A first-time visitor to Diecast Mag recently took to social media to comment how nice it was to visit a website that wasn’t filled with advertisements. I sincerely appreciated reading this because I wasn’t sure if anyone had noticed that you can visit any page on this website and not see a single banner ad, mid-article ad or pop-up. As a consistent consumer of news, from both my local newspaper to global publications, I know it’s rare to visit a website and not be inundated with advertisements. Hell, it’s hard to fill up your gas tank without seeing advertisements or visit a restaurant with a QR-coded menu that will use your personal information to send you “targeted” ads.  

Still, I understand the need for online ads. I spent many years working for print news publications and understand the effective death of the classified section, and most people getting their news from websites, not print, means website advertising is required to literally keep the lights on. So that means we will be flooded with ads for some new hemorrhoid medication or a TV show on a subscription service practically no one has heard of every few paragraphs of every online article.

But I didn’t want that for Diecast Mag.

I did experiment with auto-generated ads on an unpublished version of the site. My goal was never to make money from this venture — I told my wife if I could just make enough to support my collecting hobby I’d be absolutely thrilled — but I did want to at least make some to pay for the domain name, website hosting and, perhaps if there’s a bit more, pay myself a few cents for the hundreds of hours I’ve already put in to this website. Not that the latter is a complaint. I’ve loved every minute of highlighting the NASCAR diecast collecting hobby.

But I wasn’t happy that Diecast Mag was about to inundate its readers with more inescapable ads. So, I chose to keep the publication ad-free and pay hundreds out of my pocket the costs for website hosting and other smaller charges it incurs.

And I’ll continue to pay them. That said, if you would like to contribute to keeping Diecast Mag afloat, there’s now a way.

Near the bottom of the home page, and near the bottom of select articles (including this one), Diecast Mag readers will now see a “donations” block. For those who want to contribute, there are options for a one-time donation, or you can set up monthly or annual donations. You can contribute whatever you feel, or there are pre-set amounts. These contributions will go toward funding Diecast Mag.

Of course, financial times are tough, so if you don’t have the means to donate, I still hope you visit the site and enjoy its content.

Of note, Diecast Mag is continuing to partner with Spoiler Diecast. Collectors can use the links on this website — in New Releases and weekly spotter’s guide articles — to purchase new diecast through Spoiler Diecast and receive free shipping for all orders over $20 by using the code – Mag. This also helps fund the website, and it’s always nice to get free shipping when growing your collection.

Thank you all for your readership, and happy collecting!