Buying out the forum competition

[Shawn Gossman]

Have any of you ever bought out your forum competition?

Tell us about it!

How much did you spend? Was it worth it in the end? What did you do with the forum?

 

[Cedric]

This is a topic for @JoelR

 

[AWS]

I've sold to a competition a few times. I did buy Admin Talk. Imported into Admin Addict then sold it off to a competitor.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I used to run a forum called Skywarn Forum. My competition was Skywarn Online. I ended up buying them out for a bit over $1,000. After merging that forum with mine, I had a pretty big forum for a while. But then a database corruption occurred, and I didn't make backups back then. The result was devastating to say the least.

I bought out another general forum database years later for like $100. I then discovered that the guy who sold me the database reused it on another forum to build up and sell again.

After that, my trust for buying forums went down the drain.

 

[Cedric]

I had that happen to me too.

I bought Adventure Ads a year and a half or something ago. I didn't actually do anything with it, but then the former owner, one you probably know, used the database to build up his entertainment forum.

I bought a couple of forums, pure out of interest. Referral Directory Forum (2015 or so) and a few admin forums but I never ended up merging them into one of my forums. I only use them to send an occasional email from. But it never gave me the results I hoped for. I still have those forums on my computer and could put them online if I wanted to.

I also briefly owned ExtraLicense. But sold it with a good profit after a member showed interest.

 

[Cpvr]

I used to run a forum called Skywarn Forum. My competition was Skywarn Online. I ended up buying them out for a bit over $1,000. After merging that forum with mine, I had a pretty big forum for a while. But then a database corruption occurred, and I didn't make backups back then. The result was devastating to say the least.

I bought out another general forum database years later for like $100. I then discovered that the guy who sold me the database reused it on another forum to build up and sell again.

After that, my trust for buying forums went down the drain.

I think a NDA could work in this situation where the seller can’t reuse the database of forum once it’s sold.
As An NDA can explicitly prohibit the seller from reusing or redistributing the forum database after the sale. To ensure enforceability, it’s essential to include specific terms about data ownership and penalties for breach. If you’re venturing into buying forums again, this could offer some protection and peace of mind.

 

[Nomad]

I think a NDA could work in this situation where the seller can’t reuse the database of forum once it’s sold.
As An NDA can explicitly prohibit the seller from reusing or redistributing the forum database after the sale. To ensure enforceability, it’s essential to include specific terms about data ownership and penalties for breach. If you’re venturing into buying forums again, this could offer some protection and peace of mind.

How would you go forward with a legal case when it is related to a digital product like a forum database?

 

[AWS]

How would you go forward with a legal case when it is related to a digital product like a forum database?

There are laws that provide protections in most countries.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I bought Adventure Ads a year and a half or something ago. I didn't actually do anything with it, but then the former owner, one you probably know, used the database to build up his entertainment forum.

The person I got screwed by was known back when it happened. I just can't remember who it was. Dang old age LOL

 

[Cedric]

The person I got screwed by was known back when it happened. I just can't remember who it was. Dang old age LOL

Old age is like a hammer hitting you on the back of your head.

No wait, that's a hangover...

or was it? Can't remember. Damnit.

 

[JoelR]

This is a topic for @JoelR

What do you have for sale?? JK

I wouldn't really call my strategy as buying out the forum competition; it was more of buying in and rapidly establishing a presence in a way that organic would have taken forever. When I did my strategic overview of forum administration, the reality is that this is a shrinking market - any new forum admin site doesn't actually add to the overall pie and attract new people to become forum admins, it just takes from the existing pie. Forum administration is a zero loss game

 

[JoelR]

I think a NDA could work in this situation where the seller can’t reuse the database of forum once it’s sold.
As An NDA can explicitly prohibit the seller from reusing or redistributing the forum database after the sale. To ensure enforceability, it’s essential to include specific terms about data ownership and penalties for breach. If you’re venturing into buying forums again, this could offer some protection and peace of mind.

When I bought Bizdustry, Alex and I were very clear about what we could and couldn't do.

We had a couple of back and forth, and it was a very reasonable conversation, and it helped that we both explained what we cared about and why so we wouldn't step on each other's toes. He really wanted to build a new presence on ebikes with his existing forums; I wanted (mostly) the community management discussions.