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They want to buy the forum... again. Membership thanks and explanation.

bigwalton

Alaskan Postal nutjob
FORUM MANAGER
SOA Member
City
Dexter
State
MI
I don't always post these inquiries about companies wanting to buy CJ-8.com, but this one hit different because they specifically mention that they've tried before and are trying yet again. I actually got another follow up on this follow up from them this morning and that's what spurred this post.

CJ-8_Forum__from_CJ-8__-_bigwalton_gmail_com_-_Gmail.jpg

This happens a rather shocking (in my opinion) number of times a year.

This forum has always been a labor of love and is not run for profit, we just want to cover the costs of running things, which now includes hosting all of the photos in posts here locally. This is how we escaped the fate of so many forums when Photobucket pulled the plug--immediately removing millions of photos from forums across the internet and basically ruining them.

We have never burdened the forum with ads, don't have those annoying text link ads and we have made our free membership level quite usable by other forums' standards. When we went to the new "professional" hosting platform and did the software upgrade, we took on a new level of cost for hosting and support, so we made the hard decision to revamp the forum membership levels, which hadn't been touched since the forum started all the way back in 2002.

We want people to see the value in the forum, the information we have here and the effort we go through to keep it running well and decide for themselves that it's worth supporting. We don't want to punish people to try to drive them to join as paid members.

Anyway, there's no interest in selling, we're proud of what we have here and we deeply thank all of our great members who have helped with various paid memberships over time. Without y'all, we couldn't still be here together.

Anyone who finds value here as a free member and looking for ways to support the forum, the cost is still WELL less than a tank of gas per year. Please consider upgrading to a paid membership: https://www.cj-8.com/account/upgrades
 

ag4ever

Average Nut
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Silver Member
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Richmond
State
TX
Thank you for all you do!

It also shows how little effort they put into buying the site when they contact you instead of the site owner. Who the site owner is has never been hidden, so if those companies run the forums like they run acquisitions, it is lazy and terrible.

I cannot stomach 99% of the forums out there due to the for profit corporations that ruined them.

Thank you again!
 

bigwalton

Alaskan Postal nutjob
FORUM MANAGER
SOA Member
City
Dexter
State
MI
We both get these emails but I’m the only one that generally checks them.
 

MikeV

Always learning
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Monroe
State
NY
Thanks so much for everything BW! Sorry you have to deal with this.
 

bigwalton

Alaskan Postal nutjob
FORUM MANAGER
SOA Member
City
Dexter
State
MI
It’s nothing to deal with on my end, no worries.
 

DeLuke

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
City
Dallas
State
TX
Thanks for everything that you've done and continue to do for the forum and all the members.
 

John N

Addicted....Ex-SOA VP
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Rockville
State
VA
Thank you to you and Matt. I’ve been around here a long time.
 

Randyzzz

Blown Budget
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Redmond
State
OR
This place is awesome. It’s Family. And I do appreciate all you do, BW. So much. Thank you.

Are we comfortably meeting our expenses currently?
 

rubclt

BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Charlotte
State
NC
Thank you for sharing and the work you and others to keep this site running.
 

certifiablejeep

Definitley Certifiable
Lifetime Member
City
Bedford
State
NH
This place has a special place in my heart... I would be willing to sponsor a couple of members to upgrade them... just need to figure out how best to do this so it isn't intrusive, but we have some fun at the same time... I am open to ideas.

cb
 

don87401

Original Owner
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Farmington
State
NM
I agree with all the above statements!! There are only 2 Jeep Forum that I follow regularly, this one and Early CJ-5. Occasionally I run across other forums searching for something I am glad I don't pay for those forums. You Do a Great Job at keeping this the BEST forum.
 

bigwalton

Alaskan Postal nutjob
FORUM MANAGER
SOA Member
City
Dexter
State
MI
This place is awesome. It’s Family. And I do appreciate all you do, BW. So much. Thank you.

Are we comfortably meeting our expenses currently?
Things are going well now, we obviously had a lot of people sign up quickly after the move and that was very helpful. We’re still in the feeling-out phase of this and hopefully we will stay in good shape long-term.
 

ag4ever

Average Nut
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Silver Member
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Richmond
State
TX
Things are going well now, we obviously had a lot of people sign up quickly after the move and that was very helpful. We’re still in the feeling-out phase of this and hopefully we will stay in good shape long-term.
Don’t hesitate to ask if money IS needed. Those of us that have the ability to help keep this site privately owned and non-commercial will do WHATEVER it takes. No pop up adds, no side bar auto play videos, no banners on 75% of the screen are the reason this place is so successful.
 

bigwalton

Alaskan Postal nutjob
FORUM MANAGER
SOA Member
City
Dexter
State
MI
Don’t hesitate to ask if money IS needed. Those of us that have the ability to help keep this site privately owned and non-commercial will do WHATEVER it takes. No pop up adds, no side bar auto play videos, no banners on 75% of the screen are the reason this place is so successful.
When we have needed it people always step up. Thanks to all those who have made it what it is.
 

HighSierra CJ

Scrambler Enthusiast
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Ducor
State
Ca
Don’t hesitate to ask if money IS needed. Those of us that have the ability to help keep this site privately owned and non-commercial will do WHATEVER it takes. No pop up adds, no side bar auto play videos, no banners on 75% of the screen are the reason this place is so successful.
X2
 

onesourcemike

CJ-8 Member
Gold Member
City
Wilmington
State
NC
Best forum around. I have always tried to remember to pay my yearly membership. I have purposely always done year to year so I can contribute on a yearly basis! I will renew tonight.
 
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