One of The Best Sites [closed]

GIN51E · Post by **GIN51E** » 15 July 05 10:43 pm

<pre>I would just like to say that this is one of the best Run sites i have
come accross, and the fact its free without pop up adds everywhere ect
is great,

keep up the good work guys,

I would like to make one suggestion, maybe you guys already have this
and i just haven't found out about it yet but the Toyota Car Club Forum
toymods.org is also a forum very similar to this which is also free but
does have an option of where you can join the club, "get a sticker ect"
under your user name it says your an official member and some shops or
companys run by members of the forum offer small discounts ect to other
fourm official members, run meetings like bbq's one a month ect and
there is one set up for each state.

now what i've said up there probably doesn't make much sense but what
i'm saying is you could start up an official GCA member section where
with a small anual fee you can become an official member of the forum
and get yourself a free sticker ect? just thinking of a way you can make
a little money to help pay for the costs in updating and running the server
ect.

also Toymods had an option where forum user's could even donate
money to the forum to assist in costs for running it, in which under their
user name it said "I Supported Toymods" which i'm sure a lot of people
would have no problem doing seeing as though you do such a great job
with the site.

anyway just a few ideas, as i'm not sure who or what actually picks up
the bill for running this site "club" ect.

once again great site

P.S found 2 more today

thats now 4 in total and few more planed
this weekend, what can i say i'm locked

(onto this)

riblit · Post by **riblit** » 15 July 05 11:18 pm

The financial side is being looked after and offers of assistance in that line have so far been refused. The best support you can give it at the moment is list some caches here. The site is not designed to make money out of the users.<br/>

<p>There were a limited supply of 'Geocaching Australia' stickers available, they look like the logo on the top of this page. I believe some people have put them in caches. You never know what you will find...</p>

(reformatted)

GIN51E · Post by **GIN51E** » 16 July 05 10:28 am

The idea isn't based on making money from the users but just support the costs involved in running the site, as it musn't be cheap to run a site like this and it must take a lot of man hours to operate and keep running,

feels like i'm ripping someone off by using the site

Damo. · Post by **Damo.** » 16 July 05 10:59 am

I suppose the difference between this and the other site you describe is that a car modding hobby is all about buying things and spending money and when you have spent $30k on the sound system in your hotted-up Camry, a membership fee for a website is no big deal. Especially as you get a shiny graphic image under your name to show off. (My apologies if I offended any Ricers.)

Geocaching is essentially free. Sure, the start-up fee might be $200-$300 for a GPSr and there are Internet access and transport costs but it's entirely up to the users how much they want to spend on the Hobby.
One of the gripes about geocaching.com is that is is a self-claimed commercial venture. "Basic" access is free but if you want extra features there is a charge. Some members place "member only" caches which only members can find and log. On one hand it's supporting the website, on the other it's eliteist and devisive.

If there comes a time that the costs of running the servers etc do become too much I am sure we will hear about it and there will be some people like yourself who are prepared to help out. i! have already said the intention is to keep it a free service.

To show your support you can list some caches on GCA, use the forum, attend some event caches. Help keep our little community the friendly, inclusive place it currently is.

ideology · Post by **ideology** » 16 July 05 6:01 pm

thanks for your kind thoughts. yes, this does cost time and money but we are happy to do this to support geocaching in australia. as riblit and damo said, the most statisfying thing is when people list caches on this site. we are developing the beta site and hope that this will make it a little easier to do so.