Charging Upfront

Charging upfront is a new option for monthly creators that lets them charge their patrons upfront as soon as they pledge.  

How will this feature change how your patrons are charged?

New Patrons: New Patrons will be charged on the day they pledge. They will be charged on the 1st of the month for their next charge and all following charges.

Example: A patron pledges to Jack (a Patreon creator) on February 25th for $10 per month. They will be charged $10 on the day they pledge, February 25th, for February patronage. On March 1st, the Patron will be charged $10 for March patronage.

Existing Patrons: Your existing patrons will be charged on the 1st of the month like usual.

Example: A patron pledges to Jack (a Patreon creator) on January 5th for $10 per month. The patron is charged on February 1st for January patronage. On February 25th Jack changes his campaign so that patrons are charged upfront. The patron will be charged $10 on March 1st for March patronage.

If an existing patron increases their pledge, they will be charged the difference between their last pledge value, and the new pledge value. On the 1st of the month (and every 1st of the month thereafter) they will be charged the full amount of their pledge until they cancel or edit their pledge.

Example: A patron pledges to Jack (a Patreon creator) on January 5th for $10 per month. The patron is charged on February 1st for January patronage. On February 25th Jack changes his campaign so that patrons are charged upfront. On February 26th the patron increases their pledge to $15. The patron will be charged $5 on February 26th. Then the patron will be charged $15 on March 1st for March patronage and they will continue to be charged $15 every 1st of the month thereafter until the patron cancels or edits their pledge.

What are the benefits?

• Creators get their money faster. Because patrons will be charged upfront, Patreon will be able to transfer that money to a Creator’s balance sooner.
  
  
• Patrons can get rewards faster. Since Creators will be getting money from their Patrons sooner, they can go ahead and fulfill any physical reward distribution closer to when a Patron pledges, instead of waiting until the end of the month.
  
  
• Patrons will not be able to sample Patron-only content. Some Patrons have been able to pledge to a monthly creator to check out the content without paying, similar to a free trial. These patrons sometimes delete their pledge if they do not find the content valuable. Some creators find this useful while others find this to be a nuisance and unfair to patrons that are paying.

For info on charging upfront as a patron, go here!