We are too.
July 2017 is when the very first tipping even was announced so perhaps there is a one year anniversary coming up?
This is probably the biggest factor preventing tipping, among creators. We're a patient lot and are saving up for the next time we can get up to a 30% bonus.
Readers though are more likely to just spend them as soon as they earn them. Which brings up the next major factor...
Back when tipping first started up there wasn't nearly the competition there is now against Premium for coins. Think like a reader. Why give away your precious coins for something that is already free to read when you can use them to unlock that paywall?
The biggest issue of all though is...
Ads are paying less and less and less. When desktop watching first started up, we were receiving 112 coins per Anoro ad. That works out to be about 9 cents per view, for about 45 seconds of your time. It was semi-worth taking the time to watch the ads. Now it's 26 coins per ad and involves pop up windows and even more time. It's no longer worth it to take the time to watch ads. On the app it's even worse at 10 coins per ad, that's less than a penny.
It would be great if Tapas could do something about improving their ad network, both static ads and video ads to make things better for both readers and creators.
Yes.
A purchased coin is worth significantly less than a earned coin. This is because of the 30% cut that Google/Apple store takes when you buy through them. (20%+ because savvy shoppers buy their Google/Apple gift cards at merchants selling them for 14-16% off face value, then use a 2x rewards credit card (4% merchant transaction fee), etc.)
1200 ($1 USD) purchased coins translates into (-30% Google/Apple)(-15% Tapas)= 714 tipped coins (60 cents).
1200 earned coins translates into (-15% Tapas)= 1020 coins (85 cents).