how much will it cost to start a paysite

[Baghdad Bob]

i want to start my own paysite but i want to make sure that i have enough monies to spend on it how much do you think i will need to spend on getting a paysit and affiliate sponsor site opened

[mickey]

hmm, good question will subscribe to this thread and lookforward to the debate..

[Bec]

Are you buying content from content suppliers, shooting your own, and/or ordering custom sets/videos? Hard to begin giving you a cost analysis without more information.

[basschick]

if you want to start a paysite from licensed DVD content, it depends on the number of videos you want to start with.

if you start the site with 20 scenes and get 20 more for future updates, that would be around 10 - 12 DVDs at around $249 per DVD or a little less if you're a good bargainer or careful shopper.

now design - the paysite itself can go anywhere from $200 to $2000 plus you'll need banners and maybe gallery templates and possibly an affiilate program tour. some designers will do a tour, 10 banners and 3 templates for around $500 to $1000 and probably will throw in a member template, an affiliate page header and page layout.

you'll want to either rip, encode and cut up the DVD scenes yourself or pay someone. i've seen people who charge as little as $10 per scene, although sometimes there's problems with that. i charge around $25 per scene and some other people i know charge up to $60. some of them can do the job a little faster than i so if getting the job done fast is important to you, figure $50 each per scene.

you'll probably want a cms. awiz is very simple but if you make a reality style site or something basic, it does the job for under $200. other cms's run from $350 to $5000.

if you're in the u.s., figure $750 will go to get your processing started.

and to be on the safe side, i'd recommend $500 or so for a consultation with a lawyer. you may also want to pay the lawyer to do terms and conditions or a warning page.

some webmasters pay a writer to write their text.

if you want to shoot your own content, you can expect to pay anything from $50 to $1500 per shoot with a single model and double that or more for 2 models. if you pay a photographer, expect to pay from $500 on up in most cases, a few photographers offering amateur single guy shoots for around $350.

hope that helps!

[Bec]

Looks like Basschick hit most of the angles! And do be sure to get yourself a security program like Strongbox ... that'll add another 100$ to your initial startup costs.

[basschick]

thanks, bec

yeah, you definitely need strongbox or one of the others!

Looks like Basschick hit most of the angles! And do be sure to get yourself a security program like Strongbox ... that'll add another 100$ to your initial startup costs.

[chubbs]

I crunched the numbers a while back and for a single site, with 12 exclusive scenes at launch + all the promo materials and it came to a little more than $10k.

I am sure you can get it done for less if you know the right people. Am positive you can get it done for a lot more if you know the wrong people.

Hope this helps. --Chubbs

[Bec]

And this isn't including what you need as far as hosting either. Be sure to get an appropriate server that has the bandwidth allotment for the type(s) of media you'll be showing, with a good tech dept (like Chilihost), and a company that can get you into a better pkg ASAP if you run into serious BW issues.

[basschick]

i know a guy who can shoot single models jacking off for $250 per scene - that's $3000 for 12 scenes. add in a tour, member template, 10 banners and 2 gallery templates - you can get that for $500 if you shop. $100 for strongbox, $750 for processor if in the u.s. and everything else you can do if you take the time. so with a cheap cms and a copy of strongbox, that would be $3750 for non u.s. resident, $4500 for a u.s. resident - $5700 for a u.s. resident if they spent $350 per solo scene.

but believe me, unless you are never planning to update at all, you will want to get at least a couple updates up front!

I crunched the numbers a while back and for a single site, with 12 exclusive scenes at launch + all the promo materials and it came to a little more than $10k.

I am sure you can get it done for less if you know the right people. Am positive you can get it done for a lot more if you know the wrong people.

Hope this helps. --Chubbs

[A_DeAngelo]

the technical aspect is one half of the equation - the other half is content, which in my opinion, IS the site - without good original and exclusive content, you might as well give up - that is, if you want to stand out and make a mark for yourself...

we spent over 4 years and lots and lots and lots of money shooting content - all totaled, well over the big one in terms of cash outlay, time and materials

the next step was designing and building the site and cutting up everything to load in - those costs were relatively small by comparison

we also know people who started with nothing, did all of the shooting in a condensed period of time but spent about $100,000 OR less than 10% of our inititial investment... its not a fare comparison either - all of our initial stuff was shot in a studio with high production costs - theirs is all shot ad hoc with no "pro's" working the cameras, lighting or in post production - this can make a huge difference in costs...

either way (and anything in between) will work depending upon how much time YOU and your team are willing to devote to the project

[Lee]

You can start a single paysite for less than $250 if you have the know how and content already.

My most profitable site on Condom Cash only cost me $200 to have designed and its made 100 times that in the last 2 years.

Regards,

Lee

[A_DeAngelo]

oh yeah Bob - you could always hit up some of the american forces for some spare $$$ - I hear their handing out lots of cash over there

and what kind of site might you be planning on "launching?"

[Baghdad Bob]

thanks for the helps everyone