Monetize a Bags Community with Stripe

Bags.fm has become a hub for crypto traders sharing calls, portfolios, and market takes. If you’ve built an audience there, you’re sitting on monetization potential. The platform is great for visibility, but real recurring revenue comes from owned channels. This guide shows you how to funnel your Bags following into a paid community on Discord or Telegram.

What is Bags and who uses it

Bags is a social platform where crypto traders post:

• Live trades and portfolio updates
• Market commentary and thesis breakdowns
• Token discoveries and early calls
• Performance tracking with transparent P&L

The audience skews degen — high risk tolerance, fast decision-making, always looking for the next play. They follow traders with proven track records and real skin in the game.

Why add Discord or Telegram

Bags works for discovery. Discord and Telegram work for retention. Here’s why you need both:

Bags limitations:

• Algorithm controls visibility
• No private or gated content
• Limited direct monetization options
• No role-based access for different tiers

Discord/Telegram advantages:

• Own your audience directly
• Gate content behind subscriptions
• Build recurring revenue independent of platform algorithms
• Create tiers for different commitment levels

Think of Bags as your storefront and Discord/Telegram as your private club. Free content on Bags attracts followers. Paid channels convert them into subscribers.

Revenue models for trading communities

Crypto traders pay for edge. Structure your offers around what they actually want:

• Alpha channel — Early calls, contract addresses, and entry/exit points before you post publicly
• Portfolio mirror — Real-time access to your positions and sizing
• Trade alerts — Instant notifications when you enter or exit
• Weekly breakdowns — Deeper analysis on macro, narratives, and upcoming catalysts
• 1:1 access — Premium tier with direct messaging or calls

Keep offers simple. One or two tiers beat a confusing pricing table. Most communities do well with:

• Standard: $50–100/month for alpha channel and alerts
• Premium: $200–500/month for everything plus direct access

Setting up Stripe for subscriptions

Stripe processes the payments. A bot automates the access. The setup takes about an hour:

1. Create your subscription products in Stripe (monthly or annual)
2. Connect Stripe to a payment bot for Discord or Telegram
3. Link each product to a role or invite permission
4. Share checkout links on your Bags profile, Twitter, and pinned messages
5. Bot handles onboarding, renewals, and access revocation

No manual work. No DM negotiations. Members pay, get access, and you focus on trading.

For step-by-step instructions, check our Discord payment bot guide and Telegram payment bot guide.

Which platform to choose

Both work. Pick based on your audience:

Go with Discord if:

• You want structured channels (altcoins, memes, macro, etc.)
• You plan to host voice calls or live trading sessions
• Members expect community discussion, not just broadcasts

Go with Telegram if:

• Your audience is mobile-first
• Speed matters — instant notifications for fast-moving markets
• You want simpler onboarding for less technical members

Running both is common. Use Telegram for quick alerts and Discord for deeper engagement. Start with one, add the second when you can manage it.

Automate access control

Manual gating doesn’t scale. Automate these:

• Payment verification — Bot checks Stripe and grants access instantly
• Welcome flow — DM with channel guide, rules, and what to expect
• Renewal handling — Automatic retries for failed cards
• Revocation — Remove access when subscriptions end
• Tier upgrades — Instant role changes when members pay more

You shouldn’t touch a single invoice or access request. The bot handles it.

Metrics that matter

Track these weekly:

• MRR — Monthly recurring revenue, your baseline
• Churn rate — Members leaving each month. Under 10% is healthy for trading communities.
• Activation — New members who engage within 48 hours. Low activation means your onboarding is broken.
• Conversion rate — Bags followers who become paid members

Also track your trading performance. Your credibility is the product. Document wins publicly, own your losses, and stay transparent.

Pricing tips

Crypto traders aren’t price-sensitive if the value is clear. But start reasonable:

• Launch at a lower price to build social proof
• Raise prices as your track record grows
• Grandfather early members at old rates
• Consider annual discounts (20–30% off) to reduce churn

Avoid free trials for trading communities. They attract freeloaders who screenshot and leave. If you want to offer a taste, use a lower-priced entry tier instead.

Common mistakes

• Too many tiers — Confuses buyers. Two or three max.
• No clear value prop — “Join my community” isn’t enough. State what they get.
• Ignoring losses — Cherry-picking wins destroys trust. Be transparent.
• Manual billing — Burns time and causes access issues. Automate.
• No onboarding — New members should know exactly where to go within 5 minutes.

Why Sublyna fits trading communities

Sublyna connects your Stripe account to Discord and Telegram with minimal setup. You keep ownership of payments and member data — no marketplace taking a cut of your relationship. The platform automates role assignment, payment retries, and access revocation so you spend zero time on admin. Analytics show MRR, churn, and activation in one dashboard. One percent fee, full control, both platforms.