2014-04-11 CoinDesk - Chicago Sun-Times Gets 11% of New Subscriptions in Bitcoin

[TheIrishman]

Chicago Sun-Times Gets 11% of New Subscriptions in Bitcoin

http://www.coindesk.com/chicago-sun-times-gets-11-new-subscriptions-bitcoin/

[FeedbackLoop]

Thanks for posting. These parts really highlight an enormous advantage Bitcoin has over legacy payment systems with regards to small purchases making "pay-for-story" possible:

"The paper launched a voluntary paywall trial in February and it was a success – receiving small donations from more than 700 readers."

...

"However, bitcoin has the potential to offer custom subscriptions or even an ‘a la carte’ approach to paywalls. In other words, readers could simply buy a single story rather than a full subscription.

This is not practical with traditional payments services, as the fees are too high – few people would be willing to “buy” a news piece or column for $0.50 and pay a $2-$3 fee on top of it."



They talk about fees but I think the main disadvantage with legacy systems like credit cards is the enormous hassle you have to go through to make a payment when  compared with Bitcoin.

[bryant.coleman]

I am sure that 90% of those people would have gone elsewhere had they not accepted Bitcoins. That means that the decision to accept Bitcoins resulted in a 10% rise in subscriber numbers for the Chicago Sun-Times. 

[Bit_Happy]

Bitcoin needs an improved fee system so tiny micro payments are possible/practical.
...along with low fees for huge amounts.

[BitOnyx]

It is interesting news.

I wonder if any one else would like to take advantage of it. 10% is a lot!

[bryant.coleman]

For people here thinking that the Chicago Sun-Times is some neighborhood news paper with just a few thousands in circulation: the daily is owned by the Sun-Times Media Group, and the circulation is around 500,000 copies / day. 

[jdun]

This is awesome news! and further supports the idea that accepting bitcoin can help a company achieve a new revenue stream.

[byt411]

Bitcoin needs an improved fee system so tiny micro payments are possible/practical.
...along with low fees for huge amounts.

I agree.
How would that work?
The price of bitcoin must go up until 1 satoshi is used as a tx fee, and 1000 satoshis can actually be used to buy something.