Paid messaging

Your inbox has a price

On most platforms, direct messages are free and unlimited, which means a creator's inbox fills with people who want attention without paying for it. Replying to all of them is unpaid work; ignoring them loses the few who would have spent money.

VestaCreate lets you put a price on messaging. Fans pay in credits, and you cash out at 75 cents per credit. You pick one of four settings:

• Free. Anyone who can see your page can message you at no cost.
• Per message. Each message a fan sends costs a set number of credits.
• Per conversation. A fan pays once to open a conversation with you, then messages freely within it.
• Waived for subscribers. Paid subscribers message free; everyone else pays your per-message or per-conversation rate.

You can change the setting whenever you like.

Choosing a model

Free works when you are new and want as many conversations as possible, or when your main sale happens in DMs and a price would stop it from starting. The cost is time.

Per message suits creators whose attention is the product. It filters hard: only people who value a reply will pay for one, and each reply you give has already been paid for. Rates of 1 to 5 credits per message are a reasonable range to start in. It can feel transactional to fans who want a casual chat, so say what they get: a real reply from you.

Per conversation is a gentler filter. A fan pays once, perhaps 5 to 20 credits, to open a line, and then talks normally. It removes drive-by messages without putting a meter on every sentence. Many creators find this the most comfortable middle ground.

Waived for subscribers makes messaging a subscription perk. Subscribers feel rewarded, non-subscribers have a reason to subscribe or to pay, and you still have a filter. This pairs well with a higher subscription price.

Running a paid inbox

• Reply. A fan who paid and heard nothing will not pay again. Set an expectation for response time in your bio and keep it.
• Keep the content of replies worth the price. A one-word answer to a 3-credit message is a bad trade for the fan.
• Use the inbox to sell. Customs, tips and pay-per-view all start as conversations. Paid messaging means those conversations are with people who spend.
• Still block and report. Paying for a message does not buy the right to harass you. Blocking and reporting work regardless of payment, and reports are read by a person.

What to tell fans

Put your messaging rule in your bio in one line. "DMs are 2 credits a message, free for subscribers" removes confusion and turns the price into a reason to subscribe. Fans accept a clear rule far more easily than an unexplained wall.