jollyjack
patreon
Regarding Gumroad.
🕑 Added 2024-03-17 19:26:24 +0000 UTCGumroad rather hastily added a clarification of "no NSFW content" to their user guidelines on March 15th. I only found out about it by word-of-mouth over the weekend as they never notified anyone who sold content on the platform.
As of writing, I can still see sales being processed, so I've no idea what their future plans might be. The backlash from users (and the sudden drop in profits) may give them cause to try and make a better argument against the payment process companies (paypal/stripe) that seem to be responsible for the sudden shift toward the puritanical.
If Gumroad DOES follow through on this, a large number of existing Apsara comics will no longer be available to buy, at least until another (trustworthy) avenue of sale is found.
I plan to still use Gumroad, as it has proven reliable to both myself and customers, but I may have to adjust my strategy a little, with more "narrative focused" works appearing there, and risque "bonus content" for each appearing here on Patreon.
Ultimately; this policy change won't affect you fine folk at all. Content WILL still be posted here regularly and new Apsara comics WILL still be produced. I'm simply providing a bit of advance notice that "currently unavailable" may suddenly be written all over the pre-2024 Apsara comic listings.
Comments
Amethystine
I've been talking with someone about Gumroad's NSFW policies, and it's really beginning to seem like they're not at all targeting furry content, just looking to put a stop to real-life porn, like photography and videos. I don't think you'll have to worry about Gumroad shutting you down.
Itchigo Icetalons
So sorry you have to deal with this.
Tyler Coltraine
They were just bragging yesterday that sales have *exploded* in the past 24 hours, so I don't expect a change in Gumroad's attitude, nor do I expect one from the processors either--Mastercard et al along with the banks are dodging political ramifications, not financial ones.
Martin Krikorian
Folks, this is the very tip of the iceberg. The Christian right is going all out to destroy anything that is overtly erotic (While allowing covertly erotic content to remain.). Get back in the closet! Hide under your covers! Don't "pretend" that sex is normal!
AstralRavioli
There's a song called 'Well Measured Vice' by The Correspondents, that perfectly summarises the absurdity of erotic censorship that unfortunately seems to be spiraling towards Whiteadder levels of lunacy these days.
Wat
https://itch.io/docs/creators/payments check out the "payment modes" section - you are looking for "collected by itch" - side note I highly recommend not setting the "itch.io split" to 0%. There is some sort of NDA related audits payment processors do that itch can appeal, but it costs them money or something and they have in the past deactivated some very specific creators who also had their itch splits set to 0%. We personally kept it at the default, just some advice on that step.
Jolly Jack
I'll have a look into that, then! Thanks :)
Wat
Paypal and Stripe both process payments for Itch, but Itch operates as a middleman for all payments, that is, they are the recipient and take all the risk. It's a small difference for the users, but it's a huge difference for what it allows them to sell on those platforms, it works more like Patreon in that way (with regards to payments) where they have deals laid out that allow them to push closer to the line on allowable subjects. Deviantart is similar - recently Deviantart swtiched their rules around and you can now post sexual content there - but only if it's behind a paywall. This seems to be a universal thing with payment processors that if all the content is behind an paywall (which acts as an agegate) they are more lenient with what they allow. Deviantart allows sexual content now because they have similar deals worked out with payment processors that itch and patreon have.
AgonWolfe
Also Be careful since Patreon is cracking down on Noncon Seccs, even if it's explicitly stated, dunno how that one will be sorted out.
Jolly Jack
Itch Io still requires you follow the Paypal/Stripe rules, though, doesn't it? They're the payment processors there, too.
Wat
I've recommended it before, and I don't know if they had issues processing payment for the uk, but I highly recommend itch.io. I now have several years of data on sales from them on two large projects (a comic and visual novel). They have an extremely reliable platform, but more importantly they have discovery and it actually works. Roughly 50% of the extra traffic outside of our personal websites comes from in site discovery. They have the same features as gumroad on product handling and support, and offer past download of work. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a replacement (the people who run the site even answer questions on discord).
ScarySerum
What's really scummy about this change is that creators were given less than a day's notice (or none at all, given they didn't send a message). It's bad enough folks can have a significant portion of their income taken away from them, but these companies should give their users at least 1-2 months to sort things out. Of course, I'll do my best to continue supporting you JJ! Even if it means shipping boxes of cash. That's not suspicious at all, right? :P
John
I would also add in Texas, as they recently passed a bill that required privacy violating verification, such that P0rnhub has banned any Texas IP from accessing their site.
Goblinounours
Like, I understand how one might not want to have their company-name associated half the time with the sale of erotic content, but it's still a really dumb move.
Amethystine
Never mind! It seems it's most likely Paypal and Stripe, indeed.
Shawn K. Younkin
The issue isn't just the payment processing, it's the fees, and insurance to handle money in this fashion I think. It's all bullshit of course, they are doing it because someone somewhere decided to instill their puritanical beliefs on a billion dollar company.
Shawn K. Younkin
That's hilarious, how many illicit things does Mastercard actually fund and they are cracking down on this shit? This is like Onlyfans all over again.
Devon King
Just having NSFW in the description of a thing will make paypal ban your account.
McZed
I reached out to them, and they claim that their payment processor is putting the rules into play. Y'know, if we get a couple dozen of your fellow smut producers together, I'm pretty sure we could CROWDFUND a freakin' payment processor company that wouldn't have this issue.
Amethystine
Also, I sold kinky smut novels on Gumroad only, until last summer. I was unhappy about the fees GR took, so I got an E-junkie account: No fees on the sales [save for what Paypal takes out of them, since I use that option for payment, but that's not the only avenue available on E-Junkie] The only thing you pay to junkie is an 8-dollar-a-month fee, unless you want a more premium version of an account, if you're doing a huge amount of business on there [and I am not] Bottom line: I think E-Junkie is pretty alright, although it's not as user-friendly as Gumroad was. - It's also a little slow to update. Ie: if you see a typo in a posted item, be prepared to wait a bit for it to update, when you try to fix it.
Shawn K. Younkin
I would be surprised if they went through with it, I know a ton of artists that have NSFW content on there and they would lose a ton of revenue. I think they are posting it and will see how much money they actually lose or blowback they get. But you never know, look at Tumblr after they banned porn.
Amethystine
From what I heard, it was Mastercard behind the removal, not Stripe or Paypal, but this is just hearsay! I have not seen anything official as of yet. [Edit: It's not Mastercard, it IS Stripe and/or Paypal]
Aaron Neumann
It's more than that. The sad thing is that payment processors are investigated for crimes, and in much of the West, if investigators discover other crimes while looking for one crime, they'll get a far deeper look than they want for said other crimes. Essentially, this keeps them distant from anything that could get them crushed because some of their clientele decided that using them for nefarious deeds is a good idea.
Vices
If there's a change in strategy I hope won't affect the actual content of the Apsara comics. It'd be a shame if that means you'd have to tone down the NSFW content during transformations and only show nudity as bonus content on Patreon. Perhaps in that case you could alternatively consider a comic tier on Patreon? You only charge £2.90 for your comics, I think most of your customers would happily pay that amount monthly here and I'd gladly pay more than that.
Piradeux
Appreciate the transparency. It sucks that these companies keep on changing how they go about adult content. Hoping for the best!
ZenoCoyote
Does via PayPal not work anymore either?
Chumlee99
Alcohol, tobacco, sugar, pharmaceuticals, social media, and other things known to harm people-Puritanical people: I sleep. A big giddy Kitty Hulk that doesn’t exist or will ever exist except as lines on a screen-Puritanical People: Real shit!
Chumlee99
Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy-H. L. Mencken
MadZak1
Sorry to hear that good thing you still have patreon. hope it all works out in the end
MrInternetMan
This whole thing is absurd. Imagine cutting off a major source of revenue like that….
Drannix2000
Gotta love a good ol’ puritan corporation cracking down on non-existent degeneracy. I’ll never understand why payment processors will greedily take a cut on any transaction unless it, heaven forfend, have a tit in it.
Chris Mattson
I've only passed by that site but I didn't know you were on there and I never used it due to requiring money. I hope you find another reliable site soon
