Patreon Cancels Fee Change

It was Warpole! Although seriously, not just for the memes, I would want to see a series on him, or Gladstone and Disraeli (those two just can't be separated and have to be done as a pair) So it really was Warpole that had me go to the $8 pledge level

Fried (Fridge)

We got some folks back, not all! That's to be expected, if rather unfortunate for us.

Extra History

Ooh, awesome! You'll be just in time to join our topic suggestion thread which will go up pretty soon!

Extra History

I actually do understand that one, and will explain it if I can. Right now, Patreon charges everything on the first of the month. So if you pledge $3 on December 28, you will be charged right away and get access to all our $3 rewards for the month of December... but then you will get charged again three days later, on January 1, for continued access to the $3 rewards for January. That's... fine if you're aware of it, but not so fine if you aren't expecting to pay $6 instead of $3. What Patreon WANTS to do is set up the system so if you pledge on December 28, you won't get charged against until January 28. This means you can pledge any time and the day you start your pledge is the day they charge you for it, forever. But it also means that payments won't be charged in a bundle on the first of every month: payments will be charged one at a time, depending on when you started each pledge. And that means that someone (whether patrons or creators) has to pay the credit card transaction fees for each of your pledges individually rather than the single transaction fee from the lump sum on January 1. That's where the 35 cent flat fee per pledge came from. Now obviously there are other reasons why that flat fee was a Bad Idea (TM) that Didn't Work (TM) but I've probably talked enough here. Hopefully that explanation was helpful though!

Extra History

Yay! Glad it made you happy!

Extra History

I hope so! They did reach out to me about this and we made plans to talk further, so I know I'm looking forward to that possibility.

Extra History

Hahaha! Yes it did. XD

Extra History

Who knows, maybe that will be the system they adopt in the future! Right now the fees are pretty variable so even *I* couldn't tell you how to offset fee charges in the backend. That variability is part of the problem they were trying to solve just... that wasn't a good answer.

Extra History

Huzzah! One day, Martin. :D

Extra History

It happens sometimes!

Extra History

I completely agree with you, Christopher, and while I understand the reasons why they wanted to make the fee structure change they were looking at, the fact that it discouraged or outright harmed those small donors was my biggest issue with it. I'm glad they walked it back. Stacy, I think a calculator would be lovely! When they do wind up exploring new fee structure systems it's something I'd like to suggest to them.

Extra History

I have a lot of faith in the Patreon team and I'm glad my faith did not prove unfounded in this case; they certainly had me worried there. I will say, though, that this was still an unpleasant thing to go through, which at least they acknowledge and will hopefully find better ways to approach in the future.

Extra History

Hey did you guys get your patrons back? Or did it just go up in smoke?

Tome of Trovius

still waiting for an explanation of the 35cents flat fee that doesn't involve increasing cash flow. I'd be okay with that, kind of, but not with the obfuscation that seems to be being used.

seerpea

This is good news, and it means I can repledge, not only that I've had a rethink about some of my other pledges and in trimming the fat, I've decided to go from the $5 level to the $8 level

Fried (Fridge)

I wonder what devious cash grab they will think of next.

Pavel Yakushevich

Awesome! best news I've had today.

Alexandru Juncu

My strategy of doing nothing out of laziness payed off

I didn't mind the fee change because it helped me to actually give creators what I wanted to give them (even if it was just a full dollar). But I would just appreciate something that helped me calculate the amount. Have the "pledge amount" and the "true pledge amount" or something.

Digizard

Agreed! I would like something that told me exactly how much the creator was actually getting of my amount. So if my dollar is only giving the creator something like 85 cents, how much do I need to give for them to actually get a dollar? Or $5? Or whatever value I really want them to have.

Digizard

This fantastic news! And hopefully with the right changes made in the future will actually strengthen the relationship not only between Creators and their supporters, but between Creators and Patreon itself!

EvilChicken25

I would personally like it if they allowed the user to opt in when pledging and be able to pledge a bit more to help with processing fees or opt out if they can't afford it. Or something similar to that.

James C

My ambitions of One Day being an $8 Tier Patreon are Saved.

Martin Verran

Wait... somebody (that isn't related to Extra Credits/History) in this day and age is listening and trying to keep people happy?!? Did I slip into reverse world?!?

Kathyrne

While I'm glad they changed things, because that change did hurt the donations I was making in small amounts to various people, I'm mildly annoyed that the reversal because I'd already canceled my donations to two creators in order to pay for others. I try to explain to my students in Economics that the strength of crowdfunding like Patreon is the fact that fans can give very little, such as a dollar a month, and still know that they're contributing to things they like or believe in, so long as there are enough other people also giving a buck. The fee change hurt those people who are trying to support art and creations that they believe in but only at the little that they can afford and hoping it adds up.

Christopher Pelletier

Welp, they surprised me. Good.

Nosgoroth