TCCoA Forums banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Buying TCCoA Back

7K views 99 replies 42 participants last post by  Trunk Monkey 
#1 ·
Everyone was upset back in 2010 that we as a group didn't have the opportunity to buy TCCoA when Bill sold it..Well..Now's our chance..

Here's the deal..

We need a solid number from Eric..On how much he's asking for TCCoA..This number needs to be public..

We can go from there..

Once we get a number..Then we need to nominate a Treasurer..Why a Treasurer you ask?..Simple..

I've seen it on other websites..Where a monetary goal needs to be met every month to keep the site up and running..

This is not much different..

If we can reach the number Eric is asking for TCCoA through donations from everyone..We as a group can buy the site back..

Then if Bill is still willing to let us use his server space and server time..

We can reach an agreement with him publicly on how much he needs to be paid every month or year to keep using his server..

The Treasurer will be responsible for dispersing that payment to Bill..

After that's taken care of, and the website is back in our hands..

Then we can put up a monthly contribution graph, and see how much we need to meet our goals to pay Bill for his server space and server time..


The only thing I'm unsure of at this point is the contractual issue..

How are we going to keep the site for the people..Instead of signing over the site to just one individual??


As far as membership fees go..Those should stay the same..With the funds going to the Treasurer to be paid out when the Bill is due..

It's pretty simple guys..You want TCCoA to stick around..Then make your monetary contribution to make it happen..

What are your guys thoughts on this plan?..Anything to add to make it more feasible?



Rayo..
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Gee Ray, for once people might agree with you! :tongue:

Sounds like a plan, easier said than done though. I have no idea what a website of this size would go for, then to ask people to start digging into their pockets. That could be a tall order. I don't want it to go to another big website company, but is it something we could all pull together?

I sent Eric an email about some specifics, hopefully I'll hear something soon.

Joe
 
#3 · (Edited)
As far as treasurer goes, easiest way to accomplish that I think would be to set up an @tccoa.com email account and accompanying paypal. Any membership dues or fees would go to this address. The appointed or elected treasurer would be the sole member with access to these accounts, but would be responsible for a monthly report on finances (done easily enough with paypal's monthly statements) - this way we can keep tabs and be sure no "fishy" stuff is going on with the club's money.

As has been said - first things first, we need numbers out on the table to determine how feasible this is going to be. A grand or two for reacquisition of the site I think could be done in some time, but if we're talking ten grand... then maybe it's out of our reach (and is it really worth that much?).

As far as ownership goes, that would be tricky. If the site is reacquired due to donations into a fund, the site would "technically" be owned in proportion by each person who donated. Perhaps we could re-nominate some club officers or try to get in touch with those who previously served in that capacity?
 
#5 ·
Whatever keeps this site around for a while. I wouldnt making a contribution, but I would like the membership packets to come back lol.
 
#7 ·
Although I don't post up much anymore, I still do troll. Life situations, and other interests are the root causes for that. But, This was the first Club Website I ever joined, which then led me to join MAMN12. I've owned my '94 since Oct. '02. Although I will be selling her in the next few months, I still will be a troll. I just purchased a '02 Grand Marquis for DD duties, and for carting my Ma to her Doc. appointments. The info, suggestions and yes, even the sarcasm have been a useful and fun addition. I know there will be a lot of info on this site that will pertain to the Merc, so I will still be a Troll........I am more than willing to contribute, and hopefully keep this Website alive and in the hands of "US".
 
#9 ·
I'm only 16, as you guys well know, but ill do anything within my power to keep the site up.(it wont be much but I could try xD)
:zwall:
 
#11 ·
I've been here going on five years, and that's a short period of time compared to many of you. I'd do my part to give back, for sure.
 
#13 ·
As far as I know we are still waiting to hear back from Eric with some figures. Until then, it's the waiting game...
 
#15 ·
I'll contribute!

Someone just has to organize and we go from there.
Sounds like y'all are on the right track!
 
#18 ·
One thing I think needs to be mentioned are some traffic stats, which might have an influence on price.

Back in 2010, when the site was sold, TM posted these stats about the site's traffic:

FYI

I found these interesting site traffic analysis statistics on TCCoA while doing some research last night. I'm sure these numbers had a bearing on the sale price.

Did you know?

  • TCCoA had an estimated 92,400 visits over last 30 days. The number of visits differs from visitors (or unique visitors) in that it includes all visits from the same person (repeat visits).
  • TCCoA averages 15,000 unique visitors to the the site every month
  • TCCoA has 78 external websites linking to it
  • TCCoA has a worldwide rank of 291,987

Check it out. There's an interesting unique visitor chart on the site that charts site traffic for the past year.

http://www.trafficestimate.com/tccoa.com
The most recent data looks like this:


  • The site's worldwide rank has dropped from 291,987 to 1,854,043
  • The site hasn't had more than 40,000 visitors per month since February, 2013
  • Average visits per month has fallen to below 20,000 since May, 2013

Because it appears the most recent data suggests the site is receiving less than 25% the traffic it was when it was sold, we should be able to re-acquire the site for much less than Bill sold it for (which is still an unknown figure). Hosting costs should be much cheaper as well due to the reduced traffic.
 
#19 ·
Brandon, those traffic estimates are so unreliable it's not even funny. I run a few sites, trust me those are inaccurate compared to real stats. I put my site into that "tool", it was very inaccurate in terms of the curve, and the # of visitors it said I have is less than half what I know I'm getting.

Hosting costs do not go down if the traffic goes down. Hosting costs only change if you change servers, you really don't pay for bandwidth anymore unless you're a mega site. So hosting costs today are probably the same as back in 2010 when the site changed hands (or changed servers last).
 
#20 ·
I was referring to hosting costs in terms of bandwidth usage and server resources, but yeah, I can understand how the estimates would be inaccurate. However, the point I was trying to make - can it not be assumed that the total traffic the site is seeing has drastically fallen in the last year(s)?
 
#21 ·
Guys, if for no other reason to buy this place: We don't have to put up with miller. :)

C'mon y'all, we can pony up enough to keep him banned, right? :D

I just read the thread on SCCOA. :) nice to see where all the guys we ban end up, lol.

So I wonder who the Prima Donna mods they're talking about are? :cool:

I hit my work computer this morning and I'm like wtf? I missed most of this till today.

I'm in at least $500.

Grog
 
#24 · (Edited)
Did you catch the Fast Freddie (ThunderRoad) posts before they were deleted? I should have saved them, but didn't think to. He's also back to badmouthing me on his and miller's forum as usual. :rolleyes: Those two are so misguided it's comical.

I've heard a rumor as to the asking price here, and I'm hoping it isn't correct. I would absolutely chip in on getting this site back to "member owned" status, but it needs to be for a reasonable amount.
 
#28 ·
I know the price. Its up there
Darn shame in that case. Guess it looks like AAN is out bite us again, this time to turn for themselves a profit. :mad: :rolleyes:
 
#30 ·
It is a shame. This site is full of good information available no where else. SCCOA is a joke for us V8 owners. Hopefully this all works itself out.
 
#31 ·
IIRC, one of the Original big hates betwixt the groups was people modding SC's to be V8 cars... that's sacrilege!!

:)
 
#32 ·
I hope AAN isn't firm on their asking price. My gut tells me they see that the site is on its way down and they're losing/have already lost sums of money on it - and are going to try and make up for those sums (plus a little extra) with a "let's bail before it sinks" sale. Which, to me, sounds like exactly what Bill did three-and-a-half years ago.

I will give AAN this much though - at least they're giving us warning. Something Bill didn't do.
 
#34 ·
Perhaps a mod or admin should be 'appointed' to be a contact point, and anyone who is willing to donate to the cause can contact this person with their commitment. This way we can get an idea of how much "we" can afford.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top