We should have done a better job with the Supporters Lounge.
Just expanded the Supporters Lounge to the following groups for those who would prefer a more intimate conversation setting:
@trusted_hackrs
@trusted_emeriti
@signed
@super_supporters
@supporters
unable to access it …?
LeaseHackr if it really wanted to… can eat Swapalease’s lunch. It’s only thanks to the community this website has built and the credibility it’s earned…
I wouldn’t sell that. I totally support some monetization to support the ecosystem, but the value of Leasehackr goes away if sold to venture capitalists or tech bros looking for impossible ROI profit margins.
The community is what makes this place great. I understand it costs money to maintain it, though.
I’ve been a member here for over 5 years. This is my only source for the “next” car, even when I do not need another car lol if say edmunds buys this place out I would not be disappointed. My project hiring manager said, “do what makes business sense to you.” With that said, best of luck! I’m staying regardless, even if I had to pay.
I don’t think you and I have always seen eye to eye on everything, but I cannot back this enough. 
It may be cliché, but the people are absolutely what make this community; the people make LH what it is. I believe the departure of the trusted hackrs and us veteran users is a very real possibility in the event of a sale. At the end of the day, even with the best website, the platform will wither away and die… if that key component is removed.
If you guys like, send me a PM @littleviolette and I can give you some ideas on this.
I’ve actually thought this through and had an idea and a way to implement it that I think would relieve a lot of strain on the forum from the “Hi I want 1 Macan loaner please” type posts.
I think if done right we can keep a lot of that off the forum, make a nice new experience for people who really just want a deal (ex. average non-tech-savvy or not online forum-inclined people) without having to become a forum member or post anyway, while also adding a new revenue source for the site.
With this economy, find a fresh college grad and pay them $15/hr to proof read your memes.
#help!1!1!1!
If you are looking to monetize more to help with upkeep costs look at LS1tech.com. The founder there built it into a million dollar a year business and then sold it. I am not saying you should sell, but there is always business opportunity for a forum even now.
I came here because I was interested in learning how leasing works, but stayed for the community. Been here a while and my two new cars are financed not leased.
But how do veteran hackers maintain their enjoyment using the site at the same time allowing new people to feel welcome?
Many people that I have sent this site to when they were looking for a car started learning, browsing around and then they get screamed down for asking questions that to us seems stupid, they either leave or get something from marketplace.
@littleviolette I wonder on the stickiness of new members statistics, at FB in early days they figured out that one a person had 5 friends on FB they were unlikely to leave and built their entire growth strategy around that.
This is great and if advertised, should encourage more people to become supporters. I have been lease hacking since 2014 (started with a Hyundai Genesis back in the day) and I loved leasehackr in the earlier days simply because it was a smaller community of like-minded car enthusiasts chasing the best value and sharing ideas, knowledge, and data points. I hope the Supporters Lounge can bring that earlier more intimate forum and filter out the “send me the dealer info” cacophony in most popular topics.
Edit: I can view the topics but I am unable to reply on the Supporter’s Lounge. Is this by design due to my status or just a forum glitch?
Perhaps that is part of the problem. I’ve been here for years and I’ve yet to barely speak to anyone (other than my spouse) about LH, let alone throw someone into the ring. If people advertise and get everyone to join the cool kids club, the cool kids club is no longer cool.
Charging brokers to have a spotlight deal each month would be a great way to increase revenue here also.
I would pay more for that a few times a year over the sponsorship auctions that don’t really seem to get me more customers.
That stickiness is everything on valuation too. Most causal newbies just jump on the site once every 1 year or 2 just to replace their vehicles. Also they just noticed their 400 dollar from few years ago can only get a civic these days.
Elements of LH changed to market conditions. Especially during COVID when most banks shut the door to private transfer and we are now left with tumbleweeds in that section.
Random idea: Turn the LH virtual HH into some video podcast. That would keep things interesting.
As for the EQS madness - Don’t worry about it as Mercedes Benz did that to themselves. Creating a niche product that dealer needs all kinds of help to generate interest and it’s really the only compliance car they have at the moment until they start production of the EQE SUV in the USA. It’s a boat anchor for dealerships and the payment makes it palatable (beer vision activator)
Sorry, just fixed it.
Yes, but can we get a discord channel only for the current members?
Discord is nice, but you would need moderation on it 
Just have the mods here be mods there or take volunteers. But there hopefully won’t be much to mod on a chat channel.
have you guys ever looked at raising vc / seed funding?