Payment Processing Changes!

Hey guys! I wanted to give you all a heads up about the way Patreon will now be processing new pledges. I have permanently activated the "charge upfront" feature, which simply means that in order to see any of my Patreon posts, it will charge new patrons immediately when they pledge instead of letting them have a free pass to preview and interact with my exclusive Patreon content until the 1st of the month when all existing patrons get charged.

The issue with the old way was that someone could realistically pledge at any tier level at anytime during the month, be granted access to all those posts without having paid a cent, and then cancel their pledge before being charged at the start of the next month. They could even come back and do this over and over again, like an infinite free trial. While I have not noticed anyone doing this to me specifically, it has happened to plenty of others and I'd rather be cautious about it and prevent future problems. Also that take away from my existing patrons who pay good money for the same access, just not fair to anyone!

If you have already paid this month and/or are an existing patron of mine and plan to stay on your tier level, this change will not affect you whatsoever and charges will go through as normal on the 1st of the month.

- If you are not a patron but here just checking out my page and considering becoming one, be aware that you will now be charged for your pledge upfront and then have access to my Patreon posts at your pledge level immediately.

*IMPORTANT INFO FOR NEW PLEDGERS*

It's recommended for maximum use of your pledge that you become a new patron near the start of a new month, or maybe just not too close to the end of the month. Why? Because Patreon will charge everyone on the 1st of the month for that entire month's access. So if you paid on the 31st of the previous month, for example, you would be charged again the next day on the 1st for the new month because you had last month's access and now the new month's access, that's payment for two months because you were technically an active patron for two months and had full access to that month's content just like anyone else paying for that previous month. It's not a mistake or double-charge (though it will probably feel that way) and I have zero control on how Patreon does this, so just be mindful what time you pledge!

Patreon does not offer an option for monthly payments to be tailored to each patron's original pledge date on a personal schedule (yet). It will ALWAYS go through on the 1st. So be sure to give my Patreon posts a real good look through to get the most of your pledge before you're sure you want to stay onboard for the next month! And one-time pledges are just fine by me though if you can't commit to a monthly payment plan or you find it's just not your thing; this option gives you that kind of flexibility now. :)

- Also if you ever delete your pledge and come back or upgrade your pledge amount, then it will charge you for a new pledge or the difference of that charge. For example you were paying $2 a month, then decided to upgrade to the $10 tier, so Patreon will charge you $8 to upgrade since you've already made a payment earlier this month. If you downgrade though, there is no refund for the difference since you already paid for access at the higher tier level that month.

Also an alternative to deleting your pledge is to just put it on hold for a month, and it will ask you if you want to do this instead when you select edit pledge > delete pledge. Let me know if you have any questions! Thanks you guys <3