Comments on: Tipjoy: The Latest Run at Micropayments

By: Ivan Kirigin

Ivan Kirigin — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:40:30 +0000

I’m a cofounder of Tipjoy. Thanks for the post!

We figure that when serving digital content that is already free, whatever payment rate users choose, it’s beneficial to the receiver.

We’re still aggregating the numbers, but they are better than you’d think.

Justin, you can go to a few sites that are using Tipjoy to see how it works.
http://mattmaroon.com/
http://paulstamatiou.com/2008/02/26/thoughts-on-startups
http://www.ijigg.com/songs/V24PB0
http://wickedflavory.com/

We will allow users to take out cash once we complete a Series A round of funding and get licensed as a money transfer agent. This is required to operate in the US, obeying things like the Patriot Act.

We’ve found that the charity side of it is actually very much in line with the voluntary donation aspect, though. Lots of bloggers are excited to use it just because of that aspect.

By: Alper

Alper — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:12:14 +0000

We offer a competing service (http://tipit.to) with the difference that we do allow you to take out money.

We are already seeing that the concept is working for sites with a loyal user base that place the button in a prominent place with an explanation.

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 22:38:16 +0000

Wouldn’t we need to see the mechanism through which the donations are made to judge if this is a good tool?

By: Stacy

Stacy — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:20:44 +0000

I would be curious to see what the percentage of people that say they will pay actually do pay. Still though, I like the idea of making it very easy for readers to offer a tip in even small amounts.