PWYW "adblock pass"

[Arika]

Semi-tongue-in-cheek, semi-serious suggestion.

 

Given how much the forum has absolutely exploded in recent weeks with the whole adblock/piracy/privateering/whatever-the-hell, it got me thinking about whether or not it would be possible to have a "pay what you want" section on LTT store or something where people would be able to go and give $x for what they think it is worth for them to be blocking ads. that way people can feel safe in the knowledge that they have contributed to LMG while still being happy to block ads.

 

it's better than superchats on youtube since there's no cut for google

wouldn't technically be a donation so weird tax issues don't need to be considered (as far as i can tell).

can ignore margins on actual merch purchases and don't have to worry about exorbitant shipping costs for the "buyer"

 

obviously this only solves the issue for LMG and related channels and not everyone else that is not getting any benefit from blocked ads.

 

 

but it could also absolutely backfire.....with how i've seen people respond here regarding the situation.

[Mojo-Jojo]

I think Linus has said a couple times on WAN show that he doesn't like simply taking money and giving nothing in return. That he feels uncomfortable because there needs to be two sides to the transaction, and he rather you buy some merch to actually get something for your money.

 

I like the idea though.

 

Edit: Plus, it's not like linus actually asks people to watch the ads. I feel like putting some "pass" like this in the store will put a twist on Linus' words that enforces the ideas of people who took his words wrong in the first place.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Mojo-Jojo

[Arika]

2 hours ago, Mojo-Jojo said:

Edit: Plus, it's not like linus actually asks people to watch the ads. I feel like putting some "pass" like this in the store will put a twist on Linus' words that enforces the ideas of people who took his words wrong in the first place.

Hence my last sentence

 

10 hours ago, Arika S said:

but it could also absolutely backfire.....with how i've seen people respond here regarding the situation.

 

[Bitter]

VerticalScope has subscriptions for their forums if you want to unlock stuff like no ads, bigger inbox, larger file attachment sizes, etc. I can't recall if it's one price for it all or tiered system but that could be an option to monetize the forums. Just don't take away the current basic functionality.

[Arika]

1 minute ago, Bitter said:

VerticalScope has subscriptions for their forums if you want to unlock stuff like no ads, bigger inbox, larger file attachment sizes, etc. I can't recall if it's one price for it all or tiered system but that could be an option to monetize the forums. Just don't take away the current basic functionality.

there's subscriptions here too

 

https://linustechtips.com/store/category/3-subscriptions/

 

but something like a once off payment might be a more convenient way to do something like this so people don't have to worry about auto-renews and forgetting to unsubscribe once they are content.