How much do you spend on your Forum?

[Nudaii]

I run a (ATM) Private forum for a small niche (christian fiction writers), while I will be allowing registration in near future (due to co admin really wanting to invite people), It won't use adsense, subscriptions or donations, as for my personal sites i don't use them.

Between licenses, custom add-ons, premium add-ons and the like, currently the site is coming close to $1200 spent in 6 months (preparing for public launch soon).

How much do you spend on your "Hobby" forums?

Am i as eccentric as i feel?

 

[Carlos]

Imagine spending $1,101 on the domain that you want, alone. I got a package deal for that much, but the domain I wanted was more than worth it to me. After that, I spent around $500 on licenses and skins across all sites.

 

[Sheratan]

My forum has been running for 2 years. (2011-2013) yet my spend is only... below $200

 

[Mike Edge]

Imagine spending $1,101 on the domain that you want, alone. I got a package deal for that much, but the domain I wanted was more than worth it to me. After that, I spent around $500 on licenses and skins across all sites.

I too just spent a big chunk on both .com and .net for domains for my EQ Next project I'll be starting. They are currently on hold in Godaddy as it takes 5 days from auction purchase to process them to your account. Been 4 days now, so I should receive them either on Friday or Monday.

 

[MikeMpls]

Domain $10 (don't rush, think about it long enough and eventually you come up with a suitable available domain name)
XenForo $120
Sometimes a skin: $30 (I don't care if a few other sites out there look like mine, odds that anyone will stumble into both -- other than XF's default theme -- are about zero)
Hosting: $54 monthly for close to 30 sites, lots of excess capacity
Occasional license renewals when I feel that I HAVE to upgrade (e.g. everything will be moved to XF 1.2.x).

I don't use paid add-ons. That said, there are a couple that I would pay for if I had to (XenTag, BB Code manager). I prefer to run my sites with as few add-ons as possible. Having been involved in software development for 40+ years, I've realized there is a lot of long-term value in running minimally modified, off-the-shelf software.

I try to be cheap.

 

[iTuN3r]

Well aside from other hosting /addon related cost i do organize BBQ/fishfry events and other get togethers which sometimes runs good billing.

 

[Stallyon]

Running various hobby forums with different software (some free, some proprietary) over the past 13 years, I have spent literally tens of thousands of dollars on hosting, domains and renewals, SSL certificates, forum software, custom skins, logo design, etc. We are all a little eccentric I think

 

[DRE]

Enough to start finding a new hobby.

 

[TPerry]

How much do you spend on your "Hobby" forums?
Am i as eccentric as i feel?

Enough that I could be making monthly payments on a new Hayabusa and lots of toys for it each month.

 

[Nudaii]

Thanks for the replies all!

Now i dont feel so odd

 

[dutchbb]

Initial domain name and software (vB) a few hundred bucks. The yearly fees, custom add-ons, additional software, another €300/year. Hosting started cheap but obviously increased over the years as traffic went up, now at €4500 / year. A new server probably every 5-6 years that's another €5000 or €6000. Recently bought a better domain for €20000.

But this is an 11 year old big board so...

Personally I would recommend against spending a lot of money at the start since you don't know if it will even succeed. The less money you put at risk the better.

 

[rdn]

Almost $100 USD for my domains:
.net
.me
.info
.org
.biz
.co

$100 USD for my server / every month

 

[0xym0r0n]

I try to set a budget $150 month between my sites Usually my main focus is the one getting 60% or more of my budget

 

[petertdavis]

My forums are literally "hobby forums" and I spend easily $10,000 a year to just keep them up and running. I also spend many times that amount buying forums.

 

[OSS 117]

Not forums per-se, but I spend around $100 a month. After I got set up with BSA, there's still money to be had among other forms of site income. Forums are more costly to run than regular sites.