Patreon Fee Changes
Added 2017-12-07 19:30:21 +0000 UTCUPDATE: Patreon has apparently doubled down, they're not moving so far. Looking into alternatives. May take a few days.
Folks have asked for alternate donation methods in the meantime:
Hi everyone! Just a quick note to let you know that I am not happy about the fee changes Patreon has introduced to screw you over and I am not going to let it go without a fight. I have a lot to say on the subject, I'll post again later and let you know what's up.
In the meantime, I ask you to be patient as we wait for Patreon's response to the outrage. If you need to cancel your pledges, I totally understand. I will update you as I know more and figure out next steps.
Comments
@Tanya Dax - Your increased pledge simply strenghten's Patreon's hostility to 1 and 2 dollar patrons, and undermines the contention that creators depend on low-dollar transactions as an important part of their ecosystem. Your heart is clearly in the right place, but I think you're just showing Patreon that chasing out the small pledges will continue to generate their 5% plus. Just saying.
Quantum Cat
2017-12-10 11:15:49 +0000 UTCJon, I upped my pledge for now in order to help offset the losses in$1 pledges. I made some hard choices to consolidate also, so as soon as the dust settles, I'll follow creators to whatever new platform comes out on top.
Tanya Dax
2017-12-09 17:10:55 +0000 UTCOnce I figure out what my best options are I'll do just that. Gonna take a few days to set anything up, I'm mostly driving people to doctors and physical therapists these days
Jonathan Rosenberg
2017-12-08 23:53:55 +0000 UTCHey Jon, can you setup for us to send recurring payments to you on PayPal account, or will that cost you?
Philip Webb
2017-12-08 19:02:08 +0000 UTCI added three options to the post.
Jonathan Rosenberg
2017-12-08 18:16:59 +0000 UTC`I'm cancelling all my pledges, to do my part to send the message, that the almost 40% increase on $1 pledges will not stand. I had 17 pledges @ $23 / month, that would've gone up to $30 with no additional artists supported. I held onto my $3 pledge to you for last. I've been pledged to you for over 3 years. You were the first creator I supported on this platform. After the 2016 election, you helped keep me sane with humor. This sucks.
subjectifly
2017-12-08 10:01:42 +0000 UTCI don't object to paying more to cover credit card processing fees, but I do object to paying those fees for each pledge. Can you post a link to donate directly to you?
John Velonis
2017-12-08 05:29:45 +0000 UTCBTW, unrelated to anything else, I hope your son's medical treatment has been going well, Jon, and that you have a great holiday season!
Auros Harman
2017-12-08 02:50:15 +0000 UTCHm, I agree that's a good point. I think their adding on a transaction fee of some kind is reasonable, but maybe the per-individual-creator thing doesn't make sense. They could just charge one fee for all of the batched monthly donations and then distribute the money to the creators as appropriate.
Auros Harman
2017-12-08 02:49:00 +0000 UTCHonestly I'm OK with them passing on the credit card transaction fees. Those have to get paid from somewhere, and I'd rather they add it on top than take it out of the money I want to go to you.
Auros Harman
2017-12-08 02:47:53 +0000 UTCOK, that was opaque. So trying again: make the fees (paid by the patrons) a higher percentage of the total donation. Also set a minimum fee. Simple, and totally normal.
Joy F Sabl
2017-12-08 02:10:23 +0000 UTCAnd, yeah, tell us where to paypal (or otherwise give) a year's worth of pledges. That'll give Patreon time to correct course. PS I don't mind being stuck with extra up front. But unless they're really terrible at how they divvy up the money (it honestly should be almost entirely automated) there's no way that divvying up the money should represent that percentage of the charges. And if not, they should up the percentage, and drop the flat fee per-donation-from-each-patron-to-each-creator. when they did the survey, I think it was a flat fee per patron donation event (all the donations aggregated) plus a percentage. That makes much more sense, IMO.
Joy F Sabl
2017-12-08 02:06:26 +0000 UTCIt's not per transaction. That's the problem. It's per donation to each creator. So THEY pay a single transaction fee. But YOU pay them a lump for every creator you support. Someone who donates $1 to each of 50 people pays ~50 times more than someone who donates $50 to one person--even though PATREON runs $50, as a lump sum, either way. That seems completely disproportionate, if the goal is to nurture new talent. If you see something you kind of like, it makes sense to toss a buck their way, monthly, and see how they develop, and if you really enjoy their stuff. Why put the extra burden, disproportionately, on that kind of patronage???
Joy F Sabl
2017-12-08 02:01:07 +0000 UTC
