The fact that you think Indys was profitable is HILARIOUS.
Originally Posted by Dreamgurrl
Before the old (original) site was nuked and every time there was a "crackdown" (paying for the guys room, for instance) it was possible to see who'd been dropped into what group, and relatively easy to count them (this was like so many other things on that platform--the modifications had no security baked in. None). Or, in english, to see who was in the god group, the mods group, and the various groups within the software meant to associate ability with what one had earned or paid for. After the last shakedown scam on paying for guys access, I counted the number of folks who seem to have paid, took a 10% discount for folks I figured kissed the ass of someone with admin privs, and multiplied that number by the $50 it supposedly cost. The resultant number would've carried the site the way it was configured at the host it was running on for longer than it remained there. I assume no other monitization on the plus side of the ledger and also assume that PI's time, Mallory's time, your time, and whomever else actually had creds time during the last bit on the old platform had an actual cost of 0, which given the shinnanegans used to either increase one's own business or impede others which was happening by folks with creds had a monetary return of 0, which is also untrue--it conveyed competitive and monetary advantage.
Or, on the basis of an even relatively informed swag, I'm pretty confident in saying that isn't true as it pertained to "pre-Dolphin" indys. At one point, it very much should have been profitable and I'm almost certainly,
to someone, was.
After that? I didn't have enough crack at the re-launched re-platform to make any particularly astute observations. But, I guess what I would wonder is why one would hit a bank up for a chargeback rather than having the expectation that the operator might refund monies for services not rendered? And, to the extent that there was any population who could or did pay with some other form of payment (these would be the smart ones who didn't give up their real credit card info), how do they get theirs?
(I'd love to know if it was the hosting or the services on the dolphin install which ruined the model. I'm betting it was keeping it running, right? Because for a long time, PI got tech help and all manner of free labor from a few people, Mallory particularly, so you likely had to pay to make that deficit up, and I'll bet the numbers wouldn't work and really wouldn't work once you risk adjusted them for FOSTA. ).
The short version: the "pre-migration" Indys was likely profitable due to the payments and the donated time of the original OH modifying nerds, Mal, you (I don't list PI as I assume that's where the profit went). Dunno if your edition was or wasn't, but I do commend you on having it secured to the point where one would have to do actual illegal things to it to find out.