Request to add other Payment options to Hubpages

1. 95

   alikhan3posted 10 years ago

   Currently Hubpages offer payments only through Paypal but many people in third world countries cannot use Paypal therefore I would be extremely grateful if the Hubpages considers my request of adding other alternatives to Paypal as payment options for example Skrill, Payoneer, Payza, Western Union etc.

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2. 87

   Marisa Wrightposted 10 years ago

   HubPages has no incentive to make it easier for people from third world countries.
   
   English is not the first language in most third world countries.   Knowledge of English is widespread - but there is a big difference between knowing a language well enough for daily use, and writing professionally in that language.   I speak French and Spanish well enough to conduct business, but I would never dare call myself a writer in those languages.  HubPages wants magazine-quality articles, so attracting non-English speakers is not in its interests.
   
   Also, you'll notice that Adsense makes third world applicants serve a six month probation because they've had so much trouble with spammers from those countries.  Some sites don't accept members from India at all because they've had so many problems. So making HubPages more attractive to those countries is not in HubPages' interests, either.   
   
   You are still able to earn here using Adsense and Amazon.

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   1. 95

      alikhan3posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      whilst the case is true that many of the third world people do not have command over English, Every one must get equal chance. As far as I have seen only good quality content gets attention on Hubpages and it must not do any harm to Hubpages if the writer is from any third world country.
      
      What the hubpages is doing is just 'refusing to cooperate'.

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      1. 87

         Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Who says everyone "must" get an even chance? 
         
         Sure, in an ideal world, everyone would get an even chance.  But this is not an ideal world, and HubPages is not a charity.   It is a profit-making business.  Certainly, there are many people in third world countries who speak excellent English, but the fact is they are far outnumbered by people who don't (as you would expect, since it's their second language). 
         
         As a HubPages staffer said on another thread, HP has to look at a cost/benefit analysis when it introduces any new feature.  And in this case, it's not just the extra cost of administering two different payment methods.  If HubPages made it easier for third-world writers to earn, there would be an avalanche of writers from those countries and HP's already stretched moderators and QAP team would be overwhelmed - and since many of those joining would not meet the standard, HP wouldn't make enough additional profit to compensate for the extra work.

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      2. 92

         Phyllis Doyleposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         That is what HubPages is all about - good quality. Everyone gets a chance to sign up and produce quality, but if one cannot provide good quality they lose their chance. -- and, as Marissa says "Who says everyone "must" get an even chance?" 
         
         You say "What the hubpages is doing is just 'refusing to cooperate'."  Or, is it that you are refusing to cooperate? When you signed up you had to agree to the rules, etc. If you owned a profit-making company, would you give "everyone an equal chance" or would you hire on only ones who would give you good quality work to help you achieve success?
         
         Open your own website and allow anyone to join and do not pay attention to good quality and see how far you get.

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         1. 92

            Phyllis Doyleposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            alikhan, I just thought that maybe you should check out BUBBLEWS and see what their payment options are. There is not a high demand on the writers there and people from third world countries, a lot of them, write for the site and can make money fast. I write for them, short articles or blog type posts and it is fun. I get paid through PayPal, but I think they may have other options.

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            1. 95

               alikhan3posted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks for you suggestion maybe I should explore other sites in the market but what makes me stick to hubpages is that they give you freedom to write on anything and above all they have a generous community of writers, you can learn a lot if you actively interact with their community.

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3. 84

   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   I think it is a bit of a leap from 'no paypal' countries to third world, to not English.  Thanks to the former Empire-upon-which-the-sun-never-set many people in Paypal-blocked countries write better English than I do.  Blocking them by country is a blunt instrument indeed.

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   1. 90

      Jayne Lancerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      +1

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   2. 87

      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Of course it's a blunt instrument.  However, HubPages needs to make a profit, and it doesn't have a large staff.  So it has to use every instrument at its disposal.

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4. 84

   Matt Hatterposted 10 years ago

   As a web designer and programmer with several clients that were burned by PayPal (as was I, on several occasions) I can only say that the original poster posited an excellent argument. I'm particularly curious about "Marisa Wright's" vehement opposition to alternatives to PayPal and that she took a position against "third world countries" as conclusion, surmising wrongly that writers in third world countries don't speak, let alone write, proper English.
   
   O.o
   
   I want Hub Pages to offer more payment gateway options. I know and DESIGN systems to allow multiple payment gateway options on various systems and frameworks. I know for a FACT that adding additional payment gateways doesn't add to a demand on or for staff.
   
   PayPal has its benefits, but the fact is, it has a lot of downsides as well, namely that it can confiscate your money at will with no real appeal. It limits your transactions. It can (and does) threaten your hard work through the confiscation of the fruits of your labor with no recourse or redress.
   
   Now, if somebody would like to challenge ME to an argument on this issue -- I'm very much 1st world, not that it should ever have mattered in this conversation -- feel free: I know how to write an argument in very clear English and have a pedigree of first world nationality so not to trip up ignorant prejudices and labels.
   
   Have a nice day. Have TWO of them!

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   1. 87

      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I'm not sure the word "vehement" is appropriate.  I was merely stating the facts as I see them.
      
      Firstly, I agree about Paypal.  I've used it for years but always keep my balance to a minimum and my fingers firmly crossed, because I'm well aware of how drastically it can go wrong.  But the point for HubPages is that from an efficiency point of view, HubPages has said it needs to have ONE payment method to pay ALL Hubbers.  Allowing a choice means more administration cost - and unless they're going to get some benefit from it, HP can't afford it.   If you can suggest another single payment option that would work for everyone, I'm sure HP would be interested to hear about it.
      
      Secondly, let's not mix political correctness with reality. I'm not belittling anyone's intelligence or ability, I'm just explaining how language works.   I'm also not saying that Indians (or Filipinos or ...) can't write.  Every country has its own great writers.
      
      What I'm saying is, the majority of people in non-English-speaking countries do not speak English well enough to be writers, because English is not their first language.   Anyone who's ever learned a foreign language will know, it takes years and years of study before you get even close to the language skills of a native speaker - and that's the level you need to be a writer.  I can do business in French and Spanish and have even been mistaken for a Frenchwoman a few times, but neither my French nor my Spanish is good enough to write magazine-quality articles.  There are subtle differences in every language between the way it's spoken and the way it's written.  And there are subtle differences in the way English is spoken from country to country. 
      
      I'm sure you've had conversations with Indians in call centres, and you've understood each other perfectly well - but I bet you also had to mentally adjust for some of the expressions they used, or the word order.  If you'd had the same conversation with an American, it would've been said differently.   That's a problem when it comes to writing - HubPages audience is mainly American and wants to read American English.   Strange English is going to make them feel uncomfortable and click away.  Goodness knows, we've even had conversations here about whether we Brits and Aussies ought to modify our spelling and grammar to suit the audience better!
      
      So, HubPages has to do a cost/benefit analysis - is it worth attracting hordes of new writers from non-English-speaking countries?    The answer is no, because they don't have the staff to "audition" those thousands of people, to winnow out the few who have a high enough standard of English to write the kind of articles HubPages wants.
      
      Yes, it's tough on the excellent writers who do exist in those countries - but HP is a business, not a charity.

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