Speaking as an author who used to publish on one of those websites, I have firsthand experience with how they handle conversions. The difference between what a reader pays and what an author receives is huge. And that's not transparent, because, as I've said, the conversation rates are variable.
These websites bite a chunk out of donations by selling coins for a certain (variable) rate (say, $1 per coin) and then paying authors at a different (also variable) rate (in our example, maybe $0.60 per coin). On top of that, they also charge an administrative tax per donation (which, you guessed it, is also variable).
The fact that all of it varies a lot is an obfuscation technique, it means that you can never accurately measure how much they're taking from each donation, or how much the author will receive from what you pay. From my time as an author, I estimate they retain at least 50%, but it could be much higher.
All of this is intentional. They're defrauding authors and they know it, but they want readers to think they don't, and expect authors to remain quiet for fear of retaliation. Would I openly speak against The Service to my readers and risk never getting featured again. Or worse, getting buried into obscurity by their algorithms?
It's a predatory service, so I encourage everyone to not spend money on donations via these websites. They're not doing authors any favors.
last edited at Dec 3, 2024 6:22PM
