"Traders"/ Please read- maybe of benefit

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 8:43 am

I'm looking of possibly setting up "trade members" on the site; those of you that work selling/ buying/ breaking/ servicing cars. Whether you're classed "officially" as a trader or not is irrelevant- for example if you are breaking cars and making money through the site, in my eyes, you're a trader... Evil or Very Mad

The idea is you can have banners in your footer with links to your own website, etc. promoting yourself/ business/ what you do. (It doesn't have to be limited to just cars, either- we can do this for PC stuff, plumbers, etc.)- take a look at my signature for an example.

This is to help those of you with businesses, and also help the site out with hosting fees (it's not free, you know, it comes out of my pocket Rolling Eyes

)

Thoughts?

Was thinking of doing this on a month by month basis, and possibly a discount for 12 months in one hit? My initial thoughts are a fiver per month (less than 2 pints of beer, a packet of fags, or a 4 pack from Asda Laughing

)

This would NOT be an endorsement from me or the site with regards any particular company/ service. It will also not be the same as the banners on the site (left hand side, footer, for example)

I WILL start clamping down on "traders"; some people will happily sell stuff on E Bay and pay their fees, this option would/ could work out cheaper. Those I feel are "flaunting" the site (and my) good nature (ie. "taking the piss") will not benefit from this....

The more you post/ help others out/ join in the banter, the more your banner signature would be seen.

I suppose some specifics would help?

over 1500 unique visitors per month; average 11,000 page views per DAY (we've seen over 30,000 in a day Shocked

); over 8000 registers users- and not everyone visiting the site needs to register. Remember, this is NOT affiliated with the club directly, and banners/ adverts will NOT appear on the club site/ in the club's newsletter....

I'd like comments/ thoughts from those of you that have, or could do well with this. I'll help with banners/ signatures, if required.

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 8:54 am

Andy, you have my support and agreement (although I'm not a trader) but if they use the facilities they should pay something for the pleasure and, it will give us non-traders a chance to identify those that can provide a service! Embarassed

Gary

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 9:50 am

Seems a brilliant idea, I'd also be up for a member reply or comments section on each specific trader seller so bad ones can be weeded out and removed.

I've sold one car via the forums here and once sale was complete I donated £25... at the end of the day selling it via eBay / autotrader etc will cost me about that and all should be prepared to pay something willingly or not..

I've also had several cruise retro fits & cambelt jobs via the forums, but I'd like to think my forum contributions have "paid" for these Wink

I'm hoping to start braking more C4 TDI soon to help keep the ones in use running soon and other jobs as well as cambelt & cruise retro fit so I'm up for it and will help where i can although website stuff is not my forte Laughing

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 9:57 am

thats a good idea too! give them a rating system like they get on ebay Very Happy

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 11:15 am

does sound like a great idea! you could be the pistonheads of the audi world!

i would do this but i very very rarely get audis in to be honest and never break cars unless one comes in on the scrappge scheme (only had 1 coupe since the begining of scrap and its ending) ill have a word with my partner see if we want to do it.

your right though shouldnt sell loads of stuff on the site without a donation.

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 11:38 am

You have my blessing father.

I'm in.

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 12:54 pm

Hi Andy
I think its a good idea.........hoping to start out on my own in near future ......I certainly would be interested.
Have you any more thoughts on the matter...............

cheers
john Cool

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:26 pm

as I've mentioned via pm to a few in various states; my primary reason is to try to keep the site going. Not wanting to "scare" people/ users here, and not really offering a "begging bowl" as such;

The feedback thing- I like and will investigate.

Over the past 6 years (the site has been running more like 8, but can't remember details that far back off the top of my head) I've paid for the site myself. This has predominantly been in the region of £6k. I've had- through some generous donations and advertising- in the region of £2k. I've tried- where ever possible- to avoid adverts from garages/ independents/ tuners to try to stay "un biased".

The job situation went pear shaped for me back at the end of 2008. I've been working permanently since August last year. Although permanent, this is near the minimum wage end of the scale (although I DO keep trying for other positions)- it means that -for now- the site costs are coming out of my pocket. Add to this that bills @ home take priority and when you have to "economise" guess which is one of the first things that will (reluctantly) have to go....

This, I saw, as a viable alternative- those that do make money from the site, can provide some "kickback".

I'll need to look into the rating system more also; something may be available on the support sites for the software.

BTW- I'm grateful to everyone that posts- we are here- after all- to help other owners & enthusiasts' keep their cars on the road for minimal cost. This wasn't specifically aimed at one person, and I know everyone helps others out where they can- cheap (or free!) bits, etc.

I know full blown adverts can be pricey- and not necessarily value for money for small time operators (prices start @ £25 per month- but also give great SEO rankings Laughing

)

I'm probably rambling now; I feel I've said more than I should, and probably given some info out that I'm not too happy about mentioning, BUT I'm placing my cards on the table and being honest Cool

This site wouldn't exist without some excellent information, help, posts, etc. from the users and that bundled with help from the moderator team, etc. it wouldn't be where it is today. I guess if it wasn't so popular, it wouldn't be so expensive Laughing

Hope that makes sense and puts some perspective of where I'm coming from...

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 8:43 am

Personally I think this is a good idea. I'm always struggling trying to find reliable people who supply parts/services etc.

If the site admin need any tech support with this, I work in IT supporting the NHS (somebody's got to Sad

) and have a reasonable knowledge of SQL (although my main area of expertise is server admin and networking) and can offer some spare time and knowledge if required.

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:41 am

thanks for the offer; I'm working on a "hack" using stuff already available within the site framework... but I may need some help with the SQL stuff (MYSQL and MS SQL aren't too different- just a matter of matching the TSQL up... Rolling Eyes

)- the php I can read, never really had much of a crack at writing (although I learn pretty quick) Laughing

Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:54 am

I presume this was why my message function was disabled today, it would have been nice to have a warning at the least.

Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 10:43 am

??? There is only Andy and myself can do that. Since Andy hasn't been online since Wednesday, that leaves me and I can assure you I've not even noticed you online, never mind disabling PM's Confused

You have the contact details of me via email, via S2forum, via AudiSRS, so why not get in touch??
Why reply to a post about trading? Are you now trading?
There is a specific forum for website/account issues.

I've had a look at your account, and as suspected it's not changed in anyway shape or form.
Please recheck yourself.....................