5 hours ago, Jim said:

Sounds like a great idea.

We have to check how to remove/hide ads for paying members, but that would definitely be a proper solution.

I'd pay like, 5$ a month for a badge and no ads to help EB, that sounds great!

26 minutes ago, novareb said:

I'd pay like, 5$ a month for a badge and no ads to help EB, that sounds great!

Awesome! That’s great to hear.
We are looking into the options.

 

I am fine with the banner ads at the bottom of the page, but the pop-ups are rather annoying. A Patreon for the site is a good idea, as long as the site does not end up being paywalled or virtually unusable due to ad spam when viewing for free. 
 

3 hours ago, Classic_Spaceman said:

I am fine with the banner ads at the bottom of the page, but the pop-ups are rather annoying. 

Yup, that's how we feel about them as well.

3 hours ago, Classic_Spaceman said:

A Patreon for the site is a good idea, as long as the site does not end up being paywalled or virtually unusable due to ad spam when viewing for free. 

That is something we absolutely want to avoid, so no worries. We simply need to raise some monthly income to keep this site free from obtrusive ads. 

Also people will still need to abide by the rules of the forum, paying a subscription would have perks, but not immunity.

I'm, pretty subscription-averse, but options for one-off payments sound good. Doesn't have to be a kickstarter, could just be a 'buy me a coffee' link.

I know Paypal (which a lot of Bricklinker buyers probably already use) has an option for a donation button, which you can also link to a target goal. E.g., if you have a €2000 target annually, you can show this visually and do some kind of fundraising drive on a yearly basis. Maybe tied to competitions, idk.

What are your approximate costs? E.G. If the top 100 members gave €5 each, does €500 cover it? Or is it closer to a couple of thousand needed?

It’s not a huge amount. Somewhere around 2000 in total. If we keep the ads in the footer and the sidebar (like we have had for years), we need less. If we can raise around 1000 per year that would be enough.

The donation button is a great idee no matter what. But we do need a steady income, so we do need to think about multiple/different options.

If 1000 members pay one euro, we are cool for one year. The donation button with goal is interesting. Kinda like Wilipedia.

I would take a look at BoardGameGeek - a boardgame forum & database. They are in a similar sphere - a community of users who are happy to spend on their hobby - just board games instead of Lego in this case. I feel like they are a bit bigger than Eurobricks - with 20~ employees, some of whom are full-time.

Have a look at their operating model for fundraising: https://boardgamegeek.com/support

Typically this is a once-per-year drive to collect donations from their members. They keep it very transparent around what they need and what they have raised. In return, a member gets some cosmetic perks, badges for your profile, full ad-blocking that kind of thing.

Exactly. DiceTower also does an annual fundraiser (Kickstarter in their case). I will take a look at BGG. I am in favor of an annual fundraiser with clear and transparent goals. Thanks

A forum that I moderate has a 4 level donation system. They are $30 (Bronze) $60 (Silver) $120 (Gold) and $200 (Platinum). Donating at any level eliminates ads but as the donation level increases, so 'extras' such as larger avatar and more PM storage/space. There are several members who contribute at the Gold and Platinum levels. Donations can be made via PayPal, even if you don't have a PayPal account.

 

Thanks Tom. That is an interesting setup. Is that per year?

2 hours ago, Jim said:

Thanks Tom. That is an interesting setup. Is that per year?

Yes, it's per year - but it's a 'rolling' year that starts on the date people contribute.

2 minutes ago, Lego Tom said:

Yes, it's per year - but it's a 'rolling' year that starts on the date people contribute.

Great that there's discussion on this and glad to see that there are some options being considered. The popups are really irritating for me (not the ads themselves, the popup movement at the bottom; it's distracting). And I think a few hundred people would be okay with paying something like $10 per year for an ad-free experience, including myself.

We need to start a Patreon or something, but I need to take some time to find oit how that works.