Our Future: Patreon's Updated Fee Structure (Patreon)

UPDATE 12/13/17: PATREON IS NO LONGER ROLLING OUT THESE FEES! You can read their post here.

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Original Post for Archive: (this info no longer accurate)
Today you all probably received and email from Patreon letting you know that they will be charging an additional fee on each of your pledges starting on the next billing cycle. If you haven't received this email or you missed it, you can get the details about the changes here.

I wanted to start out by saying: thank you SO much for your support over the years! Patreon has completely changed how I've been able to provide creative resources for artists. With help from Patrons, I've been able to hire more diverse models and talented photographers. So no matter where we go from here, I want to be very clear about how amazing your support has been in helping me take this hobby to a new level. 

I have no doubt that without support from my amazing Patrons, I would not have been able to continue doing SenshiStock for as long as I have (10 years! wow!). The last few years have been much more busy in my life with my kiddo and my time has been prioritized around making the most of what time is available. Patreon allowed me to contribute financially to my family while continuing to dedicate the time to the project.

I believe this fee adjustment is a way for Patreon to make more money from people using the site. From everything I've read, it just seems like they are trying to pass it off as 'good for creators' while hiding that they are doing it for their bottom line.

I understand a site has to make money. If they needed to restructure or change the system to survive, I just wish they'd been transparent about it.

I completely understand that this fee burden being placed on Patrons will mean that some people need to change or cancel their pledges. 

If you need to decrease or cancel your pledge to me, IT IS OKAY. ♥ Please, do what is best for you financially and feel no guilt about it. If you have to change or cancel your pledge to me because of this fee, please do the exit survey or send me a message and let me know that the fee is the reason. I wish to have this data so I can pool the information with other creators. I doubt that Patreon will change course at this time, but I think Creators deserve to know the real impact of this change and I don't believe Patreon will tell us that.

I am going to see about changing the pledge levels to take these fees into account (ex: instead of a $1 tier it would be like $0.60 before the fees), or perhaps there's a way I could individually refund the fees. Maybe I could add something for you all each month to make up for the additional cost. 

Please let me know how you feel about all this. Thanks so much for your understanding while I work though this sudden change. 

tl;dr Patreon is making you pay more and there's nothing I can do about it, but I will try to come up with something to give you all a little bonus for sticking with me, and if you have any ideas, please let me know and thank you so much if you can afford to stay! ♥