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Purchasing a Discussion Forum - Worth It?

by lucille123
8 replies
Hi everybody,

I am considering approaching somebody about purchasing their discussion forum. The forum is based on a very specialized topic and used to be very active, but the owner has abandoned the project in the past 2 years. They charge $30/year for "premium" membership and have 10,000 registered members from the past 5 years. There is little activity on the forum now, though I hear lots of talk on other boards from people who still want to join this forum. (They aren't letting any new members in, including those who pay.)

I'm already running a profitable info marketing biz and believe this forum could be a good asset for my portfolio. I believe I could turn it around and make it profitable.

However, before I approach the owner, I'd love to get some feedback on running a discussion forum for profit. I know that discussion forums have their drawbacks - they require lots of resources, possibly a dedicated server, you have to deal with a lot of "drama" on the boards, there's tons of admin headaches dealing with people's passwords, etc. etc. ...

Is it worth the hassle or would I be better off sticking to info products?

Thanks!
#discussion #forum #purchasing #worth
  • Profile picture of the author JamesJ
    Well my question is why would someone pay to use a forum, if they can get the same thing for free?

    I can understand if you have a section that is part of a forum where you need to pay to join. But I don't see how you are going to market a paid only forum.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan J
    If you can make the forum active again over time, then it could become profitable, however I do agree that the charging of memberships is a bit out of the ordinary. If you have information, discussions or any other type of content of which is hardly anywhere on the net then yeah, I suppose memberships fees are plauseable. Nevertheless do not forget about advertisers if your forum becomes active! Overtime they may become a good stream of income.

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    • Profile picture of the author lucille123
      The forum is already based on a basic/premium membership model and it had a lot of paying members. This is very specialized info, so I'm not too concerned about getting people to pay a membership fee to access certain areas of the board.

      My question for people who have run forums is - is it worth the hassle? I know forums require a lot of resources and management, so that's my only hesitation. I know I can make it profitable, but is it worth it?
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  • Profile picture of the author Eddie Titan
    I don't understand why people find a paid forum something out of the ordinary.

    A "forum" is a platform. Just like a "membership website" is a platform.

    A paid forum can be very successful.

    For example, establishing a forum for people who have anxiety attacks. Advertising this forum as a "private support group" where people with anxiety attacks can ask questions, share experiences, and give advice to those that are in the same boat as them.

    OP, if the website is no longer active, you should be extra careful. I have come across a few forums that are not what they appear at first. Have you ever thought that the forum was not a "paid forum" in the past. Maybe after it accumulated its 10,000 members, it become a paid forum, and because of that people stopped using it.

    Maybe, if you turn it into a free forum and get in touch with everyone who used to use it, you may have some success. It will take some time but I'm sure you can find different ways of monetizing the forum if you do not want to charge people for admission to the forum.

    Maybe restrict new users to certain activities until they "upgrade" to paid status.
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    • Profile picture of the author lucille123
      Thanks, Eddie! That's really helpful. The forum had a lot of premium members (including me) in its heyday, but things fell apart after the owner lost interest. I still think it has lots of potential.

      Anybody have any ideas on how I could establish an offer to approach him with? What is the best way to determine a website's value?

      Thanks again


      Originally Posted by Eddie Titan View Post

      I don't understand why people find a paid forum something out of the ordinary.

      A "forum" is a platform. Just like a "membership website" is a platform.

      A paid forum can be very successful.

      For example, establishing a forum for people who have anxiety attacks. Advertising this forum as a "private support group" where people with anxiety attacks can ask questions, share experiences, and give advice to those that are in the same boat as them.

      OP, if the website is no longer active, you should be extra careful. I have come across a few forums that are not what they appear at first. Have you ever thought that the forum was not a "paid forum" in the past. Maybe after it accumulated its 10,000 members, it become a paid forum, and because of that people stopped using it.

      Maybe, if you turn it into a free forum and get in touch with everyone who used to use it, you may have some success. It will take some time but I'm sure you can find different ways of monetizing the forum if you do not want to charge people for admission to the forum.

      Maybe restrict new users to certain activities until they "upgrade" to paid status.
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      • Profile picture of the author WikiWarrior
        Hey Lucille, I am just starting a forum on a niche subject and have also been investigating their pros and cons. If you haven't already, I would recommend checking out theadminzone.com (not my site) which is an established forum for forum admins. It's pretty fascinating and you might get more targeted advice to your questions over there.

        From what I've read over the last few weeks, most of the advice seems to be not to start or try to run a forum unless you have a real passion for the subject. Most of the admins describe starting out as a labor of love that only became profitable (or not) after a considerable investment of time. Having said that, in your case, the forum is already established and apparently proven to be profitable so it may be more a case of just getting concrete figures and stats from the owner/s so you can make an informed decision.

        If the website has plenty of traffic, regardless of the amount it's currently making, it could be a worthwhile investment since you already have the marketing experience and ideas to monetize it. I say go for it and make contact with the owner. You never know, he may be looking for a way out which gives you a bit of bargaining power in getting a good price.

        As far as research goes, you could compile a dossier of stats from sites like Compete, Quantcast, Alexa etc to get an idea of the sites' value to the owner and to you. But what you really want to know is how many premium subs are currently active, to give you more of a complete picture. I would just try and open a dialogue with the owner at this stage.

        I'm really excited to build my first forum. I imagine it will be an interesting and unique project compared to most other "typical" types of sites, with it's own unique monetization opportunites. Especially if you can leverage any of your existing assets and web properties. There's also the possibility of getting bought out years down the line by some network with deep pockets .

        Let us know how you get on!
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        • Profile picture of the author lucille123
          Thanks for your super helpful feedback, WikiWarrior! I really appreciate it.

          The forum dovetails with other sites I already own, so I think I could gain momentum fairly quickly. And yes, I was thinking of the possibility of bringing the site back to life and selling it later.

          Let us know how your own forum project goes. There's not a lot of info on this topic compared to traditional membership sites and info products, so I'm sure people would appreciate hearing about your experience.


          Originally Posted by WikiWarrior View Post

          Hey Lucille, I am just starting a forum on a niche subject and have also been investigating their pros and cons. If you haven't already, I would recommend checking out theadminzone.com (not my site) which is an established forum for forum admins. It's pretty fascinating and you might get more targeted advice to your questions over there.

          From what I've read over the last few weeks, most of the advice seems to be not to start or try to run a forum unless you have a real passion for the subject. Most of the admins describe starting out as a labor of love that only became profitable (or not) after a considerable investment of time. Having said that, in your case, the forum is already established and apparently proven to be profitable so it may be more a case of just getting concrete figures and stats from the owner/s so you can make an informed decision.

          If the website has plenty of traffic, regardless of the amount it's currently making, it could be a worthwhile investment since you already have the marketing experience and ideas to monetize it. I say go for it and make contact with the owner. You never know, he may be looking for a way out which gives you a bit of bargaining power in getting a good price.

          As far as research goes, you could compile a dossier of stats from sites like Compete, Quantcast, Alexa etc to get an idea of the sites' value to the owner and to you. But what you really want to know is how many premium subs are currently active, to give you more of a complete picture. I would just try and open a dialogue with the owner at this stage.

          I'm really excited to build my first forum. I imagine it will be an interesting and unique project compared to most other "typical" types of sites, with it's own unique monetization opportunites. Especially if you can leverage any of your existing assets and web properties. There's also the possibility of getting bought out years down the line by some network with deep pockets .

          Let us know how you get on!
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Shane Roe
    Has nobody thought about the fact that the WARRIOR FORUM IS A PAID MEMBERSHIP FORUM?

    Note: This is directed at the people that find it "weird" for a forum to have a paid membership portion to it..
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