See ya later, I'm selling BladeForums!

marlinman4570 said:
I really enjoyed reading your response to the 'money people'. I only joined today, and I'm already feeling good about it. A question, though: one response said something about ''the best $25 I spend every year''. Is that an average for donations to be a member? And if so, who and where do i send my $? Will be a few days till I get paid, so immediate response isn't neccessary. Thank you for letting me join, too! I LOVE MY BLADES!!!! M-M 4570
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Hi marlinman. This site is primarily funded by members. For a little while there were ads (much less than are typically found at other forums) but they seem to have disappeared. Don't know about that, I've been gone awhile. The way it works is like this: it's free for anyone 13 years old and up to be a registered user, just a matter of signing up. Then there are different levels of membership, basic, gold, platinum, etc. which give different levels of benefits in addition to helping Spark keep the lights on. I've been meaning to re-up myself.

You can find more info regarding membership benefits and payment options by clicking on the Settings tab at the top right of any page and then going to Paid Subscriptions under My Settings.
 
wobly said:
I think you would find that many (if not most) of the people on here started about your age. I know I did. I could tell a good tool from a cheap one and that skill has saved me quite a few times throughout my career in the military and civilian life.

Read here and learn while you can!
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i learned my lesson when I was about 12 lost money that way so when I turned 14 I tried to learn as much as i could took about 5 month till now but i still have lots to learn
 
To be completely honest, when I fist started collecting I thought I might have a screw loose. I didn't think anyone shared my enthusiasm and interest in knives. I'm really glad I found the forum, especially the members I've had the pleasure of chatting with and even doing some business with. I've really learned a lot. Thank you.
 
Thanks for not selling and keeping an army of decent mods to make sure things stay in line. When I first started visiting this site I hated all the rules and ediquite but in time I realized that this place wouldn't be so great without it. There is a pretty great community of people who share similar interests here that can be trusted and relied upon. That is rare on the internet.
 
Thanks for not selling! Without this forum, I would not have known much about Becker, Busse, Kabar and other knives, ferro rods, custom sheaths and other custom work made throughout the US and Canada. I would probably still be watching Youtube videos and confused as ever! This is more beneficial then some people might think! Thanks Again!
 
I am very new to this and having a time exploring and figuring this all out, but I am allready glad I made this acount. I did not know that it i acually owned by one person, well I have a lot to learn don't I.
 
i havent been a member for that long and i have been to lots of knife forum. But no dought in my mind this is ware i belong the people are grate hear . thank for keeping it real.
 
Thank you for this forum. I have learned and continue to learn about my favorite vice, knives! I admit to spending way too much time and way too much money because of this forum. Best forum to do with knives there is. Thanks again.
 
Sparky, as was said above. Thank you for keeping this great community of people open! You do us all a great service.
 
Spark said:
Every couple weeks or so I get calls or emails from various parties interested in purchasing this site.

Just to clear up any misconceptions, I'm not interested in selling it to anyone. You guys are awesome, this is a great community, so why would I let anyone else come in and take it?

So, when I get calls from "brokers" or whomever who want to make me an offer, I lean back and I smile, because I know what's up. Nobody wants to purchase this site for altruistic reasons. They want to buy it because they know it's under monetized. The lack of banner ads everywhere, skimlinks, text ads, etc make this a gold mine to anyone who can get it for themselves. What they fail to understand is that it's that way for a reason.

"We represent a client who would like to make you an offer for the site, are you interested in selling?" is how the pitch usually goes. Typically I'll respond with "Sure, but it will cost you a ridiculous amount of money." Banter goes back and forth and most often it will end with them saying "We're prepared to offer you... 4 to 5 times your annual earnings!"

:jerkit:

They never expect to hear someone laugh at that line. I'm sure people eagerly hop on that like it's some sort of lifeline. But for me, I think we do a better job than anyone else out there in our niche. You guys largely police yourselves, the community is amazing, there aren't huge problems all the time, and in general things are just fine as they are. We are a resource to the community. We provide information, interaction, and more. Why on earth would I let someone else come in and screw that up? I'm not an idiot; if I wanted to heavily monetize the site, I would do so. That I haven't should say a lot.

Thank you guys for being so great. Thank you for contributing to the group. Thanks for supporting the site.
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I'm new, so apologies for resurrecting...... but nothing trades at 4-5x earnings. I don't think I've seen a niche site go for less than 15x, but the numbers are hard to come by. I am in buy-side trading, but have access to "dark" deals and get color on private placements and angel/vcap stuff from time to time.

So yeah, it should elicit a laugh.
 
Potential buyers don't realize the overhead of maintaining the site: paying the moderators 6 figure salaries

Mods: did I plant the idea subtly enough? :):)
 
Chiming in late on this thread, but just wanted to say "keep up the good work!"

It's rare to find someone who will turn down increased profits for a slightly better customer experience, and I just wanted to let you know how much it's appreciated.

I've seen many great businesses bought out because of "undermonitization" just for them to later realize that it was the "undermonitization" that made it so successful.

I will gladly continue to pay the nominal fee for being a paid member of this site as long as it continues to be run as well as you're running it.

So, keep up the good work and thanks again for keeping it the best knife community on the web!
 
Got my GOLD membership as support for this forum.

Thank you SPARK and all Blade forum family.

God Bless
 
Upgraded to gold a few weeks ago. This place helps me decompress after work, as well as feeding my addition and emptying my wallet in the exchange. Thanks so much for making this place possible!!!!!
 
Keep sticken to your guns ... But if you ever want to sell come see me first.;) Ha, keep up the good work! And thanks for reading.
 
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