Thank you so much for bringing this up, bc
Same.
Also, this a million times:
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Thanks for the support. I started and have been running the site since.
Our cost these days running the site is I think about $40-50 a month. I just checked- last month Amazon generated $60+, which after paying taxes is about breakeven. In an occasional month if we meet some sales threshold Amazon sends us a bonus, but the threshold seems to be going up quite a bit since last year.
Around last year or maybe the year before, we changed hosting company which brought the operating cost down significantly from $100+/ month, which meant we were in the red for a few years, to the current level. So I think we are in good shape.
At the end, all of these numbers are small numbers. Its not like 20 years ago when Chowhound were forced to sell because of huge hosting costs. These days, with cloud hosting, it is tremendously affordable to run a community like ours. We appreciate the desire to support, although there is no plan to run any fundraiser since its not needed. Plus literally no effort is needed for Amazon so we’ll probably just keep that going.
At the end of the day its not a big deal even if we don’t have Amazon referral fees. But I’d prefer the site to pay for itself.
The way forums die these days, is not really cost. Its one day when the users stop having a reason to come. And when that day comes for HO, we can probably keep the site on read-only for about $10 a month if there is an appetite for it. But for the most part once people lose interest, the relevance is gone.
Isn’t Mouthfuls still around?
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Thanks.
Still, if this site can pay for itself without Amazon referrals I’d strongly prefer it.
You, whoever you are, have done a great thing in offering us Chowhound refugees refuge. I’m not always an easy customer but I respect this enormously.
But, may we free ourselves of the taint of commerce, especially the recent stink of Amazon?
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Barely.
I cherish this community and would very much welcome the opportunity to support it. Since I don’t use Amazon, would you consider accepting direct contributions? Not a charitable contribution, not an amount that would make you uncomfortable, just… a contribution from a grateful user?
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Thanks all. There’s really is no need for any other contribution. The site can comfortably run itself. Just enjoy using it. Invite your friends if they are interested. Give us a mention or link our topics on Facebook/ IG/ Tiktok, etc. when they are relevant. That would be the best gift you can give to the site. Cheers.
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Ok. If that changes, I hope you’ll let us know.
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