Valuation Of Forum

[Windsor]

Does anyone know how a forum can be valued if the owner wants to see? Post me the information required and I will try and give details. Membership is about 27k and it is very active with a buy and sell section which is also very active. The owner does not collect membership fees not advertisement revenues. Most members are also active and not many are clones such as SBF. Thanks.

 

[Leongsam]

Does anyone know how a forum can be valued if the owner wants to see?

http://www.yourwebsitevalue.com

<script>var base="http://www.yourwebsitevalue.com/getsitevalue.cgi?url=sammyboy.com";document.write("<" + "script src=\"" + base + "\"></" + "script>");</script>​

 

[Leongsam]

http://www.valuemyweb.com/

 

[Leongsam]

http://www.websitevalue.co.uk

 

[Leongsam]

<script>var base="http://www.yourwebsitevalue.com/getsitesearch.cgi?url=singsupplies.com";document.write("<" + "script src=\"" + base + "\"></" + "script>");</script>

 

[Windsor]

Thank you very much Sam.

 

[Leongsam]

Thank you very much Sam.

You could easily have done the same yourself.

 

[Windsor]

You could easily have done the same yourself.

I did, but was looking more at vBulletin website but the site was very slow. I could not find what I was looking for there. By the way, it was worth about 75k but I think it could be worth a tidy sum as the buy/sell section and the commercial seller section is very popular. With 26k members at S$10/- per annual fee that site with Ads it is a goldmine. The owner is just not caring much about making money as it is a hobby to him. He wants to reduce the amount of posts to get more bandwidth.

 

[tonychat]

I did, but was looking more at vBulletin website but the site was very slow. I could not find what I was looking for there. By the way, it was worth about 75k but I think it could be worth a tidy sum as the buy/sell section and the commercial seller section is very popular. With 26k members at S$10/- per annual fee that site with Ads it is a goldmine. The owner is just not caring much about making money as it is a hobby to him. He wants to reduce the amount of posts to get more bandwidth.

Then your question should be how to increase the value of a site? rather than how a forum can be valued.

 

[Windsor]

Then your question should be how to increase the value of a site? rather than how a forum can be valued.

He is happy paying $700 =$1000 a month. Started 11 years ago at $230 a month just so friends can keep in touch as they have a hobby in common. It grew bigger so much so that with many mods and himself spending a large amount of the valuable time managing the site. Money is not the issue but problem with bandwidth.

I was proposing that they sell to a majority stakeholder and share the spoils annually. Stakeholder takes care of the revenue whilst they maintain the site. Therefore I need to know how to put a value to the forum and prepare a proposal. Much of the values including the brand name are intangible so it is up to the buyer to decide it's worth. However, I can see that the buy/sell section which they propose to give up to create more bandwidth has upset many. An amicable solution need be found to appease all.

 

[tonychat]

He is happy paying $700 =$1000 a month. Started 11 years ago at $230 a month just so friends can keep in touch as they have a hobby in common. It grew bigger so much so that with many mods and himself spending a large amount of the valuable time managing the site. Money is not the issue but problem with bandwidth.

I was proposing that they sell to a majority stakeholder and share the spoils annually. Stakeholder takes care of the revenue whilst they maintain the site. Therefore I need to know how to put a value to the forum and prepare a proposal. Much of the values including the brand name are intangible so it is up to the buyer to decide it's worth. However, I can see that the buy/sell section which they propose to give up to create more bandwidth has upset many. An amicable solution need be found to appease all.

If you want my opinion, then pull the buy/sell section to be a separate entity rather than giving it up.

 

[Windsor]

If you want my opinion, then pull the buy/sell section to be a separate entity rather than giving it up.

Can't be done as it is part of the hobby shared by all. Beginners buy stuff from older ones who want to upgrade, so both benefited. Some members wants to give away excess to make more space at home or they are not interested in the money. There are those who place auctions for members to bid. Taking away the site may cause the parent site to lose the traffic and the B/S new site not to have enough traffic as some members may not go there at all. There is also a commercial section where commercial sellers post their inventory and new arrivals.

My take on this is that the site became even more popular especially the beginners and those members who joined for the profit they make from selling. Without the B/S the site will lose readership as I noted that many such sites especially in the States are dying due to the current economic situation. This site is still growing due to the renewed interest of the hobby plus in Singapore, what else better to do as nowadays cost is going up, it is more crowded and this hobby can be either very expensive, relatively cheap or to some quite lucrative.

 

[Leongsam]

I was proposing that they sell to a majority stakeholder and share the spoils annually. Stakeholder takes care of the revenue whilst they maintain the site. Therefore I need to know how to put a value to the forum and prepare a proposal. Much of the values including the brand name are intangible so it is up to the buyer to decide it's worth. However, I can see that the buy/sell section which they propose to give up to create more bandwidth has upset many. An amicable solution need be found to appease all.

I fail to see why bandwidth should be a problem. If they don't have enough bandwidth, all they have to do is contact the hosting company and ask for more. It's a non issue.

 

[Raiders]

I fail to see why bandwidth should be a problem. If they don't have enough bandwidth, all they have to do is contact the hosting company and ask for more. It's a non issue.

Why not devote a folder to buy and selling so that you can draw in another crowd?

 

[Leongsam]

Why not devote a folder to buy and selling so that you can draw in another crowd?

I don't want another crowd.

 

[Raiders]

I don't want another crowd.

Quite true. The mentally sick must be contain within the mental institution

 

[ballsathome]

...........

Whether a forum is successful or not a host will still have to fight spam. One just have to notice the number of sign ups from spammers for the past three years. That goes in tandem when the forum's traffic has improved and appears on search engines. You can tell by the western and european names they carry. And these spammers / link monkeys will be viewing at members profile. That is why i have made it a point to disable the PM function except for youtalkcock.

 

[Windsor]

I fail to see why bandwidth should be a problem. If they don't have enough bandwidth, all they have to do is contact the hosting company and ask for more. It's a non issue.

I think he just do not want to spend more to upgrade the servers.

 

[Windsor]

Whether a forum is successful or not a host will still have to fight spam. One just have to notice the number of sign ups from spammers for the past three years. That goes in tandem when the forum's traffic has improved and appears on search engines. You can tell by the western and european names they carry. And these spammers / link monkeys will be viewing at members profile. That is why i have made it a point to disable the PM function except for youtalkcock.

The forum is pretty strict and many had been banned. They do have a good group of mods and most of the older ones know each other personally. They have many competitions in a year and get-togethers. Personal photos are also published in the forum and some sections are privy only to members. Within the group are many different clubs too and they too have separate competitions. Therefore spamming is not allowed as once reported the spammer gets ban.

 

[scroobal]

Just a word of advice. A forum is like a pub. Many people like to take a stake in a Pub that they frequent. They end up spending more time, spend more on it. One should separate hobby from business. The number of people who lose money in a pub is amazing. Internal bias can be quite crippling. I have heard talk about ambience, type of crowd but no hard numbers. In fact many of the smaller pubs are run by by afficiandoes who break even on operating cost but end up paying for improvement and structure out of their own pocket every few years. The only profit is when they sell the damn thing to next sucker. Most forums are similar. The buy and sell section is the single most valuable assets in a forum. There is driven by Market forces. Forums that are successful are those who run along business lines and not hobby lines. Such as fashion trends, restaurants etc.