Tamiya club is a non-profit site???

[SuperEddie]

why now? because people post too many photos online?

i think we shouldn't post too many NIB kit. cause that's not special. we should post our project or restored. less pics to keep the site free. but it's too late now. where r u going to hang out? any web site? i am not playing for posting my RC hard work or trade room. i think i pay ebay is better than trade room here.

[TWINSET]

I agree NIB's aren't that exciting, but you seem to have a few 'space-wasters' yourself.

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom.asp?id=1594

From reading responses to the £15 sub, a lot of the enthusiastic repliers have very few cars in their showrooms, and just enjoy TC for what it already, and potentially can, offer.

With regard to trades, £15 will get about four or five 'basic' auctions on ebay (before final fees) so that's not so bad either.

[BiggusDitchus]

£15 isnt a lot, we need to take into account that it is expensive to run a large web site, and why should chris have to stand the fee for us all to use.

So think we should all say a big thanks to Chris again, and when can I pay[]

[TWINSET]

[^]I spent the best part of 12 hours bouncing mail with Chris yesterday, whilst he was sorting out the subscription interface, and from chatting with him previously, have a better idea about what goes into making this site available.

This isn't just a PC in an office hooked up to a LAN, so there are recurring charges involved, which aren't going to go away.

On a daily scale, we're talking 5p/8c a day for christs sake, I put more than that in my change pot every nite!

At the end of the day, subs is optional, pay or don't, but those of us who don't mind the 'pay' option can see the benefits over the 'free' option, cos TC will cease to exist.

[netsmithUK]

Thanks for the support guys, but subscriptions were never going to be to everyones tastes but that is what makes them ideal. If you don't use the site and its services have 'no value' to you then you just don't pay. If you use the services then you pay for the services.

Just to put the records straight Tamiyaclub has NEVER been free. The hosting of the site has always cost real money to someone. In the first year this was entirely from me, last year was funded by me again and a quick round of funding from a few of our generous members last christmas and then a few donations that have come in through the year. Unfortunately this funding cannot be relied upon to make the site bigger and better (or even cover the cost of running it as is) so subscriptions were the only way forward.

The issue isn't whether you want to show pics of NIBs or pics of runners. Its just a case of is you want to show pictures or use any of the facilities which use our resources, in which case you need to pay. This is no different to any other service, on the web or in the real word.

As for the club being none profit making, the cost of running the site for the next 12mths is going to be around £3000.00. The total of 'pledged' subscriptions adds up to around £2200.00. Its pretty obvious to see the site will still run at a loss. And these are actually running costs for hardware/software/bandwidth - none of the money paid goes towards expanding the collections of mine or anyone elses model collections.

Cheers

Chris

[Deano]

As it would appear that TC is so close to being paid for by it's members( In terms of pledged monies ) ,would it not be an idea to see if the TC members would be willing to pay a little extra to gurantee the safety of the club?

I'm sure that if push came to shove, most if not all the members would be more than willing to part with what I'm sure most of us spend in one night at the pub for a years worth of T.C![8D]

[netsmithUK]

Hi Deano

I appreciate the sentiment but don't go suggesting people should pay more or they'll lynch me from the nearest tree []

I'm working on the assumption that the shortfall will be made up from, current members that decide they just can't live without us, new subcribers and possibly advertisers that will come on board once the site is running 100% again.

Cheers

Chris

[snollan]

It's not like this came as a shock. If you're over at RCMT you pay to get rid of the pop-ups and their site still sucks. I also pay over at montypics so I can have a place to hotlink my online pics.

IMO I like posting my NIB. Should the NIB be limited to one of the box and one of the contents if open? SURE why not.

Also remember that in a non-profit the workers still gets paid, along with the rent, supplies, etc etc etc. Same thing here, Chris doesn't make money(in fact he's in the hole big time) but the server does cost money. I also feel that any money left over should go to Chris since he does maintain this place so well.

[grusomkis]

quote:Originally posted by snollan

Also remember that in a non-profit the workers still gets paid, along with the rent, supplies, etc etc etc. Same thing here, Chris doesn't make money(in fact he's in the hole big time) but the server does cost money. I also feel that any money left over should go to Chris since he does maintain this place so well.

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Couldn't agree more. He and the moderators put alot of work in so i can just sit by my Pc drinking Jack Daniels and read about my toys []

[Manuspain]

Hi.

I think all of us have to pay for server and all job done in this site.

This place is not only to show NIB kits, or to use traderoom, but in first place, we all can meet us in our great hobby. Since last year, i thought i was the only crazy guy on earth to collect tamiya old cars. Now i know we are a large community all around the world thanks to tamiyaclub.

Come on, we are just talking about 15 pounds a year. less than a pair of SS tires and wheels on ebay!!!!!!!

(Chris, i m still reading the posts to know how to pay my suscription [])

Registered soon.

Manuspain

[DJTheo]

quote: why now? because people post too many photos online?

i think we shouldn't post too many NIB kit. cause that's not special. we should post our project or restored. less pics to keep the site free. but it's too late now. where r u going to hang out? any web site? i am not playing for posting my RC hard work or trade room. i think i pay ebay is better than trade room here.

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Yes, but cant show your collection in Ebay can you? []

Also I see you use the feature of the showroom and contact opportunities for items you would want to buy, which is fine.

But why should all this and more be free? Do you think anything in the web nowadays is really free? Even supposedly "free" services bomb you with banners, or spam mails and fwd your email to thirds...

Chris wants to provide a quality service here, thats why he didnt chose that easy gray methods... As he wrote above he has even lost money till now and doesnt want to make ANY profit. But the most important are the endless hours of him to build and improve this site. Do you know how much those would cost if we would give them to a third party IT expert? You dont want to know, believe me...

For clarification, below isnt directed to you or any TC members, its just a general recent observation I find connected.

There exists lately a new belief especially from some www-generation youngsters, that since the internet era anything non material should be for free, whether its intellectual property, software, musik, films and so on... People have lost one word, which is called renouncement (am not sure if its the correct english term though [:I], pls correct if needed). If you cant afford something, then you dont get it, it doesnt give you the right to steal it, everyone isnt automatically entitled to have everything. I would also like to have more Tamiyas but I cant afford them, so I try to earn some money to buy them, not look around how to "get" them for free. The same applies for TC, everyone has to see whether the features it has are worth for him or not the money asked.

Sorry for the brabbling

[raemin]

I personnally have some concerns about the increasing running costs of the site, and so far most of the new services are not going to make this situation any better ...

Today is a special day, with lots of connection, but I have already experienced a few "service not available" messages, which is no good news for the future (more computing power, more bandwith, etc...)

Maybe that the club (well chris [:I]) should work on making this website less greedy in terms of hardware usage, bandwidth consumption etc... A sensible first measure would be to request users to be more reasonble when using the service :

- reasonable picture definition

- reasonable amount of pics

- reasonable amount of showroom items

etc...

After all if a lot of us have been willing to pay GBP15 to preserve the future of this community I imagine that moderating our own service usage wouldn't be impossible to achieve.

Raoul

PS : by the way what is most burdoning TC running costs presently?

[netsmithUK]

The problems you have been having are not down to the software being pushed to hard - infacts it gots enough capacity to last a few years (i hope) They are more to do with software issues that I'm trying to resolve at the moment.

Might be my coding - I have changed a lot, or it might be the fact we have switched to windows 2003 servers and some of our components are having problems with that. They will be resolved and it will fly!

Cheers

Chris

[wriggleandgiggle]

Personally I think paying my Tamiyaclub subscription is one of the best, cheapest and most reliable HOP-UPS I've bought. The fact it is 100% compatible with all my collection is a huge bonus.

What would £15 buy you, half of a decent set of tyres, half a decent battery pack or a part drunk 1 litre bottle of JD.

[Wireless]

I work for a company that provides web services to over 8000 organisations throughout the UK and across the World. My involvement runs through the hardware side, bandwidth and hosting provision into software configuration and a little simple coding. Because of this, I am all too aware of the costs of hosting something as hungry as Tamiya Club and the huge amount of work that goes into creating not only a reliable and slick service, but one that benefits so many and brings a whole load of like-minded Tamiya fans together.

So you see, £15 a year is more than reasonable, also bearing in mind there is little funding from advertising. Hopefully, as the months pass, TC will reach a critical mass of subscribers and traffic so that Chris is able to actively recruit new advertisers to help boost the coffers, pay for faster servers / more bandwidth / more storage and job's a good 'un. It then is almost self-perpetuating.

It's at times like these when TC needs the subscription to carry it through to the next phase. As the subscribers we are not only the safety net but the tightrope as well, and as a regular user of the site I am more than happy to stump for the sub. badword, if it was double it'd be good value AFAIAC. I just ordered a take-out curry. Cost me £22 and now it's all gone. Okay, I'll get a repeat tomorrow morning, but it really does make TC look a bargain.

Three cheers Chris, I can well imagine the stress TC brings on, especially now you're playing with bigger numbers. You don't complain and you stick your neck out for something you enjoy and believe in for the benefit of the others. I truly hope it all comes good and you get your just reward.

Cheers and here's to the next phase of TC...!

Roop [^]

Edited for typo

[WillyChang]

quote:Originally posted by Wireless

....I just ordered a take-out curry. Cost me £22 and now it's all gone. Okay, I'll get a repeat tomorrow morning...

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ROTFL... and you said it with a straight face... []

[SuperEddie]

by the time , i post my 'space-wasters' . i did not know the future that will charge. thanks for ur polite word. i will concentrate RC more than become a trouble marker.

quote:Originally posted by TWINSET

I agree NIB's aren't that exciting, but you seem to have a few 'space-wasters' yourself.

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom.asp?id=1594

From reading responses to the ?5 sub, a lot of the enthusiastic repliers have very few cars in their showrooms, and just enjoy TC for what it already, and potentially can, offer.

With regard to trades, ?5 will get about four or five 'basic' auctions on ebay (before final fees) so that's not so bad either.

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[Wireless]

Heh heh, and boy, WHAT a repeat...! []

quote:Originally posted by WillyChang

quote:Originally posted by Wireless

....I just ordered a take-out curry. Cost me £22 and now it's all gone. Okay, I'll get a repeat tomorrow morning...

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ROTFL... and you said it with a straight face... []

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