After an overwhelming ammount of topics concerning this issue, I've decided to put up a nice little sticky.
TDP will never be totally free, it could most likely not exist. When you pay for your premium membership you are giving money to keep the site up and running, without the money you pay TDP would be running on donations and they can't normally keep a site as big as TDP supported. To sum it up...
NO MONEY=NO SITE
Any questions or comments feel free to post here ^_^.
Questions
Q: Why can't TDP make money any other way?
A: They do make money other ways (
http://www.thedollpalace.com/shopping/ and also through ad revenue) but that could never make enough money to support a site large as TDP. With premium, people are paying for something that is required in some sections, the other things that are for sale are accessories. If you have any ideas, I'm sure we would all be eager to hear them.