I have tried to make coin websites in the past, but always abandoned them in despair. I never have been able to successfully progress at a steady pace on any of my former attempts to make a website. I also see many coin websites springing up all around me. My question is if so many people make them, then where is the really money in the internet webs bussiness? Please feel free to post any comments other than anserws to my question, just as long as their related to the main subject.

Okay. I'll name the top 3 coin websites I use or appreciate:

1) Coinpeople.com
2) Heritage Auctions
3) coppercoins.com

Look - they are all exceptional and the best at what they do. I think many of the members here are part of other coin forums (I'm not) but I think this is considered the highest quality forum for discussion about coins.

Heritage is an excellent auction site - they may be expensive, but their catalog and archives are extensive. If you never ever buy a coin or note there, you should still use it as a learning tool. I've learned so much about my coins and my dream coins. You can see high quality images of coins and see how they sell or how they grade. I always use Heritage before I go to a coin convention looking for that special coin and note. I'll see what others are paying at auction on Heritage and expect something similar.

Coppercoins.com is an exhaustive site dedicated to everyone's favorite coin - the lincoln cent. You can pick out any coin from your change and look for a rare or neat variety. I haven't seen an other site of varieties so accessible or easy to use AND it is especially for the most popular/common coin.


Now, they all have different specialties. What will you specialize in? I'd check to see what the other sites are doing and model your site on theirs.

What does your envisioned "coin website" do? Is it a store front, or a collection display, or a forum? It seems to me that the only money to be made would be as a store front. I've never done it, but there is open source software out there that you can use to set up an internet store.

I fail to see how anyone makes money on websites. I use Google daily but have never clicked on one of their ads yet Google stock is thru the roof. Im fairly sure Anton does not profit from CoinPeople. I bet CP bairly pays for itself.

I have a collector site, but I recently lopped off significant portions of it that in my opin detracted from the main focus of the site. I do not make money from the site, no ad revenue etc. It really is more for my personal enjoyment than any other purpose, as most of if not all the items on it are banked and out of sight and mind.

google gets money by selling add space...as many websites do.

I would like a coin website that sells coins and also discusses them with monthly updated featured articles. I would like to make a flexible site which not only sells coins, but sells coin supplies. This would be the website of choice in mind. What would you say? Do you think I stand a chance, I mean the rates for web hosting are kind of high.

http://www.startlogic.com can set you up for around $5 per month; they give you a lot of storage space for very little money compared to other hosting services, but some people have complained about the customer service. My own personal experience with them hasn't been that bad. Admittedly, they don't do much hand-holding, and they just rent the space instead of creating a web site for you -- that you have to do yourself (or get someone to do it for you). If you don't mind your site being down once in a while (say, for a few hours every 3-6 months), I'd say they are worth a try.

Why not use this forum and see the audience level? It's also a good way to determine what the market is like and what is hot. Also there are no fees involved on the forums so therefore it's a win win solution.

I just use my coin site for personal usage - I got a few mails inquiring about what I have from time to time as well as possible value, etc.

Thanks George!!!

I get that but like I said, I've never clicked on one of their ads so how effective can they actually be. Do you folks click Google ads or actually bought anything from one?

Nope...

nope here either..but ehh thats what business do..even the free to public channels on tv..they get paid for running commercials. almost similar but more effective.

I meant to put it number 2 behind CP!

I see that! Is that the Hood of hammered coins?

I have always wondered about how someone like Google or Yahoo makes money in the web. My understanding is more than a bit naive, but this is my understanding of how in works in general. A major website receives revenues based on the number of qualified accounts it can deliver on a regular basis, i.e. how many unique people can it claim will see any given ad. This is not unlike a magazine. The higher the circulation (and secondary readership), the higher the ad value (and cost). If a website receives a $1 per day for 100,000 qualified subscribers, they would make $365 per year. 1,000.000 subscribers would result in $3650 per year. 10,000.000 would yield $36,500. The actual production costs would remain approximately the same with the growth (not entirely true, but this is a simplified example). So, if Google were hosting Coinpeople, they would have marginal costs given their size. Each subscriber (free subscriber in the case of Coinpeople) would count as a qualified account (i.e. I applied, supplied a unique address, etc). Whether or not I actually look at an add is irrelevant. 100,000 instances of me is going to generate some sales traffic. So, all those vendors paying Google for their qualified address adds up real fast, even if they are fractions of cents. Coinpeople, on the other hand, will probably never generate 10 million plus qualified accounts.

Yo!! It is indeed!

Sounds reasonable to me bill. I always wondered how ads worked to pay for search engines like google.

There are 3 main advertising models on the web:

CMP (cost per impression) an advertiser pays for a number of ad views. Example: AmEx launches a new credit card. They don't care how many people click on the ad, they just want to create public awareness, similar to a billboard on the side of the road. Cost to advertiser is pretty low, ads are usually purchased in large quantities.

CPC (cost per click) an advertiser pays for a click on an ad. Example: Heritage Galleries wants to attract new visitors to their website or promote a specific auction. Cost is higher than CMP, but the advertiser pays only for actual visitors.

CPA (cost per action) an advertiser pays only when a visitor completes a transaction. Example: Amazon pays for a referral only when a customer purchases something. Advertiser usually pays a percentage of the sale amount.

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Running a website is a lot of fun and a great way to learn about internet, programming, marketing etc.

If you are looking at making money on the internet, I mean real money, not $10-$20 per month, then treat it as any other business.
You need a good idea to start, a good business plan and an investment of time and money (or at least one of these)

On the other hand, it's easy and cheap (free in most cases) to start building websites for fun and see where it goes from there.

Thanks for clarifing the ad money making biz. For us akdrv I wondered if there were any specific contracts for ads. I've learnt a few new things with this thread. Keep it coming folks!

I have a couple coin web sites and a photography web site (see sig if interested).

As my motivation to collect coins has waned, I have not added much to the coin sites and the photo site hasn't caught on at all. None of them are money makers but they are close enough to break even overall that I don't feel the need to abandon any of them at this point. I do it all onthe cheap. CP used to do pretty good on advertising revenue when I had it. Enough for me to fund giveaways and contest in addition to the server, hosting, etc. It was the only site I had that was way above paying for itself. But I just dabble in the web site thing for fun and to meet people so I don't mind that the ones I have now are not making anything. It's just another hobby really.

Yea but don't forget about the hassle Stujoe had - software issues, server issues, angry / concerned forum users etc. Money is just part of the issue. akdrv is definately doing a good job

A certain legal action looms larger in my mind.