Subsidizing sign-up fee?

November 18, 2004 5:48 PM

Prospective new users needing help? Earlier the idea was discussed of existing users helping subsidize new users who can't afford the signup fee. Any oldbies willing to help out in this regard? [more inside]
posted by louigi to MetaFilter-Related at 5:48 PM (38 comments total)

I'll buy four accounts for people who want them. If you say you need it, I'll take your word for it. My email address is publicly viewable on my user page.
posted by louigi at 5:49 PM on November 18, 2004

If you can't swing five bucks for an account, I think you should be out working instead of goofing off on MeFi. Cripes.
posted by keswick at 6:10 PM on November 18, 2004

I think the idea, keswick, was that there are a lot of places in the world where five dollars is worth a lot more than in the first world. There are also lots of people who are short on cash who still enjoy not working for part of their day.
posted by louigi at 6:19 PM on November 18, 2004

I'm tossing $25 in Matt's direction so that he can add five needy users at his discretion.
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:22 PM on November 18, 2004

I'm not an oldbie but its a great idea - I'd be happy to sponsor two new members from the currency-challenged world...... email is on my user page.
posted by Rumple at 6:48 PM on November 18, 2004

Without the ability to change one's password I wouldn't really be comfortable setting up an account for someone. Per Sidhedevil, if Matt would like to handle this I will donate some monies to him.
posted by modofo at 7:00 PM on November 18, 2004

If there is anyone from *outside* The Americas, Europe, Australia (the continent thus includes NZ), and Japan, who wants membership, I'll buy you an account. Send me an email at riffola AT riffola.com. My limit for now is two accounts.
posted by riffola at 7:02 PM on November 18, 2004

Sorry didn't mean to come off like a jerk. I just want to help someone for whom $5 is a chunk of money. So just lemme know where you are from and I'll pass the money on to Matt and he can I guess invite you to MeFi.
posted by riffola at 7:10 PM on November 18, 2004

Don't trust riffola, he's a bunny-shredder.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:12 PM on November 18, 2004

ooh - didn't realize password changing was impossible. i didn't want to put the burden of this on matt, but your point is well taken, modofo.
posted by louigi at 7:14 PM on November 18, 2004

Don't trust riffola, he's a bunny-shredder.
Hey, it's a living. :)
posted by riffola at 7:15 PM on November 18, 2004

Ok. This is my first post. So here it goes.


Now that I am registered please close the site to new registrations please. :-)
posted by darkmatter at 7:20 PM on November 18, 2004

If there is anyone from *outside* The Americas, Europe, Australia (the continent thus includes NZ), and Japan, who wants membership, I'll buy you an account.

I'll contribute for two accounts as well, same rules as yours, riffola -- please forward me the third and fourth request you receive
posted by matteo at 7:44 PM on November 18, 2004

Without Paypal, is there an easy way for a Canuck to get money to Matt without incurring outrageous overhead fees?
posted by five fresh fish at 7:55 PM on November 18, 2004

fff: It works like this:

1. You mail me a nice, crisp Canadian $100 bill.
2. I will send $5 USD to Matt on your behalf via PayPal.

It's simple and easy!
posted by neckro23 at 8:05 PM on November 18, 2004

I'd be glad to sponsor someone as well. /sally struthers
posted by shoepal at 8:05 PM on November 18, 2004

I just offered up 10 accounts (8 female, 2 male) to my mailing list, with no geographical requirements. I gave people till 3am Saturday to write back. If all 10 aren't used up by then, I'll offer the remainder up to financially-strapped females who mail me (addy in profile). Feel free to email now if you wish but my listers will get first dibs and you'll fall into line after that.

Matt, I'm curious what the best way to do this is. Should I just sign them up and they'll have to suffer knowing I have their password or is there some other way?
posted by dobbs at 8:09 PM on November 18, 2004

I would suggest finding out when the new user registrations will end and wait for the US Dollar to continue its free fall against the rest of the world's currency. Being able to post here isn't worth the extra 3 cents you'll net over the next few months.
posted by Arch Stanton at 9:14 PM on November 18, 2004

I would love to sponsor one new member, for a person who cannot afford it. First person to e-mail me WINS!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:15 PM on November 18, 2004 [1 favorite]

So how are y'all actually accomplishing this?

I had imagined:

1) Emailing back and forth with the person to be sponsored, asking them what username they want
2) Creating the account, paying for it, and then turning it over to them with a temporary password
3) At this point they change their password, so you no longer know what it is, and they run wild.

BUT: I see no way to change my MetaFilter account password. So that doesn't work. Either they have to email you their desired password, or you have to pick one for them. Either way, you have their login info, permanently, which doesn't seem private enough.

I'd prefer to do something other than just sending someone $5 via PayPal. Ideas?
posted by scarabic at 10:05 PM on November 18, 2004

I'm a newbie but I'd be happy to sponsor someone who wants to get in but doesn't have the means. I got such a thrill out of finally being able to comment this afternoon (yes, I'm a big dork) and would love to help someone else feel the same.
posted by LeeJay at 10:07 PM on November 18, 2004

It would be nice to say: If someone is cool and kind enough to sponsor an account, they're probably cool and kind enough to stay out of their accounts.

If someone had sponsored me as you're all suggesting, I'd be comfortable enough knowing that that particular someone had the password. And if I was doing the hypothetical sponsoring I'd sure as hell stay out of their accounts.

Besides, snooping or posting under someone else's account gets boring real quick, and often you'd wish you'd never even looked.

(I know from doing support. Trust me, you just don't want to know what any given student has in their home directory. Don't ask, don't tell, don't even look. And sometimes we had to look whether we wanted to or not, and it was surprisingly traumatic, and often. I had NO idea people could do those kinds of things with that many goats all at once.)
posted by loquacious at 10:45 PM on November 18, 2004

It would be nice to say: If someone is cool and kind enough to sponsor an account, they're probably cool and kind enough to stay out of their accounts.

Yes, I knew someone would say that. "Just be cool man, everyone's cool in here." And let's allow for a moment that trusting in relative strangers has never gotten anyone into any trouble. But if I'm actually going to try to do someone a favor by sponsoring their desire to have an account, I'm going to want to give them total privacy, too.

If someone had sponsored me as you're all suggesting, I'd be comfortable enough knowing that that particular someone had the password.

If I give you $5 right now, can I have your account password?
posted by scarabic at 10:58 PM on November 18, 2004

Yeah, dobbs, it'd be easiest on me if you created accounts for people.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 12:29 AM on November 19, 2004

Thanks for the answer.
posted by dobbs at 12:37 AM on November 19, 2004

can $5 really be that much to people? I don't mean to sound crass but I am a college sudent who barely gets by on shitty pay, but I didn't even think twice about paying five dollars for a membership here. It's about as much as I might pay for lunch, and that's for a lifetime membership.

I think it's admirable to try and sponsor those from other countries who don't have the means to pay five bucks, but (and this may be the cynic in me) I think those of you nice enough to offer memberships are just going to be used by scammers and spammers to get free accounts.

I mean, how do you verify someone is actually where they say they're from, or harder still, actually of meager means...
posted by rooftop secrets at 2:08 AM on November 19, 2004

*student

dammit! I swore that wasn't going to happen on the first day

*hangs head in shame*
posted by rooftop secrets at 2:09 AM on November 19, 2004

I will give account to russian woman who also be my wife
posted by mr.marx at 3:29 AM on November 19, 2004

$5 is just less than a day's earnings at the minimum wage in chile. people earning that kind of money, however, are unlikely to have a credit card to use with pay pal (or even a bank account).
posted by andrew cooke at 5:01 AM on November 19, 2004

(or speak english well, for that matter, but i guess the idea here is to find the exceptions.)
posted by andrew cooke at 5:03 AM on November 19, 2004

U giv soj?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:18 AM on November 19, 2004

I’m buying 2 accounts for people who do not live in one of the PayPal approved countries. If interested, use my email address from my homepage. It is up to you to prove that you satisfy the condition, and up to me to decide whether the proof is good enough or not. See the rest of the thread for limitations.
posted by MzB at 6:05 AM on November 19, 2004

I will sponsor two accounts for anyone interested from Romania (with some measure of proof) who needs the help. You can contact me at loquax at gmail dot com.
posted by loquax at 7:47 AM on November 19, 2004

I'm gonna leave a five dollar bill under a rock next to the bus stop on the corner of MLK and Guadalupe if someone wants to use it for a MetaFilter account.
posted by jefbla at 9:31 AM on November 19, 2004

I will give account to russian woman who also be my wife

Any takers on that one? It's a good idea.

SWM seeking attractive foreign 30-something science, art or music
geek with sexy accent for MeFi sponsorship (and possibly more ... )

(Russian, Scandinavian, African ... whomever, just have an accent, and an opinion.)
posted by milovoo at 9:57 AM on November 19, 2004

Anyone who has access to a computer is probably able to swing a five dollar fee.

But it's a very kind gesture anyway.
posted by orange swan at 10:39 AM on November 19, 2004

$ 5.00 = Rs. 225.225, in the US $1 buys you a single serve bottle of cola, in India Rs. 10 buys you a single bottle of cola, so money spent on five colas in the US can buy you twenty two and a half cola bottles in India. $22.52 is not a throwaway amount for subscription to a website.
posted by riffola at 12:48 PM on November 19, 2004

I am also willing to donate an account to someone in a country where there is no paypal access, or where $5 USD is a great amount. (I am a student, but willing to help.) No way to get around the password problem, other than simply relying on my swiss cheese memory for me to forget it (which I will - I have no desire whatsoever to remember it). My email is j at sluggy.net.
posted by jb at 9:02 PM on November 19, 2004