Reclaim the legacy that was Turbo Zone Direct

[nodtveidt]

I've been in contact with Mike Gleissner, the current owner of the once-great tzd.com. There seems to be interest in a sale. Here is the extent of the emails thus far:

Dear Mr. Gleissner:
  A number of us in the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 community have expressed
great interest in the purchase of the tzd.com domain name. We would
like to discuss a possible sale with you. If you have interest in
selling this domain, please reply to this address at your convenience.
Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,
David Perry
Eponasoft Senior Project Manager

and the response:

Hi David,

Please make a serious offer.

Regards,

Petra
On behalf of Mike

Now... as much as I love istudio.com (I have an acct there with shots I've done), I believe that Turbo Zone Direct should be reborn, and under the control of us, the PCE/TG16 fan community. I can provide the hosting and maintain the domain, and assign a few people to be administrators of the site, or if anyone else has any ideas for this, let's hear 'em.

So... what do we do with the domain after it's transferred? Well, it can be turned into a shop site like it was before, and I also thought we could use it to promote all the modders and repair people we have here at pcefx. There's plenty of things that can be done with it... could even have a personal sales or auction section.

So, what does everybody think of this idea?

[SignOfZeta]

...hmmm sounds pretty great. I can't help but wonder what the ransom on the domain is though.

[nodtveidt]

I don't know but there is a wide variance on the domain's actual value, ranging anywhere from absolute zero to just over six thousand US dollars.

[bernielindell]

I am all for this.  It makes good sense.  A place to go to for used games, new homebrew games, modding services.  We do have that here, but some of it gets lost in the other chit-chat.  This way it is right up front, and easy to find.  I love it. 

[Mathius]

You get my vote!

[nodtveidt]

It was suggested that a paypal acct be set up for the express purpose of putting this project in motion. Anyone wanna take this on, or should I handle it? I've not had the best luck with paypal... so maybe it's better off in someone else's hands.

[Necromancer]

I like the basic idea; details of what it is exactly can be worked out later.  You'll have to find out how much he wants first, 'cause it ain't worth pouring a few grand into buying a defunct website that's only peripherally related anyway (sure it was all Turbob all the time, but it was never anything more than a retail store).  If he wants more than $100 or so, I think we'd be better served spending that money elsewhere (making gears or something).

...hmmm sounds pretty great. I can't help but wonder what the ransom on the domain is though.

I checked about a dozen different sites and most of 'em had its value at about $100.  Only three had it substantially higher: one at $600ish, one at $2000ish, and the aforementioned one at $6000ish.

[bernielindell]

A paypal ID just for this project would be the best way to go, IMO.  That way all funds are funneled directly to the project.  I would be more than happy to do that.  Unless someone that has been here longer would be more appropiate.  Sadly, I just learned about this place this year.   

[nodtveidt]

Necro, we can turn it into something better than it was and I'm sure they're going to want more than $100 for it.

[chop5]

great idea keep history alive  *starts putting pennies in penny rolls*

[Necromancer]

Necro, we can turn it into something better than it was

No doubt, but remember that it's just a name; turbozonedirect.com, tzd.net, etc. are all available.

and I'm sure they're going to want more than $100 for it.

He probably will, but if he wants $6000 for it you'd be better off using some other name and spending that money on site content (it nedes more contetnts for gogglering!).  A few grand could pay for domain registration for our lifetimes, replacement gears, boots, bumper stickers, pr0n, etc.

[nodtveidt]

If they want $6000 for it, then they can jump off a cliff because it's not worth anywhere near that in reality. I can't really see it be actually worth any more than $1500... and even that's a serious stretch.

[bernielindell]

 The names turbozonedirect.com and tzd.net are just as good actually.  The money would be best spent in developing the site if we cannot get the original for a decent price. 

[nodtveidt]

The thing is that tzd.com is already well-known, and people still try to go there. It's a legacy and it'd suck to see it continue to decline into uselessness.

[bernielindell]

The thing is that tzd.com is already well-known, and people still try to go there. It's a legacy and it'd suck to see it continue to decline into uselessness.

Yeah, I can see your point there.    But if several thousand dollars is the difference between net and com..  lol..  I am sure we would all go with net.  Lets just hope we can get the .com addie for a good price, and go from there.