Do PayPal donations work?

Discussion in 'General Business' started by Philopoemen, Aug 15, 2008.

  1. #1
    Hi all,

    I was wondering... I have a website which gets about 1k unique visitors / day. AdSense doesn't bring me much.

    I was thinking... what if I put a "donate" paypal button? Do you think I might get something out of it?

    Cheers
     
    Philopoemen, Aug 15, 2008 IP
  2. boccadbest

    boccadbest Peon

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    #2
    Sincerely, No!!
     
    boccadbest, Aug 15, 2008 IP
  3. terminator69

    terminator69 Notable Member

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    #3
    Well there's no harm in trying. Maybe you could try putting it on for a few weeks.
     
    terminator69, Aug 15, 2008 IP
  4. Philopoemen

    Philopoemen Peon

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    #4
    Ok, i'll try doing that... though I think 99% of my visitors don't even know what payPal is :)
     
    Philopoemen, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  5. movidalatina

    movidalatina Well-Known Member

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    #5
    -lol that's very funny
     
    movidalatina, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  6. Magina™

    Magina™ Active Member

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    #6
    What is your website anyway?
     
    Magina™, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  7. vasildb

    vasildb Well-Known Member

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    #7
    I think no, nobody give you money for nothing, except if he is a multimillionaire.
     
    vasildb, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  8. coba

    coba Peon

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    #8
    I've PayPal donation on my website with +-800 visitors per day more than 8 months, not even single cent return. You can try maybe you have good luck.
     
    coba, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  9. Shazz

    Shazz Prominent Member

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    #9
    It works... Depends on audiance
     
    Shazz, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  10. bloggersmosaic

    bloggersmosaic Active Member

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    #10
    i can only wish you best luck.
     
    bloggersmosaic, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  11. zinruss

    zinruss Notable Member

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    #11
    In order for "The Donation Model" to work, you need to offer outstanding content, something that people will truly admire and consider worth paying for. This model is not limited to written content alone, you could provide downloadable products that would save people time. There are some rules and limitations to this model though, you need to make sure that you are sub-titling content which has not been licensed.

    You might think that this monetization model is all about giving away free content but it isn’t. You should incorporate this method if your site provides some sort of strong benefit to your audience. However you can also use product reviews and affiliate programs to create extra streams of income. Test this strategy and you will notice that the content provided will attract many one-way incoming links which will in term earn you some valuable page rank you can monetize through link or ad space sales later.

    Good luck. :)
     
    zinruss, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  12. bluemouse2

    bluemouse2 Well-Known Member

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    #12
    yes, they do work sometimes. good luck!
     
    bluemouse2, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  13. antheus

    antheus Peon

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    #13
    IMHO
    I think sites like DP would benefit from "Donate" feature. Wealth of information, easy trades with no commissions, etc .... a sure candidate for ocasional generosity...
     
    antheus, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  14. loverctgu

    loverctgu Banned

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    #14
    actually if you can supply rare content with donate button[have to donate if visitor want content!!]
    then you may get some click in donate button
     
    loverctgu, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  15. Travis

    Travis Peon

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    #15
    It more or less depends (not explicitly on the content you have), but rather the audience you seek. Most teenagers won't drop a dime on any website unless it's called "World of Warcraft", obviously a teen centric website will feel no benefit from it. A site targeted at adults which does provide some value to the consumer is more likely to donate. But in either case what might be an interesting idea would be to steal one from the pages of the "Pay to Download" scene and offer 'premium content' which you "donate" whatever amount you feel it's worth to you, (some people will always type 0.00), but at least it allows you a chance to get some attention to your donate button, and it may actually get you some cash =).
     
    Travis, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  16. atulperx

    atulperx Banned

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    #16
    Yes you can benefit but only if you have some good readers on your sites and they want you to keep providing information to them .
     
    atulperx, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  17. Zero

    Zero Peon

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    #17
    my experience says no, but you might give it a try, if you have a lot of free space where to add it.
    It can not be bad, in my opinion. ;)
     
    Zero, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  18. frugalwench

    frugalwench Peon

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    #18
    Most sites that profit from donate buttons are those that offer something tangible and useable, like software or an ebook for free. It also depends on how you do it. Begging for donations, unless you have a very popular site that is about to go under for some reason, is a no-no. Putting something on the download page that asks politely to donate to the site is good. I've donated to sites that I've downloaded software from many times. I recently donated to one of my favorite sites that was about to go under financially due to unforseen circumstances in the owner's life.

    In other words, you have to have some real reason for them to come up off some money. If not, they won't, plain and simple. Most sites that rely on donations don't make a profit, maybe with the exception of Mozilla.com or something.
     
    frugalwench, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  19. BestCorp

    BestCorp Well-Known Member

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    #19
    There's no way of knowing how it would work for you without trying. Give it a shot, you have nothing to lose.
     
    BestCorp, Aug 16, 2008 IP
  20. p.batista89

    p.batista89 Peon

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    #20
    depends on the kind of content/service your site is about, if you have regular users that u interact (coments, email,etc..) it's probably that they will donate you some money, but i think it depends a lot on the website content and on the users :p
     
    p.batista89, Aug 16, 2008 IP