Go Fund Me Is it a ripoff?

[+ purplekow]

I had a friend start of Go Fund Me account to help with medical bills which have skyrocketed despite his having insurance. I made a donation and there was a 15% fee added to my donation and then he told me there was a 30% fee on his end for each dollar donated. As a result a $100 donation cost me $115 dollars and he received on $70 or just about 60% of what I donated.

I knew there would be a handling fee, but this seem exorbitant.

Are there better services? Have you had this type of fee with Go Fund Me>?

[Guest]

???Why didn't you just send him a check??? If a friend needs some money, and I want to give it to him, I'd just send the money. I don't see the logic in GoFundMe. Just organized begging.

[BigK]

???Why didn't you just send him a check??? If a friend needs some money, and I want to give it to him, I'd just send the money. I don't see the logic in GoFundMe. Just organized begging.

 

It sounds like Purplekow was okay with service charge and later surprised to learn of the service charge on the receiving end thus making the use of gofundme questionable. I think it's a perfectly good subject to raise and there is nothing gained in scolding him for his generous spirit.

 

BTW, if the fees are accurate I think it is a rip-off. I hope their website clearly states that the recipient only receives 70% of the donation amount.

[+ purplekow]

As far as using the Go Fund Me, he posted on Facebook that he was humbled to ask for money but the expenses have gotten to be too much. Unicorn I believe you are a physician, so perhaps you have a greater insight than most as to how quickly medical bills can accumulate. When I saw the post, I went immediately to the Go Fund Me Page, identified the 15% cost and though the expediency was worth the cost. I later called him to see how he was doing and that is when he mentioned the 30% fee. I have not checked into whether or not that it always their fee, but I thought someone here might prove to be helpful in a less expensive way to organize a collection such as this. For example, if Daddy were to want to organize a page for contributions to keep this sight going, is Go Fund Me a reasonable alternative.

As to whether it is organized begging, if he had called I would have given it to him and I would not have thought of it as begging. And when you are ill perhaps you would not make 47 phone calls, which is the number of contributors he had at last glance. So this type of site seems to me to have a value, but is that value 40%, that is the question I am asking. Also is there a cheaper site.

By the way, my friend went to Go Fund Me because it has the name that people recognize. He decided and did it before he changed his mind,

[+ sniper]

That amount seems very excessive and I don't recall ever seeing it that high in the times I've used it. Is this person outside the US?

[+ purplekow]

My friend just wrote me and he said he was badly mistaken and that Go Fund Me is only charging 30% of the first dollar, so 30 cents per donation, That in addition to the 15% which was my additional fee,

So that is a much more reasonable charge and I apologize to any who may have been misled by this posting.

[rvwnsd]

My friend just wrote me and he said he was badly mistaken and that Go Fund Me is only charging 30% of the first dollar, so 30 cents per donation, That in addition to the 15% which was my additional fee,

So that is a much more reasonable charge and I apologize to any who may have been misled by this posting.

That's a far more reasonable fee structure than what your friend originally depicted, although the 15% fee to the donor still seems high.

[BigK]

My friend just wrote me and he said he was badly mistaken and that Go Fund Me is only charging 30% of the first dollar, so 30 cents per donation, That in addition to the 15% which was my additional fee,

So that is a much more reasonable charge and I apologize to any who may have been misled by this posting.

 

Not a ripoff. You know the 15% fee going in. It's a convenience fee. Plus processing your credit card probably runs about 3%.