4 ms·

> You kidding me? You're a complainer in search of an issue, there's nothing wrong with this. "Buying things on the internet" obviously works already, in the fo

> You kidding me? You're a complainer in search of an issue, there's nothing wrong with this. "Buying things on the internet" obviously works already, in the form of patreon, subscriptions, and digital purchases. And I've used such services, yes. But this looks way too minimalistic to me to be useful. On Patreon I subscribe to a specific artist. I know who they are and they can know me if we talk to each other. I can favorite posts, provide feedback, get perks, etc. When an artist says that for $10 I'll get access to their latest sketches that's a public announcement on Patreon, and if they don't hold up their promise, fans will get upset. Here there's an obscure link. I don't know what I'm paying for, or who made it. I don't know whether it belongs to the actual person who's supposed to benefit. Somebody could pay for the first access, make their own link and then leech off the actual artist by spreading their link around.

TylerE 4y ago
What happens when the URL inevitably starts 404ing would be my first question.
- blacksmith_tb 4y ago
  It would be a plus if paidlink.to actually made a call to the link before accepting payment, and put up a warning / stopped the transaction if it didn't get a 200, "We're sorry but thingyouwanted.com/enticing.html isn't currrently available, please try again later."
yyu990 4y ago
The artist can just have a webpage/blog/... where they would include such "paid links". That is, the audience still knows who they are and still builds some trust etc. But now they don't have to deal with setting up payment systems and account handling and billing and all that stuff. The value proposition of the OP service is to take care of all that and the artist can focus on their art instead. A per-click webshop, basically.
- giantrobot 4y ago
  The issue is I as a scammer can create a paid link to any arbitrary URL, including your URL. There's no verification of control like how say LetsEncrypt works. As a user I'm taken to a link with no verification of what I might be paying for. There's no preview of the content or even a declaration of who might own rights to the linked content. So I get a link that says I need to pay $10, what the fuck am I paying for? Even if I followed a link and expect to be paying, a scammer could also send me a link to the same content. I expected to pay through this site so I go ahead and pay for the content. Since I followed the scammer's link they get paid instead of the content owner. This is a system just rife with abuse potential.
  - sacrosancty 4y ago
    You don't seem to have addressed your parent's point. A creator can post a paidlink link on their own site. You already know they're not a scammer because you're part of their happy fanbase. So you trust the links they post will do what they say. Of course you wouldn't just pay money for some random link you found on Google search.
  - lmm 4y ago
    > The issue is I as a scammer can create a paid link to any arbitrary URL, including your URL. Sure, but that was a problem that already existed. People already sell other people's artworks / pictures / etc.. Having to copy a file rather than a link is not a significant barrier. > Even if I followed a link and expect to be paying, a scammer could also send me a link to the same content. I expected to pay through this site so I go ahead and pay for the content. Since I followed the scammer's link they get paid instead of the content owner. Presumably you're getting the link from somewhere reputable - the creator's own site, or their patreon/twitter/etc.. Sure, a scammer can create a fake profile to impersonate them - but again, that's something that already happens.
    - iopq 4y ago
      You can put a video behind DRM. You can screen record that video, but it's going to lose quality. If it's a link, it's available to anyone if they have it
Mystery-Machine 4y ago
Wtf man? First you claim this is useless, then, in this reply you claim that you've used similar services before. Make up your mind. Yes, it's simplistic and ugly af. But don't attack the idea. And, I guess, you got that link from somewhere, or rather from someone.
- charcircuit 4y ago
  He said he used similar services to Patreon.

TylerE 4y ago

What happens when the URL inevitably starts 404ing would be my first question.

blacksmith_tb 4y ago
It would be a plus if paidlink.to actually made a call to the link before accepting payment, and put up a warning / stopped the transaction if it didn't get a 200, "We're sorry but thingyouwanted.com/enticing.html isn't currrently available, please try again later."

yyu990 4y ago

The artist can just have a webpage/blog/... where they would include such "paid links". That is, the audience still knows who they are and still builds some trust etc. But now they don't have to deal with setting up payment systems and account handling and billing and all that stuff. The value proposition of the OP service is to take care of all that and the artist can focus on their art instead. A per-click webshop, basically.

giantrobot 4y ago
The issue is I as a scammer can create a paid link to any arbitrary URL, including your URL. There's no verification of control like how say LetsEncrypt works. As a user I'm taken to a link with no verification of what I might be paying for. There's no preview of the content or even a declaration of who might own rights to the linked content. So I get a link that says I need to pay $10, what the fuck am I paying for? Even if I followed a link and expect to be paying, a scammer could also send me a link to the same content. I expected to pay through this site so I go ahead and pay for the content. Since I followed the scammer's link they get paid instead of the content owner. This is a system just rife with abuse potential.
- sacrosancty 4y ago
  You don't seem to have addressed your parent's point. A creator can post a paidlink link on their own site. You already know they're not a scammer because you're part of their happy fanbase. So you trust the links they post will do what they say. Of course you wouldn't just pay money for some random link you found on Google search.
- lmm 4y ago
  > The issue is I as a scammer can create a paid link to any arbitrary URL, including your URL. Sure, but that was a problem that already existed. People already sell other people's artworks / pictures / etc.. Having to copy a file rather than a link is not a significant barrier. > Even if I followed a link and expect to be paying, a scammer could also send me a link to the same content. I expected to pay through this site so I go ahead and pay for the content. Since I followed the scammer's link they get paid instead of the content owner. Presumably you're getting the link from somewhere reputable - the creator's own site, or their patreon/twitter/etc.. Sure, a scammer can create a fake profile to impersonate them - but again, that's something that already happens.
  - iopq 4y ago
    You can put a video behind DRM. You can screen record that video, but it's going to lose quality. If it's a link, it's available to anyone if they have it

Mystery-Machine 4y ago

Wtf man? First you claim this is useless, then, in this reply you claim that you've used similar services before. Make up your mind. Yes, it's simplistic and ugly af. But don't attack the idea. And, I guess, you got that link from somewhere, or rather from someone.

charcircuit 4y ago
He said he used similar services to Patreon.