Suggestion : Revenue for Zilvia.net

[mk20116]

I remember we had a suggestion for zilvia.net about raising funds for the cost of hosting/server. But couldn't find it without searching, but here goes.

How about calenders from members?..I have seen other forums do this and wanted to see what other opinions are. I have seen some very nice photography from some members here, and thought it would pretty nice to see it on a calender/poster of some sort. The design and additional artwork could be done from one of the members for their college/work portfolio.

Anyways I don't have any details but I think others can think of costs and planning of it. And of course limited runs would limit production costs of it too..my company printed at a few thousand large calenders for about 1-2 dollars or so..i think......just a suggestion.

btw...i can help out but would need a free calender though ;) ...stickers can only go so far....wish i had mine though... :2f2f:

[AlligatorBling]

http://brawl-hall.com/gallery/data/media/5/cunningplan.jpg

lower the price of the stickers... and change the marketing tactic... they are 5 bucks for one... thats a lot for a sticker... how about 8 bucks for a pair... sounds much nicer... and its a little cheaper... however; i dont know what they cost to begin with... maybe nine bucks for a pair? anything besides 10 bucks for 2 stickers... or... 5 bucks for one.... just my tcw....

[Jeff240sx]

Goddamn guys. You aren't buying a sticker. You are donating money to Zilvia.net and recieving a sticker for recognition. Quit bieng a cheapass. Not $10 for 2 stickers, but $9 for a pair is allright. And what are you going to do with that other dollar? How badly do you need money that $1 for 2 stickers is going to break your bank account? If that's the case.. try Netzero.. it's only $9.95 per month. And there's a special on Ramen noodles somewhere.
-Jeff

[mk20116]

.............................
Anyways I don't have any details but I think others can think of costs and planning of it. And of course limited runs would limit production costs of it too..my company printed at a few thousand large calenders for about 1-2 dollars or so..i think......just a suggestion.........

AlligatorBling
I highlighted/colored/bolded my thoughts on this. I haven't thought out the entire process due to it not being MY website nor is it my decision in the first place to initiate the plan. So if people would assume that I thought out the entire plan, please think again. If I had the entire plan mapped out and on paper it would only be available for the site owner/corporation only.
I have seen a website that does support themselves by selling calenders of members cars and of course though vendor support.

The ONLY reason I suggested this is mainly because I do support Zilvia.net for the information it yields. I have learned quite a bit from Zilvia.net and most of the members ever since I purchased my 240.

If this was a bad suggestion or an unfinished idea that no one likes, then I hope someone can pm me and ask me to edit or I can ask a mod to delete this thread...I don't remember if Premium memberships can delete threads. :wavey:


edit//
just saw the button.

[Jeff240sx]

Your plan is fine, provided that you can figure a way to make this time and cost effective. However.. saying $10 for 2 stickers is too much, but $9 for a pair would be better is retarded.. so that's where my post was heading.
And I'm a friendly neighborhood moderator. Let me know if you need anything.
-Jeff

[mk20116]

http://www.myphotospace.com/upload/942/calender1preview.jpg
http://www.myphotospace.com/upload/942/calender3bpreview.jpg

how about something like these......

i got them from nissansilvia.co.nz

decent i suppose..

[mrmephistopheles]

If your'e talking about having prints of something like sold...
Great idea in theory, but in practice i think more money owuld be spent than would be gained.
Have to factor in production time, cost of printing x minimum order (1000 units usually) and cost of packing/shipping.
In the end, it'd be a very expensive process I think.

That said, those calendars look great and it's still a good idea.
I just don't think that the majority of users would pay for something like that.

[kingsol]

i'd buy it, props for mk trying to help out

[mk20116]

There should be quite a few people who would be willing to pay for something they can physically hold. I can imagine that people don't want to join premium memberships because it's not something they get in return besides having exclusive rights on a forum.

How about those stickers, how many members actually have interest in them. I would imagine quite a few people have or are planning to purchase stickers. I for one would purchase a few calendars if possible due to the fact that there are some members that are able to provide stunning if not amazing photographs of their car.

I think we should do a some type of mock-up with some photographs and work it out from there. I know printing will be quite a bit but if zilvia.net can gather enough support for them it should work out ok. BTW...i suck at design so i would definitely be excluded from any type of design work. hehe...

[AlligatorBling]

$10 for 2 stickers is too much, but $9 for a pair would be better is retarded..

thats the only thing that has kept me from making a purchase from day one... and im sure this is true for a lot of others as well.... and i said 8 for a pair would be nice... i can deal with 8.50 for a pair. ::shrugs:: either way... if more money is needed for the site... this could sell more stickers. its a start. why not try it for a week or so. and make the sticker link on the opening page bigger, also advertise a drop in the price. at least youll get a purchase from me if this happens. i wouldn't be too timid to say you might get a few other new buyers as well.

[Jeff240sx]

MK, the issue that Mr.Meph brought up is that the print run would cost $$$. Then, you'd need to sell all of the calendars, because Mark wouldn't want 100 calendars in his house. He probably could use like.. 3 at the same time. Then the PITA of shipping.
I'm sure that if a member wanted to do the footwork, get the printrun made, shipped them out, kept the principle and donated the profits.. that would be something that gets more attention.

And AlligatorBling. This is another post where you should probably just keep your money. Don't donate. You need it more than Zilvia apparently. Haggling with the owner of a server who has kept you here for 2 years, never seen a penny.. this is expense comming out of his pocket. But.. you've got to save $1.50. So just don't worry about it, because I'd hate to try and sell you on something that would make you strapped for cash.
YOU ARE NOT BUYING GODDAMN STICKERS! YOU ARE DONATING TO ZILVIA.NET AND RECIEVING STICKERS AS A THANK YOU. So quit bieng cheap fucks. Either pony up $10 for a pair of stickers, $5 for a sticker, or just keep quiet. Nobody wants to see how bad your life sucks, because haggling with a company who has not seen profit in 4 years over $1.50 donation is downright pathetic. Do you go to the Salvation Army people and ask for some change back from your quarter you drop in the bucket?
On another note.. this is why nobody really cares to set up any other revenue attempts. Because people do nothing but bitch about the price, and once it's lowered, a whole other tier of broke bastards bitch that it's just out of reach for them.
If you're worried about $1.50.. this donation would be tax-deductable. That will get you the $1.50 back on your income tax refund.
-Jeff

[mk20116]

thats the only thing that has kept me from making a purchase from day one... and im sure this is true for a lot of others as well.... and i said 8 for a pair would be nice... i can deal with 8.50 for a pair. ::shrugs:: either way... if more money is needed for the site... this could sell more stickers. its a start. why not try it for a week or so. and make the sticker link on the opening page bigger, also advertise a drop in the price. at least youll get a purchase from me if this happens. i wouldn't be too timid to say you might get a few other new buyers as well.

Two dollars is not really that much of a price difference for a discount. The stickers are not mass produced enough for there to even be a price break from the printers. (I would assume these are printed, but I would also think West is printing them out though.)

If you think zilvia.net is a worthwhile site to frequent for information & entertainment then those extra two dollars are not wasted.

[HaLo]

Why not simply donate to become a premium member... 10$ is not a lot, considering the cost of living nowadays.

[RJF]

lower the price of the stickers... and change the marketing tactic... they are 5 bucks for one... thats a lot for a sticker... how about 8 bucks for a pair... sounds much nicer... and its a little cheaper... however; i dont know what they cost to begin with... maybe nine bucks for a pair? anything besides 10 bucks for 2 stickers... or... 5 bucks for one.... just my tcw....

Why don't we just give them all away? And shut down the site?

Keep in mind the expenses associated just with these (manufacturing, PayPal and USPS).

On a one sticker sale, net proceeds to Zilvia are less than $1.00....that'll keep the site going a long time....NOT!

As was noted by a few people, when you buy a sticker, you are supporting the site so we can try and cover our expenses.

Thanks to everyone who has bought stickers or a Premium membership.

-Bob (Zilvia Beancounter and Penny-pincher)

[Jeff240sx]

Could we get high-res pics of some cars? I'll have my new camera in a week and can snap some pics then. We can have a mini-competition to see who makes a nice layout. Once the layout is done, only then can we make an educated decision as to if people will buy it or not. If there is enough interest, we can figure out if someone wants to foot the initial run and deal with the shipping. A calendar should cost ~$3 to print for 50 of them. Add $3 for envelopes and shipping. $10 would be the minimum they can get sold for, provided my prices are correct.
Anyway, the first step would be getting hi-res pics of people's cars.
-Jeff

[mk20116]

MK, the issue that Mr.Meph brought up is that the print run would cost $$$. Then, you'd need to sell all of the calendars, because Mark wouldn't want 100 calendars in his house. He probably could use like.. 3 at the same time. Then the PITA of shipping.
I'm sure that if a member wanted to do the footwork, get the printrun made, shipped them out, kept the principle and donated the profits.. that would be something that gets more attention.


Selling all the calendars would not be much of a problem as much as being able to crunch numbers and find out the total cost of individual calendars and minimum order quantities. Even if you print over a hundred calendars and you are able to produce enough profit those extra calendars are just extra pocket change (so to speak).

Of course there is also the possibility that if the calendars are promoted enough that other outlets would seriously consider carrying them.

One thing I did just realize just now is that most of the time and effort in a project like this (or others similar) would depend heavily on member support of their time.

Photography and rights to photographs would be sourced from individual members.
Design work and planning is a good opportunity for college and/or work portfolios.
In the few thousand members on zilvia.net I would be disappointed if I did not find one person on here who does not own or is not related to someone in the field of printing. Members who are in the print industry would be able to give a price breakdown and/or price break on printing.

[mk20116]

Could we get high-res pics of some cars? I'll have my new camera in a week and can snap some pics then. We can have a mini-competition to see who makes a nice layout. Once the layout is done, only then can we make an educated decision as to if people will buy it or not. If there is enough interest, we can figure out if someone wants to foot the initial run and deal with the shipping. A calendar should cost ~$3 to print for 50 of them. Add $3 for envelopes and shipping. $10 would be the minimum they can get sold for, provided my prices are correct.
Anyway, the first step would be getting hi-res pics of people's cars.
-Jeff

I concur with your plan, having a design and actually gathering people's interest would put this idea to rest. Most members would be happy to be able to showcase their cars for others to see.

Anyways, nicely photographed black & white high-resolution photos would cut down on costs quite a bit too.

[AlligatorBling]

And AlligatorBling. This is another post where you should probably just keep your money. Don't donate. You need it more than Zilvia apparently. Haggling with the owner of a server who has kept you here for 2 years, never seen a penny.. this is expense comming out of his pocket. But.. you've got to save $1.50. So just don't worry about it, because I'd hate to try and sell you on something that would make you strapped for cash.
YOU ARE NOT BUYING GODDAMN STICKERS! YOU ARE DONATING TO ZILVIA.NET AND RECIEVING STICKERS AS A THANK YOU. So quit bieng cheap fucks. Either pony up $10 for a pair of stickers, $5 for a sticker, or just keep quiet. Nobody wants to see how bad your life sucks, because haggling with a company who has not seen profit in 4 years over $1.50 donation is downright pathetic. Do you go to the Salvation Army people and ask for some change back from your quarter you drop in the bucket?
On another note.. this is why nobody really cares to set up any other revenue attempts. Because people do nothing but bitch about the price, and once it's lowered, a whole other tier of broke bastards bitch that it's just out of reach for them.
If you're worried about $1.50.. this donation would be tax-deductable. That will get you the $1.50 back on your income tax refund.
-Jeff

please, call me Ryan.... sorry didnt mean for you to blow a gasket... i figured from the thread name... ideas were wanted... i gave a few ideas on what might move the products a little faster... or the donations, sorry... a little faster... just trying to help.

[Phlip]

I say sticky a thread in EVERY forum of the board to get interest, making the group aware of what is at hand, then lay down some ground rules...
1. this is an AUCTION, you pay to get into the calendar, the top 12 payees are in it.
2. you commit, calendars become available, you pay
3. you don't pay within reasonable time, say 7-15 days, you are pinked for a month
4. you don't pay within that month, you are permabanned indefinitely, until you do pay

... and premium member status has no bearing upon this