That is a good point, i wonder if it can be contained to only one section, i’d find that acceptable. i do agree that it is tacky adding it to any link that appears in regular threads.
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I’ll go one step further and wish for a script that actually took any and all affiliate links off.
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Yes. It is great to hear that people want to financials to be fair and equal. That is extremely noble.
It is my opinion that someone still needs to step up, anonymously or not. The hard truth is Patreon, affiliate links, and donations are “lumpy” forms on income. As in, you bring in $500 one month, and you bring in $5 the next. It is just the way things like this operate.
I have reached out in private with some ideas. I like the idea of donations and patrons, but I don’t want server and bandwidth bills–which are generally fixed costs–to be impacted by the variable nature of donations.
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I used to mod a board that had a “Kitty Fund” people would kick into so often to kill off the ads. It was a feature of the board. Not sure if discourse has any kind of built in funding option, but maybe we should research that. Could keep things simple.
After that, I like the Patreon solution.
Re: accounting - we are all kind of vapor people here so I think as long as figures are low, hell, take my money. What are we talking, the price of the occasional starbucks?
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Why not allow them to build up a 3 or 6 month buffer? That’ll help smooth it out (or let us know we need a different funding model)
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yeah, there are tons of models that can be used. it is really up to the founders on how they want to conduct their business. there are pros and cons to almost any structure.
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Can I ask for a step in a different direction? Is it possible to rewrite Amazon links so that, instead of adding an affiliate code, the link went to the http://smile.amazon.com website instead?
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I agree with @waetherman that donations will do as we kick this thing off.
As I wrote in the What IS This Place thread, I like the idea of divvying up the expenses in the form of a small subscription. Every other site on the web is barely surviving by inundating its audience with ads, affiliate links and native advertising. If we build the idea of slow growth and member subscription into the marrow of the site, then it will always be sustainable and ad-fee.
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Ad free gets my vote. They’d just get blocked anyway.
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Concerning affiliates, I wouldn’t be opposed to having a single link that people could deliberately make their purchases through if they want to support the site.
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insert this gif
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I think it would be nice to leave room for the occasional, totally transparent, totally unobtrusive sponsored post. I’m thinking something like the “jumbotron” spots on maximumfun podcasts. You do run into pricing challenges, though, which could be uncomfortable, as any posts would likely be friends and friends of friends for quite a while…
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i’m guessing bake sale? 
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I was guessing something along the lines of Magic Mike, but as the saying goes:
whyNotBoth.gif
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I’d be willing to do a sustaining membership model like a lot of public radio stations have. At some point I’d like to know where we’re at on operating costs as traffic builds. Thank you, @LockeCJ for fronting the initial costs. I’m still waiting to see how this experiment develops, but a fiver each month won’t break the bank.
Anyway, I’m confident that will be the comparatively easy part. The biggest challenge is going to be getting consensus on moderators and trust level policies. For mods, I think some democratic election of those who’ve thrown their hat in the ring would be wise since we’re aiming for a more ground-up approach that the old BBS. Just my 2 cents. And to be clear, I’m not volunteering. But I’ll certainly help defray costs.
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you could bake buns for footlong hotdogs, and then, you could… well, did you ever see Bachelor Party?
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Add me as someone who’d be willing to sign up for a monthly donation.
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The problem with monthly subscriptions is when one has potential instability or fluctuations in one’s income; unless the sum of the donation is substantially low.
For instance, I could always be counted on to kick in two bucks a month consistently, as opposed to 10 or 20 bucks, which I wouldn’t be able to guarantee.
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Ditto. Hopefully a few dozen regs putting in a couple bucks a month could cover hosting costs, at least for a while. If we get bigger, well I’m in the same position you are as to what I can pitch in.
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Amazon links will work if you float reviews in a way that can catch on social networks. I know this, with appropriate disclosure, is the best way to generate zero-bullshit revenue for a new website right now.
Edit: for clarification.
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