split from Alt.Binz PayPal donation link

[noons]

Very true hecks. Dont forget though many people (including me) dont actually pay for the newsreader software. They find not so legitimate means of using thoughs programs. Rdl though has the most generous license terms out of any of the readers which is one of the major reasons I want to support him.

[patch]

This system is rather cryptic.
The main screen appears to offer a stable version to the public and developmental versions to those who like beta testing.
After digging further it appears later versions are stable but only available to paying customers.
So I donate a typical amount for a shareware program, unsure if I'm paying to be a beta tester or get a better stable program.
Read some more & suspect the author may well take offence if my "donation" doesn't meet his expectation.

Sorry if this sounds a bit negative but IMO the system could be improved
If the builds after the public release are stable and suitable for paying customers then say so.
If you need a pay a minimum to access the full features (current stable version), then just say so rather than expecting everyone to guess.

As for life time updates
I have no intention of committing to using Altbinz for life, similarly I don't mind paying more if it continues to deliver. Have you considered giving a limited time access if donations are "unacceptable"?

[Hecks]

It's not shareware - at most, donationware.  There are no 'customers' of the proggy, only 'contributors', i.e. supporters of future developement.  It's a different kind of transaction.  By donating you join this community, and among other things are able to make new feature requests.  This is explained on the front page.  There are no 'stable' and 'beta' versions of Alt.Binz, just new releases (it's completely different from Newsleecher in that respect). The version history may be found here:

https://www.altbinz.net/index.php?page=vhistory

Remember that Newsleecher charges $30 per year for access to beta versions.  To repeat what's been said many times before in this thread: the only people who've had trouble with the donations are the ones who've tried to donate the absolute minimum, i.e. pull a fast one.  700+ contributors so far and counting have not had a problem = 99.9% of donators.

[patch]

It's not shareware - at most, donationware.  There are no 'customers' of the proggy, only 'contributors', i.e. supporters of future development.  It's a different kind of transaction.  By donating you join this community, and among other things are able to make new feature requests.  This is explained on the front page.  There are no 'stable' and 'beta' versions of Alt.Binz, just new releases (it's completely different from Newsleecher in that respect).The version history may be found here:

The explanation is not actually as clear as you imagine.
You see I'm just looking for a program which works smoothly & reliably.
As such I have no interest in daily builds. The version history list a variety of bug fixes & feature enhancements without clear indication of software stability, that is unless you are trying to imply all of altbinz daily builds are bug free
Similarly I don't know why you imaging I would want to pay to offer improvement suggestions. So you are offering only access to the current version for a price you refuse to disclose.

For those trying to guess what Altbinz management consider a fair price, it appears 10 euro is too low (I just got a refund)
Now I wonder what my next guess should be considering everyone apparently gets only 2 guesses.

Remember that Newsleecher charges $30 per year for access to beta versions.  To repeat what's been said many times before in this thread: the only people who've had trouble with the donations are the ones who've tried to donate the absolute minimum, i.e. pull a fast one.  700+ contributors so far and counting have not had a problem = 99.9% of donators.

I don't really see the relevance of all the Newsleecher comparisons, but as you insist. Newsleecher isn't run by on programmer who is looking at dropping support for the product, so there 1 year of upgrades could well be more valuable than a lifetime of a dead product The Newsleecher reader is actually $US20 https://newsleecher.com/?id=buy

If you mean, the minimum "donation" is $US30, then why not say it.
Accusing your customers of trying to "pull a fast one", because not all can read your mind is hardly a way to build a profitable business.
700 x $30 = $21K over the first 6 months. Given you are offering "lifetime" support, you are going to need to do much better than that for this project to support even one programmer.

Enough of my rant.
What I have been trying to say is your marketing techniques is not customer friendly.
Wether you listen or not is your decision.

[Rdl]

For those trying to guess what Altbinz management consider a fair price, it appears 10 euro is too low (I just got a refund)
Now I wonder what my next guess should be considering everyone apparently gets only 2 guesses.

You got a refund with a note saying

Next time be sure before pressing the button

EOD, find yourself another program

So I donate a typical amount for a shareware program, unsure if I'm paying to be a beta tester or get a better stable program.
Read some more & suspect the author may well take offence if my "donation" doesn't meet his expectation.

[Hecks]

@ patch

There is no Alt.Binz 'management'.  There is no Alt.Binz 'price'. There is no minumum donation of $30.  There is no Alt.Binz 'customer'.  There is no Alt.Binz 'business'.  There are no Alt.Binz 'betas', as Alt.Binz doesn't have a 'stable' vs 'beta' development model (in common with much other software).  Becoming a contributor gives you the right to REQUEST feature additions, hence 'Request Forum' rather than 'Suggestion Forum'.  You really have got this completely the wrong way around.  There is no spoon.  There is only the developer Rdl and all the contributors here who support the development of the proggy, which you would know if you'd been around here a little longer.

I don't understand why anyone who's so unhappy with what's on offer would bother, frankly.  Certainly I don't understand why you would think anyone here wants to read such hectoring posts as yours.  Really, what's the point, exactly?

There are plenty of alternatives to donating, not the least of which is the fully functional FREE version (0.25.0) which you can continue to enjoy indefinately.  Maybe you'll even be able to bring yourself to thank the developer in the future at some point for that gift.

[serpent]

I read your "please donate any amount"-form and still got a refund for my 5 euros. Since i had a problem with auto unrar i figured 5 euros was a fair amount, i certainly wanted to know if the problem was solved in version 27.2 before giving away more. Quite ironic that a leecher programmer thinks he is in a position to say no to money [Removed] . Btw, autounrar now works for me again. I really dont care why i got a refund, bottom line is, im 5 euro richer and using altbinz happily. Thanks rdl. You can send me a very polite msg if you want some euros.

[Rdl]

I read your "please donate any amount"-form and still got a refund for my 5 euros. Since i had a problem with auto unrar i figured 5 euros was a fair amount, i certainly wanted to know if the problem was solved in version 27.2 before giving away more. Quite ironic that a leecher programmer thinks he is in a position to say no to money [Removed] . Btw, autounrar now works for me again. I really dont care why i got a refund, bottom line is, im 5 euro richer and using altbinz happily. Thanks rdl. You can send me a very polite msg if you want some euros.

You're richer...  ROFL
This time next year you'll be a millioner

[kalispimenta]

So how much is the minimum?

[cr4zyfr4g]

So how much is the minimum?

why keep people asking that?

Donate what Alt.Binz is worth to you and don't forget Paypal takes fees

[patch]

.... is a completely pathetic amount?  Less than the price of a burger?  Consider how much that will actually be after Paypal fees are deducted.

There is 2 problems with this logic
1) How is a customer expected to know what deal rdl has with Paypal is no pricing information is given.

2) How much do you really think people would "donate" for a burger if the shop owner chose not to specify a price? A lot less than then a commercially viable price. We live in a capitalistic world. Most will pay no more than they need to for any item. Don't blame your customers for the world they live in.

The other issue I have difficulty with is why the antagonism to people trying to be customers. They want to give you money. Why take offence if they do not know how much you expect?

Alt.Binz is a good product but unless a clearer method is established to pay for it, I can't see it achieving financial viability.

700+ contributors so far and counting

You speak as if 700+ contributors is a successful marketing program. Just out of interest, how does that compare with the number of program downloads.

IMO if you want to make Altbinz viable you need 10,000 to 100,000 paying $10 a year not 700 paying $30 once off.

[Hecks]

There are no Alt.Binz 'customers' and Alt.Binz does not have a 'price'.  Your argument therefore falls down at the first hurdle, so I won't bother commenting on the rest.  Everything that can be said has already been said in this thread.

But just to repeat: the only ones who have been refused are the tiny minority (vs 900 now) who have tried to donate 1 or 2 euro.  It's a shame you don't have access to the Daily Builds forum, where there are dozens and dozens of posts from happy contributors thanking the developer Rdl, who is of course the only one who knows the precise amounts being donated, and is the ony one who can can judge whether his chosen system of donations is financially 'viable' for him.

IMO if you want to make Altbinz viable you need 10,000 to 100,000 paying $10 a year not 700 paying $30 once off.

You are living in a dream world.

[Gompy]

Hey Hecks!!!

[Luke Cage]

why keep people asking that?

So they can not get refunded, because they can not read minds. As someone pointed out the typical shareware donation is $5, but that's apparently way too low here. That's pretty problematic considering theres no indication of what the minimum price is, and that what you donate is taking as a one time only donation which isn't indicated either. I'm sure this won't change anything, just offering my experience. I've never seen anything like this, and I run a site that lives off donations as well. I don't specify and amount and give anyone who donates what I give everyone else. If someone donates $5 guess what, in a few months they'll probably donate more. No reason to turn that down.

It would make a heck of a lot more sense to actually stop calling this donations and set prices. $5 gets you a month on the contributors forum, $25 a year, $60 lifetime or something like that.

[freeop]

I am sorry, but I have to make a comment to Luke. And I am not trying to flame or say anything against what you have already said.  

But I started using Alt.Binz when it was completely free and updates were also free. But then the program hit a stopping point and RDL made a statement that the development of Alt.Binz was going to stop. I was very disappointed as I had only been using the program for about 3 or 4 months. I really didn't want to see this great program go away.

RDL then made a post that he was going to continue to develop the program as long as there were enough support from the contributors. I jumped on the band wagon as fast as I could. And in the initial stages, RDL made the comment to "Contribute what you feel the program is worth to you". Well I had "Donated" money to Agent, NewsLeecher Pro, Newsbin Pro and a few others, but hands down Alt.Binz was a much better program, I felt, than all the others.

So my own idea of a "Fair" contribution was around 25 Euros (around ~$38 US). As I had spent about the same amount for those other programs. And I have no regrets for doing so and I have contributed a second time. Will probably contribute again. But that is just me.

As for the Refunding of others, it has been mentioned over and over that PayPal charges fees to accept currency from other countries. If you contribute $5 US (~3.18 Euro) then PayPal will eat that up in a heart beat. RDL gets nothing.

Ok maybe I shouldn't put a figure in the posts, but all that I have said is MY idea and not anyone else. So if I was to do it over, I don't think I would change a thing. And I hope this will help others in making a choice on what is a "Fair" Contribution.

Just my 2 cents (0.01 Euro)