Facebook sets up a new website to circumvent app store fees

Apple and Google charge relatively high commission fees for using their billing systems — which both indie developers and major corporations have criticized. Meta‘s latest move to circumvent these fees is launching a website dedicated to selling Facebook Stars. Stars are virtual points users can buy during Facebook video livestreams to support their favorite creators. When a user tips with Stars, the creator can offer them a perk in return, such as a shoutout. Until now, tippers could only buy these virtual items from the Facebook app on iOS and Android.

As TechCrunch reports, Facebook has announced that its launching a Stars store website. This website features Star bundles for the same prices listed on the mobile app. However, users buying through the website will receive bonus Stars for using Facebook Pay. So, for example, $0.99 can buy you 45 Stars on the Facebook app. The website mentions that this bundle includes 30 extra Stars when buying it from the company’s new store. So for the same amount of money you get more Stars when avoiding the billing systems of Apple and Google.

It’s worth mentioning that the bonus amounts could change at any given point. Facebook is currently holding a Stars Fest event during this month. So the extra Stars amounts could potentially drop after the event’s end. The company is also considering expanding Star tipping to other parts of the app, such as the News Feed, Facebook Watch, Gaming tab, and —  starting 2022 — Facebook Reels. Users buying Stars through the website will be able to tip them through the app, as they’re deposited in a virtual wallet that you can access from all of your devices. The mechanism is similar to that of Netflix — you pay on the website, and your premium membership activates in the app, once you log in.

Do you actively buy Facebook Stars to tip your favorite creators? Let us know in the comments section below.

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