Patreon backtracks on changes to their fees system

Patreon backtracks on changes to their fees system

Patreon backtracks on changes to their fees system

Last week the crowdfunding platform Patreon revealed plans to make significant changes to their fees system, passing on transaction fees to patrons to make the service more transparent and allow creators to earn a more stable income from the service. 

This new plan would charge patrons a 2.9% $0.35 free on top of their existing payments, having a considerable effect on the cost of small donations, disproportionately affecting pledges of $1-$2, forcing many low-cost patrons away from the service shortly after the announcement. 

A large number of creators were unhappy with this change, preferring to pay the fees themselves rather than pass the cost onto their users, especially those who would pay more in fees after the change. 

Patreon has now announced that they will not be implementing this new payment system and will instead retain their existing fees structure. The company released the following statement on the matter. 

 

    Creators and Patrons,

We’ve heard you loud and clear. We’re not going to rollout the changes to our payments system that we announced last week. We still have to fix the problems that those changes addressed, but we’re going to fix them in a different way, and we’re going to work with you to come up with the specifics, as we should have done the first time around. Many of you lost patrons, and you lost income. No apology will make up for that, but nevertheless, I’m sorry. It is our core belief that you should own the relationships with your fans. These are your businesses, and they are your fans.

I’ve spent hours and hours on the phone with creators, and so has the Patreon team. Your feedback has been crystal clear:

The new payments system disproportionately impacted $1 – $2 patrons. We have to build a better system for them.
Aggregation is highly-valued, and we underestimated that.
Fundamentally, creators should own the business decisions with their fans, not Patreon. We overstepped our bounds and injected ourselves into that relationship, against our core belief as a business.
We recognize that we need to be better at involving you more deeply and earlier in these kinds of decisions and product changes. Additionally, we need to give you a more flexible product and platform to allow you to own the way you run your memberships.

I know it will take a long time for us to earn back your trust. But we are utterly devoted to your success and to getting you sustainable, reliable income for being a creator. We will work harder than ever to build you tools, functionality, and income, and our team won’t rest until Patreon is making that happen.

If you haven’t sent us a note yet, or if you don’t see your concerns listed above, please leave us your feedback here.

Thanks for continuing to create. We are nothing without you, and we know that.

  

Patreon backtracks on changes to their fees system

Ultimately this is good news for both Patrons and Creators, though it does nothing to address the fact that a large number of creators have already lost Patrons due to these proposed changes. 

You can join the discussion on Patreon backtracking changes to their fees structure on the OC3D Forums.  

Patreon backtracks on changes to their fees system

Patreon backtracks on changes to their fees system

Last week the crowdfunding platform Patreon revealed plans to make significant changes to their fees system, passing on transaction fees to patrons to make the service more transparent and allow creators to earn a more stable income from the service. 

This new plan would charge patrons a 2.9% $0.35 free on top of their existing payments, having a considerable effect on the cost of small donations, disproportionately affecting pledges of $1-$2, forcing many low-cost patrons away from the service shortly after the announcement. 

A large number of creators were unhappy with this change, preferring to pay the fees themselves rather than pass the cost onto their users, especially those who would pay more in fees after the change. 

Patreon has now announced that they will not be implementing this new payment system and will instead retain their existing fees structure. The company released the following statement on the matter. 

 

    Creators and Patrons,

We’ve heard you loud and clear. We’re not going to rollout the changes to our payments system that we announced last week. We still have to fix the problems that those changes addressed, but we’re going to fix them in a different way, and we’re going to work with you to come up with the specifics, as we should have done the first time around. Many of you lost patrons, and you lost income. No apology will make up for that, but nevertheless, I’m sorry. It is our core belief that you should own the relationships with your fans. These are your businesses, and they are your fans.

I’ve spent hours and hours on the phone with creators, and so has the Patreon team. Your feedback has been crystal clear:

The new payments system disproportionately impacted $1 – $2 patrons. We have to build a better system for them.
Aggregation is highly-valued, and we underestimated that.
Fundamentally, creators should own the business decisions with their fans, not Patreon. We overstepped our bounds and injected ourselves into that relationship, against our core belief as a business.
We recognize that we need to be better at involving you more deeply and earlier in these kinds of decisions and product changes. Additionally, we need to give you a more flexible product and platform to allow you to own the way you run your memberships.

I know it will take a long time for us to earn back your trust. But we are utterly devoted to your success and to getting you sustainable, reliable income for being a creator. We will work harder than ever to build you tools, functionality, and income, and our team won’t rest until Patreon is making that happen.

If you haven’t sent us a note yet, or if you don’t see your concerns listed above, please leave us your feedback here.

Thanks for continuing to create. We are nothing without you, and we know that.

  

Patreon backtracks on changes to their fees system

Ultimately this is good news for both Patrons and Creators, though it does nothing to address the fact that a large number of creators have already lost Patrons due to these proposed changes. 

You can join the discussion on Patreon backtracking changes to their fees structure on the OC3D Forums. Â