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An Open Alternative To Kickstarter

Posted by timothy on from the great-cycle-of-nature dept.

angry tapir writes "Crowd-funding website Crowdtilt officially launched last week, expanding upon the collective fundraising model pioneered by Kickstarter to enable raising money for any project — even a beer blitz. Like Kickstarter, Crowdtilt allows users to create a fundraising campaign with a tipping point. If the effort falls short of the set amount, would-be donors are not charged. However, unlike Kickstarter, the platform allows users to "group fund anything." Users can initiate campaigns without first getting the approval of service administrators, which they must do on Kickstarter."

5 of 124 comments (clear)

  1. No mods?... by noobermin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That might not be a good idea. It could become overrun by scammers early on. The idealistic "libertarian" approach might work (overtime, scammers will be recognizeable as scammers by donors more easily) but by that time the site might be discredited as a haven for scammers by the majority of would-be donors

    1. Re:No mods?... by MrEricSir · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The problem with that is it's really obnoxious. Ever try to sell something on Craigslist? Or find a job on there?

      Every time I've tried, 9/10 of the responses were scams. Not saying it wasn't pretty obvious -- Yeah, like you really want to pay $60 to ship a broken telescope and pay via Western Union? Please -- but it's more the annoyance factor. Who wants to wade through scam after scam just to weed out the real deals?

      On the flip side, you get false positives as well. Hell, I've had people on Craigslist accuse me of scamming for a variety of bizarre and incomprehensible reasons.

      No moderation system is perfect; but it's not hard to do better than a free-for-all.

      --
      There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
    2. Re:No mods?... by rgbrenner · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Cloudtilt is missing this:

      A project is something finite with a clear beginning and end. Someone can be held accountable to the framework of a project — a project was either completed or it wasn’t — and there are definable expectations that everyone can agree to.

      That is from Kickstarter's FAQ. A really important idea if you're going to be donating money to strangers over the internet. Either need a way to verify it (kickstarter) or a really great reputation (redcross).. otherwise you're just asking for scammers.

    3. Re:No mods?... by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That sort of thing happens in the real world often enough too it is a, maybe even the, classic con.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
  2. Need a lawyer/lobbyist kickstarter by future+assassin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wanna kick ass on RIAA? Set up a kick starter for legal battles or political lobbying,

    --
    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*