Switching to Anniversary Billing (Patreon)

Bloodworth again,

After our last announcement about sponsorship tiers, I’ve been chewing on the decision about making the switch to Patreon’s new anniversary billing system, and I think it’s something we’re ready to do in the next day or two. To explain what that means, basically new patrons / upped pledges will be billed immediately, and new patrons will then have recurring payments happen on whichever date of each month that they first signed up, instead of everyone being billed on the 1st of the following month after they pledge.

Overall, it’s less confusing than Patreon’s original setup, however, the reason we’ve delayed the switch is because once we go to the new system, we can’t switch back, and we may need to adjust some processes in how we deliver rewards. That said, with the sponsorship and personal message tiers in place, it makes more sense than ever to have people pay up front so they don’t have to wait out a month before their message can be on a show.

For current patrons, this really won’t make much noticeable difference. You’ll continue to be billed on the 1st of every month unless you cancel and sign back up later. However, you should be aware that now if you raise your pledge, the difference will be billed immediately, and then the full amount for the next month will be charged on the 1st. So you may want to avoid raising your pledge on, say, the last day of the month.

Second, while we don’t think it will be a problem, as we adapt, there’s a small chance that we might miss some people for rewards we have to manually deliver like fan mail or podcast producer credits. If for some reason, you get missed, let us know and we’ll make sure you’re taken care of.

Like I said, in the end, this should be a positive step for multiple reasons, and in general, it should be less confusing for new patrons, especially now that there are three or four different billing options on Patreon. If you have any questions, let me know, and you can find more information from Patreon here: https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/8779192853261

-Bloodworth