1FF up for sale? [Latest Developments]

[Cheese & Biscuits]

I'm not sure many people are arguing against making money out of this, fair play to them for it, they've put the hours in and made something of it. I have an issue with the devious way of getting people to donate money to "help with the upkeep of the site" when it's making more than enough to keep this place running for years through advertising. They don't need those £5s but they've made it sound like they do.

If they had been up front and people still paid, that's fair enough. Doing it as they have, I don't like.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

I'm not sure many people are arguing against making money out of this, fair play to them for it, they've put the hours in and made something of it. I have an issue with the devious way of getting people to donate money to "help with the upkeep of the site" when it's making more than enough to keep this place running for years through advertising. They don't need those £5s but they've made it sound like they do.

If they had been up front and people still paid, that's fair enough. Doing it as they have, I don't like.

Yup. That, and lack of transparency. That's about it.

 

[Madejski]

I'm sure there are members on the forum with the time and knowledge who could help out? The burden does not need to be on one person, if that is TB's main reason for wanting 'out'.

 

[Abertawe]

Give it Pagnell till the end of the season

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

I also wonder if those who donated in the early days deserve a cut as well? Without them, presumably, the site wouldn't be worth anywhere near as much as it is now.

 

[hodge]

I'm not sure many people are arguing against making money out of this, fair play to them for it, they've put the hours in and made something of it. I have an issue with the devious way of getting people to donate money to "help with the upkeep of the site" when it's making more than enough to keep this place running for years through advertising. They don't need those £5s but they've made it sound like they do.

If they had been up front and people still paid, that's fair enough. Doing it as they have, I don't like.

This for me, I paid at the very start because I understood being a new site some money was required, but after a year when it ran out there had been nothing said to indicate that the situation had changed so personally was still under the impression that people's site supporter contributions still helped in a big way which doesn't appear to be the case. Quite possibly would still have paid the £5 for no ads etc but would have been down to a choice for that rather than feeling a helping contribution was being made.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

I also wonder if those who donated in the early days deserve a cut as well? Without them, presumably, the site wouldn't be worth anywhere near as much as it is now.

I'll take £15 worth of shares in the site...

 

[Saddlerrad]

I'm at work so don't have time to reply currently, TB will answer some of the questions and issues people have mentioned when he gets chance to do so.

I will give my proper response/perspective later when I get chance.

 

[Spirederman]

So what if the site makes a small profit? Ya'll wouldn't have a place to chat bollox if it wasn't for TB, Saddler & mark. Contributions are just that. Let's not get it twisted either, the only reason most people contributed was so they could chat shit about non blue members. If the site didn't run ads then the contributions wouldn't come close to meeting the running costs. If TB wants to relinquish his share of the site then he's fully entitled to and is under no obligation to run it past anyone (which he isn't doing anyway).

I totally get why this has angered members, but in total agreement with you Aber.

Just to add, I know the amount of time and effort that goes into running the back end of a site of this size, along with all the other Tech stuff that TB has done. Believe me whatever (if it happens) amount of profit he makes from the sale will have been well earned and deserved. He's been going through personal hell whilst keeping this place ticking over and he needs commending not lynching.

IF...... he'd put the time, effort etc into doing the work he has on here for a company, he'd be lining his pockets with $30k x 10 and then some, and that's a fact.

Also let's not forget who pumped the initial money in to get this place up and running before donations were made.

Yeah it's not been as transparent as it could have been, but yannow.

 

[TractorBoys]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

RE: the wording on the site supporter upgrade- perhaps the wording could be better? But on the other hand, it's always been an upgrade to give you an ad-free user experience & a few little extra perks. Those who don't take advantage of this, and don't an adblocker, pay towards the site via page views on advertising's. I'd also state that, I fit the work technical work I do on 1FF into working my day (I'm a sole trader and I I'm also a director of a ltd company) - 'costs' don't always have to be in the form of actual money, but time, too.

Moving forward, if the wording is offensive (and it seems to some it has been) that's easily solved. Ultimately, 1FF is still going to be here and the site supporter option has always been optional, and will never he shoved down anybody's throat.

I also wonder if those who donated in the early days deserve a cut as well? Without them, presumably, the site wouldn't be worth anywhere near as much as it is now.

It's a nice idea, but no. All supporters are massively appreciated, but there is a heck of difference between that, and the setup, running, and maintenance of the site. That said, and as I keep saying, nothing will be decided on without the core userbase being consulted with first, and, right now, nothing at all is happening.

Your view that the site would not be worth as much now without it's members is absolutely right - but that's the same for pretty much any other website you can thing of, and all community based ones.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

Your view that the site would not be worth as much now without it's members is absolutely right - but that's the same for pretty much any other website you can thing of, and all community based ones.

I'm not saying all site supporters, but the ones that got it off the ground. I assume those donations meant something before you started creaming off the top?

I think you've been very dishonest here. I appreciate the time and effort needed to get a site like this to the position it is in but selling memberships on the basis the site needs the money whilst you're raking it in isn't on.

Also, please can you answer my question about account deactivation?

 

[Abertawe]

Don't bite TB

 

[Stevencc]

Who'd have thought Abertawe would be the scab?

 

[TractorBoys]

I'm not saying all site supporters, but the ones that got it off the ground. I assume those donations meant something before you started creaming off the top?

I think you've been very dishonest here. I appreciate the time and effort needed to get a site like this to the position it is in but selling memberships on the basis the site needs the money whilst you're raking it in isn't on.

Also, please can you answer my question about account deactivation?

We appreciate all the support we have received but at no point were those subscriptions provided under any assumption that they were being given in return for a future stake in the site. It's not workable and not something we would be looking to do.

RE: account deactivation, we can close/ban the account at your requests- but legally all your posts etc are property of the site and as such we don't accept requests to delete members content (for a number of reasons relating to ensuring threads reading sensibly, & search engine indexing). The account will just appear banned/closed.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

Speaking of legality, is it actually legal to sell your stake considering data protection laws? Genuinely curious on this one, as that was TomF's long running excuse, or was that bollocks?

 

[TractorBoys]

Speaking of legality, is it actually legal to sell your stake considering data protection laws? Genuinely curious on this one, as that was TomF's long running excuse, or was that bollocks?

Yeah, perfectly legal. It's been my job for the last decade (buying/selling online businesses - all of which have customer/userbases). I also tried telling Tom this back in late '14.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

Fair enough.

 

[TractorBoys]

In fact, just before creating the thread of TFF in general chat offering to build a second home, I tried to buy the place. A few years before that too, they turned down an offer from me, citing not wanting to sell and concerns over data protection etc. I even offered to put them in touch with somebody who knew a little about privacy law.

Unrelated, I've updated the Site Supporter upgrade wording too;

Browse 1FF completely advert free resulting in faster page loads and no annoying advertisements. Also have your username appear blue, be shown publicly as a site supporter and get granted access to the 'Supporters End' which is a private section for premium members only.

 

[Magic]

As an aside, hasn't saddlerrad got a tremendous deal out of this? Not saying he's selling or whatever, but if you're 50/50 with you doing the vast majority of technical work, saddler's pulled off a right coup.

Tbh I've never really thought about the financial side of forums - I've never been on one that's been sold so it's never come up. Appreciate the hard work it takes to run, mind, so not sure how to feel really.

 

[Stevencc]

What does Mark get?

Hopefully nothing after his side's shamefully cynical display today.

I'm ill.

 

[Saddlerrad]

As an aside, hasn't saddlerrad got a tremendous deal out of this? Not saying he's selling or whatever, but if you're 50/50 with you doing the vast majority of technical work, saddler's pulled off a right coup.

Tbh I've never really thought about the financial side of forums - I've never been on one that's been sold so it's never come up. Appreciate the hard work it takes to run, mind, so not sure how to feel really.

I know you didn't mean that in a dickish way mate, but I do think that's a bit unfair. For sure, TB does the technical work of the forum and I/we need him a lot more than he needs us.

But I had the website that eventually turned into 1FF at the perfect time TB was willing to help keep the community together, at that point we signed a legally binding 50-50 contract basically outlining that the site and anything to do with the site would be split as a 50-50, regardless. Whilst TB has ensured a tick over of the site in terms of performance and has on the whole, been superb.

I've put as many hours into the day to day running of the actual forum - not its performance, but all around the forum. Deleting posts, sorting issues out, dealing with requests, deleting spam, sorting website issues, responding to PM's or emails, social media. For sure, TB's work is more important, but the hours are just the same.

When TB struggled with personal issues last year, 1FF as it would in the case of everyone became a small priority in his life. The site was kept relatively well by myself and Mark.

The hours that have gone in by both of us, including Mark have been more than worthwhile to call it a 'partnership'.

Just wanted to clarify my stance on that as SOME of the work I've done in the 2+ years we have been online does go unseen too.

 

[Abertawe]

Doesn't go unseen by me because I have an all seeing 3rd eye which is why I 100% back the admin. Forza admin.

 

[Leo]

Doesn't go unseen by me because I have an all seeing 3rd eye which is why I 100% back the admin. Forza admin.

aye, dem third eyes are the dog's bollocks.....

 

[Oaf]

I'm going to back the admins while they're still here and then slag them off when they leave.

Great stuff and well deserved if you can make the sale, Admin team

 

[Magic]

I know you didn't mean that in a dickish way mate, but I do think that's a bit unfair. For sure, TB does the technical work of the forum and I/we need him a lot more than he needs us.

But I had the website that eventually turned into 1FF at the perfect time TB was willing to help keep the community together, at that point we signed a legally binding 50-50 contract basically outlining that the site and anything to do with the site would be split as a 50-50, regardless. Whilst TB has ensured a tick over of the site in terms of performance and has on the whole, been superb.

I've put as many hours into the day to day running of the actual forum - not its performance, but all around the forum. Deleting posts, sorting issues out, dealing with requests, deleting spam, sorting website issues, responding to PM's or emails, social media. For sure, TB's work is more important, but the hours are just the same.

When TB struggled with personal issues last year, 1FF as it would in the case of everyone became a small priority in his life. The site was kept relatively well by myself and Mark.

The hours that have gone in by both of us, including Mark have been more than worthwhile to call it a 'partnership'.

Just wanted to clarify my stance on that as SOME of the work I've done in the 2+ years we have been online does go unseen too.

I know that mate...I just mean that time on the forum as Admin is done by all sorts of people all over the internet and on the whole (as far as I'm aware) without financial recompense (could be wrong in that tbf). Maybe all the mods on TFF got paid whilst I'd get the occasional condescending bollocks from Lord Football or whoever. All I mean is, and I'm not saying you were in it for financial reasons at all, it was basically a guaranteed win for you taking on the new forum with the almost certain migration of a huge amount of people - and clearly the members/visitors are the moneymakers in the business.

Don't take it the wrong way at all, you guys deserve some credit and reward for the move etc. was just an observation...a lot of people could probably invest time into the forum on the membership/posting side whereas technological folk are harder to come by, so you've done well out of a 50/50 split. Even if you had financial motivations (which I doubt you did), it was a shrewd move! Like I say, I've never really considered the value/finances of forums but yeah, I guess any website with such traffic is going to be of interest to people.

My main concern is that if someone wants to invest thousands of pounds into this site, that's probably not going to be for their love of football, it'll be to try make money on it, and when you consider all we want to do is talk about football in a non-flashy, fancy, ad-ridden environment, it's a concern as to what the site may look like and what direction it'll go in on a commercial level post-sale. And I know you say it won't go to the wrong people but if it's a Venky-esque situation, we don't even have a tangible football pitch to put a live chicken on.

 

[Destruction]

I didn't know this forum was still going.

 

[NorfolkWomble]

Credit to the admins for how they have responded to this but I'm not fully sure they get that people are worried about the future of this place, and selling to someone who has no interest in either football or the community around this forum is potentially risky for the forum and its users as a whole.

 

[Bilo]

I didn't know this forum was still going.

Yeah you go off for a month and the forum closes down that was always going to happen

This too shall pass guys

 

[Abertawe]

Credit to the admins for how they have responded to this but I'm not fully sure they get that people are worried about the future of this place, and selling to someone who has no interest in either football or the community around this forum is potentially risky for the forum and its users as a whole.

Why don't you ask your momma & Papa if you can buy TB's share?

 

[Martino Quackavelli]

I'd rather the site is burnt to the ground than Mordon own it.