I have been paying for relays based on the reputation/principles of the individual/group that is maintaining the relay. I am a non technical user and do not understand the in and outs of relay management, but do know that it takes time and resources to maintain one. I am more than willing to pay for this service.
To continue on nostr:npub1h8nk2346qezka5cpm8jjh3yl5j88pf4ly2ptu7s6uu55wcfqy0wq36rpev ‘s excellent conversation starter:
What actually makes a relay worth paying for to YOU?
#asknostr
Discussion
I am honored, as I know you’re on mine. Is there anything that would really set it off though? Some way to really sell you on the values, or a specific value you really look for in an operator?
In a perfect relay, I would like:
-to always be able to connect
-to filter spam (airdrop bots etc) without anything else other than criminal activity
-to always broadcast my notes to as many other relays (blaster)
-to be able to easily rebroadcast my notes and backup
-to notify me if my notes are going to be deleted, so that I could back them up myself
-to remind me to pay up for the service in a dm (subscription, or splits, does't really matter.)
Is there some reason why people aren't running their own?
I almost was but then I know I am sharing its address with the world and I couldn't see how to put auth on it. VPS has more important duties, I'm not letting it get polluted by spam.
You can setup a private relay, where you only have write privileges.