Are there any online payment systems that young people who don't have credit cards can use (or anyone else without a credit card for that matter)? Preferebly something that works internationally as well.
A lot of teens read comics, and it would be kind of stupid leaving them out as potential customers.
Ragnar
Micropayments for teens?
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William G
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Re: Micropayments for teens?
You meant "manga" right?ragtag wrote:A lot of teens read comics
But I think the spending power of teens is viewed as being and extention of the spending power of their parents and thus they don't get considered by credit based business.
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Greg Stephens
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I'm sure there will be a solution to this soon enough. No mature market will discount the teen dollar (or euro, or etc...). Thing is, micropayments aren't a mature market at this time.
I've heard this "teens don't have credit cards" argument many times, but I think there are alternatives to straight-forward credit card. What about bank accounts with Visa or MasterCard-enabled debit cards? I'd think that those would be able to function properly (if not today, then soon). I would expect that many parents would be far more open to allowing their kids to have bank accounts than credit cards.
Though Mr. G is correct that it appears as though many teens read manga, I think webcomics are much different in their appeal to younger people than traditional American print comics are these days. Most kids are more web-savvy than their parents, since they grew up with the stuff.
Also, the teen market is more than simply an extension of their parents' spending power: Look how many products and movies are aimed solidly at that demographic. I know whenever I see a giant Spongebob billboard that it's not meant for me. And not for teens, I know, but that's an example of a prominent franchise which is intended for people far too young to really have any spending power of their own, yet who are considered a separate demographic with their own revenue stream.
I've heard this "teens don't have credit cards" argument many times, but I think there are alternatives to straight-forward credit card. What about bank accounts with Visa or MasterCard-enabled debit cards? I'd think that those would be able to function properly (if not today, then soon). I would expect that many parents would be far more open to allowing their kids to have bank accounts than credit cards.
Though Mr. G is correct that it appears as though many teens read manga, I think webcomics are much different in their appeal to younger people than traditional American print comics are these days. Most kids are more web-savvy than their parents, since they grew up with the stuff.
Also, the teen market is more than simply an extension of their parents' spending power: Look how many products and movies are aimed solidly at that demographic. I know whenever I see a giant Spongebob billboard that it's not meant for me. And not for teens, I know, but that's an example of a prominent franchise which is intended for people far too young to really have any spending power of their own, yet who are considered a separate demographic with their own revenue stream.
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Tim Tylor
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I gather you can use Switch debit cards with Paypal.Greg Stephens wrote:What about bank accounts with Visa or MasterCard-enabled debit cards? I'd think that those would be able to function properly (if not today, then soon).
Here in Britain the Post Office has made a deal with Napster to sell download vouchers. That's probably limited to online music right now, but maybe it's the start of a more general trend.
Thanks for the feedback.
A lot of teens read my previous comics, and I don't want to exclude them from my next one. At the same time I want to attempt some kind of payment system to see if I can make any money of it. An added complication is that my comics are not of the kind that most teens would want their parents to know they were reading (yes, I'm subverting the youth
). So it would need to be a payment system teens can use, without their parents getting a list of every transaction they've done.
PayPal...which would be a nice option, is not available to anyone under 18. BitPass requiers a credit card or PayPal account to buy. Hmm...
Maybe I should just make my comic postcard-ware for anyone under 18. That is, if you send me a post card with your e-mail, I mail you back the code you need to access the page.
Cheers,
Ragnar
A lot of teens read my previous comics, and I don't want to exclude them from my next one. At the same time I want to attempt some kind of payment system to see if I can make any money of it. An added complication is that my comics are not of the kind that most teens would want their parents to know they were reading (yes, I'm subverting the youth
). So it would need to be a payment system teens can use, without their parents getting a list of every transaction they've done.PayPal...which would be a nice option, is not available to anyone under 18. BitPass requiers a credit card or PayPal account to buy. Hmm...
Maybe I should just make my comic postcard-ware for anyone under 18. That is, if you send me a post card with your e-mail, I mail you back the code you need to access the page.
Cheers,
Ragnar