ThunderCatsLair.org Finances Thread 2011

"MannysCollectibles, post: 53551" said:

Looks like they only send payments at the end of each quarter so the next payment should be at the end of September

In any case not bad for referrals. Also would it be a bad idea to post on the forums a Thank You to the forums members who have been supporting the site by buying through the link on the forums. We dont have to post totals if you guys dont want but at least posting a thank you would encoruage more folks by ordering through that link.

Yeah Amazon UK are the same. I think you'll get payment near the end of October, as our Amazon UK revenue will pay out then (and sales picked up around the same time roughly on both sites)

Yep I'd thought about that. I'd like to state that thanks to ALL our members, through our various affiliates our member have guaranteed us another 2 years online. I'd also love to have a giveaway too (even if just a few Bandai toys or something...)

The revenue through Google Ads, UK/USA Amazon and BBTS/HH have been brilliant! Amazing stuff! ;)

Chris here...

"blackiecats, post: 53659" said:

Yep I'd thought about that. I'd like to state that thanks to ALL our members, through our various affiliates our member have guaranteed us another 2 years online. I'd also love to have a giveaway too (even if just a few Bandai toys or something...)

I like the idea of tying the two things together - maybe mix in with the "Thank You" message that we'll be having a giveaway soon, and use some of the next lot of BBTS store credit to buy a few figures? :)

Take care... :)

Updated with payment from Hollywood Heroes for September/October. Will update again in a couple of days with Adsense earnings once Google have finalised our August earnings.

All totals are now up to date :) Also I've withdrawn what was in my Paypal account to my bank account (£73.21) After seeing Adam's thread in the Marketplace Feedback forum it reminded me how much I trust Paypal ;) So that cash will be 100% safe now :thumbsup:

To be honest apart from sending Jason the shipping costs, I won't use Paypal for anything else so I'm not sure why I didn't send the money over to my bank before now? :confused:

So here are the latest totals up until August 31st: $79.56

From Sept 1st until now the totals are $10.57

Not sure if we will get paid everything that we have accumulated so far in the next pay period but my guess is that we will only see the $79.56. Either way we're doing really good with the referrals. Ive been doing some shopping at Amazon using my wife's account so that counts towards our referrals because her account is separate from mine. Basically anytime i do shopping through Amazon using her account we will get revenue.

Amazon UK pay out each month, however it's around 2 months behind... so basically what you earn in August will get paid to you in October (payment usually arrives around the 28th of the month from previous experience)

However if you don't reach the payment threshold, what you earn rolls over to the next month. Basically on Amazon UK, we will meet the £25 threshold when August's revenue is added to the account (around the 5th October) and then payment is issued around the 28th.

I think Adsense pays out around the 21st of each month, so again we will receive the revenue from both of those around the same time. So the hosting will be renewed around the end of October if all goes to plan :)
Amazon sales you paid for Manny, I'd keep that for yourself, or maybe buy some ThunderCats toys for your daughter :) I do believe that is revenue you are entitled to. I'm doing the same for sales that WERE NOT made through links on this site. My account has ads on my other personal sites (which helps us to reach the £25 threshold much faster)

"blackiecats, post: 55094" said:

Amazon UK pay out each month, however it's around 2 months behind... so basically what you earn in August will get paid to you in October (payment usually arrives around the 28th of the month from previous experience)

However if you don't reach the payment threshold, what you earn rolls over to the next month. Basically on Amazon UK, we will meet the £25 threshold when August's revenue is added to the account (around the 5th October) and then payment is issued around the 28th.

I think Adsense pays out around the 21st of each month, so again we will receive the revenue from both of those around the same time. So the hosting will be renewed around the end of October if all goes to plan :)
Amazon sales you paid for Manny, I'd keep that for yourself, or maybe buy some ThunderCats toys for your daughter :) I do believe that is revenue you are entitled to. I'm doing the same for sales that WERE NOT made through links on this site. My account has ads on my other personal sites (which helps us to reach the £25 threshold much faster)

Truthfully Neil the Amazon Associates account was set up for the website and not for my personal gain regardless if i make the purchases or not. The link is placed on the site so me taking that revenue is not an option for me. Im doing purchases at Amazon anyways so wether i use the link or not I'll still make them so why not let those revenues go to the site. Its only a few bucks anyways from the purchases I make so its really no big deal.

If i had that account linked somewhere else and it was a previously established account then I could understand but the revenues are from the link thats on the forums.

Not a big deal at all, Im just happy that we are getting funds to host the site and give back to the fans

Fair enough Manny :) If your happy doing that, then that's cool and very generous of you.

Anyway thread has been updated with the current income (BBTS) as well as updates to Adsense and Amazon UK (someone just bought some Star Wars toys, so maybe Chris' Star Wars thread helped them make that decision! :D )

It seems at the current NET total I have enough for 3 years of hosting at Hostmonster ($300.24) leaving just over $140 of cash left!

From BBTS, I ordered:

-4" Deluxe figures (set of all 4) $54.99
-6" Collector figures (set of all 3) $47.99
-Deluxe Sword of Omens $21.99

So it only leaves the Tower of Omens playset and the 3 vehicles (Lion-O/Tygra Thunder-Racers and Lizard Cannon) left to get!

Is it worth getting perhaps the playset and then spending the $100 on a giveaway? or maybe $50 on the giveaway and then banking the other $50?

I'd say $50 on the giveaway and bank the other $50 to keep in the reserves. Perhaps we could buy a Tower of Omens or something to that extent and ship it directly to the winner of the giveaway. If that works then you could send the fund to my paypal to cover for ti and i can make the purchase through Amazon using my wife's account that way we would get a percent back on the purchase ;) and get the item shipped directly to the winner

"MannysCollectibles, post: 56148" said:

I'd say $50 on the giveaway and bank the other $50 to keep in the reserves.

I was thinking that too... I would like us to save some revenue for a rainy day as BBTS and HH revenue may stop at any time. So having some back up cash would be good. Truth be told I think BBTS will take a break after December, up until wave 2 hits the USA...

"MannysCollectibles, post: 56148" said:

Perhaps we could buy a Tower of Omens or something to that extent and ship it directly to the winner of the giveaway. If that works then you could send the fund to my paypal to cover for ti and i can make the purchase through Amazon using my wife's account that way we would get a percent back on the purchase ;) and get the item shipped directly to the winner

Again I think this is an excellent idea as it saves us on shipping the prize ourselves AND I think having the Tower of Omens as a prize 1/Helps sell another playset, which will hopefully lead to Bandai releasing more! 2/Most of our members have the figures now already, but not the playset! To make the prize up to $50, we could possibly add a figure to go with it? (maybe Panthro or Cheetara seeing as those are ones folks find it hard to find?)

and yep thats fine Manny for you to sort it if your happy to do so. You might as well just take the money out of the Amazon.com revenue when they pay you?

Chris here...

"blackiecats, post: 56150" said:

I was thinking that too... I would like us to save some revenue for a rainy day as BBTS and HH revenue may stop at any time. So having some back up cash would be good. Truth be told I think BBTS will take a break after December, up until wave 2 hits the USA...

Sorry for being late to the party! :(

Just to say I agree with this completely - I think it would be a very smart play to keep some money stashed away, as IMO once the new ThunderCats craze dies down (which realistically I would expect to be sometime around 2013), our site will become a lot less "prime real estate" for advertisers such as BBTS. Whilst my hope is that WB / Bandai will work to keep ThunderCats alive somehow (maybe switching to collectors' based toys?), nevertheless once the "craze" dies down, so will the saleability of our site... :(

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that yep, whilst I think we should think creatively about ways we can spend some of the leftover revenue, I think it would be a good idea to keep some in reserve too! :)

"blackiecats, post: 56150" said:

Again I think this is an excellent idea as it saves us on shipping the prize ourselves AND I think having the Tower of Omens as a prize 1/Helps sell another playset, which will hopefully lead to Bandai releasing more! 2/Most of our members have the figures now already, but not the playset! To make the prize up to $50, we could possibly add a figure to go with it? (maybe Panthro or Cheetara seeing as those are ones folks find it hard to find?)

Yeah, I love this idea, very well thought-out - additionally, I think the Tower of Omens looks like a very grand prize, moreso than if we just gave away a couple of figures. :)

Just one thought, I realise we're talking about more money, but would there have been any merit in the idea of having a second and third prize for the giveaway? E.g., have the Tower of Omens playset as the first prize, a couple of figures as the second prize and one figure as the third prize? That way, more of our members would benefit from the giveaway. I've no strong feelings about this, but just thought I'd throw the idea out there! :)

Top class stuff you guys for all this great work and great ideas, I really have to take my hat off to you! :thumbsup:

Take care... :)

Thread updated as I've just renewed our hosting for 3 years with Hostmonster!

The hosting is good through til 19th February 2015! :thumbsup:

Thanks Neil for the update...I thought Thundercatslair.net was taken but i guess it never got renewed from the previous owner. Great that we now have it as well

Anyone care to take thundercatsnow.org. Its available :sneaky:

Chris here...

"MannysCollectibles, post: 56761" said:

Thanks Neil for the update...I thought Thundercatslair.net was taken but i guess it never got renewed from the previous owner. Great that we now have it as well

Fantastic stuff! :thumbsup:

"MannysCollectibles, post: 56761" said:

Anyone care to take thundercatsnow.org. Its available :sneaky:

The thought had crossed my mind - if I had the spare cash I'd definitely do it! :evil:

Take care... :)

Hey Neil could you send me your paypal email. The 08/2011 Advertising Fees from Amazon just came in. It was $85.56.

Oncei get your email Ill send the funds out

"MannysCollectibles, post: 57222" said:

Hey Neil could you send me your paypal email. The 08/2011 Advertising Fees from Amazon just came in. It was $85.56.

Oncei get your email Ill send the funds out

It's [email]neil@thundercatslair.org[/email] :)

Amazon UK paid us today too! :thumbsup:

Chris here...

"blackiecats, post: 57243" said:

It's [email]neil@thundercatslair.org[/email] :)

Amazon UK paid us today too! :thumbsup:

Fantastic stuff all round guys - brilliant news! Plus, we've got our hosting all paid up until 2015! :thumbsup:

Take care... :)

"He-Fan, post: 57246" said:

Chris here...

Fantastic stuff all round guys - brilliant news! Plus, we've got our hosting all paid up until 2015! :thumbsup:

Take care... :)

I've just updated the first post. All totals are up to date as of 26/10/2011.

It took me some time to total the US dollar total up, I'd actually kept adding an amount in £'s to the $'s total which threw my figures off and had me ****ting myself worrying I'd lost around $20 somewhere! :( However finally noticed my mistake!

I think the £/$ conversion is slightly out due to the fluctuation in currency. I'm tempted to just stick to listing final total and all £ funds in £ only to avoid any confusion.

Chris here...

"blackiecats, post: 57247" said:

I've just updated the first post. All totals are up to date as of 26/10/2011.

It took me some time to total the US dollar total up, I'd actually kept adding an amount in £'s to the $'s total which threw my figures off and had me ****ting myself worrying I'd lost around $20 somewhere! :( However finally noticed my mistake!

I think the £/$ conversion is slightly out due to the fluctuation in currency. I'm tempted to just stick to listing final total and all £ funds in £ only to avoid any confusion.

Whatever you want to do is fine by me, I only ever look at the figures and totals listed in £'s anyway! :D

So having renewed the hosting for the next few years we're left with funds of over £100? That's a fantastic result! :thumbsup: Do we have any BBTS store credit left too? :)

Take care... :)

Received the paypal money. Thanks Manny!

"He-Fan, post: 57248" said:

Chris here...

Whatever you want to do is fine by me, I only ever look at the figures and totals listed in £'s anyway! :D

Yep the fluctuation in conversions each day is throwing off the end totals between the £ and $ balance. So from now on I'll only convert final £ net total into dollars.

"He-Fan, post: 57248" said:

So having renewed the hosting for the next few years we're left with funds of over £100? That's a fantastic result! :thumbsup: Do we have any BBTS store credit left too? :)

Take care... :)

Yep hosting is covered til Feb 2015. The Net total includes money not paid to us yet (Amazon.co.uk, Google ads for October...) So obviously should be treated only as estimate until we get paid.

The BBTS credit is at zero, as we recently got the 6" and 4" Deluxe sets, along with the role play deluxe sword.