PayPal For Site

[Buscop]

Poll Above for a Paypal Link to help offset the costs of this site....besides if WE finance it.....IT can get Bigger and Better...

[geartwister39]

i would like to contribute but it would have to be in m/o form i have no paypal account .

[rickswagon]

I am all for it

[monzamess]

Guys, I really appreciate what you're trying to do, but I'm still thinking about how your money can help, and the ramifications of accepting pay for this site.

If you donate now, the money will sit until we know what to do with it. And by donate, I mean, it's a no-strings-attached donation. There will be no perceived benefit since nothing will happen to the site--for now, it's running OK on the inexpensive hosting plan I bought.

IF we need to move to a more powerful hosting plan, the cost will NOT be trivial. We're talking in the neighborhood of $20-$50 per month (some hosts are pretty cheap but you definitely get what you pay for--that's why we had the recent outage and emergency move).

At that point, we'll really need to formalize the process so that you KNOW you're getting something for your money, and so that we can create a regular stream of payments to keep the site going. I'd hate to be in the situation that everyone donates some at the beginning, but over time, there's no more money to keep the site going.

Anyway, this poll is a good idea to judge interest, but don't get your checkbooks out just yet!

[geartwister39]

what about some kind of official membership pack with like a t shirt and nice static stickers for our rides?

[flracer]

Im with Larry maybe help out with monthly dues or something.And the tshirts and stickers im all for ,maybe some ball caps too.

[mastiff]

I'm for it. the question I have would this be monthly or annual? The shirts and stuff would be nice too. Maybe in the future the org. could sell that kind of stuff if anyone would like extra's. you know like coffee mugs stuff like that. sorry thats the coffee-aholic in me.

[peterpan]

i'm in for a donation
or a annual fee maybe every 6 months or so but the monthly thing probally not i have enough to pay every month if monthly could we do it so we could pay for more than a month at a time

i like the site the way it is free but i don't feel that the admins should fund it out of there own pockets

if it goes to a fee to be a member we could loose some members or not get new members

i would suggest leaving the site about the way it is now and add a community chest thing like v8 monza has or charge a minamal fee for the for sale adds to fund the site

i use the site alot to buy and sell stuff and i myself wouldn't mind a minamal listing fee for selling stuff like ebay
but then again it might stop someone from listing parts that we might need

this is a difficult thing to figure out what to do
i would kick in some money and expect nothing more than i'm am getting now the info/freindship/parts locating is more than i get with out this site

[geartwister39]

those are very good points ray. i guess just donations to administration is good enough . but it would be nice to get some shirts and stickers made up at additional cost to represent the club we belong to and are proud to show it!or ball caps and coffee mugs .

[Kev442]

I will pay just for things to stay the way they are. A hobby becomes work when you have to pull an all nighter just to recover a site to get back to "normal". Bob's site probably never made him a dime, even with sales he makes on his parts. He still needed a community chest to help with expenses and maintenance. We expect the same situation here.

[rickswagon]

I like the community chest idea at least then there is some funds avalible in case something happens where admin needs some cash to move the site or whatever comes up something is there to help out with unexpected expenses

[monzamess]

I know Colin has looked into at least the T-Shirt issue and maybe the pay-for-advertising deal, so maybe he can chime in when he gets a chance.

We can probably set up some items on Cafe Press (or if there is a better alternative?) and use whatever profit that generates to go toward the site.

On all-nighters and such... well, I'd rather not put a dollar value on that. Right now this is cool for me since it's a learning experience. And when it's no longer a learning experience, it should at least be easy to do since I've learned how.

IMHO, any money collected would go toward actual expenses, not time working on the site. That way there is an easy accounting for where the money went, which will eventually come up as an issue if enough money is involved.

[Flyingbowtie]

I'm all for the donations. I can't pay a monthly fee and probably wouldn't be interested in an annual fee. I like to put my extra money, what little I have, into my car.
It would be a problem if everyone donated all at once and then nothing for a while. So maybe we could try to spread it out somehow.
I lkie the T-Shirt and stickers idea, if enough are made we could by them by the box, then take them to Shows and Events in our area/s, like Super Chevy and sell them for a slight profit to help with funding. Problem there is, who is gonna pay to have the shirts and stickers made? Maybe that money should go into the site instead?

[zeke]

I want my H-Body t-shirt! Where's the add to cart button?

Paypal is great but u have to consider a few other things. You need a bank account to transfer the funds into. Does monzamess set up his own personal account or a business account? Biz accounts have larger monthly fees and then u may need a biz license as well. May have to set up with your state sales taxes if you plan on selling stuff. Then there is accounting etc.

[AusRs]

turn it into a car club like our camaro-firebird.org one
we have members from all over the place .....formalise things as well have a yearly fee to be a member and also have club merchandise for sale .....if there are 300 members paying around $10 per year thats enough to move to a better/faster host