I present the court with evidence number 1 in this case. The previous statement.. "not to mention paying for all the deals with retailers the boss gets for the sales information that lets him do what he does".

So mr.kitchen. Are you saying that what this site does is inappropriate? :)

First, I'd like to correct my tone.  Rereading my post, I realize that I came across as a little rude, so I apologize for that.

The reason you don't ask a business owner how much they make is that it puts them on the spot.  That is private information, and sometimes they'll tell you even if they don't want to since they don't want to seem rude.

Let me put it this way: Let's say I have a business that makes $500,000 a year.  If someone that I knew made millions every year came in and asked me how much my business makes, it would put me in a very uncomfortable situation.  It would be the same if it was someone who I could tell made much less than me as well.  It's not a law or anything--it's a social courtesy.

@STEKSTAV: That's different.  If I went up to someone and made a business deal with them that was mutually beneficial, and we agreed on the terms of the deal BEFORE they disclosed the actual information to me, then that's completely different than going up and saying "Hey, how much do you sell of X product?"

Clarity. It would be rude to ask how much Brett himself (or any one of you) makes, but as consumers we should have a certain level of clarity into the business entity itseslf.

Not for you to know.

A better question to ask the staff instead of "Do you get paid?" is "Do you get laid?" ~_n

I would like the court to please pay attention to evidence no. 2 in this case. The statement -  "[..]2. Or is it less inappropriate to ask questions if you pay for it? :D"

"2. No, it's still just as inappropriate then."

So.. what will it be? No, its inappropriate to pay for information as evidence no.2 states. Or is it OK to pay for information as the posted quote claims, albeit contradicting to previous statement? :D

EDIT: And No, you dont have to reply. I get what your trying to say..

You can ask all you want but its ioi's decision to release such information and I bet you he wont.

And I do think its innapropriate to ask a company that isn't required to list this information publically about revenue etc. You aren't a shareholder or anything.

However the obvious answer is that this site makes enough for ioi to live off it since I seem to remember its his full time job running this site now.

In VG$?

A fair bit, I would imagine. If only because the expenses are so high, and yet it's still profitable.

Social convention.

That is why. You may disagree, and that's completely fine, but you can't use your disagreement (even if you are right) to overthrown thousands of years of human culture. Give it a few generations and maybe that will change.

But the answer to the topic is: enough to keep the site going.