Launch HN: Buy Me a Coffee (YC W19) – Give your audience a way to thank you

This is also a bit dated policy. I've reported bugs on Patreon before that involved looking at the source code and modifing it, but it did not cross my mind that they'd reserve the right to ban users for doing so. I think this is a case of copying TOS sections from other places which are not a good fit for this service.

That said, Patreon has destroyed their user interface in the past year, profiles on desktop barely contain any information above the fold, so we need competition in this space.

The box Abe is building won't work. He's got it wired wrong. And if they fix that I’ll start actually taking pieces out of it. It's just a gimmick. It doesn't work anymore. Your double will say they have to move on to something else. And mine will agree. They're friends.

It’s been a decade.

I'd strongly recommend trying to clarify "chemicals" and "plants and seeds" as those are incredibly broad categories that encompass many use cases that stripe does not find objectionable as per the restricted-businesses list you linked. "Pharmacologically active, explosive or poisonous chemicals, plants, or seeds" may be suitably restrictive for your needs.

The "weapons" restriction would also be great to get some clarity on: a large proportion of makers do projects related to cutting tools, replica weapons for cosplay, etc. I think showing how they make blades/saws (that can be used as weapons, but often intended as tools or decoration) or replicas or sporting equipment are not necessarily something that Stripe would find objectionable.

I suspect that stripe does not restrict content related to the discussion of these items, but rather the use of these funds towards the purchase of these items. "build journals" may be permissible, but perhaps more of a grey area. I think their chief concern is the sale of these items. Ex. showing how you built an archery bow and tested it on a sport target seems quite distinct from selling the bow itself. Explaining and demonstrating the chemistry of exothermic reactions is very different than selling firecrackers.

Some clarity would make me more interested in using your service, but I currently am not inclined to sign up as a contributor or recommend your platform as it seems you could somewhat-arbitrarily decide to exclude ~90% of my favorite creators without warning after they have cultivated contributors on your platform.

Lack of clarity can be really disruptive for creators: as getting kicked off of a platform and disrupting an income stream they've come to rely on can be very disheartening - and I've seen this happen to a half-dozen creators on various platforms. Vague terms can lead to many makers to exist in a grey area with the threat of removal at any time, which I think is somewhat harmful.

As you said: they aren't directly selling anything. In fact, they are not selling anything at all, directly or not.

"it's likely the payment processors would shut them down and so probably not worth the risk" --> so.. FUD. As I said, we need less of that. One way to avoid it is getting an explicit answer from the payment provider, and quoting it on the TOS on BuyMeACoffee.

BuyMeAcoffee, are you simply deflecting the blame on payment providers? Please tell us what restrictions made you make this choice. It still doesn't seem to be a reasonable one.

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I fail to see how Buy Me A Coffee would fall under these restrictions, as the payments are not made in exchange for any of the restricted categories.

The payment is for coffee, if you wish. Joking aside, no goods or services are being sold on buymeacoffee.com pages. You get nothing for paying. You can't violate these TOS if the recipients happens to do something "adult-oriented".

So, to clarify:

1. These ToS don't restrict the kind of content that may be displayed on buymeacoffee.com page, just the kind of transactions.

2. Buymeacoffee.com is a donation site; the payments are not made in exchange for any goods or services, sexual ("adult") or otherwise.

3. PayPal/Stripe do not restrict who can get the money. What the recepients do outside of the transaction is none of their business anyway.

Therefore, I repeat the question: what makes you restrict "adult content" on your pages?

Restricting the kinds of content that recipients create would be even more nonsensical. In the same vein, it would be stupendous to say that you can't sell a rug on eBay because you also posted an adult cartoon on deviantart.com at some point in your life.