Really??

hawkeye5766 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Really??

hawkeye5766 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Registered Members: 6,072 Topics: 53,675 Total Posts: 548,346
There are currently 1 member(s) and 5 guest(s) online: hawkeye5766
5994 user(s) visited this forum in the past 24 hours

Haaaaaaa..... Showed 6203 ..20 min ago !! Hope your not getting charged on visited!!!

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

I do get charged for every "hit" to the site. Unfortunately many many of these are bots and apparently you can't distinguish a bot from a real user. Here's my November statement. This is in US funds. I negotiated the 50% discount 4-5 years ago as the monthly costs were out of hand and I was going to leave the platform. The discount certainly helps!

Screenshot from 2023-12-20 09-43-45.png

The "core" membership (those 50-60 people who use the site regularily) are pretty good at contributing to the site when I announce the funds are getting low. It's frustrating that the other 4500 rarely or ever donate however I get it. We are all guilty of visiting websites and never contributing especially if we only visit once in a while.

I suspect I'll be dropping the ads at some point soon as it's getting too complicated to manage them. There's all kinds of rules on what ads can be shown in the EU and the technical garb Google sends me on how to prevent certain ads from reaching that area of the world is way beyond my scope of knowledge.

gtodrive · Guru

Wow! That 50% discount is great! So, if I do the math right, is it about $1,200 USD to run the site or are there other charges you incur?

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

$1200 to run the site. About $150 USD for photo hosting. About $100 for domain name and $195 cdn for the online store. I also have extra accounting costs at tax time as CP is registered as a business.
This of course does not include any of my time.

gtodrive · Guru

This is only MY opinion, but if you have 50-60 members who use the site regularly, $100 donation a year from each one would give you $5,000-$6,000. Thats only $8.34 a month! I have depended on this site and its members for information and parts, so its always a priority for me. Thanks for this site and all your efforts and labor, Todd. Christmas donation sent.

silver steak · Addicted!

I hope this dose not offend anyone, it's just my opinion.

I hear and understand cost of operating vs numbers of readers ( guests ) The problem with that analogy, is that I , as a contributor to the site, equal to the cost of annual subscription to magazines , very often chime in and read as a guest and don't sign in.

With the thousands of members in Canadian Poncho, if you haven't donated any funds say within the last 24 months , close their access to Canadian Poncho, of course give them appropriate notice.

I also think an annual membership fee , whatever 10 -20 or 30 bucks is acceptable as well, something to make it more cost effective and have a business like approach, income versus cost. . To wait and hope for a donation is not right .

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

I've considered yearly fees however it's a bit of a task to maintain. It would require some sort of software to monitor who has paid and who hasn't. Does everyone pay all at once? Having even 1000 members pay all at once would be a huge task for me to handle unless it's all automated (which costs $$). What about a member who donated $50 two months prior to starting such a program? I'd have to go back and see who paid what over the last several months and determine if they should be given the next year free or do I charge a yearly fee regardless of what they paid prior?

oshawacliff · Poncho Master!

Todd

Use the area where the avatar is to indicate any contribution to the site.

Maybe 3 levels. No need to explain amounts.

No contribution no classification.... just an empty space with $ sign.

Reward members helping members.

Cliff

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Some groups just have a lifetime subscription. What about something like that? If it was only $25 - $50 that would be a good financial injection. These days that's barely the cost of a restaurant meal.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

The tax hit would be huge even if 100 members all paid $50 for lifetime subscriptions all at once as I'd not have enough expenses in that tax year.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Canadian Poncho wrote:
The tax hit would be huge even if 100 members all paid $50 for lifetime subscriptions all at once as I'd not have enough expenses in that tax year.

Can you do like we have our auto insurance renewals in Manitoba? Base it on your birthday?

hawkeye5766 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Would making the site a private group help? You'd still have 4500 members that could access the site but the "bots" that you are getting charged for couldn't.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

I think the bots can still "hit" if we go private. I also fear if newcomers can't see any content they won't bother signing up.

LT1Caddy · Poncho Master!

Looking the odd time on FB at some of the Poncho/GTO sites. You can't see anything unless you sign up and get "their" permission. They brag about how many members they say they have...... BUT, the sites don't have the local friendly conversations/topics we have here, mostly parts for sale or pictures of car shows...

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

I find the Facebook groups clunky to use.

hawkeye5766 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

LT1Caddy wrote:

Looking the odd time on FB at some of the Poncho/GTO sites. You can't see anything unless you sign up and get "their" permission. They brag about how many members they say they have...... BUT, the sites don't have the local friendly conversations/topics we have here, mostly parts for sale or pictures of car shows...

Nailed it! Can look inside out and upside down...no site has the comradery that this site has. Don't think we shun any member no matter what their knowledge or vehicle. When I post topics and get responses...It's feels more like sitting at a coffee shop than sitting in front of my PC. Or kinda like the local pub,,we all know each other..... wink

tulobf12 · Veteran Member

I kind of agree with the B-day renewal as it would ease the administration stress although it may leave funds a bit short at times. It also means everyone would need to have thier dates provided. Would it be possible for a priority reminder PM.