Small Fee

I have a feeling Most people will hate this idea, but it may be a solution to the recent problem. I know that Jeff once said about charging a fee for a "gold" forum and this is along those idea's. Right now, anyone could come in here and post whatever they want with little disregard to the rules. The problem will only get worse as the site grows. If a small fee was charged for a lifetime "membership" to the forum, less people would come in here just to start a fight. Also if you are out of line, your account is deleted and you must pay again if you want to join which will keep people from yelling.

I dunno. I need to think of something because the site is getting expensive fast. Amazon just launched an "honor system" for sites to accept "donations." They rape you with charges, but I could do the same as I already run my own credit card authorizations.

There's an answer out there... I'm just not sure what it is. If you got a membership card, a mouse pad, and maybe access to some ERT events, would it be worth it? How much would you pay for that?

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

I was only thinking along the lines of the what I mentioned but hey, why not kill two birds with one stone? For what I was thinking, I would pay $5 for just lifetime access to the forums to keep out the riff raff. If you throw in those incentive's, it sounds like a full blown Club. To start off with just those things and some ERT ( I'm thinking you can work your magic with CP :) ) i'd say $10-$15 yearly. Sounds like a good Buzz Poll.

So Jeff, when are those T-shirts and mousepads going to be available for purchase?

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"SAVING THE WORLD BEFORE BEDTIME" Powerpuff girls

I feel that this is by far the best rollercoaster site on the net and I am sure people will be willing to pay for the quality that this site brings and the accuracy of the information. I would be proud to have a membership into Coasterbuzz, because of the services it has. I feel that one person should not have to encounter all of the costs since this is not run by one person. This is a member driven portal. This site brings enjoyment to thousands of people, so it is just unfair to throw all the costs on you. I do personally think it would be cool to have a member forum, so that way the discussions will be serious and we would not have to worry about childish behavior and people that do not care about the site. Well that is my two sense worth.
By, the way if you ever offered merchandise I would start purchasing it.

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COASTERBUZZ FOREVER

Jeff...

About ERT. If you could pull of nighttime ERT on Millennium Force sometime this summer (Preferably any Wed-Fri ;)) I'd definitely pay some sort of fee. For an hour I'd pay $10-15.

JC, who needs MF like a drug...just stick it in my veins.

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Millennium is spelled with two N's ;)

I know that paying for membership may be crutial to survival, but there you alienate 98% of your members.

People get news here (me included) but we are mostly just casual members, that, facing the oppertunity of NOT having this site, would be able to go other places. Sure it'd be harder, but you know...

You should sell stuff with Amazon, and I'm surprised to note that you don't have a shop set up around here. T-Shirts, mousepads, maybe even setting up a member-administration mini-golf/go-karting/park outing event with a fee (not unlike the Cedar Point charity golf game that was documented on GTTP.)

Well, I wouldn't be opposed to paying a small (10 buck range) fee, and I said a long time ago that I would buy a t-shirt (I have more mousepads than mouses [mice even]).

As for the ERT thing, while I would love to have an ERT session on anything ranging from the Beastie to MF (excluding any 'spaghetti bowl' coasters), I dont know how beneficial it would be seeing as though we come from all over and the event would most likely end up at some Ohio park (though I would be willing to travel for nightime ERT on CLP's Blue Streak!). Anyway, I'm game for whatever.
lata,
jeremy

The site would NEVER require a charge to view it or even participate. I was thinking more along the lines of having a club that supports the site, and sponsors some events. Kind of an alternative, smaller coaster club for those who can't afford the big ones.

I tried the Amazon thing once with GTTP. The cut you get to keep is nearly worthless. The only affiliate program that ever did anything for me was Chips-n-Bits when I was selling RCT and the expansion packs. Their commission was 20% at the time, 15% I think now.

As you're making your plans this summer, do consider booking hotels, cars and travel through the site. You can do it by either clicking the link in the tools menu at right, or by going to a specific park page in the parks section. Try Cedar Point, for example. You'll be amazed at the number of hotel results you get!

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

A $10-20/year fee wouldn't be bad at all. If you can really swing some form of ERT, then you may have the beginning of another coaster club on your hands, Jeff. It'd certainly have the best website ;)

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--Greg

http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/

I'd prefer a T-shirt over a mouse pad and would buy one to help keep the site running.

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I can't wait to stand in line...

The idea of forming a club would be a good start, but I would imagine it would involve a ton of work. Perhaps a good starting point would be to seek out donations to help defray the operational costs, and see where that lands you.

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Neil
Pittsburgh, PA

I would be happy to pay for access to this site, which would be a shock to many of my friends. (One man's frugal is another man's cheap...) So the idea of a Coasterbuzz club, seperate from accessing the news or enterting the forums, is an excellent idea, providing something 'extra' for devoted supporters, while still inviting casual participation. $10-15 yearly would be fine. $20 is about the price point where I would start to lost interest. Sorry, it's slow at work, so I blather on.
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LIfe is something that happens when you can't get to sleep.
--Fran Lebowitz

I would become a member of a BUZZ coaster club.
Set it up Jeff.

Well many of Buzzers pay $50 a year for ACE. Why not pay a nominal fee of $5-10 a year. Heck you could even do sponsorships for people who can afford to donate money to pay for memberships of people left in the dust. I know I would be willing. I think though that we would need to keep the forums only to members if you did that. It is only fair.

In order to do a good ERT we would need to poll everyone and see areas where they live in order to see if it is even feasible.

I am sure that with volunteer help and maybe donations we could get this going stronger than ever. I am sure if you asked buzzers to volunteer we would help.

I'd gladly pay for a club membership here.

I'd say have two or three options for membership.

1. $5 fee for just the use of the web site for a year or forever whatever you decide.

2. A $15 to $20 membership including the site and T' Shirt and be able to participae in events at parks.

3. A $25 and up that would include the 2 listed above and possiby a coasterbuzz.com email address.

That way I think most people under 16 who can't get jobs could still participate in the site fairly easy. I think most kids could swing the 5 bucks easier than even $15 or $20. Then if a member that has the $5 account wants to go to an event they could pay a small fee for it at the event.

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2000 stats: 135 coasters in 26 parks
Not Too Shabby For A Summer

Build it an they will come.

I'll tell you right now that a T-shirt will never be part of the package for anything less than $25... it's just too expensive when you do short runs.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

Jeff, I would be more than happy to set up and help run a coaster club for the site( I have tons of time on my hands). Just say the word and I will help out in area of this site for free. *** This post was edited by Andrew on 2/9/2001. ***