The Photogon is a member oriented community where registered users participate in buying and selling quality cameras and related equipment.  To participate in any material sense, such as listing items or bidding at auctions, you must register.  By registering you are proving to other members that you are a real person, not just an email address.  In some cases, you will be entering legally binding contracts to purchase or sell items. 

There are many benefits to registering, which include:
-The ability to list items for sale and bid at auctions.
-Access to My Page, which is your central control panel for the Photogon.
-Access to current and upcoming databases, such as manufacturers and pricing guides.
-Access to Photogon staff persons, who are always available by email to help registered members.

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General Memberships
Private parties may buy or sell free of charge, with no listings fees or commissions.  In the case of transaction fees in the future, you will always be told of the exact costs before being charged.  For now everything is free, so sign up today and start trading.

Commercial Accounts
If you are in the business of selling camera related products, you must register as a Commercial User.  The registration process is free, and we will even credit your account $20.00 immediately.  Thus you may get started right away, and then gauge the effectiveness of our marketplace without any initial cost.  After the initial credit, commercial accounts will be charged the following fees:
- Classified Ad: $2.00 listing fee
- Auction Listing: $2.00 listing fee
- Commissions: None currently
Remember: we will start your account with a $20.00 credit.

Retailers and Etailers should consider applying for a Photogon Dealership, which offers you much more exposure and efficiency in transacting at the Gon.  Please take a look at our offering for merchants.

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-You are a resaler or retailer of camera gear or related products.
-You represent, or are employed by a manufacturer in the photogprahy industry.
-You will be listing products on behalf of either of the above entities.
-You will be selling products for profit on a regular basis.

Exceptions:
-Employees of camera retailers listing their personal equipment
-Employees of camera related manufacturers listing their personal equipment.

Any member that lists more than 10 items concurrently may be considered a commercial user by the Photogon, even if they do not fit any of the above criteria.  Basically, if you will be using our website to make money, then we ask that you register as such and pay our nominal usage fees.  

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All Users
Only you will know your password.  Your email address is protected, such that all initial contacts are sent to you through our site.  If you respond to a contact, only then will your email address be available to the other party.  If you post an item for auction, your phone number will be sent to the high bidder on your auction.  If you are the high bidder on an auction, your phone number will be sent to the seller.

General Members
Your information will never be given to any non-members of the Photogon community, so please don't worry about getting spam or sales calls.  Our company desires a long term relationship with you, and would not jeopardize that by selling our member list for short term gains.  We are approached by numerous companies that would like to acquire a mailing list of high end camera enthusiasts.  "Go scavenge the newsgroups" is our answer to them.

Commercial Users
Your company name, phone number, and address will be made available to any interested Members.  However, you may rest assured that we will not provide your company information to any other parties, including mailing lists.  This allows you to provide pertinent information to your potential customers so that they may contact you quickly and efficiently.  In addition, buyers will be more likely to spend money with a company that presents itself in a professional manner.

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Step 1: Fill out the Registration Form, and select a Username and Password.
Step 2: You will then receive an email confirmation from our system.
Step 3: This email will direct you to a URL which will authenticate your registration.

After you submit the New Registration Form, you will receive an email with instructions, as well as a specific link to follow.  Going to that link will activate your registration.  This process authenticates your email address, and confirms the security of your registration.

The system sends you an email immediately upon registering, to the address you enter in the form.  Generally, you should receive this email within a few minutes to an hour.  If you do not receive it within 2 hours, then you should contact us.

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The most common cause of missing confirmation emails are due to errors in your email address.  It is easy to incorrectly input your email address.

Some common errors to avoid:
-Do not put www in the front of your email address.
-Include the part after @.  The format is your_email_name@something.com or ending in ".net"
-Check your spelling.  You have to enter your address exactly, which includes any underlines or dashes.

Ninety-nine percent of all lost emails are due to the above, but occasionally there will be a problem with our server's ability to connect to your email server.  If you believe you have entered your email address correctly, yet are not receiving the confirmation, please contact us and we'll help you resolve the problem.

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You can change your password, or any other registration information by using the Update Profile form.   You will need your current password for validation.  If you change your password, you will receive an email with your new password in it for safe storage.    If you change your email address, you will also need to confirm to the system that you can receive emails there.  Instructions will be provided during each of these steps.  Start with the Update Profile form.

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