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I'm a creator who uses Patreon. Most of my support is $1 pledges; I have a couple small pledges I make to other creators, as well. I heard about this entirely

I'm a creator who uses Patreon. Most of my support is $1 pledges; I have a couple small pledges I make to other creators, as well. I heard about this entirely through people talking about it on Mastodon. Didn't get any email from Patreon about this, not even lost in my spam folder; the only email I have from Patreon going back for a while is "hey you got paid", "someone made/changed a pledge", and "someone commented on one of your posts". I'm not anyone huge, I make about $800 a month on a really productive month, and I don't make videos which is sometimes all Patreon seems to care about - I quit subscribing to their creator newsletter because it was nothing but chirpy articles on why and how you should be making video content!!11!! - but I kinda feel like, I dunno, maybe I should have had, like, some email in my inbox about this? ---- I really hope that everyone (including me) is misreading the detailed explanation of How This New Fee Structure Works, because it sure does sound like they're going to be imposing a 2.9%+35¢ transaction fee to every single pledge before they add up all of the pledges you've made to the dozen creators you might support on Patreon, instead of after. Which adds up really quickly. If this is the case, I guess I get to see if being a Featured Project twice on Kickstarter is going to be of any help in getting into their new invite-only Patreon-alike d.rip... edit: They updated the FAQ page on the new fees to address the concerns of the per-thing creators like me. https://patreon.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005631963 https://patreon.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005631963 >Q: How does this impact me as a per-post creator? >A: As a per-post creator, your patrons will see the 2.9% + $0.35 service fee added to all paid posts. For example, if you are a per post creator making two paid posts per month, your patrons will be charged 2.9% + $0.35 for each paid post. (Italics mine.) are they, like, completely unbundling all of their charges from each other now? Why are we even using Patreon any more if that's the case?

finkin1 9y ago
Here's the email I got at 11:23AM this morning: "Dear patron, Your support is truly changing the lives of creators around the world. You give creators a reliable paycheck that enables them to do their best work. Thank you thank you thank you. In order to continue our mission of funding the creative class, we’re always looking for ways to do what’s best for our creators. With that, we’re writing to tell you of a change we’re making so that all Patreon creators take home exactly 95% of every pledge, with no additional fees. Aside from Patreon’s existing 5% fee, a creator’s income on Patreon varies because of processing fees every month. They can lose anywhere from 7-15% of their earnings to these fees. This means creators actually take home a lower percentage of your pledge than you may realize. Our goal is to make creators’ paychecks as predictable as possible, so we’re restructuring how these fees are paid. Starting December 18th, we will apply a new service fee of 2.9% + $0.35 that patrons will pay for each individual pledge. This service fee helps keep Patreon up and running. We want you to know that we approach every change with thoughtfulness for creators and patrons. By standardizing Patreon’s fees, we’re ensuring that creators get paid to continue creating high quality content. If you have questions or would like to learn more, please visit our FAQ here. Sincerely, The Patreon team"
- egypturnash 9y ago
  thank you <3 it's good to see how they're pitching this to the patrons, I've mostly just seen fellow creators running around with their hair on fire about this.
  - kaybe 9y ago
    If you have pledges yourself, shouldn't you have gotten this email too?
    - egypturnash 9y ago
      Yeah, I do and I should. But I didn't. Which perturbs me.
kevin_b_er 9y ago
I'm guessing they're NOT unbundling their charges. They're just pocketing a massive fee increase levied on all the patrons of multiple creators by making it per pledge.
ZenoArrow 9y ago
Would you consider using Liberapay? Would be good to give those that want to support you a way to do so without having to put up with Patreon's latest antics: https://liberapay.com/about/faq https://liberapay.com/about/faq
- egypturnash 9y ago
  I've been looking into it. The front page kinda gives me the impression that it's only for people doing open-source projects? I don't feel like sharing all the source files of my comics.
  - em3rgent0rdr 9y ago
    Liberapay is NOT only for people doing open-source projects. There is no requirement for you to release the source code of your comics. However, from their FAQ: "Liberapay is only for donations, meaning that transactions must not be linked to a contract nor a promise of recompense." So you can't provide things specifically only to your patrons.
whym 9y ago
"but I kinda feel like, I dunno, maybe I should have had, like, some email in my inbox about this?" I think this is what happens when you are a product not a customer...

finkin1 9y ago

Here's the email I got at 11:23AM this morning: "Dear patron, Your support is truly changing the lives of creators around the world. You give creators a reliable paycheck that enables them to do their best work. Thank you thank you thank you. In order to continue our mission of funding the creative class, we’re always looking for ways to do what’s best for our creators. With that, we’re writing to tell you of a change we’re making so that all Patreon creators take home exactly 95% of every pledge, with no additional fees. Aside from Patreon’s existing 5% fee, a creator’s income on Patreon varies because of processing fees every month. They can lose anywhere from 7-15% of their earnings to these fees. This means creators actually take home a lower percentage of your pledge than you may realize. Our goal is to make creators’ paychecks as predictable as possible, so we’re restructuring how these fees are paid. Starting December 18th, we will apply a new service fee of 2.9% + $0.35 that patrons will pay for each individual pledge. This service fee helps keep Patreon up and running. We want you to know that we approach every change with thoughtfulness for creators and patrons. By standardizing Patreon’s fees, we’re ensuring that creators get paid to continue creating high quality content. If you have questions or would like to learn more, please visit our FAQ here. Sincerely, The Patreon team"

egypturnash 9y ago
thank you <3 it's good to see how they're pitching this to the patrons, I've mostly just seen fellow creators running around with their hair on fire about this.
- kaybe 9y ago
  If you have pledges yourself, shouldn't you have gotten this email too?
  - egypturnash 9y ago
    Yeah, I do and I should. But I didn't. Which perturbs me.

kevin_b_er 9y ago

I'm guessing they're NOT unbundling their charges. They're just pocketing a massive fee increase levied on all the patrons of multiple creators by making it per pledge.

ZenoArrow 9y ago

Would you consider using Liberapay? Would be good to give those that want to support you a way to do so without having to put up with Patreon's latest antics: https://liberapay.com/about/faq https://liberapay.com/about/faq

egypturnash 9y ago
I've been looking into it. The front page kinda gives me the impression that it's only for people doing open-source projects? I don't feel like sharing all the source files of my comics.
- em3rgent0rdr 9y ago
  Liberapay is NOT only for people doing open-source projects. There is no requirement for you to release the source code of your comics. However, from their FAQ: "Liberapay is only for donations, meaning that transactions must not be linked to a contract nor a promise of recompense." So you can't provide things specifically only to your patrons.

whym 9y ago

"but I kinda feel like, I dunno, maybe I should have had, like, some email in my inbox about this?" I think this is what happens when you are a product not a customer...