Charge for detailing? You MUST pay to post

[big_pete]

exactly, far to many people like that so hence, waste of time advertising.

 

[seamybaby55]

its the rebellion gaz lol an indirect way of voicing your opinion without being deleted tho seamys is outahand

brown noser,kiss a$$ ferrett.........

 

[ferrett]

you lay off the rum seamy

 

[Carson]

I agree with whats being said in some ways but i wouldnt go as far to agree that those who pay to advertise are having business 'stolen' from them. At the end of the day everyone makes there own opinions who they want to detail their car based on mainly word of mouth and seeing examples of work done on other members cars.

I think people should be able to display there detailing in this section and providing they are not blatently stating "PM me for prices..." etc then there shouldnt be an issue. If members choose to PM regarding a possible detail on their own motor then thats between them.

I enjoy reading certain members threads such as Ruth and Ferrett as i find it helpful etc and i like to see the transformation..

 

[Big Pimp]

someone show me seamys quick before its removed lol

i think it'll be left up as an example of his spelling and grammar mistakes

 

[ferrett]

ive no need to get business of the site i have always a que of atleast ten cars i need to do and none of the cars i do are from this site , i have an extremely good customer base from my full time job to do me all year round , i purely post up for interest and educational purposes only , i enjoy doing this as a hobby tho im getting too old to do it full time and choose the easier full time work option ... im however very friendly with ryan and knowing this is his bread and butter i wouldnt want to step on his toes either. i dont do it to advertise the fact that i can clean cars what i drive is usually always spotless thats good enough advertising for me

 

[Cooper]

Some valid points and I am going to tackle as much as I can, however having a go at me won't get anywhere will it?

Here we go...

youre going to drive members away with this cooper.

This only affects a fractional amount of the member base, and plus it is not excluding anyone so that is not valid.

where do you draw the line in people showing their work and those that actually make any money?
if someone does a relatives car for free and posts it, is that a problem? how can you prove otherwise?

We (the mods) take this on a case by case basis. Previous posts and threads will show most of the story, and then I contact a poster via PM and we talk it out. It isn't a gun-to-head system!

I want to actively encourage detailing and the car care section as it has proven very popular. It is a very small percentage - miniscule in the member base at whole of those who are advertising their 9-5 business and not being fair by paying up as trade. This is not a go at the part-timers who are generally very good at being constructive, offering advice and not doing the down your throat advertising.

It really doesn't matter if anyone has a opinion, as it will be removed.....

That should be removed for spamming... but it hasn't. Makes your statement obsolete me thinks!

you must have some ridiculous hosting costs if your charging that much to recoup enough to keep the place running (if its for fun&profit mind do what ya like obsv that's a different story)

I pay around £20 a month for some reseller hosting with 80gb of transfers and 6gb of space

Ant, that statement totally misinforms the members about the site's finances. RMS runs an EU located dedicated server, transfers at least 400GB of data/month and 6GB wouldn't even cover half of the images stored here.

Over the last 8 years RMS has been thrown off countless shared hosting and VPS platforms due to excessive CPU/RAM usage - in laymans terms as RMS kept getting more and more popular and hosting costs skyrocketed.

I'm not going into detail but go price up a dedicated server, with on site DC support, RAID etc etc, and then guestimate how much income there is from sponsors and you'll soon work out that RMS costs a fortune to run in comparison to what you have quoted and is pretty much hand-to-mouth when it comes to sponsors.

I can't afford to run it out of my own pocket - I haven't been in that position for a few years. Advertising revenue is critical to its continued success.

Amos has brought up some fantastic slightly off topic questions:

What about the guys making money from Vinyl work on cars...

They are approached the same way as ordinary traders. However because they are few and far between we sometimes miss their posts. Remember several thousand posts are made here every day!

What about the guys who keep a car for 2 weeks and sell on through RMS....

Hard one to call, but generally those ripping the p are sent a friendly PM to wind it in. There's one member in particular that will be despatched such a PM shortly

What about the dent men, who is making alot of money from RMS days...

Gaz fielded this one - it was a group buy OKd by the admin as it was very cheap and definitely benificial to the membership. Since then I have asked that all group buys and events are OKd by the admin first as these sort of things can get out of hand as well.

What about Steven from Auto Smart car chemicals........

This is one individual case - report his post if you think there is an issue as I haven't even seen it.

What about people who run shows for a profit, EG:- Straightliners this weekend....

Gaz has this in a nutshell but I'll add to it: RMS members generally take part in these events, we get stands and I try my utmost to ensure that showing members get in free, have the best spots at shows etc. RMS is then in turn advertised at the show by our presence and when someone googles the show we get the traffic (and potentially new members) that way.

Paint ball weekends, clay shooting, karting days etc..........!!!!

Organised by members for members to have a bit of craic and something that is to be encouraged FOR FREE!

Make it like 99% of the English Sites, and charge everyone a small fee...

I pay £35 a year for the GT-R Forum, and £10 for Cliosport.....

This is NI and we are far too tight to pay! I wouldn't, and I wouldn't expect any ordinary member to either. RMS is a place for anyone and everyone, post by the rules is the only thing we expect.

There will be the old my car has less swirls than yours Sh!t starting.....

Then that will be hard to deal with, as they are paying customers of RMS......

I will not work with any sponsor who "thinks they own the place". However generally it is some of the unruly members that think they do and can have a pop at anyone for the craic. Stuff like that would be removed.

I know I do not work for free. Why should Cooper?

Oh where RMS is concerned I definitely work for -ve. Coming close to covering costs is party time.

personally i think this whole charge thing is a ploy to get people interested in the car care section

One thing I do get the feeling from this thread is that advertising fees are an unfair charge. Does no-one actually think that it is justified or even a helpful thing to pay something towards the running of the site.

Big thanks to ferret for firing a few quid the site's way; despite if it helps his detailing empire or not at least he knows that he has fired a few quid into somewhere where he spends a lot of time, met a lot of mates through and has a bit of craic. Something to help the place out a bit.

b start charging for pms next ffs.............

ROFL maybe just you Seamy. In all seriousness the support to the PCC shows from here should speak volumes about how RMS is run.

I make RMS very accessible - spend endless hours on improvements and making it one of the best car enthusiasts sites I can. And its free. However when I use someone elses forum it's still a privilege, not a right and treat it as such.

Any directly related questions please drop me a PM.

Andy

 

[ferrett]

to be fair andy i,d spend 20quid a month just to have this site , i,d feel lost without it (not bum licking) but when your married to what i am and cant afford a divorce then its on with the titnernet , compared to a divorce 20 quids nothing . and sure if i dont think its working out we will have a chat in 3 months , but i feel your thread was either to harsh or just put up to scare the private detailers , i dont class myself as a detailer just someone who enjoys a challenge and whos very fussy when it comes to the finish of my car and my own customers

yes charges are critical coops but pleading poverty and having a very exspensive hobby doesnt help peoples views (not mine i couldnt care) ,tho members abusing advertising rules isnt nice either , thread over in my eyes you,s can all go home lol

 

[B A Baracus]

Cooper as I have been organising the meets with Auto Smart ill speak up on that matter. We meet him once a month at a Sprucefield which saves the members travelling further to purchase from him. It is not a group buy as such - everyone is able to contact him anytime they want and will pay the same, but he does throw in some things for free to the members the odd time. As I have said it was myself randomly decided to stick a thread up and was not asked at anytime by the AS rep to do so.

 

[B A Baracus]

On another topic, I think its unfair to drag shows into this that are donating their proceeds to charity.

 

[Amos]

I would also like to say that I only stated the other people who are making money from using RMS ( a selection of them ), just to prove the point that there is others...

NOT to have a jab at them, as I use ALOT of Autosmart Chemicals, and I shoot at the RMS days etc...

I was just making a point at where does the line stop...

Good luck Cooper and the Mods, with this one.....!

 

[pablo]

well seems the wingers have got their way, thanks all

 

[Amos]

well seems the wingers have got their way, thanks all

Explain further.........................?

 

[Ant]

Ant, that statement totally misinforms the members about the site's finances. RMS runs an EU located dedicated server, transfers at least 400GB of data/month and 6GB wouldn't even cover half of the images stored here.

Over the last 8 years RMS has been thrown off countless shared hosting and VPS platforms due to excessive CPU/RAM usage - in laymans terms as RMS kept getting more and more popular and hosting costs skyrocketed.

I'm not going into detail but go price up a dedicated server, with on site DC support, RAID etc etc, and then guestimate how much income there is from sponsors and you'll soon work out that RMS costs a fortune to run in comparison to what you have quoted and is pretty much hand-to-mouth when it comes to sponsors.

Like i had posted it was a rough guess on your usage against what i use myself (being the average user), didn't see the media section mind so get your need for higher storage and such but i can't see it being too demanding to run overall, but still since you brought up the dedicated server bit, I don't need to price it up (i have one), and like i said work in i.t with access to many a secure server room, halon gas and all.
didn't realise you ran so many videos and such tbh hence the higher bandwidth.
But my own dedicated server runs me <£70 a month for a 64bit xenon setup with 2000gbs of transfer, raid1, 24/7 support, network sla and repairs if it fails etcetc

which I'd have thought your sponsors would cover no problem, like i said couldn't care less if you make money from the running of the place, just sounded like you were getting a bad deal somewhere along the line the way it was phrased.

 

[Rocko]

well seems the wingers have got their way, thanks all

WTF did wingnut do now?

 

[106lad]

WTF did wingnut do now?

Hes had his way with Cooper

 

[Coog]

What's happening???

Get a link up to where we could throw a few quid into the RMS kitty. I'd happily fire a few noops in when I'm feeling flush. Make it our own choice as to whether we pay or not. This site has saved me eBay fees on a few occasions

Doesn't address the advertising issue but if you's are forking out a fortune and knocking your bag in to keep the site going then it's only right some of us post whores stuck a pound or two into the meter.

If it works out then you could drop advertising all together and maybe we could get a few quid off a quick polish

 

[Ema]

Get a link up to where we could throw a few quid into the RMS kitty. I'd happily fire a few noops in when I'm feeling flush. Make it our own choice as to whether we pay or not. This site has saved me eBay fees on a few occasions

i agree with this, seen it on a few other forums aswell! a few pound from a few members would help things and would maybe cut some of the whinging from a few members (no offence anyone....love you hehe)

 

[Graham2]

I'd be happy to fire a few £ in too as a regular user but its been suggested before and dismissed straight away.

 

[Rocko]

Im in agreement with that, few squid if you have it, if not, dont give anything. Paypal would be fine.

Ive bought and sold on here for years and used it to diagnose problems and get help on all sorts of stuff.

 

[Nazor]

I think anyone in the RMS Elite should pay!

 

[Rocko]

I wholeheartedly agree.

Just fire it up, if people pay, then they pay, if they dont, well no big deal.

 

[düb]

few of the gti websites i frequent have a donation facility, dont know why it never appeared here tbh.

 

[106lad]

306 gti6 forum has a donation facility too which

Has certainly helped keep it online

Ive donated to it, would do so for here too

 

[fiestasi]

A while back was there not a donation facility available on rms? correct me if im wrong but something reminds me that there was, maybe in the user cp?!