Wouldn't it be great if RS had a VIP membership option?
The way I envision this is
-yearly premium of $10 paid by paypal/cash at meet(s)
- RS currently has 64k members. Lets assume only 1000 are active.
- roughly $9500 (after paypal fees)
- assume 15k a year for server costs - which leaves 5.5 from ad dollars (assuming RS is non-profit)
benefits to VIP members:
- varying levels of discounts at sponsors ( ie. 10% off labour at XXX ; 10% off food at XXX ; 15% off Service A at XXX; 5% off RS stickers/tshirts etc)
- sponsors are able to give discounts because their monthly ad bill would be lowered
- other stuff like large avtars/gif avatars (intangible benefits)
- more reason to shop local because of discount (shop in surrey selling part for $124 ; rs vendor in richmond selling with 15% off for VIP members sells at 140. cost to member $120 (or 130 if you include the membership fee))
benefits to advertisers:
- access to sustainable group of enthusiasts
- build up of trust and loyal/frequent client base
- one stop destination for advertising
- could be lower cost of advertising expense ( current $250/mo ; lowered to $150 - cost of discounts $50 - total cost per mo: $200 -- savings $50)
Maintenance
- would require a google doc setup by an admin/mod which includes first name / last name / user name / membership valid .
- this doc would be shared with all the vendors with view only access.
- when a member goes into the shop and says "hi , i'm a VIP member from RS , i like a cat back for my 98 integra my username is tiger_handheld" the vendor can pull up the doc, verify identity and process the discount.
- a google doc would also list out all the vendors taking part in the program and their specific services/benefits to VIP members
anyway this came up as i was looking for a splash shield for my mazda. bcmazda 3 has Premium membership which has a deal with Wolfe Mazda for xx% off on parts and also because i'm working heading up a similar thing at work for our advertisers.
feel free to build it up or rip it apart
maybe it'll be a great idea or fail storm. OR does this type of thing exist but not publicized?