tomturd Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 The whole sticker thread got me thinking, it seems a lot of people want to donate to TF (which is awesome - thanks!). In the past some people have brought up the idea of subscriptions like you see on other forums, but we've usually been put off as we don't want give the wrong idea by looking like we're in it for the money. To be honest, advertising revenue covers the hosting costs now pretty comfortably (server technology has got a lot cheaper over the past 10 years), which is why we're looking to reinvest back into the community, So far we've done stuff like investing in stickers, a few charity donations and our donation to the GETcreative comp. If you have any other ideas let us know. Regardless, I was thinking instead of simply sticking up a paypal address for donations, some people may prefer the idea of 'subscribing' to the forum. The deal would be you pay £X per year, and in return you get a highlighted username and maybe a little logo underneath your avatar saying you're a supporter. What we don't want to do is force people to become a subscriber in order to get technical benefits (eg more PM space, more upload space, access to special areas etc) - we think you should get that stuff anyway. So your subscription would literally only get you a special username (for the time being at least, maybe we could work out something with some trials companies in the future? who knows.) We'd still put up a paypal address for those who want to donate but dont want to donate the full £X per year for a subscription. So, what are your thoughts on this? How much should £X be? Is this a good idea or not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isitafox Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 I think it's a good idea. As for how much the subscription should be I'd just leave it up to the individual members though I'd say it's gotta be at least £1. If a fraction of the community donated that much the forum would be covered for a good while I'd have thought and then if you decided to look at T-shirts or chainstay protectors or something you'd have a lot more capital to get it off the ground. Maybe say something like donate £X and get some TF stickers, donate £Y and get a TF chainstay protector (I know these haven't been mentioned but just as an example) and donate £Z and get a TF tee. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomturd Posted August 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 I should have mentioned really, I'm not organised enough to sort out getting stuff printed/made up and posting it out. I have trouble replying to text messages, let alone posting stuff With the stickers I can just do them in one massive batch. So the more automated the better really. Good idea about the 'donate how much you want', but unfortunately again with the systems that are available for this, it'd require a bit of intervention from myself to keep everyones user accounts updated I think I'd prefer one 'tier' rather than multiple ones too, so finding the value of £X which appeals to the most amount of people - but still keeps it 'special' is a tough one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isitafox Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 Ah fair enough, in that case I'd look at around the £10-20 mark 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomturd Posted August 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 Something like a tenner was what I was thinking... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradJohnson Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 Tf tee shirt sounds like a plan, i'd subscribe, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.Wood Posted August 15, 2012 Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 £10, no t shirt or CS protector or anything, just, like you say a little logo / highlighted username. EDIT: Not sure if this is making things more complicated for you, but you could add a 'silver supporter' for £5 for those that can't afford a tenner but want to pay something. You could probably do away with the paypal address then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted August 17, 2012 Report Share Posted August 17, 2012 Seems unnecessary if the ads are supporting the site. Doesn't it just mean that it's going to take up precious time for the admin to implement they system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomturd Posted August 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2012 Seems unnecessary if the ads are supporting the site. Doesn't it just mean that it's going to take up precious time for the admin to implement they system? Not really, "there's an app for that". I guess its just an alternative for those who were going to donate anyway, to get some recognition. Seeing as its been requested before it seemed like a good opportunity to do it. EDIT: Not sure if this is making things more complicated for you, but you could add a 'silver supporter' for £5 for those that can't afford a tenner but want to pay something. You could probably do away with the paypal address then? I guess thats the bit we're trying to work out, ideally we dont want multiple tiers (I don't like the idea of segregating members into different groups that much), so ideally looking for one figure that would appeal to all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.Wood Posted August 17, 2012 Report Share Posted August 17, 2012 Gotcha... Then how about £5 as a standard? You may even get more revenue because more people will be willing to pay, rather than £10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liam n Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 could you just add more adverts/spaces? tribalzine have loads! or can you incorporate Google ad-words? I have no idea about the ins and outs, but I read a "how to be a millionaire on the internet" book and the majority was Google ad words haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD™ Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 Personally I reckon if you're going to make it fiver then dont bother. You want it to be the perfect balance between being low enough for people to pay it, but high enough that not everyone who uses the site pays because that'd make it kind of like a subscription site through peer pressure. If that makes sense, then I reckon the figure you're looking at is more like £15-20 really... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikeperson45 Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 (edited) I think a fiver might be a good amount. I don't know how many people are actually going to be willing to give 10 or more just because of the age of the majority of the forum. Obviously there's the more devoted members who would probably pay more and those who are older and actually have an income. I'm assuming that a lot of the members pay for stuff online with their parents credit cards and don't think many parents are going to understand paying for what is a free service. Maybe just have 5 as a minimum then let people add as much on as they want? Only thing that kind of annoys me is I can imagine some members sort of seeing it as an ego thing, or is that just me? That's my two cents on it. Edit - realised that th two cents bit could be seen as a pun. I apologize because that would be a bad pun. Edited August 22, 2012 by bikeperson45 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 could you just add more adverts/spaces? tribalzine have loads! or can you incorporate Google ad-words? According to posts in this thread, the current adds on this site support the site well. Only thing that kind of annoys me is I can imagine some members sort of seeing it as an ego thing, or is that just me? That's my two cents on it. I agree, this is all it'll end up being. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liam n Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 According to posts in this thread, the current adds on this site support the site well. the idea of a subscription is to get more money. so why not just use more ads to get more money. You won't lose a load of people that don't want to pay and you won't have a few people being egotistical about how much dollah they've payed. there's no reason you can't use extra money from extra ads to do the same thing you were going to do with subscriptions/donation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomturd Posted August 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 Extra ads is something we don't want to do. They slow the site down and look crap (not the tarty and inspired ones.. they're relevant, but we'll never have 'date an older woman in cardiff NOW' style adverts) The subscriptions thing has been brought up before (people requesting it) so, this was just me thinking "if some people are going to donate regardless, why not give them some sort of recognition on the site". If people don't want that, that's cool, just airing the idea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bike_dummie Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 (edited) I personally think this is a cool idea and I feel that £10 is a good price not too expensive but not too little. And for the ego thing mentioned above I don't see how that would be a problem, if someone doesn't like you being a subscriber because they think they have more power ect then they can simply pay the modest amount of £10 and for the other way round maybe you could have A seperate warning system like the current where if the user is getting cocky or above thier station ect they will get warning points and if the get say 5 they no longer have the subscription service. Although the negative points will need to be wiped of sometime, maybe once a year? Edited August 23, 2012 by bike_dummie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake. Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 I'd be willing to donate, I'd like to give something back to the forum and getting a coloured name font would be a bit of a laugh plus tells others you've contributed towards the forum. I don't see how people will abuse having this, sure they may be a bit cocky and childish saying "Ooh I've got a orange name and you haven't" but seriously the donators will get nothing more than a visual addition, so I don't think you should worry about that. Plus it's pretty easy to mute people eh? It's a good idea go for it. £5/£10 for the name colour/logo and £20 for the t short and the name. If you can't do the t shirts, I reckon you could find someone that could do the job for you easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revolver Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 If it's £20 and you get a t-shirt and a name, that sounds ok to me. Then the £20 pays for the tee, pretty much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danrobinson Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 i think you should just put the paypal up so people can donate, but if someone donates like £20 or more they will get a tf tee shirt plus it stops people being 'cocky' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dann2707 Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 I honestly can't see where people are getting the cocky part from, i've never witnessed this forum to be anything like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted September 6, 2012 Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 I GOT RIPPED IN 6 WEEKS. Bye TF. Just sayin' 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddsy2801 Posted September 6, 2012 Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 i think a tenner is fair, im not arsed about a tshirt, if u get one you get one if not, well not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Nichols Posted September 6, 2012 Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 I'd pay £20, I've got loads out of this forum over the years and probably saved a fortune based on the advice I've received. Not to mention the enjoyment I'd had as well. Like has been said, if it's £5 then it's barely worth doing, even £10 seems a bit low. Especially as you aren't forcing this upon people, it's purely for people who want to give something back. I'm not particularly bothered what you get by doing this, it's just nice to be able to help. Plus, the way I read it, the idea is that there will be money in the TF fund to put back into the sport in whatever way you see fit? If so, excellent. In my opinion if you're willing to pay £10, you can probably stretch to £20. £20 is better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted September 6, 2012 Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 Meh. If it's a low figure like £10 then more people are probably going to be willing to pay it. I'll just subscribe twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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