As I’ve written in the initial post, the site is not in any immediate danger. I earn some good money and can pay for the site myself for a while, like I did the whole first year, as well (it was way cheaper back then, though).
But I can’t do that indefinitely. So we will need an alternative eventually.
Maybe we can consider gofundme as well?
It is a stretch, but how does Chaturbate work? I guess some activity is required, but if you can tip people while they’re not online and the cut they take is not so bad, then it could be an option.
Taking the idea further, maybe an erotic fanfic reading might be something that people could watch, maybe if we have some volunteers to read, although I know how anonymity would be an issue with streaming.
I was doing some research with Sponsus (which is suggested) and someone pointed out that although Sponsus’ guidelines say that they would mostly fit our needs, they use Stripe as payment processor and that doesn’t allow sexual content (so Sponsus is skirting the rules which could eventually bite us in the butt.)
The other suggestion they had was SubscribeStar, which pays you directly into your bank account or uses a wire service.
The fact that patreon dropped you makes me worried for another NSFW author I support… regardless of what ends up making the most sense, I’ll be with you here 100% of the way Martin!
Kind of ironic.
Patreon: “it is against the rules to allow our funding to fund Imaginary people/fake people/fictional characters, to have none consensual sex” so basically it is against the rules on something that doesn’t exist?
I had a chat with the guy who created Sponsus. He told me that it’s basically just MasterCard who are so anal. Since all payment companies rely on MasterCard on some level, and since MasterCard is bullying them to comply (basically, all kind of NSFW is problematic for them, they just act harsher on certain kind of material) they are forced to enforce these policies, too, whether they like it or not.
So basically, once again, a big fat puritanical company taking the law and their view on morals into their own hand and forcing it on everyone all over the world.
Actually, I think I’m going to cancel my MasterCard today, too. That’s reason enough to look for an alternative there too. I’m not supporting bullshit and bullying companies!
As it looks, Sponsus could be a viable alternative for now, but they don’t support PayPal. So you guys would have to pay using your credit card over Stripe as the payment provider.
Would that be acceptable for you guys?
Fine with me!
I know I’m a bit late to reply, but as I briefly commented on Discord, I think it could be worth considering having more than one payment option.
I know it would involve extra work on your part, but it should help reduce the impact if any specific payment option gets blocked.
The one thing I found great about Patreon is that they combined all the small payments into one fee that they took out each month so it wasn’t like '1$ to GSS" and “1$ to y” and “1$ to x” but rather “3$ to Patreon”.
Now, I’m not saying that I won’t be supportive or anything I am just making note of that change.
Hmm, as a random thought I wonder if there is maybe a way for there to be a sort of lump sum donation every certain period. So instead of using Patreon’s 1 dollar a month it could be 20 dollars this particular moment. Obviously knowing you are getting a certain amount each month makes coordination for you easier but just mentioning it.
Sponsus supports subscriptions as well as one time donations. So you should be able to do both. Also, you can pay using any credit card (incl. Discover), but not PayPal, which is not supported by Stripe.
The good thing is that you don’t have to share your EMail-Address, just your Sponsus account handle, which is an arbitrary name you can choose yourself.
Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear this @Corin. All of us NSFW patreon creators are pretty much walking on eggshells these days, it’s scary how they can just pull the plug like that especially since you barely had anything on your patreon site in the first place! I hope you can find a new funding site soon.
I looked into Sponsus, and it seems promising, but the fact there were so many typos on the site kind of made me apprehensive of it in the past. Perhaps it’s improved since then.
I have clearly missed this entire discussion … 
and had not noticed my Patreon sub was removed 
Paypal doesn’t work well in my country and several payment sites and avenues (like ccbill) make it difficult to impossible for me to support the way I could in Patreon. 
I hope we can find a way to show our support again, meanwhile I’ll try to remain active on the Discord as and when I can. 
I don’t have any indication, much less proof, but I’m inclined to suspect that someone has denounced GSS at Patreon. Because as you say, there are many more Patreon pages which are violating their rules much more openly and direct.
But that doesn’t matter. In the end I believe that this will be a reason for more liberal alternatives to appear left and right, which is also a good thing.
Would you have a problem with Stripe? They’re basically charging using credit card only, though, no PayPal.
And once again, my thanks go to you and all the other faithful donators!
For anyone interested and who has an account, there’s a pretty awesome discussion about Patreon and payment processing here, which is extremely relevant to the Gay Spiral: https://www.mcforum.net/yabbse/index.php?topic=41108.0
TL/DR: Patreon probably isn’t going to last as it is for too much longer.
Subscribestar is a good Paetreon alternative
Semi-annual gofundme’s, with clearly stated cash goals and a recognition system similar to the Patreon Star? That way you would only need to have a presence on the website for a couple weeks out of the year.
That’s a lot of effort and means stressing about it every time a new fundraising campaign is needed. Who needs that?