What does it cost to run the club?

Carter

Administrator
"What does it cost to run the club?"

This question was recently asked to me and I thought I would share with all of you thecosts of not just the online forum, but also the other things you wouldn't think about.

There are many expenses to consider before that question can be answered. Many people think that the cost of running a club or forum is inexpensive and the only cost is server fees and the domain name. This is not 100% true. What many people don't consider is the up front costs of purchasing other items. These costs add up to thousands of dollars.

I can give you a general breakdown of the cost to run the forum and the cost of everything else. All of this is only an approximation.

• Domain and hosting. Our primary domain costs $15 per year. We also have multiple domains that we had purchased like the STM domain and the MSC domain. These are also $15 per year each. Hosting costs $12.95/mo with a year paid in advance.

• Merchandise. T shirts and hoodies alone came to $1,200. New this year we had lanyards made up. We ordered 100 lanyards these at a cost of $250.
 
• Annual meet. Trying to feed around 75 or so members and with this years projected number to increase is a large bill. The food and drink bill last year came to around $200. Raffle prizes vary greatly and we rely partially on vendors to provide us with free or discounted prizes. At our annual meet last year between food and prizes we barely broke even from selling raffle tickets. Total prize value for the 2012 annual meet was $1,000.

• Miscellaneous. I put a flat shipping rate of $5 on shipping sweatshirts and t shirts. If anyone is familiar with the postal service you would know that this wouldn't cover half of the cost to ship a t shirt and sweatshirt. Packaging can cost as much as $30 for 100 units.

• Referral cards. I am pretty sure I paid under $100 for 1,000 of them. To get them out I purchase envelopes in bulk and buy a few rolls of stamps at a time adding up to around $125.

• Decals. Now that I have purchased on my own dime a vinyl cutter, it lowers the cost per decal I would have to pay if I had someone else do it. I can also make custom decals that supplement the clubs income. 

• Paying for all of this. The majority of these fee and bills come out of my own pocket.

Some things people might say to me are: "What about the ads?" or "What about paid memberships?"

The answer to that is yes they do help, but no they don't cover the cost of all of this. Many of you are at the top of the membership chain with a platinum membership. This costs $20 per year and you don't see any ads on the site. The $20 you paid is less than the amount we would receive if you were to see ads throughout the year. Why offer it then? Because its money up front that we don't have to wait for. The lower membership levels still see ads but not as many, and they also help with providing cash up front.

And finally income tax. Believe it or not I am now paying tax on all the income that I take in from this site. You pay the club $20 via PayPal for your premium membership. PayPal takes a percentage of that, and the IRS takes yet another percentage of that.


Below is a general chart of Expenses vs Income. The club is currently operating at a loss

ClubCost.png

 
Last edited by a moderator:

flat4awd

Owl's Auto JDM
 I think you do a great job, and appreciate that we have such a thing as this. Thanks Carter.

default_wub.png


 
Last edited by a moderator:

Carter

Administrator
The club is operating at a loss.

Here is a little fact, if all active members donated $12/year the total expense would drop by $1000. Who doesn't have $12? That's only a $1/month.

 
Last edited by a moderator:

Matt

Well-known member
So we have a yearly due of 12 bucks and the club gets to stay open!!!

I was on a Toyota offload club for a while and that was 50 bucks.

 

Ray

The Northernah'
I would pay that, This club is such an asset to me and so many other people, whether it be information, advice or buying/selling parts. Nasioc borderline sucks, NES is a dive; what else is there for us in Maine? Dirty visions??

 

skipow

New member
im a little confused as to why the merchandise cost is added to this income statement, you have the merchandise costing a total of $1450 dollars and profiting $450. i feel this is a bit misleading because the merchandise costs are not a sunk cost like the domain and hosting costs. the 1450 is being made back with every sale and 1450 would not be an accurate carrying cost. are you selling the merchandise at a loss?

 

Carter

Administrator
You are correct in a way. I carry a lot of the merchandise. Not all of it sells but I don't take a loss, that figure is incorrect. I will update that.

 

Carter

Administrator
im a little confused as to why the merchandise cost is added to this income statement, you have the merchandise costing a total of $1450 dollars and profiting $450. i feel this is a bit misleading because the merchandise costs are not a sunk cost like the domain and hosting costs. the 1450 is being made back with every sale and 1450 would not be an accurate carrying cost. are you selling the merchandise at a loss?
Tyler, below is an updated chart showing last years merchandise. This is more accurate since I haven't sold the entire lot of this years t shirts and hoodies, therefore I cannot show you what the club would actually take in. I could assume the whole lot will sell but it may not. I still have 6 t shirts left over from last year. Last year we only had t shirts made up no hoodies. We had annual meet t shirts and club t shirts. 

With hoodies this year and more t shirts in more than one color, we may sell the entire lot. I don't know and I don't want to speculate.

ClubCost.png

as you can see the loss is significantly less. If I were to input the current merchandise and assume it would all be sold, then yes there probably would be a profit. 

 

Brian Lowell

Brian-Lowell.com
This write up still doesn't figure in:

  • Time: It takes time to update the forum, organize meetings, keep up with events, contact vendors, keep the forum graphically enhanced, keep it secure from spam and hackers, as well as appealing and informative. The content to this forum comes from our members, and if not our member than our moderators and administrators to be a resource to our community.
  • Updates: The forum doesn't change skins, work, and become error-free automatically. Sometimes we have to pay coders, or graphic designers, or IPB staff to assist in some issues that we come across. The forum needs to stay browser friendly, and accessible on a wide variation of platforms.

A lot of people take advantage of this. So, if you enjoy this forum, this community, and the information it provides; donate a couple dollars a month. I am more than sure if you have the money to modify your car - you have the money to help the forum that helps you.
default_smile.png


Just my $0.02

 

injulen

New member
I'm new here but I can already tell that I'll be active and around for awhile. I've already donated and bought a membership and I plan on doing more in the future. What Brian said is true; if you have money to mod your cars you have a few bucks to spare on this great forum
default_smile.png


I haven't barely had time to get much use out of this forum but already I can say THANK YOU for keeping this place up and running and making sure its incredibly user friendly. If I can appreciate it already, then other long time members surely appreciate it too. Keep up the good work!

 

Latest posts

Back
Top