Social news site Reddit has launch its own crowdfunding site – Redditmade, encouraging its community to invest in and create new products and designs.
Currently a test site, it offers users – known as “redditors” – to raise money to fund new products and designs.
“You can create almost anything you want on Redditmade, whether it’s a hat, sticker, glass, or something super specially customised,” claims the site.
The products on the site at the moment are mainly Reddit-themed. They include a Reddit badge, in the shape of the site’s logo, and a Secret Santa sticker pack, the proceeds of which are going to charity.
The difference with Redditmade to other crowdfunding sites is that if the pledge goal is reached Reddit will then launch the production, promotion and distribution.
At the moment, the site advises that the easiest products to make are T-shirts with customised designs.
They also say that they cannot work with campaigns which “sell offensive, abusive, or age-restricted products”.
“You can receive all the profit from your campaign or you can donate them to any other person or cause you want,” the site’s owners say.
The campaigns can tie in with subreddits, or topics, which are popular on the site, and become official merchandise which represent a particular community.
With subreddits as varied as The Walking Dead, Jane Austen and Photoshop Battles, there’s plenty of scope for all kinds of products.
Crowdfunding is not a new concept, with established sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo already helping individuals and companies source funding for projects and small businesses.
Currently the site can only process payments to US bank accounts.