Abuse of reputation system

[tomvale13]

yeah fuck paypal up its stupid ass,

direct deposit to a toymods account, I dont know how you'd assign ownership, maybe spread across the president and treasurer or all board members.

then direct deposit can be done easily.

[o_man_ra23]

I personally agree that Paypal is crap, and I guess it wouldn't be worth the hassle going down that avenue. But surely there can be a donations in account, which would be assigned to the club (just as the current account is), with all board members being signiatories for and requiring to signatures for withdrawals.

[hamgatan]

yeah paypal does skim. its a problem. like for my memberships for example. $10 a year, paypal will skim nearly $1 off that in fees. i think paypal are also now skimming people who SEND money, not just receiving.. which I think is a double rort. the problem is, you don't really have any alternatives.

also old man riv, paypal you basically input your account details and do an online direct debit or direct deposit authorisation. paypal will then act as a conduit between members bank account / paypal / club bank account. when someone makes a payment via paypal it goes to a paypal holding account. the club must then log into paypal and 'release' those funds back to their own bank account (another clever way for paypal to make money by sitting on peoples money making interest off it until they can be bothered transferring it out). there is also a fee for doing this.. so in essence paypal is triple skimming, but there is no alternative to it.

[o_man_ra23]

Direct Deposit FTMFW!!

[oldcorollas]

there were plenty of alternatives around before Gaypal ever existed.. and they are still around.
gaypal is great for lazy people, and for some transactions (to different country in different currency) can be cheaper... but geez, how hard can an internet bank transfer be?

[river]

Hi,

there were plenty of alternatives around before Gaypal ever existed.. and they are still around.
gaypal is great for lazy people, and for some transactions (to different country in different currency) can be cheaper... but geez, how hard can an internet bank transfer be?

I agree. If you have enough intelligence to log onto Toymods then you can quickly get onto your bank internet site and do an internet bank transfer.

seeyuzz
river

[Mr.Phreak]

If I was local, I'd prefer to do a bank transfer than use Paypal.

And possibly dumb question, why would you donate as opposed to becoming a Member??

[o_man_ra23]

Mr.Phreak, it costs $40 a year to be a member... or you could donate $5 to do your bit... or, paying members my feel financially well, and donate extra on top of their annual membership fee.

[hamgatan]

there were plenty of alternatives around before Gaypal ever existed.. and they are still around.
gaypal is great for lazy people, and for some transactions (to different country in different currency) can be cheaper... but geez, how hard can an internet bank transfer be?

quite so stu.

and yeah there was western union etc... whilst we bitch about Paypal fees, they certainly pale in comparison to WU and all the other clones.

Bank Transfer whilst easier, is also more painful from an administrative perspective. And that said, Gaypal is the only system that fully integrates well with vBulletin. There are others but they don't work that well.

one thing to keep in mind is that Toymods staff are volunteers. Whilst it would be lovely to assume the office is manned all the time by young Kirsty.. such is not the case. thus from the perspective of time constricted volunteers, the administration of the club must be kept to a minimal time outlay. Paypal's reporting functionality is far easier to administer than sifting through bank transactions trying to work out who sent what. So the lazy people you refer to can also = time restricted Toymods staff.

the other thing is Toymods isn't just a club of a few mates/enthusiasts anymore. Its a business. From the point of being an Incorporated Non-Profit, the club assumed Legal responsibilities and liabilities like any business. And with that, it is fully accountable to the ATO for all gifts, deductions etc. The easier the administration of such income.. the better.

As you said theres also the benefit of multiple currency transactions. I'm not sure what %'age of the Toymods userbase is actually international but i would be willing to take a stab at 8-10% roughly. Thats still potential revenue for the club even if it is a small minority. And although I think the RTA Historic registration part is good for the club, It really only affects the NSW members anyway. so you're really limiting your fundraising options there. If you take the other 90% of the members that are in Australia, thats what... 30% NSW? 25% QLD? 20% VIC? 5% WA? 5% ACT 5%? SA?. You're only extending fundraising to 35% of your userbase which is not good marketing sense.

[tomvale13]

there were plenty of alternatives around before Gaypal ever existed.. and they are still around.
gaypal is great for lazy people, and for some transactions (to different country in different currency) can be cheaper... but geez, how hard can an internet bank transfer be?

EXACTLY.

And if you cant, give someone a ten dollar note who can, Jeez.

If I could direct deposit to be a forum member (can I?) I would have done so already.

[o_man_ra23]

To be a club member, you must use an aus post money order.

Surely there is a size of donation under which you don't need to account from whom it was received?? Or all donations could be channelled through a 'collection box' account, which could be set up by one of the more trusted people (River??), thus negating the need to show who each of the small individual donations came from. Surely there is an easy way around the system?? I mean, I have a small hobby based business... don't need an ABN, and annual incomes less than $50k don't need to be declared... but I can claim all my tools and expenses against my employment earnings

[Hiro]

To be a club member, you must use an aus post money order.

Or do it in person at a Toymods event. I always renew my memberships at the January Dyno Day, which is conveniently around renewal time. Obviously helps if you're a local, but it's one day a year and we've had people from all over the country come for a particular event (like Dyno Days, or the Megacruise). Technically I'm not a local either, it's a good 2-3 hour drive minimum to the average Toymods event for me.

[oldcorollas]

I agree with what you guys are saying but....

it is not money that keeps the CLUB going.. it is PEOPLE...

what does ti matter if you have 10,000 paying members, if only 50 ever turn up to dyno days and 10 to meetings?
i don't think revenue is the big issue, apart from paying to keep the forum free and available for non-members....

as for international members... i live in japan and send stuff to other countries... Aus, US, NZ, Europe... it is not hard to organise for someone to send someone else money to tack onto a transfer. it does take a bit of trust tho.
and also takes some organising, and is not foolproof or thiefproof...

another part of the reason for the current system is events in history, where a person responsible for finances "lost" some.....

the system needs to be secure for both the people paying, and for the club itself. it only take a few farkups where someones payment goes "missing" for it to all fall in a heap.


Hiro, even from one side of sydney is a good 1hr drive these days but i know what ya mean...

[Hiro]

Hiro, even from one side of sydney is a good 1hr drive these days but i know what ya mean...

Depending on traffic, that 2-3 hours is just to get TO Sydney, not INTO Sydney

[hamgatan]

I agree with what you guys are saying but....

it is not money that keeps the CLUB going.. it is PEOPLE...

oh absolutely. its why this is such a brilliant community.

but that said.. you could have the best community on the planet, but without the money to financially support the infrastructure that keeps that community together, you're stuffed!

im sure a lot of people have noticed complete connection timeouts with toymods over the past 6 months. is that not an indication that maybe a little fundraising is in order?