EnterElysium
patreon
Patreon Changes, You and Me
🕑 Added 2017-12-09 04:18:23 +0000 UTC Hey everyone,As some of you may have heard, Patreon is making some changes to how Patrons are charged on their platform. The new change is that Patrons NOT Creators will be charged processing fees at a rate of 2.9%+$0.35. Previously, this had varied and was charged to Creators. This meant support varied by 2-10% less (in additional to the 5% Patreon fee) than the amount pledged. Unfortunately, this was poorly communicated. Currently it will apply for each Creator you support despite most Creator’s payments being transferred to Patreon as a single lump sum. In a recent update to their previous post, Patreon had clarified this is because they are moving to a rolling sub model (like nearly every other subscription service such as Netflix, Twitch Subs or harbour fees) where you pay when you sign up, and then a month later - rather than the current system which is at the beginning of the calendar month regardless of when you supported someone.
This means that rewards can be rolled out to supporters immediately rather than having to wait until the beginning of every month to see if there are any issues with payments.
Since the additional fee they are leveraging up front on Patreons does include a flat $0.35, it will heavily hit $1 Patrons who will be paying $1.38 (plus VAT). The way our Patreon community support is structured means that it will have a relatively small impact and the ability to roll out rewards immediately once they bring out Charge Up Front (which this is a step towards) next year should be beneficial for everyone.
Please bear in mind that this does offset the current 2-10% (generally 5-6% extra) processing fees and means that your support will go further. Of course, this does represent a big jump for contributors at lower tiers and it goes almost without saying that you should always do whatever you feel you need to for your own personal financial situation! We're really sorry if this has caused any worry or confusion, but it does look like the changes aren't quite as bad as initially made out to be. However, Patreon certainly could have explained the situation far better.
Stay shiny,
EE.
Comments
I cannot find myself agreeing with this, I am sorry. I would be perfectly happy to stem the fees if they still only booked at the start of the month, because that would result in far less, but they don't. And between the new and idiotc fees, and the 19% VAT tax I pay for being German, Patreon just commited suicide for me. As I mentioned in my reason for cancelling the pledge, I am perfectly happy to continue donating via another service. But Patreon has seen the last of me if they do not rethink their decision.
