Ko-Fi: Safe Payment Processor?

[boundstrawberry]

I haven't seen a thread about this but I have seen a lot of cam models start using this site to accept tips.

I looked into it and it seems like an ok place to ask for tips and get 100% of the earnings (According to the site, they don't take any percentage of payment). However, I'm a little wary using it because it focuses on using PayPal for all transactions and PP is notoriously bad for sex workers.

Would Ko-Fi still be ok to use even if it does go through PayPal?
Also I didn't see any chargeback related answers so I'm also worried about how easy it would be to have someone "buy me a coffee" and then try to get a refund.

On paper it seems like a good idea but looking deeper, I'm not sure about it? Idk what do you guys think?

 

[baileyhawke]

I'd steer clear of PayPal and anything even remotely related to PayPal as Ko-Fi is for anything sexwork-related. It's just not worth the risk of 1) PayPal itself taking an interest in your account and finding out you're using the service for sexwork-related activities, or 2) a vindictive visitor taking it upon themselves to report you out of spite. I would imagine it's a really crappy feeling to have your PayPal account closed and not be able to withdraw any of the funds sitting in the account and then never being able to have another PayPal account ever again.

If you have any vanilla creative hobbies, like art, writing, music, youtube, twitch, etc., PayPal/Ko-Fi can be great to use with those provided your sexwork presence and vanilla presence are reasonably separate/difficult to connect, though! Different usernames and emails. It's just not worth it with PayPal's vigorous rejection of sexwork.

 

[Striker44]

I haven't seen a thread about this but I have seen a lot of cam models start using this site to accept tips.

I looked into it and it seems like an ok place to ask for tips and get 100% of the earnings (According to the site, they don't take any percentage of payment). However, I'm a little wary using it because it focuses on using PayPal for all transactions and PP is notoriously bad for sex workers.

Would Ko-Fi still be ok to use even if it does go through PayPal?
Also I didn't see any chargeback related answers so I'm also worried about how easy it would be to have someone "buy me a coffee" and then try to get a refund.

On paper it seems like a good idea but looking deeper, I'm not sure about it? Idk what do you guys think?

A model friend told me about Ko-fi and since then I've used it to send money to maybe 4 different models. It has worked GREAT so far. Especially since they are in a different country then me. I believe the model must use PayPal which does introduce some potential risk to the model if the donator says something stupid in the comments. I'm not really sure about all that as I avoid PayPal myself.

One thing I like about it a lot is that the person donating can keep their anonymity. If I were to donate from a paypal account my real name would be shown. With Ko-Fi though there is an option to "check out as guest" and it allows a pre-paid gift card to be used. So very nice from the donator's point of view.

I'm pretty sure that they pass along 100% of the donation to the model. I am very very happy to be able to use that to support my friends.