I feel like we need a definitive answer about if the site were to change hands.
How much would sheep sell it for? Or if he would be happy to just pass it over to someone else.
Detailed current running costs would be nice too.
I already told most of the operating costs, though I have to pay taxes on the ads too, which were not included and can be significant since Google (and other ad services) uses 1099-misc's. It puts you on the hook for $1500 in taxes.
If you want it, you better make a serious offer, I'm not going to just let it go for nothing. Not because it makes me a bunch of money, but because I want to make sure whoever were to buy it, values it enough to make sure it survives another decade or more. You wouldn't be the first to make an offer and most likely wouldn't be the last. Even if someone had the money, I would still investigate their plans for it, as I did before.
What makes you think someone else would run it any better? Other than some missing posts, I haven't really done much. Most websites don't even last a year, this one has been running for 13 years (14 if you count the original site). There aren't many sites online that have even survived that long, much less without significant overhauls, change of ownerships, etc... Bike sites in particular come and go.
If I did sell it, what makes you think the new owners wouldn't also monetize it, make it even more family friendly or simply change it's entire direction? BG is run by the community, not some overlord and it's not profit driven. Yes, it has ads, but I try and make sure they are non-intrusive as possible, I've always encouraged ad blockers, even though it costs me money when you use them. Other than this change by Google this place has been left alone as much as possible. Name any other site where it has been handed over to the inmates for years at a time?
And I know what you're thinking... Get everyone to pitch in money to buy it and run it as a community. Okay, so who's name does it go under? Who's in charge? Given the way people here are you might get together the money, thanks to 4 or 5 dedicated people, then the place would falter over the next year and disappear. Which is almost better than what usually happens in cases like this, where one of the new "owners" decide the others are stupid and takes control of the domain name, and walks away with it or another decides they are tired of it and cancels hosting, etc... I've seen it many, many times.
You can't just buy a website and expect it to run on donations, ESPECIALLY with bmx'ers. As I said before, this site had the most users, ran the longest, and offered the most in return and still generated less money than all my other sites combined when in came to donations. One site I run is dedicated to some the cheapest cell phone service you can buy and even they donate FAR more than this place. I'm not trying to say you guys are cheap, I'm saying you ARE. Even when something is free, you can't stop thinking it needs to be more, have more and give you more. I've tried almost every suggestion to get people more involved with the site and it has NEVER produced much of anything at all. While you have been here a while, most of this was tried before even you were a member, if that gives you some idea of how long this place has been around.
Your initiative right now is about how much you can expect from most people here (not all), lots of talk and promises, and almost zero actual action. As I said, I learned long ago not to rely on the people here for much. Yes, some are older and have more income or respect for websites do, but most people here are the same as they always have.
Want more evidence?
Since this was started do you know how many people have made even a single dollar donation? One.
I'm not kidding, one person has bothered to donate anything, and while significant (my sincerest thanks!), it is exactly what I have been saying, a few people will do the bulk, the rest are just along for the ride. If it involves more than a few click of a mouse, most won't lift a finger no matter how much bitching moaning or complaining they may do.
As for it running better, the place runs on the community. Always has, always will. The more you bitch and moan, the more you bring down the mood. Want a secret... How you effect the mood, also determines how hard mods are on you for violations. Why? Because people who make others happy contribute something. If you want the place to be better, get involved, write something, bring people. Trowing money at it does NOTHING. It doesn't bring people, it doesn't encourage discussion. Involvement does. Look at the largest chat sites online, they aren't driven by money or one person, they are driven by the community being involved. You can run the crappiest of software, if the people like the community, they will stay.
I can always pull the plug and kill BG, but only you guys can actually make it better and grow. Stop bitching and start helping. Yes, you lost some threads, get started rebuilding them. I have always maintained that this place is only what YOU make of it. I can't make all of the content. So if you want content, get started making it.
Topic: Sheepdog still out there (Read 50192 times)
