Will InflateVids shut down?

Short answer: no. Not yet anyways.

Long answer: You might remember the page "funding" on the website (which right now is still online). It states:

If costs aren't fully covered by the end of this year the website would go into an archival mode for a couple months, where videos can only be watched and not uploaded.

This statement is now false. When I launched InflateVids on the 14th of December 2020 (incidentally, my birthday) it was a pre-mature launch. I had planned to launch a lot later, doing more development. I had been working on it on and off since October of 2020. Since MindGeek shut down some of their services, it seemed like perfect timing to launch the website, since many were searching for a new platform.

I did not know how quick InflateVids would grow. Looking at costs, I had my "best case" growth and "worst case" growth. The costs right now are above worst case scenario, however due to your help, I have been able to cover a majority of the cost.

Now for the bad: I am still paying a lot of the costs. With last month's invoice being $305, I had to pay a little over $100 myself. That is quite a lot of money I had to pay out of my own pocket for a website I also need to part-time work on/moderate.

Now to counter my whining: the experience has been amazing. I have had tons of people thanking me, seen the website in group chats and see InflateVids become a term that seems more and more standard in the inflatable community. During my holiday to Disneyland Paris the past weekend I also figured out they blocked my website on the WiFi due to pornography. Their loss.

Besides, the fact a group of people avidly want to tip the website (that's you!) to cover the costs is amazing. Thanks so much.

What will happen?

Before I take drastic actions, like the archive mode, I'll implement some new ways to advertise Patreon more. I've said stuff like "I'll develop more" before, but this time I do mean it. Probably (No really).

After that I'll have to see how much I can cover myself. Currently I am covering about $100 of the website myself. That is a lot of money. Hopefully with more advertising I can lower that number. The site is also still growing, so the amount needed for server costs is only going to climb. Especially in the frisky holiday season.

Quick summary: no, I am not shutting InflateVids down in the very near future like described before. I will however advertise Patreon more and ask people, true Wikipedia style, to please tip the website a couple bucks if they enjoy it. If that doesn't help, we'll see then. But that is a worry for February/March 2022 me.

Till soon,
Rick