The $7 Micropayment Shopping Spree
from the why-bother? dept
I'm still skeptical of almost all micropayment plans, as they seem to add a lot more friction to transactions, and they tend to be for items that shouldn't be priced on a per item basis. The Boston Globe went out to test out a few different micropayment systems by spending a grand total of $7 on a variety of items, and the results do little to change my mind. Most of what they bought could probably already be found for free online - or, if not, didn't sound like it was worth the few pennies they paid for it. In most cases, it was content from people who were not well known. As such, they're probably better off giving away their content to try to attract a larger audience. If they have a big enough audience, then they can turn that fact into some sort of paying deal. Otherwise, they're limiting themselves against plenty of competition that has no problem promoting themselves online for free.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Now we know what happens when you can buy $& of st
Micro payments are going to be a SUCCESS! As soon as people start giving away money right and left that other people can only spend by making micropayments.
Even then, when the novelty wears off...
- The Precision Blogger
http://precision-blogging.blogspot.com
[ link to this | view in chronology ]