has done a good thing with this forum, but his intentions are to build a business that makes him money. The way I read some of these people's posts, you'd think he ran into a burning building to save an old lady's cat. And then when the reporter ran up to him, Gregr covered his face and said,"no pictures please, I'm just a hero, I only did this because it was the right thing to do".
Gregr I don't see people paying $49 a year for this, just don't see it. Maybe the guys who are getting good deals on $1 auctions. I think this might have worked if there was a larger group, but we're to small. I always knew there would be some charge somewhere someday, no matter how loud the "Gregr does this for you" drum echoed in the posts of certain butt kissers.
If you want to charge, give something more than what you and others offer for free. I like your forum, but for $49 I'll hang around DomainState, and chances are so will a lot of others that you worked hard to bring here. If anything, owning this forum has made you a domain guru, brought you into many great deals, exposed you to great new ideas and countless industry secrets. Memberships might be a good idea, but your timing is off. You start charging admission when there's to many names to auction, not when people are walking away from the auctions.