nomadstales
patreon
So...Patreon Has Some Changes...
🕑 Added 2024-08-12 16:25:45 +0000 UTCFun way to start a post right??
Alright...so by now many of you might have seen it via e-mail, or logging onto Patreon directly, but as of November 2024 Patreon will be requiring ALL creators to use their subscription billing method (you will get billed on the day you joined) as opposed to the Month-to-Month billing that they've had. This is because Apple has decided that if Patreon wants to stay in the iOS store, they have to bend to their will and go with the billing method that benefits them. So...what does this mean?
Well for starters, a lot more work for me as a creator. Many creators that I know do our monthly budgets based on a payment at the beginning of every month from Patreon (this is how I plan out when to pay which bills if I'm being honest). A lot of us are going to have a rough few months. Lets place those problems aside though as what REALLY matters is, what does this do to YOU.
In simple terms...not much if you, the patron, are careful. You're cost to join the patreon will not change (3,5,10,20 dollar tiers will all remain the same) HOWEVER, the date you get billed on WILL change. If you joined on say the 15th of a month, your new billing date will be the 15th going forward. Keep an eye on that as I know a lot of you are used to a specific payment date, and this might change things around for you as well.
The second thing (and I think the bigger issue) is that IF you joined via the iOS store, you'll now get charged MORE for your subscription as Apple will be adding a fee to subscribe through the iOS store (do you see why their doing this yet?) On top of the price you pay to join the tier you decide on (3,5,10,20) you'll now have an extra fee added by Apple, and as far as we know, that will be for EACH SUBSCRIPTION that you sign up for through the app. This is the same issue that Twitch has, and it's why Twitch is more expensive to subscribe to on the mobile app.
So...what can be done? Well...for me? not much. for YOU however...a very simple step can be taken, rather than joining the Patreon via the app, you can join via the browser site (via your laptop, pc or whatever else) and save yourself a few dollars in service fee from Apple. My mom always has a saying that "a few dollars here and a few dollars there always add up" and she's right, so save yourself a few dollars and subscribe through the website as opposed to the app.
Past that...don't worry. Content will still flow, you'll still get all the same benefits and everything. I'm not going anywhere, I'm just going to have an interesting few months. This change mostly affects creators, and that's not something we can change, but hopefully, if enough of us get the word out, we can help to save you all a few bucks and fight against predatory business practices. In the coming days, I'll be looking at when the most advantageous time to swap over billing is as I don't want people getting double charged and I want to avoid as many problems as possible.
As always, I want to thank EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU for all the support that you've shown me over the last 4 years of this journey (btw...the anniversary is coming up soon :) ) i wouldn't be HALF of the creator that I am without each and every one of you. I'm blessed to have the finest community on YouTube, Twitch and Patreon (and all the other platforms). Big things are coming down the pike soon, and I can't wait to show you all what I'm working on behind the scenes...the best is STILL yet to come!!!
Catch up with you all soon,
Until then, O Patrons Mine
Nomad
Comments
Ardent Melody
Thanks Nomad. I'm sorry to hear about this, for you and everyone involved. If Patreon doesn't already, do we know if they could at least offer you an on-demand report so you can see dates and deposit amounts currently expected based on current subscriptions? Asking in part as a potential future user of the platform. SIDEBAR: If I'm understanding this properly, as someone who works in banking, I can confirm this is even dumber than it sounds (thanks Apple). For most business entities, there are small fees associated with each transaction, which means the more times Patreon sends payouts to creators per month, the more the platform is going to pay in processing fees. Let's say that 1x a month payout turns into 15x per month - that's a 15x increase in that part of overhead for Patreon. I worry they're going to increase the cut they take from creators to account for this extra cost.
