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Assistance / Fees

PostPosted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 10:23 pm
by Andrew Davie
Hi All. Dog ate one of my hearing aids today. I'm incredibly depressed about it; it's hard enough with them, but without things are difficult indeed. Anyway, the site renewal is coming up soon and I pay US$160pa or thereabouts to keep everything up and running. I do need to think about my finances and somehow look towards replacing that 'aid ASAP. With that in mind, putting money towards upkeep of this site is hard to justify. I have previously offered to hand over to NBTVA, but received no response to that. I expect the site will continue, regardless... but was wondering if there might be any ability for members to assist with the yearly site renewal $$$. I'd be grateful for your thoughts as to how to continue the forum without me having to pay that cost entirely out of my own pocket.
Cheers
A

Re: Assistance / Fees

PostPosted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 11:25 pm
by gary
Andrew I am more than happy to contribute in my own small way - set up an account and see how it goes - if it doesn't cover costs then so be it! But if all the members here contributed just $1 it would pay for the site.

Very sorry to hear about your hearing aid - bad doggie!

Re: Assistance / Fees

PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 12:24 am
by Steve Anderson
I read Andrews posting above over an hour ago. In the meantime I've been to the corner shop and got some beers. I've had my monthly bath (it is the first today) - all the time trying to think up some quip r.e. dogs ingesting hearing aids - but to no avail.

But seriously, I have mentioned this subject before on more than one occasion. So this comes as no surprise to me. Now with 157 current members, as Gary says, a US dollar each (or more) per year should be no hardship for most. But of that number there's only a percentage who either visit or post.

Andrew, I don't know what's involved in setting up a PayPal account or the costs incurred, but that at least opens up a means for those who are willing to contribute to do so...and take it from there. If the income doesn't match or exceed the costs...well, we'll see.

The zero response from the NBTVA doesn't surprise me.

Steve A.

Re: Assistance / Fees

PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 12:34 am
by Dave Moll
Indeed, It shouldn't be costing you $160pa to be providing us with a service. If you make it a voluntary donation to cover the cost of running the site, you may get rather more than the required amount. I for one am willing to make a donation in excess of the $1.

Re: Assistance / Fees

PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 12:56 am
by Steve Anderson
I just had a quick look at the fees for PayPal. It appears to be 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction for the basic (standard) package.

Steve A.

Re: Assistance / Fees

PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 1:01 am
by gary
Hmmm I wonder if direct credit works internationally? Probably not - too many people in between trying to make a lazy buck.

Re: Assistance / Fees

PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 5:25 pm
by AncientBrit
Hi Andrew,

I'm more than willing to conribute.

If the overhead for a single payment is too high I'll stump up 3 years in advance.

Kind regards,

Graham

Re: Assistance / Fees

PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 7:02 pm
by Harry Dalek
Hi Andrew i would hate to loose the forum .
I suppose the forum is free ? but you have to pay for the storage .
Is there such a thing as all this for free ? just putting up with some pop up adverts here and there ?
Hate to loose all the information it would be a sad day for sure :cry:

Re: Assistance / Fees

PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 7:21 pm
by AncientBrit
Harry makes a very good point about losing all the data and results of experiments.

I certainly make use of the search facility to see where others have succeeded (and failed)

Cheers,

Graham

Re: Assistance / Fees

PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 9:40 pm
by Steve Anderson
I've had a look at freeforums.org which appears to run the same software so I assume that porting the database(s) and other information shouldn't be an issue. That is unless we exceed their size limit, if applicable. There are probably many others to choose from.

Now, something else crossed my mind Andrew, your sentence, "I have previously offered to hand over to NBTVA,...". In addition to reducing/eliminating the costs are you also looking to step down as forum admin? You have been the admin for over seven years so I wouldn't blame you. Please correct me if I've got that wrong.

Steve A.

Re: Assistance / Fees

PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 6:04 am
by Don Tomkins
Andrew,
I would be very happy to make an annual contribution once you have a payment system sorted. NBTV is a pretty specialised interest and that makes this site even more special and I for one would be very sab if it wasn't available. Your efforts in maintaining the site (and upgrading it) have been outstanding I am sure there will be enough supporters out there to help with some financial assistance. Please let us know how to proceed once all the feedback is in.
Best regards
Don T

Re: Assistance / Fees

PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 7:08 am
by Viewmaster
I too would be happy to cough up to keep the forum going.
Just say how I can do that eventually and I will.
Paypal ?

Re: Assistance / Fees

PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 10:44 am
by gary
Although PayPal is a little expensive I second that idea - the convenience can't be bettered methinks.

Re: Assistance / Fees

PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 6:46 pm
by Steve Anderson
I think at this point we should respectfully await a reply from Andrew and his thoughts on the matter...

Steve A.

Re: Assistance / Fees

PostPosted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 2:26 am
by DrZarkov
Hello Andrew, the easiest and cheapest way for small amounts would indeed be Paypal. Paypal is free of costs for you, and for me it makes no difference if I spend 1 $, 1.03 $ or 1.12 $, I will make the next full amount of it anyway. :)