Forum Supporter Membership

[greenpassion]

I haven't been around the board anywhere near as long as a lot of you guys, but I will continue to be a form supporter because this board has been absolutely essential to me. It is my Facebook, it is a link to people that have very much in common with me, and its ability as a learning tool or functionality as a learning tool is very very valuable for me.

[fishmom]

PaphMadMan has a good point, and I certainly don't have anything against running a profitable business. However, when I donate to causes and charities, I usually have the ability to review expenses, how the money is used, etc. It is the opaqueness of the situation that bothers me.

I do realize that there are expenses involved in keeping a forum going, I have contributed in the past, and I will do so again. I still would like to have a better understanding of how the money is used, that's all.

[Laticauda]

Maybe I'd donate if the forum were compatible with mobile browser. It's so difficult to navigate, I kinda feel like you should be paying us to use it.

[Ray]

Let's get real, folks.

Don't get me wrong, this is my favorite forum, but it doesn't cost THAT much to operate.

Vbulletin current comes in two forms; a standalone, with a one-time purchase price of $250, and a cloud version with a $15/month fee (I don't think that's what this is). How the site is hosted is another matter.

The name servers for this domain are NS1-, & NS2-MISTKING.COM, which means that either Marty has his own servers, or he is paying someone for dedicated server administration. The company that hosts firstrays.com charges $150/month for that. Beyond that, there should be no out-of-pocket cost for maintaining the forum.

Then there is the fact that it is a business expense that can be deducted when doing your taxes, meaning that it offsets profits from Mist King, from forum ads, and whatever revenue the support donations here bring in.

All that said, I am grateful to Marty for making this forum available, and I have no hard feelings about him making a little money off the ads, but be aware that the "support fee" likely has nothing to do with support of the forum, but support of Marty, as by paying it, you are shutting off a piece of his ad revenue stream.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[early]

All that said, I am grateful to Marty for making this forum available, and I have no hard feelings about him making a little money off the ads, but be aware that the "support fee" likely has nothing to do with support of the forum, but support of Marty, as by paying it, you are shutting off a piece of his ad revenue stream.
__________________
Ray Barkalow, Orchid Iconoclast

I agree with Ray

I was a part of a group that did not have a theme, for 15 years. It was free, supported by two people who sponcered it. We laughed and gave support to each other, and I found it after my parents died the same week and my younger bro five months earlier. I don't know how I would have made it through the grief without the friends. I was alone on my farm in Mo and only a couple of cousins that I knew face to face;
Then on organizer died. the other tried to keep it going, but the cost of running it after a few years was too much. We tried another company, but that fell flat after a couple of years. Eventually it was closed and we tried to keep our group together on a private FB site but it fell flat.
I pay for Satellite, TV and Internet, have Amazon Prime, Netflix which are$ all just for pleasure. I have thought this month of cancelling Netflix which I don't watch and it cost $9 per month.
I rarely post on FB, never twitter, and since I have found YouTube for Jazz and ORCHID BOARD for people connection and perhaps in time friends, I would hate for all the knowledge of the members here to go belly up.
Goodbye to Netflix Hello to monthly OB. I appreciate all of you so much and I LOVE my orchids and like every obsession in my life, I jump in with both feet.

[early]

I don' like paypal and it will not me subscribe with cc or debit card

[early]

Yah I support my new favorite forum Orchid Board.

I was on PayPal yrs ago and not fond of it. But figured out after 30 mins, how to use my cc. Yah again.


(I am such a digital dunce when it comes to phones, photos and new thing on my computer. but eventually I get it. )

[deerfern]

OK I certainly don't mind supporting this great group. I've been lurking long enough. I will have questions and I hope I learn a lot. Love my orchids and this is my first go to if I have a question, just search for it here first. I'm not sure if I can continue a monthly payment, but I'm willing to give it a go. Thanks for all your hard work here I am sure everyone appreciates it.

[Bodil88]

Originally Posted by Ray

Let's get real, folks.

Don't get me wrong, this is my favorite forum, but it doesn't cost THAT much to operate.

Vbulletin current comes in two forms; a standalone, with a one-time purchase price of $250, and a cloud version with a $15/month fee (I don't think that's what this is). How the site is hosted is another matter.

The name servers for this domain are NS1-, & NS2-MISTKING.COM, which means that either Marty has his own servers, or he is paying someone for dedicated server administration. The company that hosts firstrays.com charges $150/month for that. Beyond that, there should be no out-of-pocket cost for maintaining the forum.

Then there is the fact that it is a business expense that can be deducted when doing your taxes, meaning that it offsets profits from Mist King, from forum ads, and whatever revenue the support donations here bring in.

All that said, I am grateful to Marty for making this forum available, and I have no hard feelings about him making a little money off the ads, but be aware that the "support fee" likely has nothing to do with support of the forum, but support of Marty, as by paying it, you are shutting off a piece of his ad revenue stream.

---------- Post added at 06:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:02 PM ----------

Nothing like straight talk. Thank YOU

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[Dusty Ol' Man]

So now that I have a recurring subscription, how do I cancel it?