Funding Cwf

[Delta9]

 

Just sayin'...

[MtB]

Thank you to Essbee and timbouy, the latest peeps scheduling a monthly payment. And fudd if he gets to a PC!

[Dave Clinton]

It's Dan's call but paying £1.20 a year for (virtually) guaranteed regular income of £10.80 is a better bet than expecting everyone to remember to pay £12 this time next year.

 

The wastage rate from a few people forgetting or changing their minds will cancel out the reduced fees many times over.

 

Were you once a debt collector by any chance Mike? Maybe the years of being a landlord took it's toll...

 

Dunno about debt collector but he must be on a commission from Paypal. It's a remarkably expensive way of moving money around.

[DHutch]

Ah. Gotcha. Still couldn't do it on the mobile though.

I does indeed appear that using the button link, the mobile version of paypal doesn't allow you to set up a monthly automated payment. I will look into if we can do something about this in due course.

 

Daniel

[MtB]

 

 

Dunno about debt collector but he must be on a commission from Paypal. It's a remarkably expensive way of moving money around.

 

 

True.

 

It's also Dan's chosen method, probably because it is fully automated and doesn't involve him going to the bank to pay in cheques and cash.

 

The time and grief involved in paying in large numbers of cheques is beyond belief. Gathering, listing then visiting the bank to pay in ten or twenty cheques used to take me a morning a week. And that doesn't include the time spent re-visiting customers who forgot to sign their cheque or made some other mistake. My card merchant account and card machine costs dearly like PayPal but is well worth the time saved.

[cotswoldsman]

 

 

True.

 

It's also Dan's chosen method, probably because it is fully automated and doesn't involve him going to the bank to pay in cheques and cash.

 

The time and grief involved in paying in large numbers of cheques is beyond belief. Gathering, listing then visiting the bank to pay in ten or twenty cheques used to take me a morning a week. And that doesn't include the time spent re-visiting customers who forgot to sign their cheque or made some other mistake. My card merchant account and card machine costs dearly like PayPal but is well worth the time saved.

I can set up a monthly payment from my bank account in about 3 mins and then costs no one anything

[bassplayer]

 

 

True.

 

It's also Dan's chosen method, probably because it is fully automated and doesn't involve him going to the bank to pay in cheques and cash.

 

The time and grief involved in paying in large numbers of cheques is beyond belief. Gathering, listing then visiting the bank to pay in ten or twenty cheques used to take me a morning a week. And that doesn't include the time spent re-visiting customers who forgot to sign their cheque or made some other mistake. My card merchant account and card machine costs dearly like PayPal but is well worth the time saved.

At the AGM of Amateur Radio club I go to someone created because they didn't think the reduced membership fee for those paying by DD was fair.

 

It was pointed out there by the treasurer that it saved him having to go to the bank to pay cheques and cash in. So you have a point but I still believe one off payments are just as worthy of thanks as are all those who contributed who dont make a noise about it...

[MtB]

I can set up a monthly payment from my bank account in about 3 mins and then costs no one anything

 

Not without a bank account number and sort code, you can't.

 

And it currently being a personal account, Dan has said in the thread he is not willing to divulge it.

 

On the other hand it is unfortunate that opinion seems to be shifting towards people deciding not to set up scheduled payments because they consider Dan is paying too much in PayPal fees.

[DHutch]

... I still believe one off payments are just as worthy of thanks as are all those who contributed who dont make a noise about it...

Very happy to thank anyone who has made a one off payment, or a pledge to may an annual payment, as well as the great many who have contributed without saying so in this thread.

As well as all those who have donated, of very generously, in the past.

 

My card merchant account and card machine costs dearly like PayPal but is well worth the time saved.

This is exactly it, almost all payments cost something.

And as said, publishing bank account details also has its risks.

 

Our host accepts payment by paypal for no additional fee over other payments, I expect they also find its fees are manageable.

 

 

They don't accept bitcoin payments.

 

 

Daniel

[bassplayer]

 

 

Not without a bank account number and sort code, you can't.

 

And it currently being a personal account, Dan has said in the thread he is not willing to divulge it.

 

On the other hand it is unfortunate that opinion seems to be shifting towards people deciding not to set up scheduled payments because they consider Dan is paying too much in PayPal fees.

You seem to be suggesting some of us are not capable of managing our own money? You're making a bit of an assumption which is a little patronising...

[MtB]

You seem to be suggesting some of us are not capable of managing our own money? You're making a bit of an assumption which is a little patronising...

 

 

Its just a matter of fact and of human nature. The donation history to CWF illustrates this.

 

Nothing was stopping people setting up recurring contributions before I suggested it. Why didn't they?

[cotswoldsman]

 

 

Not without a bank account number and sort code, you can't.

 

And it currently being a personal account, Dan has said in the thread he is not willing to divulge it.

 

On the other hand it is unfortunate that opinion seems to be shifting towards people deciding not to set up scheduled payments because they consider Dan is paying too much in PayPal fees.

I think some might simply object to fees charged by another American multinational that pays no tax in the UK nothing to do with what Dan pays. I would personally avoid anything to do with PayPal but hey that is just me

 

 

Its just a matter of fact and of human nature. The donation history to CWF illustrates this.

 

Nothing was stopping people setting up recurring contributions before I suggested it. Why didn't they?

Maybe because when the accounts were published and funds were needed some just simply sent Dan some money

[Paul C]

OK does anyone have a realistic alternative to Paypal? I don't know what Bitcoin is without Googling it either.......

[DHutch]

 

Nothing was stopping people setting up recurring contributions before I suggested it. Why didn't they?

In fairness, some did.

 

My personal preference would be for automated, and I will as said look at seeing how we can offer automated annual payments.

 

However if people want to make one off payments, routinely or otherwise, I am very happy to accept that.

 

Similarly if people wish to orgnaise ot take part in cash collections has has happened before I am.also very happy to support these including arranging larger sums of money to be paid in directly to remove the 5% fee.

 

 

 

Daniel

[MtB]

Bitcoin seems a good idea!

 

Delta9 is rthe CWF expert on Bitcoin...

[wrigglefingers]

I don't know about Bitcoin, other than I am kicking myself for not buying any when I first heard about it, but I do know that PayPal actually works out cheaper for me to accept payments than using Visa and MasterCard for tiny amounts at fleece shows. Moreover, the more you take in transactions means that your fees are significantly reduced. I actually prefer PayPal because my payments to them are clear, to dealing with Llloyds in which they are not.

[Delta9]

Bitcoin would be ideal in this situation if only more people used it. It wouldn't hurt to have a bitcoin address set up for for donations as it is free to do and it might encourage a few to adopt it, but I suspect only one or two people would use it. I refuse to use paypal but would definitely throw a few bits in Dan's general direction if he gives it a try.

[BrumSaint]

If the income is greater than the outgoings it would be really good if there were an addon to buy which would allow the direct posting of pictures. The present way is confusing to some and it means that if you decide to moved your photos to a different album then the link is lost.

 

I think that I will post this as a suggestion too unless it gets a quick response from Daniel or Paul C

 

N

 

I'm not an expert, but I don't think making it easier to post photos is a one off payment. I think any extra cost is related to the extra storage space that would be needed for the photos and would therefore be an ongoing cost.

 

I quite like the forum as it is and have signed up for the regular donation as advocated by MTB, because I find the discussions and the advice useful (and didn't want that to stop). If the request for a regular donation had been for an increase in income in order to enable posters to upload photos then I would not have set up the standing order.

[Jerra]

Bitcoin would be ideal in this situation if only more people used it. It wouldn't hurt to have a bitcoin address set up for for donations as it is free to do and it might encourage a few to adopt it, but I suspect only one or two people would use it. I refuse to use paypal but would definitely throw a few bits in Dan's general direction if he gives it a try.

As Dan has said the host won't accept Bitcoin is it possible to do/worth the effort?

[Laurence Hogg]

I have seen a few posts on here refusing to use Paypal, can anyone explain why?

Our business runs with Paypal and 99% of it is payments are through that system, its one of the most easy and efficient payment systems out there and leaves others in its wake. You don't have to have an account to use it either.

Why would anyone not want to use it?

Edited June 22, 2015 by Laurence Hogg

[DHutch]

As Dan has said the host won't accept Bitcoin is it possible to do/worth the effort?

I guess it depends on the stability of the exchange rate between bitcoin and sterling. When I last looked in to it I was of the opinion it was for me or partially useful to canalworld although if there is demand and someone wants to look into the total system viability of using it to pay for hosting I am very happy to review their findings.

 

If the income is greater than the outgoings it would be really good if there were an addon to buy which would allow the direct posting of pictures. The present way is confusing to some and it means that if you decide to moved your photos to a different album then the link is lost.

 

It's something I have wanted to add for a while, and that is natively included in the software. The cost is in the hosting, both storing the images and bandwidth used by accessing them. However it's number one of the list for myself and Paul to work on, to establish what the usage and hence the costs are likely to be and how that will fit in with the current site. If the costs are low enough we will include it in the current business model, else we may have a limited-access service included and full access as an additional small subscribtion fee. Watch this space I guess.

 

 

Daniel

[Delta9]

As Dan has said the host won't accept Bitcoin is it possible to do/worth the effort?

It's easy to convert btc to gbp, if you can't be bothered to do it yourself there are several payment processors that will instantly convert any btc payments to gbp and forward the money to your bank account for a very low fee.

[haggis]

Since Mike kindly started this thread he has been pushing for monthly contributions rather than annual on the grounds that we will forget. One difference which hasn't been mentioned (I think) is that if an annual payment is made, Dan has access to all the money right away rather than waiting each month for a smaller amount. Whether this is important to the finances of CWDF only Dan (or Ange) can tell us. Also, an annual payment will attract only 1 Paypal fee while monthly payments attracts 12 fees.

 

Haggis

[Delta9]

I guess it depends on the stability of the exchange rate between bitcoin and sterling.

Using a payment processor removes any exposure to exchange rate volatility as they instantly convert the btc to gbp.

[b0atman]

Well I did a monthly set up payment but the one off payment seems to have not worked this I will rectify when a few banking days have passed to confirm that it has gone to the internet black hole .

Me being old fashioned use a diary and at end of each year copy to new diary birthdays and other important dates ,that said I prefer the automatic money payments. that I make .

If this was a charity we could have gift aid some of us on here could surely warrant us for charitable status me especially as I get older and have more senior moments.