A Note About the Patreon Fee Change
I am dismayed by the recently announced changes to Patreon's payment structure. If you haven't been following the announcement, here is a good write up. In the interest of transparency, I get roughly 90% of the pledges Patrons make. 5% is taken by Patreon directly, and another ~5% is taken to cover processing fees from PayPal, etc. That processing fee can change from month to month, as mine has slightly, based on the number of Patrons, etc.; some creators pay a significantly higher processing fee than I do. Under the new plan, as I understand it, I would get 95% of the pledged amount, always. So, you pledge $1 a post, I get $.95 for every post. The other nickel goes to Patreon to cover their costs and generate a profit for them. That squishy ~5-10% to cover processing would be paid by the Patrons themselves. So, a $1 pledge per post would, in reality, cost $1.38 per post--$.38 for processing taken off the top (the article I linked to above breaks out how that money is charged), then $.95 for me, and that same nickel for Patreon. My take is quite simple: I knew I was eating those processing fees when I signed up for the service and changing the payment structure now feels like a violation of the agreement I had with my Patrons. Not cool.
While I am still hoping that Patreon reverses course, I know that .com companies generally go ahead with these changes (cf. every FB redesign and Twitter's new 280 character limit) in the belief that, while some people might complain, inertia will prevail and folks will still use the service. They believe that, while there may be some temporary disruption, once the change is built in, creators will continue to use the service, and Patrons will continue to pledge. Patreon, as of right now, doesn't have a viable competitor that does everything Patreon does, so they likely feel empowered to make this change. Unfortunately, because Patreon doesn't have a viable competitor right now, my options are limited. I want to continue this project, and I need support to do so--but I am looking at every option I can think of to make sure that, whatever happens, the Patrons who allow me to take time to write, podcast, film, edit, etc. don't have to absorb any additional cost.
I reiterate: I was happy covering the cost of the fees, and I would be happy to continue doing so. That was the deal I made, both with Patreon as a company--whose goal is to make money--and with my Patrons--whose goal is simply to support this project. *I* am Patreon's customer--you, the Patron, are not. They are making this change in the assumption that, since we their customers will get more money, we'll eventually get over losing some (many?) of our Patrons. Well, this customer thinks that is rubbish. So, I intend to find a way to continue to mitigate or eliminate those processing fees, and as soon as I decide on the best way to do that, I will announce it here. If, however, you feel as if you need to cancel your Patreon pledge in the meantime, I totally and completely stand with you. I hope that when either a) Patreon changes their mind, or 2) I announce my new proposal, you will think about coming back.
Please let me know your thoughts and if you have any suggestions for a Patreon workaround in case they go ahead with this scheme.
Just for the record, this is NOT the charged post for the week, but I wanted to add it to the feed in the hopes that more people would read it.
While I am still hoping that Patreon reverses course, I know that .com companies generally go ahead with these changes (cf. every FB redesign and Twitter's new 280 character limit) in the belief that, while some people might complain, inertia will prevail and folks will still use the service. They believe that, while there may be some temporary disruption, once the change is built in, creators will continue to use the service, and Patrons will continue to pledge. Patreon, as of right now, doesn't have a viable competitor that does everything Patreon does, so they likely feel empowered to make this change. Unfortunately, because Patreon doesn't have a viable competitor right now, my options are limited. I want to continue this project, and I need support to do so--but I am looking at every option I can think of to make sure that, whatever happens, the Patrons who allow me to take time to write, podcast, film, edit, etc. don't have to absorb any additional cost.
I reiterate: I was happy covering the cost of the fees, and I would be happy to continue doing so. That was the deal I made, both with Patreon as a company--whose goal is to make money--and with my Patrons--whose goal is simply to support this project. *I* am Patreon's customer--you, the Patron, are not. They are making this change in the assumption that, since we their customers will get more money, we'll eventually get over losing some (many?) of our Patrons. Well, this customer thinks that is rubbish. So, I intend to find a way to continue to mitigate or eliminate those processing fees, and as soon as I decide on the best way to do that, I will announce it here. If, however, you feel as if you need to cancel your Patreon pledge in the meantime, I totally and completely stand with you. I hope that when either a) Patreon changes their mind, or 2) I announce my new proposal, you will think about coming back.
Please let me know your thoughts and if you have any suggestions for a Patreon workaround in case they go ahead with this scheme.
Just for the record, this is NOT the charged post for the week, but I wanted to add it to the feed in the hopes that more people would read it.
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