[wordup] ain't too proud to beg: tipping on the internet

[Adam Shand]

I saw fairtunes a while ago and thought it was pretty cool.  What's even
cooler is that it's actually getting used.

Via: Simon Horsburgh <simon.horsburgh at stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
From: http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/15664.html

Ain't Too Proud to Beg on the Net
Janet Kornblum 
January 08, 2002

Tip jars are generally used by individuals and community sites that
don't charge for their work -- which is probably why people like them.
Shawn Bowen says that when he viewed "Odd Todd" Rosenberg's Web video
about the pathetic life of a laid-off dot-commer, he "laughed and
laughed." In fact, he found it so entertaining he plunked $100 in
Rosenberg's "tip jar."

Bowen was much more generous than most; a few bucks is more the norm.
Nonetheless, online tipping -- a new twist on busking, or the age-old
practice of street performance for donations -- is catching on across
the Net.

People who post personal Web sites, design online games and make music
are increasingly extending their virtual hands and asking fans to help
support them. And while no one's making big bucks, individuals are
impressed and pleased by the generosity of friends and strangers.

Tipping Through PayPal

Tip-seekers post links on their sites to outside payment firms such as
PayPal or Amazon; tippers just click to donate -- though they have to
register with the payment sites first. The services charge a fee to the
recipient and take a percentage of the tip.

More than 2,500 people who viewed Odd Todd's video -- chronicling his
post-layoff life of long naps and meals of Pringles -- felt compelled to
tip him. Some sent as little as $1, but his running total of $6,500 is
helping pay the rent and bills.

"I'm the poster boy for tip jars," he jokes.

More 'Buskers'

But he's far from the only one:

When Kim Corbin of San Francisco needed $3,000 worth of dental work, she
turned to fans of her site, iSkip.com, which promotes her life's passion
-- skipping. They gave her $900.

When Amazon launched its Honor System tip jar service in February,
Modern Humorist set up a special jar to raise money to buy Amazon CEO
Jeff Bezos a fancy grill. More than $600 was raised.

Blogger.com, a site that supports the online diaries known as Web logs,
turned to its fans last January to help purchase new Web servers. They
had hoped for $5,000, but received $17,000 -- $13,000 from individuals
and $4,000 from a high-tech magazine.

When Hot or Not, a site that invites visitors to rate each other based
on their looks, ran into financial trouble in March, readers tipped
$2,000.

British brothers Aaron and Adam Fothergill have raised nearly $5,000 for
Macintosh game site Strange Flavour.

Tips Vs. Ads

Tip jars aren't likely to replace ads or other revenue sources. But
they'll "help you out of a bind," says Hot or Not co-founder James Hong.
They're generally used by individuals and community sites that don't
charge for their work -- which is probably why people like them.

Paul Schervish, professor of sociology at Boston College, says that, in
general, people give for two basic reasons: The donor may "identify with
the other person in their needs" or respond to a perceived benefit
provided.

Rosenberg's site elicited both those responses from Bowen. The
28-year-old Cisco network builder from Atlanta says he gave because he
loved the video, and because "I related to him so much."

Most people make smaller donations. Grant Ownbey of Agoura Hills,
Calif., gave $10. "Normally, I wouldn't," he says. "But what Todd did
was just extraordinary."

It isn't the dollar amount that blows away Rosenberg; it's that people
donate at all.

"I'm amazed every time I get a confirmation that someone paid a dollar.
It's just a surprise to see 'so-and-so from El Paso, Texas, gave $2,' "
says the 32-year-old New Yorker, who was laid off in June.

Tips for Artists

While many look to tip jars as a way to make a little extra money, some
look to them to change the way we spend money on the Net. Guy Nouri and
Kenneth Appleman, businessmen who recently bought a small payment system
called Fairtunes, have the ambitious goal of using the company to change
the way artists -- in particular, musicians -- are paid.

The Fairtunes.com site allows anyone to donate to any artist. If the
artist has not registered at Fairtunes, the company vows to track him or
her down. Otherwise, the service works like Amazon and PayPal: It
provides a clickable payment button for artists who want to accept tips.
It then forwards the money -- sans a small percentage -- to the
performer.

The general idea behind tip jars for artists is a "beautiful" one, says
Fairtunes co-founder Matt Goyer, 22, a Canadian computer science
student. Though Goyer sold the company this summer and is no longer
involved, he still endorses the concept.

Net Power

"It really reinforces the power of the Internet and the idea that you
can connect person-to-person." Adds Appleman, "It's a direct support
mechanism that's never been possible before."

Goyer and partner John Cormie launched Fairtunes in July 2000 because
they wanted to pay artists for music being downloaded for free via
Napster. Though Fairtunes got a lot of press attention, it raised only
$12,000 for artists by the time Goyer and Carmie sold it in September.

But Nouri and Appleman think that with promotion, the idea can take off.

"We want to make sure (the artists) have the power they never had,"
Appleman says. And "we want (listeners) to understand they have a duty
to the artists whose work they value."

Whether or not their system changes the way artists are paid, tip jars
at least look like a good way to make a few extra bucks. As Adam
Fothergill of Strange Flavour says, "People feel quite happy about
parting with money if they don't have to."