Thursday, February 14, 2013

How Valuable is RonPaul.com?

The web tracking service Quantcast says the site gets traffic from very high income visitors.



Is this why the current owners are fighting so hard to keep the web site?

Alexa ranks ronpaul.com as the 21,378th most popular web address in the US.

Here's a list of the top search inquiries driving traffic to ronpaul.com, according to Alexa.

Query Percent of Search Traffic
1 ron paul 39.37%
2 ron paul revolution 2.44%
3 ron paul 2012 1.97%
4 ronpaul 1.09%
5 ron paul for president 0.97%
6 who is ron paul 0.91%
7 .com 0.83%
8 ron pual 0.75%
9 ron paul polls 0.58%
10 ron paul end the fed 0.47%

Keep in mind, not one of these searches is for "Ron Paul" mugs, "Ron Paul" bumper stickers or "Ron Paul" T-shirts, which is what the current owners sell on the frontpage of ronpaul.com. These people are searching for information about Ron Paul. They are getting misdirected.

So what is RonPaul.com worth to the current owners?

According to Quantcast, web sites ranked at the same level as RonPaul.com are getting traffic of around 600 visitors per day. Having some familiarity with Quantcast numbers for unquantified sites, I believe this number is very conservative and the number of daily visitors is probably closer to 1,000.  If we assume that RonPaul.com is converting 0.60% into buyers of Ron Paul memorabilia and clothing, a conservative estimate, then the web site is making 6 sales a day.

The site owners are selling Ron Paul T-shirts for $33.40. They sell through Zazzle, which lists the T-shirts they are selling at $20.95. That's a markup of $12.45 per T-shirt. They also sell sweatshirts, bumper stickers and mugs. The average sales ticket is likely at least $65.00, with a profit per sale of around $25.00. With 6 sales a day that's $150.00 a day or $4,500 a month and that's during this quiet period, when there is no presidential campaign. Imagine what they were making during the presidential campaign, when millions goggled Dr Paul's name. When Dr. Paul's new "Big project"  is launched, it is sure to result in many more people searching for Ron Paul and ending up at the T-shirt hustlers currently running ronpaul.com. Then the cash register will really start to ring, again, for them. That's why the current owners are not going to give up ronpaul.com without a fight. They know another huge new series of pay days is coming for them, when Dr. Paul launches his new project, if they can hold on to the site. They want to head to the bank everyday on the back of Dr. Paul's new efforts.

36 comments:

  1. OH GOOD GRIEF. GO FUCK YOURSELF YOU ASSHOLE

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    Replies
    1. Tim, that is no way to conduct yourself.

      Delete
  2. well lifes a bitch but it doesnt matter, if you are interested enough you will get to the right site...eventually. Hell i found this site via market ticker with one of your disputes with Karl and once I had I never went back.

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    Replies
    1. So we are only supposed to promote the Ron Paul message to people who are "interested enough"?

      That will help grow the libertarian movement (sarcasm)

      Delete
    2. Yes, if your efforts aren't exclusively for "the movement" you need to have your enterprise quashed. For the good of all!

      That's totally libertarian (sarcasm)

      Delete
  3. Sounds an awful lot like Wenzel is crudely insinuating that this kind of entrepreneurial alertness and *gasp* profiteering is... illegitimate.

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  4. voluntary exchange that promotes the ron paul's name and increases his popularity is "on his back" and somewhat wrongful? what are you, Wenzel? a totalitarian socialist?

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    Replies
    1. How does it promote Ron Paul's name?

      It is taking advantage of Ron Paul's name.

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    2. Just like every hot dog salesman takes advantage of the name "hot dog"

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    3. Anon, selling merchandise associated in one way or the other with ron paul is profitable no doubt because obviously there are individuals who like what ron paul stands for. they like him for his ideas, his personality or whatever. but ron paul and accordingly his name and ideas are not popular only due to his work. in fact selling this merchandise makes him even more popular (i.e. people seeing other people wearnig ron paul t-shirts and etc.). it is true that they invevitably "free-ride" on the accumulated likeness of ron paul but THAT is the free-market. they do not steal from ron paul. they also don't steal from their customers. so what is the wrongdoing here?!?!

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    4. WHO CARES?

      As long as you're not violating the property of another person, who cares what motivates you and what you benefit from? The litmus test "does it promote Ron Paul's name" is nonsensical. If they are truly violating his property, it doesn't matter if it promotes his name at all, they are in the wrong. If they are truly violating his property, it doesn't matter if they are taking advantage or really donating all that money to orphanages in Ron Paul's name and you just don't know. The issue is whether they're violating his property.

      And they're not.

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  5. ICANN is not a "private corporation" with rules just like any other business. They are a US government imposed monopoly on IP address assignment.

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  6. I couldn't even get through the whole post. Pathetic.

    "These people are searching for information about Ron Paul. They are getting misdirected."

    How? Are you stupid Wenzel? We know you aren't?

    How are they being misdirected when the site provides post after post of Ron Paul information and has for years? Google knows a little better than you if someone is being misdirected and they seem to think that this site is EXTREMELY RELEVANT.

    You are making yourself into a joke Wenzel. It's one thing to have a different opinion. It's another to be disingenuous and a borderline liar.

    How do you know someone searching doesn't want something OTHER than the official Ron Paul site? I frequently want an unofficial site about something as in many cases, they provide better, less biased information.

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    1. " I frequently want an unofficial site about something as in many cases, they provide better, less biased information."

      Why don't they use the web address, "unofficalRonPaulSite.com"?

      Delete
    2. Why don't you give all your money away? Same answer. They don't want to and they don't have to.

      When people type in "ron paul," they want information on Ron Paul. They likely want the best and most relevant information on Ron Paul, that doesn't necessarily mean that this information comes from Ron Paul's official site.

      Google is fairly good at predicting relevancy, although I don't think "wenzel" shows up on a search for "disingenuous douche" yet...too many more posts like this and it might happen.

      Delete
    3. If you only go off of domain names, you are an idiot. We don't judge fraud (ok, "misleading" since "fraud" is apparently an "assumption of natural rights") based on the false conclusions of the mentally impaired. Do the owners of Ron Paul actually claim to be Ron Paul, texas politician? If so, they are misleading/fraud. If not, and you are confused by the domain name, but refuse to actually read the site itself, which is clear, then you have no standing.

      Delete
  7. Oh yea, and I run a website ranked 125,000 in Alexa (e-commerce) and I get around 1,800 visitors a day this time of year. A website near the top 20,000 is likely bringing 5,000 or more a day.

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    1. I think Wenzel was trying to be conservative with the numbers. You are right, they are probably making thousands a day, of of Ron Paul's name.

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    2. True colors. We see who believes that the free market delivers the best results and who thinks that we need guns to deliver the best results when issues like this come up.

      Let's say it's all for money, who cares? They created a wonderful site that promotes liberty and the message of Ron Paul to thousands everyday. That's how freedom works. I know guys like you hate it.

      Delete
  8. If these people are such big fans of Ron Paul, why did they not donate any of the money from their huge mark ups on clothing to the Revolution Pac or the official campaign?

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    1. Yup, providing goods and services to others is not benevolent enough. Bring on the redistribution!

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    2. this is like saying: "if business is good for society, why don't wall-mart donate 90 percent of its profit to the poor". totally stupid and irrelevant comment.

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    3. Why should they? This is devolving into anti-market nonsense no different than you'd find on any given socialist/progressive blog.

      If they are violating Ron Paul's property, it doesn't matter if they made a cent. If they aren't violating his property, it doesn't matter if they made millions.

      If they are misleading people (being found in a search engine is not misleading, they are only responsible for their site's content), it doesn't matter if they've only sold a few t-shirts. They're in the wrong. If they aren't misleading people, it doesn't matter if they've made a billion dollars.

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    4. Except wal mart doesn't operate its entire business under the name "Ron Paul" and claim to be all about promoting his message and movement. Horrible analogy.

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    5. Why is promoting a message and movement mutually exclusive from profit? Socialist rationale much?

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    6. No one said they "should" have given money to ron paul, but for a site that claims to only be about promoting the message and spreading the truth, isn't it odd that they did not donate to Rev Pac or to ron's campaign? And haven't they even claimed that they were going to do this in the past but just never did?

      I know exactly what that sounds like. I bet you have no prob with doug wead's multi level marketing milkshake bullshit, either.

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    7. Bob had no problem with Doug Wead until the campaign was over. In fact, Lew Rockwell regularly extolled the virtues of the wise and intelligent Wead on his blog.

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    8. Did the ronpaul site in fact claim in the past that they were going to donate money to the ron paul campaign, but never followed up on that?

      If that is actually true, then enough said.

      Delete
  9. I'm becoming convinced this is just a giant trolling exercise for Wenzel to test our libertarian credentials.

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  10. Why isn't RW defending the RonPaul.com people for having the "awareness" to notice an opportunity and praising their entrepreneurship for profiting off the items they sell? And why isn't he criticizing the authoritarian law of having a group of people determine who gets to take away someone else's property?

    Dr. Paul is still a true hero but I just don't understand his position on this one (though I am open-minded and will always listen to any arguments made by the good doctor).

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  11. Robert Wenzel - The Libertarian Partisan Hack.

    Yay for finding ways to profit, unless you are doing it in a way that me or my friends don't like.

    What a joke.

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    Replies
    1. Hey Fellner,

      1.Wenzel has been consistently pro-IP law loooong before the RonPaul.com controversy has come along.

      2.Whatsmore his defense of his position seems to go against the natural rights law held by Murray Rothbard, so how in the hell can you call Wenzel a partisan hack?

      Are you clueless or dishonest?

      Delete
  12. Can't wait to read Wenzel's expanded views on "IP". Would love to know how it's decided which nouns are sacrosanct.

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  13. So what is RonPaul.com worth to the current owners?

    Just as a guess, $250,000.

    Apparently it is worth less to Ron Paul.

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  14. Bob, this post is such a huge disappointment. How can you run down these people for their entrepreneurship? I thought you were pro-free market?

    Also, I am disappointed that you would debate Stephan Kinsella. Why? Bc Stephan is OBVIOUSLY correct that IP is totalitarian mind control. Instead of wasting everyone's time with a meaningless debate, do your research, take off the blinders and forsake the dark side. Holy cow, can't you see with whom you are aligned--jackbooted thugs who arrest teenagers and demand millions of dollars in penalties for, wait for it, listening to music.

    Sorry Bob, you gotta grow up...

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