Site Funding. Supporting Members. Q & A.

[Manny]

Eric's trolling and attempted derailment of the topic can now be found here.

[Anteros]

Manny, I put Marks answer to my question back here, because some of us like the forum and want to contribute to the costs.

I am thinking at least 1K.  What is the correct answer?

1k is in the right ballpark. My guess would be between 750/year (VPS) and 2000/year (Dedicated server)

I thought Manny mentioned at one time he uses VPS, which makes sense as this is only a forum and doesn't need much customization on the operating system level.

[NS1]

I was going to leave this alone, but hey its Sunday and couldn't help myself.
Manny started this forum or bought and upgraded it.
I am sure it has done well over the years and now maybe not so much.
Tough Business, the MOB scene.
It was set up as a free site and he had advertising, likely made a few bucks.
I met Manny, he is a crafty fellow and likely would not run it long
if it cost him much. If it does he will either sell it or figure out a way to
cover the costs. Or out right shut it down.

I have used it and joined, that said, I joined because it was free, likely never would have if it were a pay per use thing. That said if Manny and his family
are truly suffering because of this site, let me know, I will send a few bucks:)
Andrew badgering people because they choose not to pay, really does not help.
It makes newbies think twice. ( they don't understand Andrew)

That said how many newbies in the last month?

[Anteros]

I was going to leave this alone, but hey its Sunday and couldn't help myself.
Manny started this forum or bought and upgraded it.
I am sure it has done well over the years and now maybe not so much.
Tough Business, the MOB scene.
It was set up as a free site and he had advertising, likely made a few bucks.
I met Manny, he is a crafty fellow and likely would not run it long
if it cost him much. If it does he will either sell it or figure out a way to
cover the costs. Or out right shut it down.

I have used it and joined, that said, I joined because it was free, likely never would have if it were a pay per use thing. That said if Manny and his family
are truly suffering because of this site, let me know, I will send a few bucks:)
Andrew badgering people because they choose not to pay, really does not help.
It makes newbies think twice. ( they don't understand Andrew)

That said how many newbies in the last month?

I for one understand your concerns.  I just returned after a little more than a year absence and the current climate is pretty balanced, IMO.  I doubt if Manny would ever go to the poorhouse however I would rather make a small contribution every now and then rather than the site be sold.

[andrewfi]

So, NS1, click the bloody button then!

Support that which you are happy to use every day.

Yesterday I dropped a little more money on Manny's PayPal account, I did not have to, nobody forced me to do so but it is a while since I last did so and you bunch of tightarses whining about a negligible amount of money is shocking.

There's no fixed amount, it does not expire and the money defrays the costs of running the thing and helps Manny stop feeling like a twat for giving you this playroom for free in which some of you routinely shit on him.

If it helps, think of it as a tip, a gratuity for giving you a good service.

In addition, I am sure that seeing folks willing to dob in helps the moderators feel a little better about the job, even though they don't get paid. Seeing people value their input helps them to deal with you lot on a daily basis.

[Donhollio]

  I'll pay to run the site for the next 12 months if Andy signs off and never returns by midnight GMT.

  Manny the sooner you reel in the sidekick and stop him pecking away at 'helping' the pledge drive, the better it'll be for those considering dropping money towards RUA.

 For the record I don't have an economics degree of any level, but I have a fairly decent idea of how not to be a social misfit.

[Manny]

Manny started this forum or bought and upgraded it.
I am sure it has done well over the years and now maybe not so much.
Tough Business, the MOB scene.

That is a fair comment.

It was set up as a free site and he had advertising, likely made a few bucks.
I met Manny, he is a crafty fellow and likely would not run it long
if it cost him much. If it does he will either sell it or figure out a way to
cover the costs. Or out right shut it down.

I am not sure I would agree using the correct definition of crafty, but the point of the topic isn't about what was, it is about what is. As a business decision, the site would close tomorrow. But it isn't going to. What we are doing here is opening the general subject of funding up for discussion. I believe the site should self finance as it has done in the past.

That said if Manny and his family
are truly suffering because of this site, let me know, I will send a few bucks:)

Yeah, we are not in the poorhouse just yet.

Andrew badgering people because they choose not to pay, really does not help.

Andrew was highlighting a particular behaviour on the part of one poster. 

That said how many newbies in the last month?

The MOB industry in Russia and Ukraine is finished. Didn't you get the memo? 

I have a fairly decent idea of how not to be a social misfit.

 

[andrewfi]

Don, are you really trying to say that the only reason that you have not contributed before is because I post here?

Can I suggest something to save you some money?
Bung Manny $50 and put me on ignore.

Save you money and I am invisible to you. Objective achieved.

Looking forward to seeing a change in your status!

[Donhollio]

 I've mention weeks back my views on the forum, it was deleted along with some other posts from others, no biggy as I don't pay, I either deal with the way things are done here, or I log off and never return.
Would I miss this place should it go dark? I suppose a bit, although my interest in it has waned quite a bit over the past few months.
 
 I do wonder how Dan's place continues to run if Manny says its in the red here. As for dropping a few bucks that remains to be seen.

[andrewfi]

So, Don you were not being honest about your proposal to pay for the hosting of the site.
I didn't expect you would be.

[Manny]

I do wonder how Dan's place continues to run if Manny says its in the red here.

They have Google ads.

[Donhollio]

  I see. I know they had some issue with content here and did something that hurt the cash flow coming in. I'm going off memory of something I read months back.
 Would it not be easier to delete the hot kovas and get the Google ads back? Not wanting to cave into a mega corp like Google is understandable, but I think its easier than requesting cash to keep the place afloat. Besides if many do donate soon you may run into the problem of members wanting a say in everything related to the forum.

[andrewfi]

Besides if many do donate soon you may run into the problem of members wanting a say in everything related to the forum.

So far that idea is all you. It was you who offered support to the site if a poster here were to cease posting.
So,  you are not contributing because you won't have the say that you want.

[msmoby]

 
 Would it not be easier to delete the hot kovas and get the Google ads back? Not wanting to cave into a mega corp like Google is understandable, but I think its easier than requesting cash to keep the place afloat. Besides if many do donate soon you may run into the problem of members wanting a say in everything related to the forum.

Hi Don,

If you can put up with ads for AD then Google Ads would be just 'great' 

[msmoby]

So far that idea is all you. It was you who offered support to the site if a poster here were to cease posting.
So,  you are not contributing because you won't have the say that you want.

He is a member here because he has worn the t-shirt, been to many places in the FSU, posted about his experiences, HAS a FSU partner ..

Some members prefer to read his real-life adventures as opposed to your ill-researched and agenda driven [  FOR YOUR benefit ] 'theories'..

Kindly, stop boring us with suggesting you might have more 'rights' to post here....

[Manny]

  I see. I know they had some issue with content here and did something that hurt the cash flow coming in. I'm going off memory of something I read months back.

No need to tax your memory, reading the topic would help.

[NS1]

So for the sake of curiosity, tell us a few things.
How much does it cost to run this place?
How short are you each month, after the advertising bucks you do get?
How much do you need to keep it a float?

[andrewfi]

So for the sake of curiosity, tell us a few things.
How much does it cost to run this place?
How short are you each month, after the advertising bucks you do get?
How much do you need to keep it a float?

Why not read the thread?

[Borsch]

So for the sake of curiosity, tell us a few things.
How much does it cost to run this place?
How short are you each month, after the advertising bucks you do get?
How much do you need to keep it a float?

Cash grab.

Browse the site, it's obvious there is no R&D costs - it's not really required, it's a forum after all.

The only true costs are hosting related.

Domain is most likely around $10 to $50/yr

Decent hosting (non-godaddy) will be from $300 to $1000 a year depending on traffic/storage/bandwidth

Anything $1000 to $3000+ is for top of the line hosting with various perks in that range (e.g. ecommerce site that needs 99.999999% reliability, top of the line hardware, SSD storage, 6hr response, 2hr response etc) - something this site doesn't need.

Storage isn't an issue, most of the content is text. If it is an issue, they need to move to plan with a higher allocation or one with unlimited

I expect the real costs to be in the low hundreds, less if they are still with Godaddy.

Image storage - third party storage is free for everyone. Flickr, dropbox, facebook pics, etc. All can be linked directly

If the site closes or turns paid, people will just migrate to the other RU forums around

Coercing posters (members) to pay because they are not 'paying' is ridiculous since posters are already contributing to this Product (this forum) through their posts. Without posts there is nothing.

It's doubly ridiculous because this forum looks to be primarily  supporting your book and dating site. Are donors going to see a cut of those?

[andrewfi]

Welcome 'Borsch' I think we can assume that you know less than you think you do given the inaccuracy of your guesses.

[Manny]

We have had a generous donation today. The site is now in the black once more. 

[NS1]

So for the sake of curiosity, tell us a few things.
How much does it cost to run this place?
How short are you each month, after the advertising bucks you do get?
How much do you need to keep it a float?

Why not read the thread?

I have read the thread, but presuming I missed,
Point to the post, that shows the Financials.
Thank you in advance for your help

[andrewfi]

We have had a generous donation today. The site is now in the black once more. 

That's good, I don't need to set up a bursary for the indigent then.

[NS1]

We have had a generous donation today. The site is now in the black once more. 

That's good, I don't need to set up a bursary for the indigent then.

Andrew I didn't realize your were so flush.
Good on you, becoming a philanthropist.
I hope some day I also have the wealth to do
such acts, I just  hope I don't become such an arrogant
A@$ when I get there, sorta defeats the purpose 

[Markje]

Anything $1000 to $3000+ is for top of the line hosting with various perks in that range (e.g. ecommerce site that needs 99.999999% reliability, top of the line hardware, SSD storage, 6hr response, 2hr response etc) - something this site doesn't need.

99.999999% reliability is already 7 figures annually... anything above 99.999% (the famous 5 nines) is already hugely expensive.

The 8-9 as you stated, means you get 0.3 seconds / year unplanned downtime...
That is darn near impossible unless the company have deep pockets for penalty-claims. Which makes the pricing expensive.