Buy someone a coffee

[Jon]

I've just come up with what I think is a great idea! Let me state first that I am not sure if this is possible, but I'm looking to see if there is a method to allow someone to buy a member a coffee. The idea is, that if a contributor here helps another member, that receiver may want to repay the debt. If they buy them a coffee via PayPal, then it means the contributor will be pumped full of caffeine and help even more people, leading to consuming ever more caffeine and eventually a 24/7 Access World habit. They will have to come here in order to make posts to fund their new caffeine addiction.

And any time they try to leave, they will get withdrawal symptoms and have to come back here!

If you like this idea, Like this post and I will look into it.

 

[Jon]

Or, does this then make it a mercenary place and people get disgruntled if they gave a lot of help and didn't get their cuppa? A difficult one.

 

[pbaldy]

I don't drink coffee so I don't care.

I would be concerned about the mercenary aspect of it, and there would be people who'd feel slighted if they didn't get the coffee they felt they deserved.

 

[Minty]

We have one of those nice but expensive capsule machines, paid for by the firm.
I think I have enough coffee per day probably?

 

[Jon]

Yes, that was my concern. At first, I thought it would be great. Sometimes people want to reciprocate. But then you have the issue of, "Hey, they didn't reciprocate enough!"

 

[Jon]

I got a nice pricey espresso machine. Cost me like £1200 ($1500) a few years back. I told my friend and he yelled, "£1200 for a cup of coffee??!!" But you don't buy a house and say, "£200K to sleep for the night??" I reckon I might get 3650+ coffees out of it over the next 10 years. He is a 20 a day smoker, and so his money goes up in smoke to the tune of £1200 every 3 to 4 months. Forever!

 

[Jon]

Congrats on your points Uncle!

Maybe rather than shove it in your face by putting a "Buy a coffee" button next to a Like, it could go on someones profile. I don't want it to be where someone helps another person, and they feel disgruntled because they didn't get their coffee fix. Difficult one.

 

[Jon]

I could say to anyone who wants me to transfer their Thanks count, buy me a coffee. I could then smash up my coffee machine with a sledgehammer as I would be good for about 10 years.

 

[Jon]

He can blast it to smithereens.

 

[NauticalGent]

Rather then buy an individual member a cuppa or cafe, why not let the widget make a donation to AWF instead? It could help offset the costs and if you could attach a trophy to it somehow then the giver would have something to show for it.

 

[Jon]

Yes, that is an idea. Mo money, Mo money! I kinda wanted the ability for others to show their appreciation for the help people do here, rather than me coming in and snatching it out of their wallet.

 

[NauticalGent]

There is this one website I have gone to, the Analyst Cave I think it is. Lots of cool stuff there and he has a Buy Me a Cup of Coffee widget. Takes about $3 every time I click it (about three times now). That had better be some GOOD coffee...

 

[Jon]

I was thinking about $3 too. Not too much to notice, but not too little to not count.

 

[Jon]

Just to say I have found the technical information about how to implement this "Buy a coffee" thing. But I am still not sure whether it is wise or not. It's not like I want to turn this place into Experts Exchange or something, where answers are funded! Instead, its just for a very occasional add-hock thing.

 

[pbaldy]

Change it to "Buy me a Dr Pepper" and I'm in!

Kidding, I'm still worried about the perception of "answers for cash". Would a charity be a viable option? One or more well-rated charities with world-wide reach.

 

[Jon]

I'm still worried about the perception of "answers for cash".

I'm worried about that too. So putting a "Buy me a coffee" link next to the Like button might give people guilt trips! Putting it on someones Profile page might get around that completely, what do you think?

 

[pbaldy]

I suppose that's less intrusive, but there would still be the perception that I'm asking/hoping for cash if that link is on my profile. Of course, I might be losing my job this year and need the money.

 

[Jon]

I have a slightly different view. Everybody has it on their profile and they have no say in it! So no member has the impression that they are hoping for cash, because its a site feature rather than personal choice. But you might have a point, I don't know.

 

[Jon]

Hmmm...idea of optional PayPal button on your profile. If you abstain but see Uncle smoking big fat cigars and cruising in his pimped wheels, you might change your mind!

 

[NauticalGent]

Why not put it on the page header?