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Space Elevator

(neal.fun)
1773 points kaonwarb | 9 comments | 20 Oct 25 04:42 UTC | HN request time: 0.71s | source | bottom
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daniel_iversen ◴[20 Oct 25 06:30 UTC] No.45640608[source]▶
This was incredible! Couldn't stop scrolling and reading. For a kid of a certain age and curiosity it'll blow their mind! I'm so grateful the creator made this, shame that his "buy me a coffee" isn't a simple PayPal or Apple Pay but you have to put in credit card or bank details!!
replies(2): >>45642436 #>>45643933 #
1. anticrymactic ◴[20 Oct 25 10:49 UTC] No.45642436[source]▶
PayPal and Apple pay take a significant cut of the transaction. CC is a lot less and bank is mostly free of TX fees. Most users don't know/don't care, so given the option, they will likely take it and funnel their donations to conglomerates.
replies(4): >>45642536 #>>45643036 #>>45643371 #>>45646730 #
2. jve ◴[20 Oct 25 11:04 UTC] No.45642536[source]▶
I don't like to input Cc details into random sites whose main business is processing said transactions.
replies(2): >>45642622 #>>45643275 #
3. linsomniac ◴[20 Oct 25 11:15 UTC] No.45642622[source]▶
Maybe you'd like one of the banks that provides you with limited-use or one-time credit cards? I've been using one called Envelope Budgeting for the last few months after my previous one shut down. It's $40/year, but that's waived if you spend more than $5,000 USD in card purchases. I put the Neal.fun on my "Misc" card that I keep at $0 balance and transfer money to when I buy something.

I believe there are other services that will also give you virtual cards, I'm not familiar with them off hand.

https://envelopebudgeting.com/

replies(1): >>45642934 #
4. pie_flavor ◴[20 Oct 25 12:02 UTC] No.45642934{3}[source]▶
I use https://privacy.com for this, you can create virtual cards with total spend limits or spend rate limits.
5. mbirth ◴[20 Oct 25 12:17 UTC] No.45643036[source]▶
But xx% of some amount is still better than 100% of $0. And the pure convenience of using PayPal, Apple Pay or things like Ko-Fi will probably result in more net donations.
6. dmd ◴[20 Oct 25 12:45 UTC] No.45643275[source]▶
I'm not understanding this sentiment at all. You'd rather input your CC details into a site whose main business isn't dealing safely with credit cards - rather than inputting it into Stripe (which is what his site uses), whose entire raison d'etre is doing so?
replies(1): >>45643840 #
7. blueg3 ◴[20 Oct 25 12:56 UTC] No.45643371[source]▶
PayPal doesn't cost significantly more than what a small online place can get from other payment processors. It's something like 3% + $0.50. That's also not much more than what a small business can usually get for in person credit cards.

This site does use buymeacoffee.com, which appears to be a dedicated payment platform. Its transaction fee is apparently 5%, which is steeper, but better for these small donations because of the lack of a fixed fee.

8. jve ◴[20 Oct 25 13:43 UTC] No.45643840{3}[source]▶
Sorry, I got the expression wrong. You must inverse the logic :)
9. sharkjacobs ◴[20 Oct 25 17:38 UTC] No.45646730[source]▶
> Apple Pay take a significant cut of the transaction

I don't think this is true

> Apple Pay does not cause additional fees for users and merchants.[1]

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Pay#Cost