Zedrin
patreon
Patreon and Fees
🕑 Added 2017-12-06 22:56:43 +0000 UTC So, Patreon is implementing a new change regarding fees. This change will be effective December 18 (so it won't go into affect for this patreon page until January I BELIEVE).
This means that I get hit by less of fees--however, one change I don't necessarily agree with, is that Patrons will be charged differently for the same pledge.
The fees are now processed at the time of pledging and are ON TOP of the pledge, instead of taken out afterwords. This means a $2 pledge will actually have a cost of $2.40 (20% increase). This scales better at higher pledges, say a $20 instead has a cost of $20.93.
As is, about 12% on average of pledges I get received gets cut out in fees, though this can fluctuate and has been as high as 17% before (from Patreon + fees). With this change, it'll drop to a fixed 5%. That is actually a substantial change.
But, I don't think it's necessarily fair for Patrons to take up the difference. A change of 40 cents seems trivial, but when phrased as a change of 20% it seems more substantial. I would rather have a lot of supporters even if they're pledging at just small amounts, rather than just a few pledging at large amounts, and the smaller supporters are affected the most by this.
What do you guys think? Are you fine with paying a few cents extra, or do you think this change is unfair?
I have a way to contact Patreon through the community so if you have commentary I can relay it.
Comments
Alex Kat
I definitely dislike this. It'll hit those that support a lot hard.
Zedrin
The % change would then make the $61 equate to $62.77, plus the flat fees. If it's per overall transaction, the final amount would be $63.12 If it's per creator, with the 5 people you pledge to, it'd instead be $64.52
Calsetes
And holy crap I hate autocorrect on phones.
Calsetes
It's be better, but again, is prefer if it was added to the total amount taken at the start of the month. Currently, I have a monthly total between people of $61. An extra 2.9%+0.35$ on that isn't so bad - but for each person, for each "content pack" they do per month? It adds up.
Richard Charm
While I don't necessarily think this is fair, or even a good thing (from the patron's perspective), I only pledge to you Zedrin, so I don't mind the increase, really any more would be a problem, but It's good that you're going to be getting more.
Zedrin
It appears to be per pledge. Which hurts people who pledge a little to a lot of pages. What are your thoughts if it were just the 2.9% with a single $0.35 per month?
Calsetes
Another thing I just thought of is if this affects multi-pledge setups - I.E. if Person X has two pledge cycles per month, are these fees calculated not only by person pledged to, but per portion of the month as well. Lot of questions, and each one is making me question both who I pledge to and how MY monthly payments will be affected as a result.
Calsetes
What's not clear is if this is per PLEDGE (I.E. if I'm pledged to 5 people, each fee is assessed at 2.x% plus the 35 cents) or PER MONTHLY PAYMENT (I.E. my total for the month is charged and the 2.x% plus 35 cents is calculated and added there.) Sounds like a small difference, but that's roughly an extra buck per three people pledged - and rounding up all that change per pledge individually adds up to a lot over a large number of pledges that Patreon's grabbing as a result. Overall, I think it's kinda stupid to shift the charges over to pledges and not hosts. The hosts are the ones using the platform to make the money, the pledges are the ones paying. "Splitting the costs" is something that each Patreon should discuss with their pledges and determine on a case by case basis. This new method should be an OPTION, not "the new norm."
yeah I can't say I'm a fan of the change
MikoNoPants
So its a sales tax?
NiGHTS4life
And it'll probably add up with other pledges like a huge sales tax.
Zedrin
That's one thing that's particularly shitty: it charges the flat $0.35 per creator.
NiGHTS4life
I don't want to pay extra since those fees can add up. I pledge to multiple people and it's already costing me over $50.
DraginEye
It's a tax for them to make money
