Right now the minimum you can setup a SB widget at is a $1.00 tip. We set it up this way to lower the barrier of entry for people with lower traffic blogs. The idea was that their readers would be able to participate for a low cost.
What we have found during the beta is that less than 50% of the people using the widget have their tips set at less than $5.00. So when we look at that data, we wonder if it wouldn’t be best to simply make the minimum tip to $5.00 for everyone. What do you think? Sound off.
Note: Our studies have shown that the people who price at $5.00 and above receive the most tips out of anyone. Why? Well, we believe it’s the psychology of the matter. If a tip “costs” more, it must be worth more?
Consider that when pricing your widgets, and let us know about your thoughts on the minimum?
Last thing. The PayPal cut on $1.00 really stinks. On $5.00 it is much more reasonable. So actually, having a higher tip amount means you pay less to PayPal.
10 responses so far ↓
Adi R // Mar 11, 2008 at 1:00 am
I think more reasonable minimum would be $2 or maybe $3, but $5 sounds a bit high.
To the related point, I am still waiting for introduction of some sort of marketplace/chart/list or something to show us which widget owners have traffic yet charging small tips for it.
Or, at the very list, provide a list of top traffic sites hosting scratchback widget right now!
Jim L // Mar 11, 2008 at 7:33 am
I like having $1.00 as an option. My blog is relatively new, so there are “low traffic blogs” and then there is my blog, “super low traffic blog”. I’d like to believe if I raised the tip price people might think they’re more valuable, but in reality it isn’t that easy for me.
Thanks,
Jim
James - DigitalKeyToInfo // Mar 11, 2008 at 8:48 am
I personally am planning to gradually increase the amount. I have already made one increase.
I really think ScratchBack is one of the best ways for new blogs to monetize, but I would see this very difficult if there were a mandatory minimum like $5. While many websites have no problem paying for a $10 link that passes PR on a low traffic site that still has PR, it is a bit difficult to compare that to a nofollow link on that same site with low volume traffic.
Ultimately, it is up to the blogger to provide content and increase the traffic to make the ScratchBack tips worth more.
I realize that there is a cost to ScratchBack and you may not be covering that with your percentage on a $1.00 link with the Paypal fees. If so, I can understand a need to have a higher minimum. I also see quite a few ScratchBack widgets with few spots used on smaller blogs.
Adi R - You can check Alexa traffic on sites your self with the Alexa bar or Search Status Firefox plugin. Another way to judge would be to check the age and posting frequency of the site, comments, feed subscribers (if shown) and if anyone else is tipping for ScratchBack on the site.
Laura // Mar 11, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I think the cut for $1.00 is around .45, correct me if I’m wrong. COMPLETE RIP OFF. I do think $5 is a little high, especially for a tiny blog like mine, but I can understand raising the minimum up from $1. We all need to make a little money… instead of handing all over to Paypal.
Adi R // Mar 11, 2008 at 11:56 pm
To elaborate on what I meant:
I don’t want to hunt out there to find which of the high raking Alexa blog has Scratchback, and of those, how much they charge.
Scratchback has the most precise traffic measure for those blogs (better than Alexa and Compete, I’m sure) and knows exactly how much they charge, so why not help us here?
Bambi // Mar 13, 2008 at 9:55 pm
I think leave it at a starting point of $1 because more people are likely to use the service with that low price point.
You can always increase something but it’s harder to decrease it. IE if you started at $5 and nobody at all took you up at $5 but they came back and saw it had dropped to $1…it cheapens the product.
Let people pick their own starting point and work their way up as they start to get customers.
bogdan // Mar 14, 2008 at 7:53 pm
“Last thing. The PayPal cut on $1.00 really stinks. On $5.00 it is much more reasonable. So actually, having a higher tip amount means you pay less to PayPal.”
I think you have the answer there. No matter how low the traffic, I wouldn’t set the tip to $1. In fact I would never set the tip under $10
Eric P. Martin // Mar 21, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Being that I’m a new blogger, I like the idea of having a $1.00 as a min. The ecomony isn’t that great to raise the min to $5.00 yet.
Terrance Charles // Apr 17, 2008 at 6:22 pm
I thought about that too on my blog. I have been testing the possibilites. With the $1 tip, people are more likely to have it in paypal and tip and at the same time get their sites noticed.
With the $5 tip, that’s still not out of reach and if your stats are showing that most people have it set to atleast $5 it’s creating a shift in which $5 is the minimun for this type of widget.
I would set the default to $5. And if your blog isn’t getting as much traffic, it’s the same as if someone is going to tip $1 for your blog, they would usually tip $5 also
Terrance Charles
http://www.terrancecharles.com/blog
Dr. Mike Wendell // Apr 18, 2008 at 10:56 am
Paypal’s cut of a dollar tip just makes that small of amount not worth the trouble.
At least with the $5 tip, you can get a cup of coffee out of it.
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