self sufficientish people pay annual fee of five pound

[gunners71uk]

andy if ss become members pay 5 pound a year certain parts forum are menbers only it would generate some cash for ss.what you think.
regards gunners

[Martin]

the trouble with that is that it can be very divisive - there's what's seen as an "elite", and it fosters resentment - I've heard boards can break up after moves like that!
I reckon something like a webshop would be a good idea - you don't even need to physically "stock" the items - you use what's called "fulfillment" -you raise the sales through the webshop, send them off to the company concerned, and they post them to the customer - you take a profit for raising the sale! You'd need to be "picky" as to who you deal with, but it could be a really good way to raise funds. F'rinstance - if you can find a supplier of single cup kettles, see if they offer "fulfillment", you then need something free to use like the Cubecart shopping system, and you have an online shop - and Paypal is a no-cost way to get going!

[gunners71uk]

well maybe pay a donation of 5 pound by standing order
just trying to think of a way we can help
regards dave

[Pilsbury]

somebody did mention about putting a donate button on the site and that way people could give what they wanted when they wanted.

[Andy Hamilton]

all are good ideas and as ever I am humbled by anyones ideas to help us out.

There is a donate page that we could make more prominante also working on a bookshop which I will make into an all singing all dancing shop at one point.

The subscription thing I have thought about but I like the way that whatever money you have you can come and use the site for free. - But cheers gunners, perhaps we could incorperate a give £5 a year thing somewhere.

A bit hard to edit the site at the moment as my router is packed up meaning that the computer with all the software for web editing can't connect to the web. I have to use EMma's computer when she is taking a break from writing her book, or sneak a go on the work one.

[the.fee.fairy]

Is the paypal thingy new? I never saw one before.

I had to try it out though so there's a fiver winging its way to you.

[bwaymark]

What exactly is it you need the money for? Hosting? The time to edit/moderate? Do you need more bandwidth? Promotion?

[Shirley]

hosting must cost a good bit each year!!

[Merry]

Donations must be voluntary eh?
I get a good pension - how can I donate?
How did the fee fairy wing the donation to you?

[gunners71uk]

got my donation andy

[Stonehead]

The problem with subscriptions is that it would exclude those of us who are cash poor. Every time I think I have a fiver to spare, it seems to dematerialise. Hmm, there's an idea...

If the Ish tinkerers could come up with a jury-rigged teleporter made from salvage and junk (and powered by wind or solar of course), then I could subscribe by teleporting pork chops, fresh tatties and a couple of carrots to Andy. I'd just hit a button and voila, he'd have dinner...

[Andy Hamilton]

What exactly is it you need the money for? Hosting? The time to edit/moderate? Do you need more bandwidth? Promotion?

Myself and Dave work Part time so we can devote more time to selfsufficientish. - Working on the book at the moment has taken up a lot of time. We do plan to move servers at some point as this one is pants we are going to have to move to a dedicated server to allows for many more users. We also are going to have to pay legal fees for a few things but can't say much more than that at the moment for reasons that will become obvious.

And yes you two, sent you both an email back - a 1000 thank yous.

[jondy]

No harm in generating some cash. I think the bright idea of the ladies selling crystals and donating half (?) the cash is a good way forward. Other items? I would buy some honey, for example. What would you buy? Obviously small items are best. Perhaps the ratio of 50/50 could be improved to encourage this. Selling books, good . This site has the basics to become even more popular. Don't advertisers pay to get onto a busy site?

John

[Boots]

I think Gunners idea is pretty good... he's only talking about shutting off certain parts of the site, so folks can still pedal in and pedal out and participate in open stuff, and get the general gist of things.

If membership was open for application after a set number of posts, then you have a fair idea that they are genuine contributors and not just here to take, without giving anything back.

I have been involved in groups with tiered membership, and folks in the lower levels of heirarchy don't even know there is more available until they get promoted and a bit more of the site opens up for them! The public levels remain visible for members but non-members don't see locked threads or any blatant exclusion. They just see what they get. I have never known it to be divisive or cause probs because they just get an invite which they accept or decline when they have passed initiation (certain number of posts or group consensus on acceptance) - though it is funny watching new members arrive as they are often surprised to find what they've been missing out on!

Things like the Auction Area might be better isolated and only available to members...time will tell, but I can think of any easy dozen I would be happy giving to and dealing with, while a little part of me thinks maybe fly-by-nighters could mess with the concept. You know, place bids and muck about... disappear... that kind of thing. Like I said, time will tell.

Another area that could be members only, could be a barter board, where folks can barter items, skills and knowledge. If someone needs a hand with their computer for example, they can go there post and then barter to say thankyou. I have called on Muddy a few times for help with stuff... figure I owe him a few favours, but I doubt he knows what I do. I wouldn't be prepared to post that info publicly - but among folks i have got to know over time, no worries. If members posted available skills, then other members could access them when needed.

Stoney has a load of info on livestock. Camille is pretty quick with the computer enquiries. Nev has designs and chemistry info. Muddy has LPG, electrics and strawbale. There are a few qualified counsellors, researchers, builders, artists... it all has barter potential and if posted on a barter board could be a real draw card for members who need help in some way - and remind them to give back what they can when they can.

I don't think we shoud be so quick to overlook this idea. There may be a very workable compromise in it.

[glenniedragon]

You could add a 'wanted' section in the auction area, so we could post reasonable requests for stuff others may not even have considered selling.

kind thougths
Deb