thedroneracingengineer

My Letter To Patreon r.e. Changes To Fee Structure (Patreon)

Published:

2017-12-08 14:22:56

Imported:

2021-09

Content

I sent this letter to Patreon support.

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I am writing to object to your new fee structure.

As far as I can tell, the motivation behind the new fee structure comes from the desire to charge Patrons immediately when they subscribe. This leads to individual, anniversary-based chargers instead of collective, lump-sum charges at the end of the month. And this leads to increased transaction fees, which has led to the new fee structure.

I can only speak for myself when I say that this all seems completely backwards. The soul of Patreon is the people who pledge small amounts. Why would a Patron who pledges $1 to five different Creators want to be charged $1.38 instead, five different times a month, rather than having a single charge show up at the end of the month? It seems like lump-charging Patrons would also solve your transaction fee problems since surely it is cheaper to process fewer, larger transactions. I don't know... maybe not.

I have never understood the motivation to charge Patrons immediately. As a Creator, I don't get paid any faster, because I only pay out at the end of the month anyway. The motivation can't be to capture the very first payment, because a Patron who subs and then un-subs 2 weeks later... well, who cares about the $2 you lost from him by not charging him immediately anyway.

The argument about consistency falls flat too. Every month, my pledged amount changes. Guaranteeing a consistent 95% doesn't help when it's 95% of an inconsistent amount. Anyway, I'm running a business here. I am more than capable of dealing with a cash-flow variance of +/-10% for goodness sake.

Frankly, I am suspicious that this whole thing is really to benefit Patreon, not Creators. It seems like Patreon is the one who will benefit most by charging Patrons immediately. I can't figure out exactly what the angle is for you, but I can't really see much of an angle at all for Creators or Patrons, so I have to assume you're acting in your own interests. Or maybe you just don't realize how messed up this seems from the other side.