Feed Me

June 22, 2012 6:31 AM

Payhole.me. The Rules: Feed me money. Put in an address. Get something in the mail. [via mefi projects]
posted by davidjmcgee (72 comments total)

Payhole is not an evil corporation or some kind of skeezy scam.

Boy, that's reassuring.
posted by mhoye at 6:38 AM on June 22, 2012

I was curious. I donated.

I'm looking forward to my "something." I hope it's a million dollars!
posted by bondcliff at 6:46 AM on June 22, 2012

mhoye: "Payhole is not an evil corporation or some kind of skeezy scam.

Boy, that's reassuring."

Maybe, but have you ever noticed how Comcast, Bank of America, and Verizon Wireless don't have this statement in their fine print?

Hmmmmm.
posted by fireoyster at 6:48 AM on June 22, 2012 [26 favorites]

Payhole.me: A frozen banana that won't make you sick and kill you!
posted by griphus at 6:51 AM on June 22, 2012 [8 favorites]

This sounds like the Apple Store.
posted by mazola at 6:56 AM on June 22, 2012 [5 favorites]

While I'm sure this isn't a scam, I have no way of knowing this isn't a scam, and the promise of a "something" is enough to make me really, really interested. Even though the risk (someone steals my money) is high relative to the reward (mail), I'll probably wind up doing this.

I'm just lucky no strangers ever offered me candy as a kid.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 6:58 AM on June 22, 2012 [4 favorites]

I've chosen enough of those mystery boxes in vending machines, the ones with the red question mark on them, to know what this is: either a plastic spider or a compass.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:59 AM on June 22, 2012 [40 favorites]

I made this! I promise it's not a scam. I'm a pretty okay guy.
posted by richrad at 7:02 AM on June 22, 2012 [12 favorites]

Let me suggest to anyone tempted to do this... send your money to "Doctors Without Borders" instead, you'll fell better about it in the end...
posted by HuronBob at 7:03 AM on June 22, 2012 [10 favorites]

Send me money and I'll buy a random item from Amazon for you!
posted by Theta States at 7:03 AM on June 22, 2012

Let me suggest to anyone tempted to do this... send your money to "Doctors Without Borders" instead, you'll fell better about it in the end...

If only it were possible to buy entertainment and donate to charity.
posted by bondcliff at 7:05 AM on June 22, 2012 [7 favorites]

You heard it from HuronBob first - richrad is not as good as Doctors Without Borders. Shove that in your payhole, richrad!
posted by Think_Long at 7:05 AM on June 22, 2012 [9 favorites]

So...if Payhole thinks I'll look really good in that shirt, how does Payhole have any way of know what size/gender/seasonal palette I am?
posted by maryr at 7:09 AM on June 22, 2012

If it makes anyone feel better, I posted at doctors without borders that they should donate to richrad.
posted by HuronBob at 7:09 AM on June 22, 2012 [20 favorites]

This is kind of a cool idea, and I may well send some money. But I'd be most interested in a breakdown of how much money was sent by folks. I think that would be a really interesting thing to have on the site.
posted by OmieWise at 7:14 AM on June 22, 2012

I made this! I promise it's not a scam. I'm a pretty okay guy.

I dunno, you don't sound like a doctor.
posted by griphus at 7:18 AM on June 22, 2012 [4 favorites]

I know richrad, and I can also vouch that he is both a pretty okay guy AND not an evil corporation!
posted by aaanastasia at 7:19 AM on June 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

maryr: I think it's saying you do look good in that shirt, a compliment to encourage you to put money in the hole.
posted by lith at 7:20 AM on June 22, 2012

But I'd be most interested in a breakdown of how much money was sent by folks.

I donated $1.59. As if I bought someone a coffee. More than a first class stamp, not enough that it felt like I was wasting a lot of money, but enough that if I didn't get at least a cracker jack prize in the mail I could spend the rest of my life bitter and angry over the whole thing. Totally worth it.
posted by bondcliff at 7:23 AM on June 22, 2012 [3 favorites]

Payhole.me sounds like some sort of glory hole co-op.

10% discount on Member-owners' day.
posted by cog_nate at 7:25 AM on June 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

A friend wrote a program that every few days found a random item on ebay on buy it now for a pound or less and bought it for him. This so he'd receive an surprise parcel.
posted by lith at 7:26 AM on June 22, 2012 [11 favorites]

I've chosen enough of those mystery boxes in vending machines, the ones with the red question mark on them, to know what this is: either a plastic spider or a compass.

Or a lick 'em and stick 'em tattoo!

Maybe some of the intrepid first donators could report back on what they get?
posted by amyms at 7:27 AM on June 22, 2012

It is amazing how great getting stuff in the mail is. For my birthday this year my brother gave me the best present anyone other than my husband has ever given me (he wrecks the curve so I don't count him): a sunglasses of the month club. IT IS AMAZING! Each month a stylish pair of shades shows up at my home! It's got surprise and intrigue and staying power and sunglasses that normally I wouldn't buy myself but I really like when I see them even if they're a weird color. It is SO GREAT! I guess what I'm really saying here is that any time you add "get something even marginally unexpected in the mail" it makes me like five hundred billion times more likely to do it.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 7:28 AM on June 22, 2012 [5 favorites]

If this takes off, you're going to have a hard time keeping up with all the packaging and mailing of stuff.
posted by desjardins at 7:28 AM on June 22, 2012

I have sent over 80 of what I call "cards for no reason" to people I know this past year, and I can say that the responses from them for nothing more than a handwritten note (sometimes the note says nothing more than "Here's your Car for No Reason! I hope you forgot about it and it's a surprise!") is incredible. People don't get letters in the mail all that often anymore, and cards for a reason (birthday, holidays) are nice, but expected.

Something cool and unexpected in the mail is a real delight, and I'm continuing the practice of doing so (I ask for mailing addresses of people I know over Facebook and other places where I hang online...I'm not quite as much a "known user" here as other places, so I don't do it here, but that shouldn't stop anyone who wants a card to message me an address) because knowing that something physical and easy-to-do makes people really happy is a bit addictive.

A long-winded way of saying I like this project and hope it works for all involved.
posted by xingcat at 7:37 AM on June 22, 2012 [6 favorites]

Gah! Should have previewed "Here's your Car for No Reason" would be way more exciting than a Card for No Reason. I can't quite swing that yet.
posted by xingcat at 7:39 AM on June 22, 2012 [9 favorites]

Let me suggest to anyone tempted to do this... send your money to "Doctors Without Borders" instead, you'll fell better about it in the end...

I dunno, I've sent Doctors Without Borders money and all I got in the mail is a request for more donations.



I keed! There's room in this world for both Doctors Without Borders and Non-Doctors Wanting (mail) Orders.

And yes I have donated to Doctors Without Borders

And yes they do solicit more donations in the mail

But yes I'm totally happy I did it and will do it again.
posted by mazola at 7:50 AM on June 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

I dunno, you don't sound like a doctor.

I don't have a PHD, but I do have a small business.

But I'd be most interested in a breakdown of how much money was sent by folks.

I am working on a stats page that will do just that! The average so far has been a lot higher than I expected, about $8.

I am thrilled that this project has gotten the response it has! I assure you all that my wife and I are going to be hard at work to ensure that everybody gets something at least a little fun ASAP. I love you.
posted by richrad at 7:54 AM on June 22, 2012 [3 favorites]

if you like getting mail, $5 monthly will get you regular (and interesting!) letters in the mail from various writers thru the rumpus.

http://therumpus.net/letters/
posted by JBD at 8:10 AM on June 22, 2012 [3 favorites]

It is amazing how great getting stuff in the mail is.

My little surprise yesterday had a return address from the IRS. And boy, do they want a lot more than richrad does!

I'm going to do this just so I can have a nice little offset.
posted by malocchio at 8:10 AM on June 22, 2012

I don't know richrad, but I have analyzed web commerce design extensively and I think payhole.me may be a front for Walmart.

Be safe out there people.
posted by MuffinMan at 8:12 AM on June 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

Getting stuff in the mail is why I signed up for the MeFiSwap this time. Putting stuff in the mail today. Getting stuff in the mail soon. And I'm not sure exactly what I'll get.
posted by Quonab at 8:25 AM on June 22, 2012

Here's your car for no reason!

Poot!
Xingcat, I was all set to send you my address.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:27 AM on June 22, 2012 [3 favorites]

Package contained bobcat. Would not buy again.
posted by schmod at 8:29 AM on June 22, 2012 [3 favorites]

I am confident that this box contains cellular phones.
posted by griphus at 8:30 AM on June 22, 2012

either a plastic spider or a compass.

it could also be a highly coveted STICKY HAND
posted by elizardbits at 8:34 AM on June 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

Or one of those super hi-bounce balls that mom won't let you play with in the house but then yells at you when you try to chase it across the street and dammit mom that cost an entire QUARTER I'm not just going let it fall in a sewer too late
posted by griphus at 8:40 AM on June 22, 2012 [14 favorites]

Ack, no, I'm trying to get rid of all my useless stuff no more no moreeeeeeee!


(but souds fund in a random surprise sort of way)
posted by edgeways at 8:44 AM on June 22, 2012

Or one of those super hi-bounce balls that mom won't let you play with in the house but then yells at you when you try to chase it across the street and dammit mom that cost an entire QUARTER I'm not just going let it fall in a sewer too late

One of my favorite things about being a grown up is knowing you can buy a couple hundred of those things for about $25.00.
posted by bondcliff at 8:44 AM on June 22, 2012 [4 favorites]

Or one of those super hi-bounce balls that mom won't let you play with in the house but then yells at you when you try to chase it across the street and dammit mom that cost an entire QUARTER I'm not just going let it fall in a sewer too late

One of the weird things about being a teacher is confiscating stuff like this. I totally did it when kids brought in toys and whatnot and I put them in this drawer in a file cabinet. As a grownup I know this is just a random drawer full of junk but then I think back to being a kid and I realize that for my students this is a drawer full of mystery and intrigue and wonder containing untold and even unimagined treasures. Being custodian of such a repository of wonder is an awe-inspiring responsibility but somehow I muddle through.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:50 AM on June 22, 2012 [7 favorites]

richrad: I just put money in your payhole. I see you're in Kansas City. You can send me a bottle of Boulevard beer. Thank you.
posted by slogger at 8:53 AM on June 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

There's a website called NotAnotherBill which, for £10, will send you a package of stuff. I often wish I were rich enough to get a friend an annual subscription, or myself one to Stack (?), the people who send you English language magazines chosen by them each month.
posted by mippy at 8:55 AM on June 22, 2012 [2 favorites]

This is a great idea! I kicked a little something into the hole partly because I think it's fun to get things in the mail, and partly because I love the font you used on your site. And a little because I want to see how a dude I don't know will spend my hard-earned eight bucks.
posted by heyho at 8:55 AM on June 22, 2012

I've been subscribed to Stack since Christmas. I don't recommend. Unless you are really into some pretty vacuous hipster vanity mags. I did get the Romanian Journal of Nonfiction too. That was surprisingly good. But the rest of it has been a bit average.
posted by MuffinMan at 9:06 AM on June 22, 2012

Christ, what a Payhole!
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:07 AM on June 22, 2012 [2 favorites]

Payhole.me sounds like some sort of glory hole co-op.

You're confusing it with Peehole.me, a website which lets you send me money and then I come around and stick a surgical sound up your urethra.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 9:28 AM on June 22, 2012 [3 favorites]

(A paid advertisement by Doctors Without Boundaries.)
posted by griphus at 9:29 AM on June 22, 2012 [13 favorites]

One of the weird things about being a teacher is confiscating stuff like this.

One of the neat things about living with a teacher is getting stuff like this after the school year ends and the kids don't bother reclaiming it.

(bouncing a glitter-filled ball on my desk right now)
posted by ladygypsy at 9:47 AM on June 22, 2012 [2 favorites]

Yay, mail! The USPS should encourage people to make sites like this.
posted by Secretariat at 10:01 AM on June 22, 2012

I've got a mail addiction. I run a website where I write tons of letters to companies and random people mostly to see what kind of reply I get.

I'd actually registered another URL to launch a side project where I actively solicit swag, and I have an idea similar to this one, but mine was going to to a woot style site where I made several of the same items and put them up until they sold, then move onto the next.

You can make that "donate" button into something that more matches your graphic, but then it might not be as obvious.

I was going to donate when I saw this in projects, but I had to wait until payday. Money has been sent.
posted by cjorgensen at 10:09 AM on June 22, 2012

I made this! I promise it's not a scam. I'm a pretty okay guy.

I dunno, you don't sound like a doctor.

Also, he has borders. No fair.
posted by steambadger at 10:24 AM on June 22, 2012 [2 favorites]

"One of my favorite things about being a grown up is knowing you can buy a couple hundred of those things for about $25.00."

Holy shit, really?

That sounds like an invitation for someone to dump an entire box of them down a mall escalator.

That's what it sounded like to me, anyway.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:33 AM on June 22, 2012 [8 favorites]

I just donated, and my paypal receipt indicated that my money went either to the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal church, or to a retired rabble-rouser and all-star first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Huh.
posted by steambadger at 10:35 AM on June 22, 2012

Holy shit, really?

Yep.

But if it's mayhem you're after, you'd be much better off with 1500 ladybugs.
posted by bondcliff at 10:51 AM on June 22, 2012

What? You can buy live insects over the internet?
posted by desjardins at 10:54 AM on June 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

Soon to replace DTMFA as the stock answer for AskMe relationship questions.
posted by bondcliff at 11:04 AM on June 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

"Your problem with your boyfriend can be solved with 1500 ladybugs."
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 11:06 AM on June 22, 2012 [6 favorites]

Especially the problem w/r/t him not having been devoured by 1500 ladybugs.

I know what they're up to.
posted by griphus at 11:22 AM on June 22, 2012

There was a website that was a cross of this and Woot BoCs where you paid $15 and you'd get a box of things - there was a list on the site of things you might get, though.
posted by koucha at 11:59 AM on June 22, 2012

Metafilter: custodian of such a repository of wonder.
posted by herbplarfegan at 12:31 PM on June 22, 2012

griphus: "Especially the problem w/r/t him not having been devoured by 1500 ladybugs.

I know what they're up to."

Ladybugs bleed poison out of their knees.

Things I learned today
posted by Gordafarin at 12:38 PM on June 22, 2012

Metafilter: souds fund in a random surprise sort of way
posted by sneebler at 4:13 PM on June 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

This sounds like something that should be at the back of a Boys' Life, nestled between ads for a guide to learning how to throw your voice, live seahorses, and plans to build your own mini-bike.
posted by Rhomboid at 5:34 PM on June 22, 2012

That sounds like an invitation for someone to dump an entire box of them down a mall escalator.

Way ahead of you!
posted by Evilspork at 6:47 PM on June 22, 2012

Wtf, did someone just remove José González's Heartbeats cover and replace it with 009 Sound System and upload that for the hell of it?
posted by Rhomboid at 7:01 PM on June 22, 2012

Er. I spend so much time organizing stuff, and throwing other stuff out. I really don't more stuff.
posted by clvrmnky at 8:19 PM on June 22, 2012

Valleyschwag used to send out random branded stuff from new startups - including at least one t-shirt in every box - but went defunct. Out of it grew GetSatisfaction.
posted by IndigoRain at 1:38 AM on June 24, 2012

I got my mail from The Internet yesterday! It was awesome. I got a drawing of Spock and a sticker that says DINOSAURS and another sticker that says "tweet me @" and then I can fill in my twitter handle.

Highly recommend, would do again.
posted by naturalog at 8:23 AM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

You know, I just realized it's been almost a month and I have yet to receive anything from this. Unless you count a deep feeling of emptiness and loss.

Whom do I sue?
posted by bondcliff at 9:57 AM on July 20, 2012

Send me a message that rhymes with your name and I'll boost you up on the list, bondcliff!

I've been cranking it into high gear this week and I'm trying to get about ten out a day now. I've got 100+ addresses to burn through so I do appreciate your patience!
posted by richrad at 10:52 AM on July 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Ahh, no worries. If I'm in a queue that's fine. I'm happy to remain there. Emptiness and loss are pretty much my default modes anyway.
posted by bondcliff at 11:34 AM on July 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Are you sure you're getting enough iron?
posted by maryr at 8:23 PM on July 20, 2012 [1 favorite]