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Granny Snakebite's avatar

“All content shall remain free without a paywall. Paid subscribers would be doing so out of kindness and of their own volition.”

Writing is art, and artists must always rely on the generosity of benefactors. I wish I had more to give. Like everyone, I am spread thin, trying to support as many artists as I can, but your insight and appreciation for you readers inspires me to give, even if it is a paltry sum.

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Amy Sukwan's avatar

Well said Nicholas. Onwards towards a hopefully better future

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BlueSphinx's avatar

This just posted Substack article by Igor CHUDOV, supports your desire to stay pseudo-unanonymous on Substack. Are COVID Skeptics Targeted by a Clandestine Operation?

> https://igorchudov.substack.com/p/are-substack-authors-targeted-by

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Nicholas Creed's avatar

The psy-ops continue, we should be wary and trust our intuition with the phishers and the infiltrators.

"Just because you're paranoid doesn’t mean they aren't after you" - Joseph Heller (Catch-22).

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BlueSphinx's avatar

Hi Nicholas,

I wanted to show my appreciation for your Substack by upgrading to a paid subscription.

But you would have to put your credit-card details (card-number and CHV security code) in the small box under the chosen subscription option.

I am sorry, but for security reasons, I won't do that. And I don't have any crypto. So I am stuck...

Why don't you simply provide the Bank-Account number on which you would like to receive the subscription funds? There is no difference between a subscription and a free account (which I currently have), so it wouldn't need any additional administration from your part.

Cheers - Peter BlueSphinx

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Nicholas Creed's avatar

Thanks Peter. Although Substack & Stripe know my identity now since doing the KYC steps to allow paid subs, I prefer to continue writing pseudonymously for now. I completely understand your reasons for not wanting to provide card details. Your comment posts, article re-posts, and engagement is more than enough already :-)

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BlueSphinx's avatar

Hi Nicholas, I regularly use my credit-card to buy services on-line, but when doing so you first have to go through a secure service process. And although it might be perfectly fine and secure, I am more than hesitant to provide the CHV-code together with my credit-card number on the Substack webpage. I know this is the regular way for a Substack paid subscription, but frankly it doesn't inspire confidence that your data are secure.

And you providing your bank-account number to me (even if you send it by e-mail and don't publish it on the site) will reveal the name under which you opened that account, when I make the transfer. So there is simply no way that I can think of to do it using a bank-transfer, while preserving the anonymity of the recipient (and I fully understand your reasons for doing so).

I also think that several of your free subscribers - that don't have crypto - would probably have the same reflex as me and refrain from supporting you with a paid subscription, which is a pity. Give it some thought and when you come up with a smart way of allowing members not having to share their credit-card details (and the CHV code) when transfering funds to you, while at same time preserving your anonymity, do let me know.

Cheers - Peter BlueSphinx

= = =

Add-on Question > I just bought you a Coffee and it has a somewhat similar payment set-up as for the Subscription. But when I inserted my credit-card details for the Buy-Me-A-Coffee gift, the secure transaction process started. So my QUESTION > Does that same secure-payment process start when inputting the credit-card data for a paid subscription? If so my hesitation for inputting those data would be unnecessary and I would gladly take a paid subscription.

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Granny Snakebite's avatar

My multiple attempts at paid subscription have failed. Maybe a user error, but this is something I’ve done many times in the past. I will try again in the morning and will let you know if the problem continues.

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Nicholas Creed's avatar

Thank you for the support!

It was challenging to set up and I may have done it wrong so will check with the admin team.

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Granny Snakebite's avatar

I tried again this morning with Apple Pay and 2 different credit cards. I took screen shots. Let me know how to proceed. Once again, I’m no quitter.

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Nicholas Creed's avatar

Ah wow thanks for persevering. It's frustrating all round with the old technical difficulties. I will update as soon as I have a solution from the admin, cheers.

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BlueSphinx's avatar

I didn't try the Subscription option because I was hesitant about entering the CHV-code of my credit-card on what appeared to be not be a secure-payment page. But I did buy you a coffee on a page with a similar set-up and that worked fine (I was transferred to the secure payment page once I had inputted my creditcard details on the webpage). Let me know if it works same way for the Subscription option, and I will gladly take a paid subscription.

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Nicholas Creed's avatar

Good morning Peter, many thanks for the virtual coffees, I replied to your message on that site to thank you there too. Regarding Substack subscription - there is an issue right now whereby for some reason Substack is voiding all the transactions when people try to set up paid. Substack use a third party payment app provider (Stripe) who told me the issue lies with Substack. I am at the mercy of the admin support team here responding to my message to find out how to resolve this. Will update asap, thanks again.

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Granny Snakebite's avatar

Thank me when I deliver. I’m no quitter. It is NOT the thought that counts.

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