Changes to your 2023 Charm Patreon Membership (Patreon)

Hello, lovelies!

It’s that time of the year! We’re a few weeks away from announcing our 2023 Patreon theme - and that means some fun changes are coming for you!

Every year, we do something a little bit differently with our Patreon membership. The first year was Celebrating Charm, then we had Camp Gertie, this year is the Charm Artist Collective, and next year’s theme will be… 

announced on January 1.

(haha…almost had you there!)

Each new theme brings fresh inspiration and a recharge for our creativity. We love the novelty and surprise as much as you do.

The new theme comes with a change in membership benefits, so keep reading for what this will mean for you in 2023…

FYI: This is a long post, but please read all the way to the end to understand all the changes & what it means for you.

What’s Changing

In many ways, next year will be a return to Charm’s roots. It was clear from the results of last month’s survey that the core of what we do - the patterns, the tutorial videos, and the community - are what you love the most.

Those things aren’t changing - in fact, we’re going to focus on making them even better! But what will change?

Our tiers will be changing. We’re combining Beat & Bohemian Princesses into one tier, and adding a new tier for people who want even more access to me and the Charm team.

Prices will go up for new patrons. We’re going into our fourth year on Patreon, and this is our first price increase for all new patrons. New patrons get access to all four years worth of content and they can join for a month, grab everything, and then leave. It only seems fair that they pay for the library of content, as well as all the current benefits that you receive. We think the incredible amount of content we've released makes slightly higher prices worth it.

This doesn’t apply to you, though. The new prices are only for new patrons.

Benefits will change, as they do every year. We’re retiring the benefits from the Charm Artist Collective to get ready for the new theme. Keep reading to see how the benefits will change in each tier…

The New Tiers & Benefits, i.e. What’s Changing Specifically for YOU

$7 Poets: The Sewing Circle

Your tier will be renamed the Sewing Circle, and new members will pay $9 per month.

There is no change to your benefits next year. You’ll still receive the monthly sewing project, companion tutorial video, monthly live event, access to Discord, first access to Charm merchandise, and the annual free Charm Patterns PDF sewing pattern (Gertie’s choice).

$10 Artists: The Glamour Circle

Your tier will be renamed the Glamour Circle, and new members will pay $12 per month.

In 2023, you’ll still receive “bonus content” on the 15th of the month, but that content will change a bit:

The 2023 content will include:

• 4 issues of our new digital magazine, Vintage by Gertie (see a sneak peek below!)
• 8 sewing projects or digital content goodies - these could be pattern expansions, accessories patterns, advanced fit clinics, pattern hacks, guest artist designs, or other fun things that I feel inspired to create & share
• 6 live Glamour Salon events during the year on either Crowdcast or Zoom

And, of course, you’ll also continue to receive everything from the Sewing Circle level.

$16 Beat Princesses: The Princess Circle

Your tier will be renamed the Princess Circle, and new members will pay $20 per month.

In 2023, we’re adding at least four exclusive Pattern Hack projects to your membership. (I’ll be taking an existing Charm or Patreon pattern and changing it into something new).

You’ll also receive all of the Sewing Circle and Glamour Circle benefits, as well as the ones you’ve enjoyed from this year, like the 40% off coupon for one Charm Pattern (3 times a year), the annual physical gift, and the Charm Patterns sneak peaks.

$19 Bohemian Princesses

Your tier will be combined with Beat Princesses into the new Princess Circle, and new members will pay $20.

In 2023, if you stay at the $19 level, you’ll receive all of the Sewing Circle, Glamour Circle, and Princess Circle benefits.

A SPECIAL NOTE TO $19 BOHEMIAN PRINCESSES

Because your tier is being combined with the $16 Beat Princess tier, you have a decision to make:

• Stay in the Princess Circle
• Upgrade to the Inner Circle

If you stay in the Princess Circle, you will be losing the 100% off coupon for one Charm Pattern (3 times a year). This benefit is not financially viable for us to continue, and we’ve learned from you that it becomes less and less valuable over time as you collect all the Charm Patterns you want.

We’ve instead added a similar benefit to the Inner Circle tier (as well as some other benefits intended for Charm’s biggest supporters).

If you would like to stay at the Princess Circle tier, please downgrade your membership to the $16 Beat Princess level BEFORE December 31. This will save you $3 per month, but you MUST do this before December 31.

If you are interested in upgrading to the Inner Circle level, you'll have to wait until AFTER January 1 to do so.

Our New Tier: The Inner Circle

We’re super excited to offer a new tier this year, the Inner Circle. New members will pay $25 per month.

This tier is designed for Charm’s biggest supporters who want to be a part of guiding what happens behind-the-scenes at Charm. You’ll get everything in the other tiers as well as:

• 100% off each new PDF Charm Pattern when they are released
• 5% off and first dibs on signing up for Gertie's 2023 in-person Society Sewing Retreats
• a quarterly exclusive live event on Zoom as our Inner Circle Board of Advisors
• your name will be listed as an Inner Circle member in Vintage by Gertie magazine
• 20% off coupon for Charm Merchandise (2 times a year) PLUS access to previous annual gifts as merchandise (according to availability)

The Inner Circle tier will become available on January 1.

(scroll to the bottom to download this handy chart in a printable PDF format)

A VERY IMPORTANT Note about Grandfathering, Upgrading, Downgrading, and Your Patreon Payments

As a current patron, you will be “grandfathered” into the new tiers at your current payment level.

HOWEVER - and this is very important - if your payment info changes after January 1, you will be charged the new prices.

This means…if you upgrade or downgrade after January 1, you will pay the new tier price. (So, if you want to upgrade your tier, please do it BEFORE December 31 to lock in the grandfathered rate).

And more troubling…if your payment doesn’t go through at the beginning of the month (because your credit card has expired, for example), you will be removed from your current grandfathered tier. Once you update your payment info, it will place you in the new tier at the new prices.

This a Patreon thing, and there is nothing we can do about it once it happens!

To prevent this from happening, you can

• always make sure your credit card info is up-to-date
• consider using PayPal as your payment method and add multiple funding sources to your PayPal account as backups
• consider changing from a monthly membership to an annual membership. Here’s how.

I’m so excited for the new year and our new theme! We’ve spent a great deal of time making sure the Patreon membership feels fresh & new, while making sure we’re continuing to offer the valuable sewing and vintage content you love.

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below, and we’ll answer them over the next week or so.

xoxo, Gertie

PS: The tier prices have NOT changed yet! They will change on January 1. 

If you are seeing different prices, it is either due to Patreon's currency conversion fees or the state/country taxes & fees that Patreon is required to charge.

If you are an annual member & want to upgrade your tier, here's how it works: "When you increase your annual membership, pro-rated credit from what you've already paid is applied to the new amount, and you pay the remaining cost for upgrading. When you make changes to an annual membership, it extends your year term from that date."  

You can get all your annual membership questions answered here: https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042152671-Annual-membership-details