Why doesn't LoversLab advertise the fact that you can support them and get benefits from doing so?

[Joosh2021]

I only found this out by clicking on the HELP SUPPORT button at the top right. There's probably a lot of people who visit this site and don't know this.  

Edited October 16, 2025 by Joosh2021

[Ashal]

That "Help Support" button IS my attempt at advertisment. 

 

Despite how currently desperate I am to keep the site running with the falling ad revenue with my increasing struggle to pay the bills every month... I feel a great shame asking people for money and am simply incapable of going further in my attempts to push people to support the site. It took YEARS of only having the footer link on the site to SubscribeStar before I finally got desperate enough to stop losing money and convince myself people wouldn't hate me for putting the "Help Support" link in the header as well.

 

It unforuntanetly hasn't helped much. The SubscribeStar is still only bringing in half the revenue needed to cover the cost of the running the servers. Not sure how else I could advertise it beyond the ways I already am, without being an annoying ass about it.

[fishburger67]

Start with changing "Help Support" to "Help Support LoversLab" .  Then, add some content in the description describing on the subscribestar page what the donation is helping to pay.  And finally, add a one-time donation option.

[DroidGirl]

well now i feel dumb for thinking the "help support" was for help/support so never clicking it cuz ive never had a problem with the site

[belegost]

3 hours ago, fishburger67 said:

add a one-time donation option.

This. I wanted to throw some money once in a while, but I'm not going to create an account on any subscription-based service.

 

You need to have more options here. I am not going to use Subscribestar, Patreon or anything that requires registration. I would like if they're was an annonymous option to just throw in some loose change once in a while without a commitment. One that works for non-US states. I don't care about any benefits, titles, special icons, access to whatever or any fluff.

 

I use the site, I value its existence and what it had provided me with over the years and I don't want it to go under. But I am not and will not use subscription-based method to support it.

 

There needs to be more options.

Edited October 23, 2025 by belegost

[Ashal]

3 hours ago, fishburger67 said:

Start with changing "Help Support" to "Help Support LoversLab" .  Then, add some content in the description describing on the subscribestar page what the donation is helping to pay.  And finally, add a one-time donation option.

"Help Support LoversLab" seems pretty wordy for a navigation button. Maybe "Support LoversLab"? I'm pretty sure Subscribestar already supports one-time donations, given I've received a few over the years. The subscribestar page is also already mentioning what it's used for and how it's doing:
 

[Ashal]

7 minutes ago, belegost said:

This. I wanted to throw some money once in a while, but I'm not going to create an account on any subscription-based service.

 

You need to have more options here. I am not going to use Subscribestar, Patreon or anything that requires registration. I would like if they're was an annonymous option to just throw in some loose change once in a while without a commitment. One that works for non-US states. I don't care about any benefits, titles, special icons, access to whatever or any fluff.

 

I use the site, I value its existence and what it had provided me with over the years and I don't want it to go under. But I am not and will not use subscription-based method to support it.

 

There needs to be more options.

 

 

I can offer a paypal/venmo option, but only on a per-case basis. If you're someone I trust (and you, @belegost, are somebody I'd trust) I can give a paypal link via DM. But I can't publish that option anywhere because donations to sites like this are against ToS, so they can't be linked to LoversLab in any way.

[belegost]

14 minutes ago, Ashal said:

Subscribestar

See, that's the problem. I don't want to create an account there, and until you mentioned it, I didn't know it may or may not have a one-time donation. Which is moot anyway. I am not going to use it.

Best option would be adding something like a direct pay-pal transfer. But considering recent events I'm not sure it is a viable option anymore.

 

Case in point: there needs to be more options. Shit, I would even go for direct bank account transfer if that was available over ANY online service. The bank already has my credentials, I don't need some overseas company in a foreign country, whose recent politics Idon't even trust, to have them as well.

Edited October 23, 2025 by belegost

[belegost]

12 minutes ago, Ashal said:

 

 

I can offer a paypal/venmo option, but only on a per-case basis. If you're someone I trust (and you, @belegost, are somebody I'd trust) I can give a paypal link via DM. But I can't publish that option anywhere because donations to sites like this are against ToS, so they can't be linked to LoversLab in any way.

I appreciate the trust, please do.

 

But you need a more permanent solution. You can't rely on grapevine alone and I'm not going to suddenly start throwing thousands of <generic currency> to keep things afloat.

 

One other option I've seen people from the US do in recent years in increasing numbers: have you ever considered moving somewhere cheaper and more civilised?

[Ashal]

2 minutes ago, belegost said:

One other option I've seen people from the US do in recent years in increasing numbers: have you ever considered moving somewhere cheaper and more civilised?

 

Oh, believe me, moving out of the USA is a VERY appealing option these days. I wish I could say life was that simple, though... Aside from the cost of moving countries, long-term visas aren't that simple, especially when the income source I have to show them is a porn community.

[Ashal]

My options these days mostly feel like increasing the number of ads. But I fucking hate ads and feel like I've already pushed the site to the max ad saturation I'm comfortable with to where I don't feel like I'm pushing people away from visiting the site entirely. Not to mention the more I push ads, the more I push people to AdBlock, cutting into the site's life support even more.

 

 

I feel pretty fucked long-term, to be honest.

[belegost]

10 minutes ago, Ashal said:

long-term visas

Are irrelevant if your country has a visa-free agreement with another one. There are options out there. I know they exist, but I'm not a legal expert on the matter. But this is getting too much into politics. Let's leave it at that, you do what you have to do.

[spicydoritos]

Maybe off the wall, but a revenue idea: has LL ever considered selling swag with the site logo (t-shirts, stickers, tumblers, etc)?  There are commercial fulfillment services that will handle all of the actual physical goods, including printing and shipping.

[belegost]

17 minutes ago, spicydoritos said:

Maybe off the wall, but a revenue idea: has LL ever considered selling swag with the site logo (t-shirts, stickers, tumblers, etc)?  There are commercial fulfillment services that will handle all of the actual physical goods, including printing and shipping.

For an adult-themed website?

 

Unlikely.

[spicydoritos]

35 minutes ago, belegost said:

For an adult-themed website?

 

Unlikely.

 

Why not?  There's nothing untoward about the logo itself.  Bad Dragon (a company that primarily makes monster dildos) sells various goods with their logo.  I'm not saying it's a million dollar market, but it's incorrect to assume there's no demand.

[JB.]

it is necessary to be aggressive like Vortex lately xD 

 

 

A reminder with each download would seem sufficient and appropriate to me. Spicy's signature is quite concise: 

 

Please help Support Loverslab if you can.

[Vader666]

What about an (additional) annual funding campaign like wikipedia does ?

Probabbly hard to actually implement due to payment processors and of course having a sufficent stream of money each month is a lot more comfortable,

but maybe there are viable options for somthing like that ?

[RedHeadAngel]

11 hours ago, Ashal said:

 

Oh, believe me, moving out of the USA is a VERY appealing option these days. I wish I could say life was that simple, though... Aside from the cost of moving countries, long-term visas aren't that simple, especially when the income source I have to show them is a porn community.

I’ve been considering that greatly because of the political situation in the US. So, I understand that.

If it were me, I would possibly consider partnering with another company or site. Maybe that would help with bringing in more revenue?

[jouda1212]

13 hours ago, Ashal said:

"Help Support LoversLab" seems pretty wordy for a navigation button. Maybe "Support LoversLab"?

Please add something (maybe some coin? purse? in gold?), something really visible on the first sight, but not annoying (like pop-ups). I realized there is this option just by small chance seeing, what is new, via this topic, which does not helps too much.

 

And chances to support with really small donations (already done by $3 option), so one don't need to think which service support and which not just because $10+ for every service one uses is not really achievable for everyone, but just $1/mo and forget about is is. ;-)

 

P.S. Subscribed

 

[jouda1212]

7 hours ago, belegost said:

For an adult-themed website?

Never seen Pornhub themed t-shirts? Maybe provocation, possible signs of rebellion, maybe just too long puberty ;-) does not really matter, when it makes some bucks.

[belegost]

1 hour ago, jouda1212 said:

Never seen Pornhub themed t-shirts?

Never. T-shirts are not really a thing over here.

[fishburger67]

On 10/23/2025 at 12:01 AM, Ashal said:

"Help Support LoversLab" seems pretty wordy for a navigation button. Maybe "Support LoversLab"? I'm pretty sure Subscribestar already supports one-time donations, given I've received a few over the years. The subscribestar page is also already mentioning what it's used for and how it's doing:
 

I just checked again and there is NO option to make a one time donation.   Back when you were on Patreon I made several.  Like @belegost, I am not creating an account on SubscribeStar, but I would happily make many one time payments.  I have used loverslab for maybe a decade or so and I use it to host several mods.  I feel like I HAVE to support it.  I use the hell out of it from time to time.

 

https://buymeacoffee.com

 

This site takes one time donations.

[belegost]

2 hours ago, fishburger67 said:

This site takes one time donations.

I was thinking about it, but I didn't know the name. That's a good idea.

 

And I just found out that paypal will not let me do an overseas transaction in US dollars. Might be an issue with my card, which I have to clear with my bank or may be something to do with the recent payment processors kerfuffle or US trade war.

 

Anyway, I think the "Support" button should redirect to a page where one could select a method. Subscribestar should be just one of them, that coffee thingy another, and you could add other options in there. I'm sure there are other methods that do not care for the site's content. And you do not have to limit yourself just to US-based exclusively.

[Frayed]

On 10/20/2025 at 9:53 AM, Ashal said:

That "Help Support" button IS my attempt at advertisment. 

 

Despite how currently desperate I am to keep the site running with the falling ad revenue with my increasing struggle to pay the bills every month... I feel a great shame asking people for money and am simply incapable of going further in my attempts to push people to support the site. It took YEARS of only having the footer link on the site to SubscribeStar before I finally got desperate enough to stop losing money and convince myself people wouldn't hate me for putting the "Help Support" link in the header as well.

 

It unforuntanetly hasn't helped much. The SubscribeStar is still only bringing in half the revenue needed to cover the cost of the running the servers. Not sure how else I could advertise it beyond the ways I already am, without being an annoying ass about it.

 

I've used this site for years. I've downloaded mods, made mods, even had people ask whether they could donate me something in return for those mods, yet until reading this thread I basically had no idea you're hosting this site at what sounds like a significant net loss. You're providing a service for a ton of people, and currently you're paying them for it. There is no shame in letting people chip in to keep this site alive and letting them know when they need to. If this is a community, then keeping the site up is a community effort, not just yours.

 

My 2 cents: put that "costs covered" progress tracker over the "Support Loverslab" button whenever the costs aren't covered yet, and at the very least as Belegost suggests collect some more options for people to pay. The more options the better: I suspect people who are capable and willing to donate will already use some of those platforms (patreon, ko-fi, subscribestar, buymeacoffee, etc), if you simply offer the options to use one they're already on it'll make things easier for them, too.

 

I can imagine that this doesn't feel like a nice thing to do and that it goes too much towards what you call "being an annoying ass about it". Maybe it is. But someone here mentioned Wikipedia and I think it's a good example: I'd consider Wikipedia to be one of the few places on the internet that has stayed true to its purpose for decades without resorting to ads or corporate sponsorship, yet even they have to "be an annoying ass about it" sometimes with fundraisers and giant banners.

 

(Besides, in terms of being annoying, ads are much much worse than basically anything you would reasonably add, those things are literally designed to be annoying and attention-grabbing)

 

PS: Subscribed.

[worik]

On 10/23/2025 at 8:54 AM, belegost said:

You need to have more options here. I am not going to use Subscribestar, Patreon or anything that requires registration. I would like if they're was an annonymous option to just throw in some loose change once in a while without a commitment. One that works for non-US states. I don't care about any benefits, titles, special icons, access to whatever or any fluff.

 

I use the site, I value its existence and what it had provided me with over the years and I don't want it to go under. But I am not and will not use subscription-based method to support it

☝️That pretty much sums it up for me as well.
Subscribey-thingy, patreon and such are no place for me. That buycoffee sounds attractive