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Ask HN: How to create a service similar to Patreon?

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Re: Ask HN: How to create a service similar to Patreon?

#81

Post by rainydaybook »

elliotec wrote: post #37

Start with a legal team. Seriously. That said, I feel like this is a bit of a weird post for HN. You are asking the hardest questions of “How do I build a successful competitor to an already successful competitor?” - isn’t that the essence of founding a company? Like i don’t want to discourage thoughtful discussions on this site and I’m not saying any rules are being broken, but it feels a bit disingenuous to be aski…

I didn't mean a clone of Patreon or anything like that. On the tech side, it's quite different, but on financial side it's similar, so the easiest way to ask about it was to refer to Patreon as the most widely known service with this type of setup.

Re: Ask HN: How to create a service similar to Patreon?

#82

Post by rainydaybook »

warp_factor wrote: post #33

May I ask what is pushing you to want to create a competitor? I bet it is because you strongly disagree with their stance on free speech (they ban creators based on all type of nonsense backed with the typical "Hate speech" excuse). This is actually a very difficult problem, as you will now depends on Stripe, and behind that Visa and Mastercard. Those companies will happily ban you if you support any creator that isn…

No, that's not the reason. Also it's not a direct competitor, I want to focus more on microtips.

Re: Ask HN: How to create a service similar to Patreon?

#83

Post by ermir »

savgeborn wrote: post #60

My friend does it, he operates a company (In NYC) which accepts the payments and he then wires the creators after holding back X% in reserve fee less the service fee He's been doing it for a while (4 years) now averaging 500K per month in payments. All his customers are people from third world or second world countries like Russia, India etc...where accepting international credit cards is bit difficult and probably h…

Please get me in touch with your friend, my contact info is in my profile.

Re: Ask HN: How to create a service similar to Patreon?

#84

Post by pacoWebConsult »

FerretFred wrote: post #69

There needs to be a Patreon alternative. I decided to contribute to a favourite author and found that I could register for an account, but logging on and paying people? Ha! I'm not a robot but I'm fscked if I'm going to battle through 19 Captchas (I gave up at 19). I even wrote to Patreon but not even the courtesy of a reply was forthcoming. Sod'em /rant

People are trying. See Hatreon (shut down) (https://hatreon.net/) and NewProject2 (https://newproject2.com/)

Re: Ask HN: How to create a service similar to Patreon?

#85

Post by SkyPuncher »

chii wrote: post #49
Kiro wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you handle taxes for the creators?

Why can't the creators handle their own tax?

Financial intermediaries often have reporting duties in the US. However, there are several services that greatly automate the process.

Re: Ask HN: How to create a service similar to Patreon?

#86

Post by cwyers »

jazzyjackson wrote: post #19
orionblastar wrote: post #3

There was an alternative named Hatron that used Visa until Visa pulled services because they funded conservatives. Libertarians, and white nationals. So contact the credit card companies and watch who you fund.

it was probably the white nationalists that caused visa to pull out

Yeah. And I mean, they called it Hatreon. "What if Patreon but for hate" is _the brand_. They weren't subtle.

Re: Ask HN: How to create a service similar to Patreon?

#87

Post by hisnameisjimmy »

Improvotter wrote: post #70
wheelerwj wrote: post #50

I’ve worked in the fintech space for 6 years this month. I’ve been a ceo/founder, vp of product, and managing partner. there’s no way to shortcut this, you’re going to need a chief compliance officer and to adhere to the right financial regulations, likely money transmission but possibly others as well. you need to contact a lawyer and get started BEFORE you process your first payment. i will warn you, starting down…

> this is a hard life for a solo entrepreneur and i do not recommend it wothout having raised a minimum of $2-5 million usd Let's not get everyone in the mindset that venture capitalism in the US is a good thing. Many startups and entrepreneurs in Europe and other continents have found success without raising any capital.

So have many people in the US. However, I also don't think people should act like VC is a four letter word.

Re: Ask HN: How to create a service similar to Patreon?

#88

Post by bdsa »

stonewhite wrote: post #34

If I were to withhold 3% of everyone’s total to cover credit card fees plus $0.10 per every transaction because the bank fees range from 1%-3% per card and it’s difficult to sort them, would it be legally acceptable? Any insights?

Huh https://newproject2.com/why-zero-fees/

Re: Ask HN: How to create a service similar to Patreon?

#89

Post by gus_massa »

wheelerwj wrote: post #50

I’ve worked in the fintech space for 6 years this month. I’ve been a ceo/founder, vp of product, and managing partner. there’s no way to shortcut this, you’re going to need a chief compliance officer and to adhere to the right financial regulations, likely money transmission but possibly others as well. you need to contact a lawyer and get started BEFORE you process your first payment. i will warn you, starting down…

[The "email" in the profile is secret and only the mods can see it. If you want to make it public, you should put it in the "about" field.]

Re: Ask HN: How to create a service similar to Patreon?

#90

Post by fuzzybeard »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #53
Kiro wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you handle taxes for the creators?

I'm not a financial expert, but the creators have to do their own taxes (as earnings). However, what the 'paying' party in this case has to be able to do is give reports of payouts to the IRS (in various countries). Data retention is super important. Make sure to read up on that and your legal obligation on how long to retain that data - which may be decades.

As far as retention goes, that's going to depend on which data. The rules are different for different data. For financial information the general rule is 7 years. But that varies wildly on circumstance.
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