What's next for YarisWorld? - Toyota Yaris Forums

*YarisBueller* · 04-22-2014, 11:44 PM

Just a chime into the forum. First and formost, I really appreciate what the moderators have done for this site over the years. But of course, they aren't doing anything for me, they are doing what they do for the Yaris community. I feel I do my part by footing the bills and keeping the site running smoothly.

This is all done for the Yaris enthusiast community. I get nothing out of this. This site makes $0 in profit. It does however of course have potential for profit which is why people are constantly approaching me to buy this site.

While I thought I was doing good, complaints always persist. I have my own ideas why and who is always stirring the pot, but I'm past that. I am starting to see that running a pro-bono site isn't what people may actually want. There will simply always be someone to stir the pot-- now people have it in their minds that this site is going to shutdown tomorrow and we must do something before YW dies.. yea right.

I have so far refused basicly all offers from people that wanted to buy this site for two reasons.

#1) They want to make money from it, ie. they will likely turn this place into an ads fest. The ones who promise not to do that will likely see that they can make much more money if they turn around and sell this site to a large company that pays top $ for a site like this (Autoguide/Internet Brands). Well duh, I could obviously do this, and have done it at any time since I launched this site. Money doesn't motivate me when it comes to hobbies.

#2) Lack of technical expertise to keep a site like this up. Many of you remebered the bad outage we had a while back. I don't want that to ever happen again so I dont want someone running the site who has no real world experience with such things. The spammers and hackers can find a way to overcome a novice really quickly i'm sure. The large car forums have atleast wide ranging technical knowledge and ability to ensure the site never goes down or dissappears from the internet.

BUT, like I said, obviously just leaving a site up to run on its own free of charge and without ads may not be a model that people want. This is not the first time people talk about splitting off into a new forum, and guess what, each time it happens the Yaris community dies a little bit more. Noone wins. The people with $$ in their sights realize they aren't going to get what they want-- by then its too late, damage is done.

With all this said, I have to say reading stuff like this is beyond frustrating so I am considering which way to go. Its a constant struggle. Do I just sell the forum to one of these greedy people? Do I give it to an amateur who may or may not trash the site completly? Do I give it an amateur who will realize he made a mistake and make a tremendous profit off all the time and money I have put into this site over the years? Very difficult decisions, but my way is going noway, so I might have to bite the bullet and let it go.

This is just an update on where I stand. I move slowly on such decisions, but rest assured there will be somekind of change coming in the future, only because the YW community seems to be speaking.

View Poll Results: What do you think? (Votes are anonymous)
I like the idea and would consider paying a small monthly donation if given the chance	9	21.95%
I support the idea, although I would only be able to make a donation every now and then	22	53.66%
I support the idea but would probably never donate (just being honest)	7	17.07%
I think the current site is just fine and I don't really care about what happens to the data	3	7.32%
Voters: 41. You may not vote on this poll

04-22-2014, 11:44 PM	#20
YarisBueller Administrator View User's Garage Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 178	Just a chime into the forum. First and formost, I really appreciate what the moderators have done for this site over the years. But of course, they aren't doing anything for me, they are doing what they do for the Yaris community. I feel I do my part by footing the bills and keeping the site running smoothly. This is all done for the Yaris enthusiast community. I get nothing out of this. This site makes $0 in profit. It does however of course have potential for profit which is why people are constantly approaching me to buy this site. While I thought I was doing good, complaints always persist. I have my own ideas why and who is always stirring the pot, but I'm past that. I am starting to see that running a pro-bono site isn't what people may actually want. There will simply always be someone to stir the pot-- now people have it in their minds that this site is going to shutdown tomorrow and we must do something before YW dies.. yea right. I have so far refused basicly all offers from people that wanted to buy this site for two reasons. #1) They want to make money from it, ie. they will likely turn this place into an ads fest. The ones who promise not to do that will likely see that they can make much more money if they turn around and sell this site to a large company that pays top $ for a site like this (Autoguide/Internet Brands). Well duh, I could obviously do this, and have done it at any time since I launched this site. Money doesn't motivate me when it comes to hobbies. #2) Lack of technical expertise to keep a site like this up. Many of you remebered the bad outage we had a while back. I don't want that to ever happen again so I dont want someone running the site who has no real world experience with such things. The spammers and hackers can find a way to overcome a novice really quickly i'm sure. The large car forums have atleast wide ranging technical knowledge and ability to ensure the site never goes down or dissappears from the internet. BUT, like I said, obviously just leaving a site up to run on its own free of charge and without ads may not be a model that people want. This is not the first time people talk about splitting off into a new forum, and guess what, each time it happens the Yaris community dies a little bit more. Noone wins. The people with $$ in their sights realize they aren't going to get what they want-- by then its too late, damage is done. With all this said, I have to say reading stuff like this is beyond frustrating so I am considering which way to go. Its a constant struggle. Do I just sell the forum to one of these greedy people? Do I give it to an amateur who may or may not trash the site completly? Do I give it an amateur who will realize he made a mistake and make a tremendous profit off all the time and money I have put into this site over the years? Very difficult decisions, but my way is going noway, so I might have to bite the bullet and let it go. This is just an update on where I stand. I move slowly on such decisions, but rest assured there will be somekind of change coming in the future, only because the YW community seems to be speaking.