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The thing is it's not "within-app" revenue. Tencent doesn't make any money from the tips; it's completely passed through. If Tencent were directly profiting fro
by sdm 9y ago
The thing is it's not "within-app" revenue. Tencent doesn't make any money from the tips; it's completely passed through. If Tencent were directly profiting from the tipping process it would be understandable. But tipping in WeChat is essentially a transaction between a send and receiver that is just facilitated by Tencent. This is akin to Apple asking for 30% of all transactions made by Venmo rather than just 30% of Venmo's fee.
- elicash 9y agoSo I know Uber just announced tips for drivers will be allowed in-app. Will Apple be taking 30% of Uber drivers' tips?
- briandear 9y agoAn Uber ride is a “physical good” so to speak. So no. Really, people ought to read the Apple IAP docs, including the author of the story and perhaps the folks at WeChat. A “tip” is really a payment for a virtual good – a blog post, a video, etc. It’s not the same as a person-to-person money transfer. Framing it like it’s a person-to-person money transfer transaction is ridiculous. It’s a payment for a virtual good no matter how one parses it. No content, no tips from consumers of that content. Apple doesn’t take any percentage when I use my Chase app to send a Quickpay to someone. Without the content, would the transaction have occurred? No. So that “tip” is just a voluntarily payment in exchange for some virtual good. The fact that these content creators make a business out of selling their content via “tips,” and there is really no legitimate argument against Apple’s 30% fee unless one wanted to challenge the overall concept of the IAP itself. WeChat doesn’t have to allow IAP and users don’t have to use Apple if they aren’t happy with it. However tipping functionality is hardly going to influence a consumer’s purchase choices.