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Is it a bad idea to seek crowdfunding for a personal hobby?

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StephenBeets679895
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12 Mar 2023, 3:19 pm

FleaOfTheChill wrote:
Right on.

I don't know if this counts for much, but I relate as much as I'm able from my own perspective. I'm on a fixed income, nothing changing anytime soon on my end, being broke is kinda my way of life and that's nothing new. It does get to bumming you out when there are things you want and just can't afford or justify the hit even when the cash is there. It sucks. Sorry you have that going on.


Thank you. I knew there'd be somebody who kind of gets where I'm coming from. Seems this "broke" thing is commonplace. I'm finding it more and more to be a scourge that I often wish somebody could eradicate, but that's not really how this universe works, is it.



StephenBeets679895
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12 Mar 2023, 3:26 pm

Texasmoneyman300 wrote:
StephenBeets679895 wrote:
Note to Moderator: I am posting this here because there doesn't appear to be a good place that I can find for this particular subject. If this is wrong, feel free to move it to the appropriate forum. Thank you.

Is it inconsiderate, crass or rude for me to start a GoFundMe asking for donations to help me pay for something personal that isn't a medical emergency, a funeral, paying bills/buying groceries or for a business or charity? I ask this because there's some CPU chips on eBay that I really want to buy and I could easily pay for them with my own money, but to do so will require me to draw from my savings and I don't want to do that.

The items in question aren't things that I have any particular need for other than I like collecting them as a sort of hobby and the total would require, at most, $300.

I'm keeping in mind that there are people out there in far worse straits than I (cancer sufferers, funerals, education tuition fees, that sort of thing) and maybe my asking donations for a bunch of old CPUs that I just want for my collection is not a good idea. Maybe doing that is even illegal, I don't know.

Am I in my right mind to think of doing that or should I just let it go and leave it alone?

I would strongly advise you to talk to a lawyer about this before you go through.The lawyer would prolly be pricier than just using your savings so I would just use your savings plus using your savings would be way more ethically and just the moral and wise thing to do.


Yeah, I can't afford a lawyer. And I'm not going through with the GoFundMe thing anyway. From what I've gathered from the replies here, it's a really big minefield that I don't want to get into. I simply asked the question out of curiosity and I was feeling down when I posted. Got to the point of temporary sickness today. Had a bad fever and chills and shakes. I took some aspirin and Tylenol with a big bottle of water and that seems to have knocked out whatever I had. So, I'm feeling better now. And thanks for your comments. Seems like you know a thing or three about money and such.



StephenBeets679895
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12 Mar 2023, 3:31 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
The answer is simple.


NO!

Are you out of your mind?

Crowd funding is for charitable causes.

Not to get you money for your own personal use.

And its not for business start ups either. The latter would imply that the donors are investers and are entitled to shares of stock...which gets you into the issue Texas is talking about.

Unless your "hobby" happens to be...building a wall on the Mexican border of course.

Hey...your real offline name isnt...Steve Bannon...is it?


Yep, that was the reasoning I arrived at. So, NOPE. Not gonna do the crowdfunding thing. Too risky and dangerous for a personal museum. As for my real name, nope. Not Steve Bannon. Far from it. Never heard of Steve Bannon anyway.



DanielW
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12 Mar 2023, 3:35 pm

There are acceptable ways to raise money to fund a special interest. If Building or restoring PC's is yours, you can always build and sell them, or Show others how to upgrade/build/restore their own. That would allow you to use e-bay, or youtube, or etsy etc. to make money in exchange for providing information or a product. You might think about that as an alternative to simply asking random strangers for money.



StephenBeets679895
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12 Mar 2023, 3:40 pm

funeralxempire wrote:
I think it depends on the nature of the hobby.

I wouldn't hesitate to consider crowdfunding to help cover seat time in a race car, given how dependent upon outside funding racing is.

I can see crowdfunding being a good option if you have something to give back to your donors, like for example if you were to make videos about your CPU collection, people who donate get something in return.

With something like crowdfunding to participate in a competition, there's at least a moral investment alongside the money (you're their entry, they're your sponsors) so delivering the best possible result while also behaving in a sportsmanlike fashion is something you're obliged to return. Ideally, other returns that contribute to the moral investment side would be wise - social media content thanking and showing how the money is being spent, for example.

I don't think it would be a good idea to seek crowdfunding for a collecting hobby unless you're making your collection available to others in some way.


I'm not really set up to provide back in kind to donors. Plus, Texasmoneyman300 laid it out quite clear - I could go to prison if anything went south with that. Now, I get where you're coming from. CPU Galaxy makes videos on YouTube of the stuff he buys, and I'm pretty sure he has Patreon patrons to help fund his videos. But I'm not really able to make use of that. And, again, based on what Texasmoneyman300 has said, it's too much of a minefield. It's too risky and dangerous. White collar crime is NOT my cup of tea. My freedom matters too much to me to be messing around with that.



StephenBeets679895
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12 Mar 2023, 3:46 pm

DanielW wrote:
There are acceptable ways to raise money to fund a special interest. If Building or restoring PC's is yours, you can always build and sell them, or Show others how to upgrade/build/restore their own. That would allow you to use e-bay, or youtube, or etsy etc. to make money in exchange for providing information or a product. You might think about that as an alternative to simply asking random strangers for money.


Hi Daniel. Thanks for your input. I've actually thought of that. Building PCs or even just making LED thingies to sell on Etsy or elsewhere is an idea that I've considered. Unfortunately, I don't know how much setting up a small business doing that would cost and I might not have the funds to pull that off. But I have been thinking about that as a means of having not just disposable funds to continue collecting chips, but also a real income that can pay for more essential needs. I desperately need something work-like. My savings won't last long if I was forced to survive on it for any length of time. And, my parents won't be around forever, so there's that to consider.



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12 Mar 2023, 4:36 pm

StephenBeets679895 wrote:
naturalplastic wrote:
The answer is simple.


NO!

Are you out of your mind?

Crowd funding is for charitable causes.

Not to get you money for your own personal use.

And its not for business start ups either. The latter would imply that the donors are investers and are entitled to shares of stock...which gets you into the issue Texas is talking about.

Unless your "hobby" happens to be...building a wall on the Mexican border of course.

Hey...your real offline name isnt...Steve Bannon...is it?


Yep, that was the reasoning I arrived at. So, NOPE. Not gonna do the crowdfunding thing. Too risky and dangerous for a personal museum. As for my real name, nope. Not Steve Bannon. Far from it. Never heard of Steve Bannon anyway.

He is that guy with the permanent five oclock shadow who was in the Trump administration. Who is now facing charges of ...starting a fraudulent charity (I believe that it included crowd funding) to build "the wall". Would collect money from the MAGA faithful in the name of building a border wall, and just pocket the money.



Texasmoneyman300
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12 Mar 2023, 8:06 pm

funeralxempire wrote:
Texasmoneyman300 wrote:
funeralxempire wrote:
I think it depends on the nature of the hobby.

I wouldn't hesitate to consider crowdfunding to help cover seat time in a race car, given how dependent upon outside funding racing is.

I can see crowdfunding being a good option if you have something to give back to your donors, like for example if you were to make videos about your CPU collection, people who donate get something in return.

With something like crowdfunding to participate in a competition, there's at least a moral investment alongside the money (you're their entry, they're your sponsors) so delivering the best possible result while also behaving in a sportsmanlike fashion is something you're obliged to return. Ideally, other returns that contribute to the moral investment side would be wise - social media content thanking and showing how the money is being spent, for example.

I don't think it would be a good idea to seek crowdfunding for a collecting hobby unless you're making your collection available to others in some way.

I would steer clear of offering donors things in return for the donation online because that may be considered a form of unlicensed unregistered investing.The OP could go to prison for white collar crime in a worst case scenario.Maybe the OP should just start a microcharity or regular charity if he wants to do things for the common good with donations.However its up to 8500 dollars or more to incorporate a charity using a lawyer.


Are you familiar with how Patreon works? Because that's how Patreon works.

OP isn't looking to do things for the common good, he's looking for funding for his hobby.

I'm saying if you want people to help pay for your hobby you need to make them care about you and the outcomes of your participation, so you should show them what their money is doing and interact with/thank them.

I have heaerd Patreon promoted but I would not use it to offer donors something material in return for donations.Again I am no lawyer so i dont know.



Texasmoneyman300
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12 Mar 2023, 8:10 pm

StephenBeets679895 wrote:
Texasmoneyman300 wrote:
StephenBeets679895 wrote:
Note to Moderator: I am posting this here because there doesn't appear to be a good place that I can find for this particular subject. If this is wrong, feel free to move it to the appropriate forum. Thank you.

Is it inconsiderate, crass or rude for me to start a GoFundMe asking for donations to help me pay for something personal that isn't a medical emergency, a funeral, paying bills/buying groceries or for a business or charity? I ask this because there's some CPU chips on eBay that I really want to buy and I could easily pay for them with my own money, but to do so will require me to draw from my savings and I don't want to do that.

The items in question aren't things that I have any particular need for other than I like collecting them as a sort of hobby and the total would require, at most, $300.

I'm keeping in mind that there are people out there in far worse straits than I (cancer sufferers, funerals, education tuition fees, that sort of thing) and maybe my asking donations for a bunch of old CPUs that I just want for my collection is not a good idea. Maybe doing that is even illegal, I don't know.

Am I in my right mind to think of doing that or should I just let it go and leave it alone?

I would strongly advise you to talk to a lawyer about this before you go through.The lawyer would prolly be pricier than just using your savings so I would just use your savings plus using your savings would be way more ethically and just the moral and wise thing to do.


Yeah, I can't afford a lawyer. And I'm not going through with the GoFundMe thing anyway. From what I've gathered from the replies here, it's a really big minefield that I don't want to get into. I simply asked the question out of curiosity and I was feeling down when I posted. Got to the point of temporary sickness today. Had a bad fever and chills and shakes. I took some aspirin and Tylenol with a big bottle of water and that seems to have knocked out whatever I had. So, I'm feeling better now. And thanks for your comments. Seems like you know a thing or three about money and such.

Thank you.I hope you stay feeling better



StephenBeets679895
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13 Mar 2023, 2:20 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
StephenBeets679895 wrote:
naturalplastic wrote:
The answer is simple.


NO!

Are you out of your mind?

Crowd funding is for charitable causes.

Not to get you money for your own personal use.

And its not for business start ups either. The latter would imply that the donors are investers and are entitled to shares of stock...which gets you into the issue Texas is talking about.

Unless your "hobby" happens to be...building a wall on the Mexican border of course.

Hey...your real offline name isnt...Steve Bannon...is it?


Yep, that was the reasoning I arrived at. So, NOPE. Not gonna do the crowdfunding thing. Too risky and dangerous for a personal museum. As for my real name, nope. Not Steve Bannon. Far from it. Never heard of Steve Bannon anyway.

He is that guy with the permanent five oclock shadow who was in the Trump administration. Who is now facing charges of ...starting a fraudulent charity (I believe that it included crowd funding) to build "the wall". Would collect money from the MAGA faithful in the name of building a border wall, and just pocket the money.


Figures. I expect nothing less from the Generation of Trump. I tried very hard NOT to get sucked into the mayhem surrounding him and I'm GLAD he's GONE! Still waiting for "the big trial" to come down, "The Donald" DESERVES IT after that HORRIBLE insurrection on Capitol Hill that HE HIMSELF caused! Thanx for the briefing! :evil:



StephenBeets679895
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13 Mar 2023, 2:30 pm

Texasmoneyman300 wrote:
StephenBeets679895 wrote:
Texasmoneyman300 wrote:
StephenBeets679895 wrote:
Note to Moderator: I am posting this here because there doesn't appear to be a good place that I can find for this particular subject. If this is wrong, feel free to move it to the appropriate forum. Thank you.

Is it inconsiderate, crass or rude for me to start a GoFundMe asking for donations to help me pay for something personal that isn't a medical emergency, a funeral, paying bills/buying groceries or for a business or charity? I ask this because there's some CPU chips on eBay that I really want to buy and I could easily pay for them with my own money, but to do so will require me to draw from my savings and I don't want to do that.

The items in question aren't things that I have any particular need for other than I like collecting them as a sort of hobby and the total would require, at most, $300.

I'm keeping in mind that there are people out there in far worse straits than I (cancer sufferers, funerals, education tuition fees, that sort of thing) and maybe my asking donations for a bunch of old CPUs that I just want for my collection is not a good idea. Maybe doing that is even illegal, I don't know.

Am I in my right mind to think of doing that or should I just let it go and leave it alone?

I would strongly advise you to talk to a lawyer about this before you go through.The lawyer would prolly be pricier than just using your savings so I would just use your savings plus using your savings would be way more ethically and just the moral and wise thing to do.


Yeah, I can't afford a lawyer. And I'm not going through with the GoFundMe thing anyway. From what I've gathered from the replies here, it's a really big minefield that I don't want to get into. I simply asked the question out of curiosity and I was feeling down when I posted. Got to the point of temporary sickness today. Had a bad fever and chills and shakes. I took some aspirin and Tylenol with a big bottle of water and that seems to have knocked out whatever I had. So, I'm feeling better now. And thanks for your comments. Seems like you know a thing or three about money and such.

Thank you.I hope you stay feeling better


Thanks, dude. I'm still kind of in and out today, but not as bad as yesterday. At least today I can somewhat function. Yesterday, I couldn't. And guess what, I decided to buy those two processors I wanted, WITH MY OWN MONEY THANK YOU VERY MUCH. It was a big hit, to the tune of $266.81, taxes and shipping fees included. The last time I spent so much on an order was back in 2008 when I bought one each of a large shell D-2 and large shell D-3 pro digital videocassette. I spent almost $400 on those and that was during the time I had a job from March 2007 through to the end of January 2009. I don't know if you saw DanielW's comment and my reply to it or not, but I'm considering his suggestion more intently now. I'm pretty good with a soldering iron and I also like LEDs, so I may just start building some of those blinky "supercomputer" decorative displays that seem to be popular on certain YouTubers' channels, namely Big Clive. Those are SIMPLE to make and I can do that for money, no GoFundMe needed. :D



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13 Mar 2023, 5:15 pm

IMO:

Yeah, it's a bad idea if it's something you can easily afford yourself and you simply want other people to pay for your wants for you.

It's not necessarily a bad idea if you're extremely broke, can't possibly ever afford it yourself, and reach out to the internet to see if a collective of people with disposable income are willing to pool some money in order to fund your hobby. Usually this isn't to buy collectables, though.. usually I see things like this to maybe fund art supplies or some experience or something vs. someone dreaming about adding something to a collection of whatever their thing is.

When some very financially poor person reaches out seeking canvases or paint brushes, carving knives etc.. the tools and materials they need to pursue their passion/hobby that keeps their idle hands busy and mind calm, people rally around and make things happen - especially if that person with limited funds otherwise contributes value to their community via volunteer work, or just by being who they are - some charismatic character that people enjoy seeing and talking with etc. Even if they're not much of an artist, if it brings them joy, people who's lives they touch will step up and buy the things they need do their thing with.

But if it's for some collectable whatever it is that someone has the funds to buy for themselves, then it just seems like internet panhandling/mooching/taking advantage of people. Almost always gofundme's are posted because someone cannot afford to pay for whatever it is they Need - sometimes it's funeral costs, or a surgery, other times it's art supplies etc.. but the ones that get successfully funded are due to true Need, not someone's desire not to pay for something they want.


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