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Some of you may be wondering why your favorite content creator (that offers many many free downloads) is not and will not be listed here. To clear up that question, we'll be defining what constitutes a "pay" site, according to Sim Ninja.
There are three primary types of pay sites. We'll go over them one by one.
If a site has a certain amount of custom content available to download, on that site, and in order for a user to access 100% of that content, they must pay any amount of money, that site is considered a pay site.
If 100% of the content available to download on your site can be obtained from your server (or a direct link from your server to a site like mediafire) without any money changing hands, and without the need for personal interaction between you and the downloader, you are considered a free site.
Subscription sites like Killersims and The Sims Resource require that you purchase a subscription in order to access the bulk (or best) of their downloads. The subscription lasts for a certain amount of time, and you must either upkeep your subscription to access new items, or purchase a subscription again if yours has lapsed. This type of paysite is a severe drain on the pocketbook.
Certain sites offer their items the way a retail store might: placing a price on each custom content item you may wish to buy, and allowing you to purchase only that item for the amount listed. One example: Peggy Sims' PeggyG items.
This type of site is where the contention normally comes in about whether a site is "pay" or "free". As I stated in the shiny blue box at the top of this page, a "free" site has all of the content that is hosted ON THE SITE available to download by any user that happens to come along. Some free sites (like MTS2 or Simlandia) may require that the user have a free membership subscription to whatever service their host is on (forum/livejournal), but does not cost the downloader any money.
Donation sites are a bit different. They withhold some content that is hosted on their servers until money exchanges hands (or a friend asks, or someone begs hard enough, but usually until money changes hands) in the form of a "donation", which is made in order to get a "gift".
Note: Regardless of how MUCH money passes hands, if money is exchanged for the reception of a gift, it is no longer a gift, it is a purchase. Therefore, in regard to whether or not you will be listed on Sim Ninja, even if you have 1 item withheld as a "donation gift", you will be considered a pay site, and I will not list you here. Any links leading to a "pay" site will be removed, though I do not mind such sites being mentioned by name in the Discussion Forums or user signatures.
bravenet.com