Astro said:
Just FYI, this might be an article you may want to read:
Web Media Firms Going From Free to Fee
From the article:
I am not sure I would pay a monthly subscription for the SD but I would be willing to pony up $20 if they could find a way around it. I have done it for Fathom and I would do it for here too.
[Edited by TubaDiva on 03-23-2001 at 12:38 PM]
What about those clandestine mod meetings with free flowing chocolate and willing goats?
You’re right, though. I didn’t think about the cost of shipping a book all over the place. Maybe you could just add a $50.00 shipping charge. Or, have each mod sign one book, and we could see which one fetches the highest price.
:o
Thanks, Tuba! Heehee! Seriously, right now, I’m strapped for cash, and really don’t wear teeshirts. But I would LOVE a book personally autographed by Cecil.
Now then, IANA computer type dude guy person, so this might be an exceedingly stupid question, but mightn’t the need for extra funding be avoided if SDMB members were somehow able to directly donate bandwidth rather than cash?
Surely, my unused 5MB of webspace sitting on an Australian server would be just the thing to help out during peak load times in North America? I realise five meg ain’t going to be a drop in the ocean as far as an attempt to mirror the whole site goes, but is there some way members could volunteer to host parts of the SDMB?
Does the technology allow this?
I’d even consider putting up the cash to register a Straight Dope domain with an .au suffix if I had copyright permission to do so. I’m sure there are enough Aussie/ New Zealand / Asian Dopers to set up a reasonable amount of webspace in this timezone.
I’m not sure that a mere autographed copy of one of Cecil’s books would attract much attention, but an autographed photograph of the elusive master would undoubtedly get high enough bids to completely pay for a new server. A mug shot would undoubtedly be worth more than a SDMB mug.
How much server is needed?
I really don’t know what to make of this, Chronos. This appears to question my honesty, or at least committment, and that of many others in the thread I started a while ago, titled Join the Straight Dope PBS Fund Drive! Help our Board! Which is fine if I was given a chance and failed The Reader. But I was not given a chance.
I tried to do something, and was not only told that The Reader could not accept my money, but was really told in a dismissive and offhand manner. I really got the feeling that I was an embarassment to this place. I would have given money, volunteered time and effort, whatever. No dice, and not even a note of appreciation for trying from Cecil. So, I’ve quit caring. If “they” ever allow donations in the future, well, someone might have luck if they ask me. Otherwise, I really don’t know what else I should do - just how many copies of the same books and paraphenalia should I order? Isn’t it kinda odd to order 20 copies of one of Cecil’s books, rather than just give $100? The Reader could have found ways to get the money for the Board that people in my thread pledged. Like the E-bay idea above, or a special “SDMB Signed Edition” of one of Cecil’s books, signed by Cecil, Ed, Tuba, Lynn, etc. that goes for, oh, I don’t know - $100 a copy? With the extra proceeds going towards the Board? Well - I suggested something similar to this a while ago…and it was a Bad Idea then.
True, now I also have serious financial problems, and could not donate what I pledged over in the other thread. I was honest at the time. But I could still do $50, and would. And would do more if my financial situation improves. But shit, $50 is better than freaking nothing.
Or, never mind me. It’s just craaaaaaazy Una again, rambling about trying to support and help something decent in this World, that doesn’t seem to want my help. :rolleyes:
Maybe you could ration the board, like they ration water during a drought- you can water your lawn on even numbered days if your address is an even number.
Only with the board it would be your user number. 
Not a membership fee, but a one-time fee to register to post. Something not very expensive–between $5 and $10 would probably be best–but enough to actually generate some income. It wouldn’t be a donation–strictly a fee to defray costs. (And it would have to be made clear that if you get bounced out that’s just too damn bad–you don’t get your money back.)
Granted that this would cause a drop in population here…but 2,000 eventual registrations times $10 would go a long way towards a new server. And it would eliminate most of the sockpuppet and reincarnation problems–only the truely dedicated would continue the practice if it kept costing them money, and anybody who did continue would be injecting more money into the system.
I don’t like t-shirts, and already have all the books. Let me know when you come out with, say, a SDMB mop, or gas can or something useful. (Sorry, but you’re dealing with cheapskate #1 here.)
So I’m just cheapskate #2?
I’d buy a good-looking SD t-shirt, maybe something understated with the SD url on the back. They could run it by the boards for our opinion, maybe even take pre-orders for a limited edition. Just don’t tell Slug. And maybe more people would buy Slug’s t-shirts and mugs (oh my!) if Cecil would autograph them. (I forsee carpal tunnel syndrome for Cecil.)
Anthracite, I really think that Chronos was not aiming his particular comment at you. But if someone were to post a survey in IMHO asking “how many people own all five books, a T-shirt and a coffe mug”? the number of people that would own all of those items would be very small. I would bet that not even all the people who posted in your “Fund drive” thread own all five Straight Dope books.
That’s how I interpret the post by Chronos.
Does it make a difference whether I buy the books online or at the bookstore? Does buying it online help the SDMB?
Thanks for stepping in, there, Noodles… That is what I meant. I certianly never meant to point specific fingers, and there are many people who do do what they can to help the Reader, but there’s many more who don’t.
As for a registration fee: Sure, this board is worth $20. Sure, we all know that now. But how many of us knew that it would be so worthy at the time that we registered? To put it in simple terms: Registration fee = no new registrations. No new registrations = dead website within a few months. We could try offering a trial period of a month or so to allow folks to get hooked, and then charge the registration fee, but that’d just be asking for people to start up sockpuppets once their month was over. Then, too, you have some folks (like myself) who went a month between their first and second posts.
I don’t think it makes much difference whether you buy the books directly here or at the bookstore (at least, that’s what TubaDiva said a few months ago when I asked that same question), but it does definitely make a difference that people buy the books. One possible advantage, though, to buying them on this site is that it lets the financial head honchos at the Reader know that they’re making money from the people on this site. Perhaps we could even put a checkbox on the order form for a person to say that they participate in the message board?
Can’t you just ask the people who want contribute to buy an ad on the top of the page. I think it’s about $30 for a day’s glory, and the Reader supplies a simple banner. You’d just need a way to identify that it was a poster, since you won’t have your username on your credit card
I don’t know if it was so much of a guilt trip, but a very valid point. I use this board quite a bit, so why shouldn’t I support it in the manor that the owners here have provided, namely buying something from them.
I looked over at my bookshelf and noticed I have no SD books, hum…
So here’s what I did, I clicked the Buy Stuff link on the home page and I ordered myself a book. The first one, in fact. It only took a minute to do, and now I’m looking forward to reading it.
I figured that had to be better than talking about doing something, right?
Anyone care to join me?
Ahhh… I want a mug. I really do want a mug, and I’d be even happier to pay my $10 if I knew it’d help out the problems! But I can’t do nuthin on the net without a credit card, and it sure ain’t safe for me to have one. I have a debit card (Switch) which works fine on Amazon.co.uk, but virtually nowhere else.
Best idea yet though.
FYI I just used my Visa debit card to buy the mug and the T-shirt, and it seemed to go through just fine.
I would LOVE to have autographed copies of the SD books. Not only would I want copies for myself, but I plan to buy the books as Christmas presents this year and autographed copies would be wonderful!
Forget eBay - why not offer autographed copies here at the website, for a higher price? If they were, say, $25 each, I would still buy about a dozen for Christmas/birthday presents for friends and family. Start with the newest book, and if those seemed to sell well, begin offering autographed copies of the older books as ‘collector’s items’.
I presume that the price of regular copies provides a profit, so if the CR were willing, a large percentage of the ‘extra’ from the autographed copies could go towards maintaining the website. (I say ‘a percentage’ because I’m sure Cecil will want his cut for signing his name.)
Jesus Christ. I own all 5 books. I’ve rebought the first 2. I didn’t buy a T-shirt because I’m a size XXXL, and I’m not gonna buy a shirt I CAN’T WEAR. I already own 20 coffee mugs.
And somehow I’m a BAD PERSON for not wanting to buy shit I can’t use or need? Thanks a lot. I would GLADLY hand over $100 for this site. I am NOT the only person who feels this way. But no. You’d rather whine how I haven’t bought a damn t-shirt. :rolleyes: