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Ask HN: Why aren't micropayments a thing?

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Re: Ask HN: Why aren't micropayments a thing?

#11

Post by bserge »

quickthrower2 wrote: post #6
wppick wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess there would need to be a 3rd party or even in house token system where you buy something like 1000 token for a dollar. And you can spend x tokens to view an article. Online advertising like Google ads is essentially doing this for ad views/clicks

PayPal could easily offer this sort of thing, along with the integrations for news sites etc.

Yeah, I'm surprised Paypal has fallen so much. They were a pioneer in online payments, they used to offer Patreon-style subscriptions that could be integrated on any website, they'd automatically transfer the monthly fee to your account, but damn the interface was extremely confusing and buggy, I wonder if it got any better...

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't micropayments a thing?

#12

Post by solus_factor »

Because nobody yet built a good implementation of the idea.

There was Flattr, but they pivoted from their original idea because they couldn't make it work for some reason.

It can't be implemented on the level of individual sites - the solution needs to be universal, like Google adding a 'tip' button to Chrome + Play Store payment integration.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't micropayments a thing?

#13

Post by wppick »

aurizon wrote: post #9

I get stock quotes with 15 minute delay. If I want real time, I am charged 2 cents. At the end of the month all the 2 cent charges are summed and added to my monthly fee. News sites could easily do something similar

Yes, and as a 3rd party service would be great too. I can login with Facebook, Google, etc. It would be great if I can just pay 1/2 cent to read 1 article vs signing up for monthly or yearly subscriptions. And I can choose pay with service a, service b or service c. They should all adhere to a single standard so any new service can just plug into it. Why should I have to choose only between ads or some big monthly/yearly subscription?

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't micropayments a thing?

#14

Post by spurdoman77 »

mimikatz wrote: post #10

People don't like to do transactions. It taxes our brains and makes us make decisions constantly. We like all you can eat and watch as much as you like. Paying for things sucks even if you just pay small amounts.

Yeah. For example, thats why people like all-inclusive hotels. The reason is that you dont have to think about the prices all the time. You just go through the package only and thats it.

The less tranactions, the better. At least for the majority of us. It is very rare to prefer doing many small transactions over one big.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't micropayments a thing?

#15

Post by egypturnash »

Because payments are a for-profit industry. If we had some kind of digital money that could be transferred without any fees (because, say, the infrastructure was operated by the government, under the assumption that a medium of exchange that doesn’t take a few percent off every transaction is a Public Good we should have) then it would be much easier to see if micropayments are actually a thing that anyone is willing to do.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't micropayments a thing?

#18

Post by wppick »

egypturnash wrote: post #15

Because payments are a for-profit industry. If we had some kind of digital money that could be transferred without any fees (because, say, the infrastructure was operated by the government, under the assumption that a medium of exchange that doesn’t take a few percent off every transaction is a Public Good we should have) then it would be much easier to see if micropayments are actually a thing that anyone is willing…

Nothing is stopping the payment provider from taking a percentage. I pay 0.5 cents for an article and service provider takes 0.1 cents. Still $4 RPM for the news site after a 20% fee!

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't micropayments a thing?

#19

Post by wppick »

spurdoman77 wrote: post #14
mimikatz wrote: post #10

People don't like to do transactions. It taxes our brains and makes us make decisions constantly. We like all you can eat and watch as much as you like. Paying for things sucks even if you just pay small amounts.

Yeah. For example, thats why people like all-inclusive hotels. The reason is that you dont have to think about the prices all the time. You just go through the package only and thats it. The less tranactions, the better. At least for the majority of us. It is very rare to prefer doing many small transactions over one big.

How do you explain paywalls then?

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't micropayments a thing?

#20

Post by davidkellis »

wppick wrote: post #19
spurdoman77 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. For example, thats why people like all-inclusive hotels. The reason is that you dont have to think about the prices all the time. You just go through the package only and thats it. The less tranactions, the better. At least for the majority of us. It is very rare to prefer doing many small transactions over one big.

How do you explain paywalls then?

Everyone hates paywalls
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