Things have moved fast for me in the last 48 hours. It was only last night that I released my article about trying to work with Paykings (Zen Payments) and only noon today when I talked about Payment Cloud's insane reply to my inquires.
For those who need a refresher: I have been trying to find a new payment processor to sell my digital comics through now that Itchio was forced to ban all payments on adult content. Itchio was the last good place to buy written and drawn pornographic material and with it gone, everyone has been scattered to the winds, unable to make sales in any one, decent place. (I've resorted to using Patreon and Substar to sell the files for now, but people are resistant to change and almost nobody has purchased anything since the move...) Sex workers and pornographers alike have had to use high risk payment processors on their site for years; they know very well how tough these companies are to work with and how tied their hands are. But, it hasn't been until this recent Itchio/Steam ban that a significant amount of artists have had to think about contacting these companies. I am one of them.
Frankly; I'm very tired of having to move sites. Before Itchio, it was Gumroad, before Gumroad, Tumblr. Patreon has been getting more and more puritanical with their rules too and I expect a ban any day; even though my content follows current guidelines. It's only a matter of time until Subscribestar has to censor more too. Seemingly no site is immune and sadly adult creatives like myself have had to get used to jumping site to site.
I thought, "Maybe this time, I can just have my own site. Slipshine does it, Filthyfigments does it, there must be some way, right?" And yeah, there is. You can use CCBill and other high risk processors if you've got lots and lots of money! That's what all of it seems to come down to. If you've got lots and lots of money, you can do anything in this country. But, heaven forbid you try and offer a legal, but horny, product to someone for $5.
And I don't have enough money. CCBill nearly told me as such.
When I opened up my e-mail from CCBill this morning I was shocked: they had replied with a transparent and honest answer. Something I never expected from one of these companies. The employee laid it out clearly for me: these high risk payment processors ALL have to follow the guidelines that VISA/Mastercard set (and seemingly a big set of mysterious unnamed banks also get a say) and everyone has to pay a combined fee of $1,450 PER YEAR to VISA and Mastercard. And don't forget all the fees for services, contracts, and cancellations. It piles up quickly.
Still, the employee told me that even though my work is cartoons and fictional, it is all under the same umbrella to these card companies. And because I'm small time, because I don't have a "reputation" (my words, not theirs) with CCBill or others, I will be charged more fees.
The employee told me, very politely, that trying to work with CCBill would be a burden on me financially. That unless I had no other choice, I should continue to use Patreon. (Which is a company CCBill already services. They also service OnlyFans and a few others.) It was the honest, difficult truth. Still, I appreciated it.
Paykings and Payment Cloud were both so pushy with me. They called me on the phone several times, they sent me what felt like countless e-mails, all just to string me along in hopes they could get my cash. CCBill at least had to decency to say, "Yeah, this is going to be expensive. It probably won't work for you." (Again, my words, not theirs.) CCBill also went over some of the specifics of how and why we got here. Why VISA/Mastercard have been especially pushy and interested in censorship since about 2020. But, that is outside of the scope of this post and frankly, I'm not sure I'm smart enough to do that part justice. At the end of the day, I really am just some comic artist trying to make stuff I think is sexy and fun. That's why all of this has been such a nightmare: I want to be an artist, I don't want to keep trying to chase a solution to something that shouldn't be an issue in the first place.
Again, I remind you that everything I draw is legal under the law. It is legal, and it is fiction and it is art! Even if my work wasn't art, it should still be allowed to be sold and purchased without issue. But, we're trying to fight stuff that's very big, and very ingrained in our society. We have so much shame, rage, and fear around sex and pornography in the USA and we have some intense healing that needs to be done alongside pushing back against censorship.
Even with my own readerbase, I see and hear the shame and fear around this topic. I see how people are seemingly afraid to share my work even with their own friends because of the stigma that it carries. And my work is not intense; in fact it's considered quite light by most of my contemporaries. Still, they don't feel they can share it. And that sucks.
So, what now?
Well, I'll continue on with Patreon and Substar for as long as I can. I recently opened up a Patreon for Gummy and the Doctor specifically and I'm hoping that will help cover some of the lost ad revenue from Pornhub. (Something that used to help me cover costs and tip the team.) I also, surprisingly, still have a handful of books up on Google Play Books (Yes, they allow some adult content) but projects like Good Pup and Mini-Dom are banned on the app because of their names. (Yes, just the names.) I can only recommend it to folks with novels or very vanilla work. And even then, you have to work with Google, which is not great.
Apparently, vgen allows the sale of adult comics, but they use quotes from Gumroad in earnest to defend their policy, which is a red flag. It also quotes Stripe, which seemingly contradicts what Stripe has told others? This was from two years ago though, so who knows if things have changed. (Their TOS also says pornographic material isn't allowed? Oh boy.)
DLSite can be used by Americans, but it requires that we censor our work according to Japanese law and the site itself is difficult and confusing for most folks outside of doujinshi and hentai circles to understand. My readers mostly consist of queer and trans cartoon fans, so it feels like a big ask to me. I doubt I will get many sales there.
Kickstarter just released an e-mail seemingly in favor of adult work, which was a shock to many. We still aren't exactly sure how they're able to get away with this, as they infamously process payments through Amazon, but it seems to be positive news? I'm considering running a few small campaigns for upcoming stories just so folks can buy the PDFs easily. If you're making vanilla work only, this could be an option but it's a rough one that requires a lot of extra work and is only a one-time burst of cash. Not sustainable, in my opinion.
There's also talks of doing old school mail orders to get digital products: which is the most absurd option and one that's very unlikely to work. Do I want it to work? God, yes. I would love to get a check in the mail from you from my comics; but I know the habits of people. They won't bother. It's simply too much work and they're too busy and my comics aren't worth it to them. Plus, it excludes most folks outside of the USA, which would hurt my sales a lot.
I want to sell more pyshical books to comic stores around me, but the revenue from that is some of the lowest around and I can barely make back the cost of books. (It seems great for promotion, but promotion is only something you can afford when you've got money.) Conventions are an option too, but truthfully they've almost never been profitable for me because of all the costs involved and because of me being a relative unknown in most spaces. Plus, I often hear folks say that they can't have print books because they are adults living with their parents who will shame then for owning such material. Oof.
I'm in talks with a company who might be able to provide me with a storefront, but I will not disclose who they are until I hear more from them. They could be a good solution for the time being, but they won't be a good solution for everyone. Even so, it's unclear to me if I'll be able to work with them due to the above issues. Curse me for being a monster fucker...
Truly, it's all shit.
I fear that soon, my career as an artist could be completely over. I was able to make so many stories because I knew I could sell them and that a small but dedicated number of people would actually buy them. (Which was a privilege, thank you to everyone who supported me.) I will keep fighting and I will keep trying, but unless we push back against these policies and censorship, we are going to see this get much, much worse.
Sex workers have been telling us this for ages but many folks did not want to listen. Artists have a funny way of thinking, "Not us though!" in regards to what flies with pornography; but these corporations and governments do not care. They want it all gone.
Again, I urge you to check out these resources (Stop Payment Processors) and (Yell at Money) and take action. Be brave and stand with us. Thank you for reading this. This is likely my last update on the topic until I am able to secure another storefront. I really hope you'll consider supporting my upcoming projects, since there is a real possibility that they could be my last.
