

A Solution to the Fundamental Problem of Micropayments. - asciilifeform

The psychological barrier to spending "anything" versus nothing is often said to be the fundamental roadblock in the way of micropayments.<p>I propose a site where one would subscribe and deposit a fixed amount each month, which would then be divvied up and distributed to sites based on up-votes which the user delivers through an embeddable widget, a la Reddit.<p>This would remove the psychological cost of micropayment transactions, since each "payment" does not affect the amount of money the user will spend.
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stcredzero
The fundamental problem is one of marketing and convenience.

A tip jar at the counter of Starbucks is unobtrusive, entirely voluntary, and
convenient. You see, decide, pay, done. The idea of a tip jar is widely
accepted.

To reach the same level of acceptance, micropayments need to come with the
browser. They should also be voluntary.

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ScottWhigham
I don't see how this get around the fact that merchant fees will be 10, 20, or
30% of the amount sent to the website/corp/user that ultimately receives the
payment. If you pay the "wrapper" site (what I'm calling the site you propose)
$30 and it has to be divvied up x times, the wrapper site pays $1-$2 in
processing fees to receive the money. They then take a cut and divvy the
remaining money. Let's make it $25. If there are 25 sites to pay $1 each, what
payment method does the wrapper site employ so that the merchant payment fees
don't make it unprofitable? This is a lot like that piratebay "donations"
scheme earlier this month.

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wmf
The middleman aggregates payments across customers and time, so it sends a few
large payments to each site.

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ScottWhigham
Ok - makes sense. Definitely a win for the middle man - they earn interest on
OPM until the payout period.

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wmf
That's like Contenture, except Contenture is easier because you don't have to
vote.

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asciilifeform
Their site appears dead.

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noodle
sounds a lot like tipjoy.

