The shed is up for sale again…!

[EdibleDormouse]

Right, from what I can make out, there is NO reason we couldn't crowdfund the purchase - is it worth starting a separate thread on this and seeing if there's interest/enough capital?

I can't help but think that running TMS from within as a going concern might be the best thing for it. God alone knows we've all got the skills to bring to the table.

Who's in?

 

[Sherliarty]

I would be interested! Anybody else?

 

[rninja]

I'd be interested, full details needed on the proposals before a firm commitment.

 

[EdibleDormouse]

I'd be interested, full details needed on the proposals before a firm commitment.

To be honest, I'm still waiting for a Crowdfunding expert to appear. I wouldn't feel comfortable just setting this up myself without guidance for all kinds of reasons.

 

[jungkook]

I am not a crowdfunding expert but would be interested in your idea. The amount of support I have had from this forum has been brilliant so would be willing to support!

 

[Karonher]

I hardly ever come on now- partly its time, but when I do the list of new posts seem to be all people posting about changing bank accounts. I know I couldn't commit to regular posting or link clicking at the moment.

 

[homie]

Right, from what I can make out, there is NO reason we couldn't crowdfund the purchase - is it worth starting a separate thread on this and seeing if there's interest/enough capital?

I can't help but think that running TMS from within as a going concern might be the best thing for it. God alone knows we've all got the skills to bring to the table.

Who's in?

Who would actually run it though?
Who would be accountable for maintaining it, writing the blog, marketing it and driving new business, do all the SEO stuff?

I'd buy it myself if I thought I was any good at running a website, but its not my area.

The only way I think it would work is if one person or business were to crowdfund the purchase of it - to take it on as the new owner - then the people who crowdfunded would essentially be investors in that person or business and be paid a dividend of the profits each year. If there are any profits.

 

[Sherliarty]

Who would actually run it though?
Who would be accountable for maintaining it, writing the blog, marketing it and driving new business, do all the SEO stuff?

I'd buy it myself if I thought I was any good at running a website, but its not my area.

The only way I think it would work is if someone were to crowdfund the purchase of it - to take it on as the new owner - then the people who crowdfunded would essentially be investors in that person or business and be paid a dividend of the profits each year. If there are any profits.

Yes I think that would be the case. As some of us have some capital but no time or necessary skills whilst others may have time and skills but no capital.

 

[Arika]

I've been part of the forum for a long time. I remember when Jon first started advertising it on the other big forum. It's something I'd be interested in investing in and would be happy to invest in (money-wise, not time or skills-wise), not that I have much to invest, but it would be worth it for me.

 

[seriouslysceptical]

I have serious reservations about the purchase of this being crowdfunded - for two main reasons:

1. If/when someone buys this, they will want to commercialise it - ie make more money than it does now. That means a lot will change - and the existing users - and maybe the crowd funders - probably won't like a lot of the changes. Look at what happened to UKBF. I used to be a very regular contributor on there up until about 2 years ago. I was on it every day. I don't even know if it still exists!

2. I've sold a few websites for £60k to £150k - which I built from scratch with a lot of blood, sweat and tears - and in most of these cases, the 'new owners' have driven the business into the ground within a couple of years, and lost everything. So, in my experience - there's a big difference between someone building a successful website and someone taking one over, thinking they can sit back and watch the money rolling in. I fear that with crowdfunding, this is even more likely to be the case.

Finally, I've 'invested' (only small amounts) in a couple of other online businesses - Moneydashboard being one. Then, before long, a deal [which you knew nothing about] is done to sell the business to someone else, and somehow the 'investors' get back pennies in the pound.

So, I really think that someone should buy this with their own money. At least that way they get to reap the rewards of their own efforts.

If someone has the time and the money - but not the knowledge, they can always buy in some expertise on a consultancy basis. I do this at £75 per hour - and a few hours can make a big difference. Some of my clients have a few hours and then nothing for a year or more!

 

[homie]

Hmmmm. The shed seems to have completely fallen off the top results for google. Don't know how it fares on other search engines but I've just tried "make money online" , "earn money from home" , "make money matched betting" and "prolific surveys". Money shed wasn't in the first couple of pages for any of them. I sure it used to rank quite highly. So that's not great.

 

[EdibleDormouse]

I have serious reservations about the purchase of this being crowdfunded - for two main reasons:

1. If/when someone buys this, they will want to commercialise it - ie make more money than it does now. That means a lot will change - and the existing users - and maybe the crowd funders - probably won't like a lot of the changes. Look at what happened to UKBF. I used to be a very regular contributor on there up until about 2 years ago. I was on it every day. I don't even know if it still exists!

2. I've sold a few websites for £60k to £150k - which I built from scratch with a lot of blood, sweat and tears - and in most of these cases, the 'new owners' have driven the business into the ground within a couple of years, and lost everything. So, in my experience - there's a big difference between someone building a successful website and someone taking one over, thinking they can sit back and watch the money rolling in. I fear that with crowdfunding, this is even more likely to be the case.

Finally, I've 'invested' (only small amounts) in a couple of other online businesses - Moneydashboard being one. Then, before long, a deal [which you knew nothing about] is done to sell the business to someone else, and somehow the 'investors' get back pennies in the pound.

So, I really think that someone should buy this with their own money. At least that way they get to reap the rewards of their own efforts.

If someone has the time and the money - but not the knowledge, they can always buy in some expertise on a consultancy basis. I do this at £75 per hour - and a few hours can make a big difference. Some of my clients have a few hours and then nothing for a year or more!

Thank you. That's massively useful advice from someone with first-hand experience. Crowdfunding off the table. Anyone got £20k...?

I do have concerns about what might happen to the forums here. I can think of one or two other spaces where, like you, I was a daily visitor, contributor and even mod, and watched them sink into the ground after a change in ownership. They are a MASSIVE source of reliable information (you only have to look at the quantity of lurkers as well as members online - 25 at the time of writing, at 11.45am on a Sunday morning) and were a lifeline for many over the pandemic. You only have to look at the absolute mess the /workonline and /beermoney Reddits have turned into to see how valuable this particular resource is.

I think you're right, and I think a lot WILL change - let's just hope they're positive changes.

 

[homie]

I do have concerns about what might happen to the forums here. I can think of one or two other spaces where, like you, I was a daily visitor, contributor and even mod, and watched them sink into the ground after a change in ownership.

Well, if the worst case scenario happens, we can always start a new forum and bring over as many people as we can. Nothing bad has happened yet, nor has is there any indication it will at the moment. I guess just wait and see how it plays out.

 

[seriouslysceptical]

That's massively useful advice from someone with first-hand experience. Crowdfunding off the table.

I could, of course be wrong, but those examples I gave were where the people invested their own money. When it's OPM (Other People's Money), it's even worse in my experience...

 

[katykicker]

One of the issues is where you have multiple owners how are you going to agree on the content that is posted on the site... I've not looked at the blog content for a long time but I'm sure there is some that is not disclosed correctly, or even links to content that is against ASA guidelines or even worse (linking to essay writing companies for example - which are now illegal).

 

[EdibleDormouse]

One of the issues is where you have multiple owners how are you going to agree on the content that is posted on the site... I've not looked at the blog content for a long time but I'm sure there is some that is not disclosed correctly, or even links to content that is against ASA guidelines or even worse (linking to essay writing companies for example - which are now illegal).

I've already decided that as and when there's a new owner, I'm going to approach them to ask if they would like me to go through the blogs with a fine-toothed comb, check the links, check the facts, and check the legality.

It's not the same at all, I know, but with the music venue I mentioned, a few people are assigned specific areas and the rest are simply silent investors (but can express disagreement). Even with my paltry £25 stake, I have oversight of classical/poetry content, for example (simply because no one else has either contacts or knowledge in those areas).

 

[sianib]

Right, from what I can make out, there is NO reason we couldn't crowdfund the purchase - is it worth starting a separate thread on this and seeing if there's interest/enough capital?

I can't help but think that running TMS from within as a going concern might be the best thing for it. God alone knows we've all got the skills to bring to the table.

Who's in?

I think this is an excellent idea in principle but do agree with the points arguing against it. I must admit the blogs don't really get my attention but the forum is great and non-judgemental, although I only really post in the Money Challenge at the moment. I will definitely stay unless the other users really change.

 

[seriouslysceptical]

I just looked on Flippa and it said the sale expired 28 days ago, so I wonder what the plan is going to be!

This reminds me of an ecommerce business that I nearly bought a few years ago. The turnover was reducing each month, so I offered £18k to buy it. The seller said they had another higher offer from someone else, but two years later they didn't even renew the domain name and it closed down altogether without having changed hands.

Sometimes sellers just want too high a price, and say about the potential that the site has got - forgetting that someone has to actually do the work to realise that potential. That might be what's going on here.

I'd buy any website like this, if the price were right...

 

[EdibleDormouse]

I just looked on Flippa and it said the sale expired 28 days ago, so I wonder what the plan is going to be!

I think it extremely likely we'll all try to log in one day and find no website or forum.

 

[EdibleDormouse]

This reminds me of an ecommerce business that I nearly bought a few years ago. The turnover was reducing each month, so I offered £18k to buy it. The seller said they had another higher offer from someone else, but two years later they didn't even renew the domain name and it closed down altogether without having changed hands.

Sometimes sellers just want too high a price, and say about the potential that the site has got - forgetting that someone has to actually do the work to realise that potential. That might be what's going on here.

I'd buy any website like this, if the price were right...

Agreed. If this were early next year and I was in a position to cash in a pension early, I'd be buying the site.