Hey My name is Eliisa, I'm 20 years old, from Melbourne, Australia. I really want to start up my own vBulliten forum, but i'm not sure where to start and how much money i should put aside. Is it easy? Will i be able to set it up on my own? Can i buy vBulliten licenses from someone no-longer using one? Any help you can give would be so so much appreciated Thanks!
Well welcome Eliisa, Why dont you start with small and get a hosting that already has all that you are looking for, you can always go over to vBulletin and get your own VPS server or even dedicated when needen later on. At http://www.hostcolor.com/webhosting/socialwebhosting you get the forum software, even its not vBulletin i think it would give you a good start. I could give that to you on my own hosting but that would look like im referring you and i believe Hostcolor is a ok hosting company. If not do not blame me since i have not tried them out.. but the small monthly fee would make it worth to try it..
Is your choice of forum engine fixed? There are others ... they may be cheaper. Have you checked out "everything" that's on offer (or at least some of the competing platforms)?
No matter what she does, she will need hosting. Now i have no idea if there is free hosting for community boards (I assume so) but even then they will require stuff, such as she adds advertisement or some things will me limited. I dont think $6/month is much for a hosting with support and free installation of the community scripts.