Patreon Alternative

[Selias]

Not sure how many people here have heard of Dick Masterson/The Dick Show, but he's made an alternative to Patreon called New Project 2. Honestly, it's basically just Patreon, except you keep a greater percentage of the money you make. Aside from a bit to cover credit card fees (which is still cheaper than what Patreon charges), there are no fees. I mean, given that the guy makes about 250k a year off of Patreon alone (presumably, he'll be migrating over, at some point), it's not like he can't afford servers, IT support, etc.

As a matter of fact, he has a page titled, "Why Zero Fees?" Here's what it says:

Why Zero Fees?

I don't need them.

Most of the employees at a giant software company like Patreon don't provide any value to their core service. There are probably a couple key developers and managers who keep the site running and then the rest are there only to promote "corporate culture" and come up with imaginary problems to solve. That goes for every company in Silicon Valley.

This site is donation based and will run at bare minimum, giving people who were unfairly banned from payment providers across the Internet the ability to get paid by the people who enjoy their content. The exchange of value is an absolute human right and fundamental to freedom of expression.

I will withhold 3% of everyone's total to cover credit card fees plus $0.10 per every transaction because that's what the bank charges me. The fees range from 1%-3% per card and it's difficult to sort them. If you look at the other platforms, their service fees are tacked on in addition to the credit card fees totaling upwards of 10%. If I could pass it all through, I would, but banking, I have learned, is not easy nor is it transparent.

This site does not allow the use of PayPal or Stripe as these companies politically censor individuals for speech they disagree with.

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The only thing is, you have to fill out a form to get an invitation to it. Not sure how they decide who gets accepted.

 

[UrsaTempest]

Mm. The 'political censor' part is worrying me, to be honest. It range from porn (which is okay!) to nazi (which is not!).

Still, will see how it goes.

 

[Selias]

Mm. The 'political censor' part is worrying me, to be honest. It range from porn (which is okay!) to nazi (which is not!).

Still, will see how it goes.

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Hey, if people want to pay a guy for alt-right videos/artwork/whatever, or something, I'd say that's their right. You don't have to like it, but they shouldn't be censored or lose their ability to make money off of their work just because other people don't like it.

EDIT: Though, this line of conversation might be too close to the rule about politics? Not sure, but we probably shouldn't continue it.

EDIT 2: I mean as long as it's not hurting anyone, of course.

 

[UrsaTempest]

Hey, if people want to pay a guy for alt-right videos/artwork/whatever, or something, I'd say that's their right. You don't have to like it, but they shouldn't be censored or lose their ability to make money off of their work just because other people don't like it.

EDIT: Though, this line of conversation might be too close to the rule about politics? Not sure, but we probably shouldn't continue it.

EDIT 2: I mean as long as it's not hurting anyone, of course.

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No, no! I mean, I don't mind that part. I mind the part where I'm in the place they exist, and I might accidentally be associated with them

 

[Selias]

No, no! I mean, I don't mind that part. I mind the part where I'm in the place they exist, and I might accidentally be associated with them

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Fair enough. Can't blame you for not wanting to associate with people you find repulsive.

 

[seeing_octarine]

No, no! I mean, I don't mind that part. I mind the part where I'm in the place they exist, and I might accidentally be associated with them

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Hitler ate sugar. Please refrain from eating sugar if you don't wish to be associated with Hitler. Or, perhaps more sensibly, stop buying into the idea of guilt-by-association. It's evil, evil bullshit.

Not sure how many people here have heard of Dick Masterson/The Dick Show, but he's made an alternative to Patreon called New Project 2.

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I do like the idea of more competitors in that space, but how is this different from SubscribeStar, except for being newer and less battle tested? There's no way the "no fees" bit is going to last if it actually takes off.

 

[Selias]

I do like the idea of more competitors in that space, but how is this different from SubscribeStar, except for being newer and less battle tested? There's no way the "no fees" bit is going to last if it actually takes off.

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Admittedly, I don't know how much it costs to keep a website like this running, but between keeping unnecessary employees to a minimum, the amount of money he already make, and the fact that you can choose to donate some of your money to keeping the site running, I'm not sure it'll be a problem. Like I've already said, Dick makes a quarter of a million per year off of Patreon alone. In addition to that, he does live shows, sells merchandise, and is a minority stakeholder in Foundation Digital. The guy really doesn't have to worry about money.

 

[beast_regards]

I can foresee credit cards thefts.

Providing secure bank transactions is probably much more difficult that simply running a website, and are probably tied with considerable expenses he is not going to pay to keep the costs down.