creating a mailing list that people pay to subscribe?

Is it possible to set up a mailing list where a person has to pay a one time fee of $2?  

If so, how do I do it?

I'm thinking of creating a mailing list, but I don't want to do the battle with not-seeming-spammy.  I want people to show me that they want my emails so much, they will go to the hassle of opening their wallet.  

I've joined mailing lists that have a subscription fee, but it's usually once a year.  Even though I enjoyed the emails, resubscribing every year was too much bother.

So basically what you need is a way to integrate a way for people to purchase the subscription with something that will automatically add them to a list.

There are some paid options for this, but I think the cheapest way would be to set up a store with Wordpress and Woocommerce to sell the subscription (it doesn't need to be a full store, but just a way for people to buy the subscription) and set up an integration with zapier. Zapier is an online service that connects different apps/services so you can set it up so that it automatically grabs new buyers and adds them to an email list to Mailchimp or whatever list provider you use.

I would recommend Mailchimp since it's a decent service and is free to start with, which is nice. I started with Mailchimp and switched when I outgrew their free subscription since I needed a bit more than what they offered for my business but for what you're talking about I think it would work really well.

Wordpress and Woocommerce are free and there are lots of free themes out there and whatnot. You may need to buy an SSL certificate to make the checkout secure, though, don't quote me on that since I'm not sure.

You CAN do the same thing with Paypal and Zapier instead, if that makes it easier, but Paypal is a "premium" integration with Zapier so you'd need to have a paid Zapier plan. I think you could do it cheap or nearly free with the Wordpress/woocommerce combined with Mailchimp and Zapier to connect them.

Can I integrate that with my webly site somehow?

I was also wondering if I could do it through my Etsy store.  I don't want to earn money from it, just want that tiny barrier to stop people signing up then complaining it's spam.

I would also like to invite my Etsy and other customers to have a one time opportunity to sign up for free

You can use Etsy, but then it wouldn't be automated so you would need to add them manually.

Actually, now that I think of it, something you COULD try out is selling it as a digital download listing on Etsy, and then the "download" is a text file with a link to a subscription form that isn't publicly listed or available. So then basically they buy the listing, you provide the link, they go and sign up from there. A bit clunky, but would be more automated.

The risk of doing it that way is that you may find that if the signup form becomes publicly available somehow, you could have people signing up without paying. I don't think that would be very likely, though. I know Mailchimp has a way for you to create a list and then they give you a private link that isn't listed through search engines, etc. to direct your people to.

How many subscribers are you expecting?

For 100 or so, "send me $2 from your paypal account and include your e-mail in the comment" might just work. The $2 cover the work of manually adding their e-mail to the list.
Sounds like far less work then setting up a site for it.

It will probably be less than a hundred for the first little while.  But from there, I don't know if it's going to be five or two thousand.  

I have very strong thoughts about email lists.  I don't want a list, but feel it's an important element for my plans.  I don't know if this will work, but it might.  

I'll sign up for mail chimp.  

I think you're on the right track. I have an email list for my business, and it is the lifeline of the business. I only put out new designs every two months or so, and in between I email them helpful stuff, but the response I get when I do put out new designs and release them to the list is tremendous. I could support my family just on that.

But I think it's important (and it seems that you really understand this well) to understand that people are giving you some real estate in their inboxes and there's a responsibility there. Something my customers love is that I always email them like I'm emailing a friend - no fancy graphics or flashing stuff, just me and my thoughts and my personality.