Micropayment Company Adjust Business Model Away From The Internet

from the the-only-way-to-go... dept

We've discussed multiple times why micropayments are overhyped for content online. Despite being told repeatedly by companies in the space that this time will be different, it looks like one such company (Peppercoin - which has been one of the loudest defenders of the "age of micropayments") is already discovering they need to adjust their business model. The cool thing about the way Peppercoin works is that it basically aggregates a bunch of purchases and creates a "representative sample" to lower the transaction fee paid to the credit card provider. The problem with using Peppercoin for internet content is the fact that most people don't want to pay for content -- especially when there are other options and the mental transaction costs are high. However, that doesn't change the fact that Peppercoin reduces credit card fees -- which is useful if only applied to a market where people already are willing to pay for things. So, that appears to be where Peppercoin is headed: away from internet transactions (though, they still claim that this will be a big space) and towards real world situations where tiny transactions rule, such as arcades.
Hide this

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


  1. identicon
    Alan, 16 Dec 2007 @ 11:33pm

    Micropayments

    In the online world, as in real world, there are things worth paying for and others that are not worth the "transaction fatigue".

    An example of the former is a good song, a great photo, an indepth article on a sought after subject or any ther rich content that appeals to the user who is willing to pay for it (and not be subjected to annoying pop up ads, etc.).

    An example of content not worth paying for is the repeated comments and articles by authors who berate micro payments because they feel everything should be free (and fail to see that most of us are willing to pay for good content if offered at reasonable costs)!

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.