An Explanation about the Relaunch Process

I wanted to take some time to explain in detail the reasons why I’m undergoing this “relaunch” process, as it has been a bit confusing and some of you may be curious about the ins and outs of a Patreon-based business like mine!  I also wanted to address IOS billing changes, which you may have heard about from other creators.  This post will be long and is NOT required reading, but will hopefully provide some insight into my decision making for those interested.

Recently Patreon announced that it will be switching all of its creators to Subscription billing in order to conform to Apple’s billing model mandates for the App Store.  Previously there were 3 different billing models for creators to choose from:  First-of-the-Month, Per-Creation, and Subscription.  I use First-of-the-Month billing, which charges new members when they sign up and then on the first of each subsequent month of membership.  In contrast, Subscription billing charges new members when they sign up and then on the same day of each subsequent month. 

First-of-the-Month billing works best for me because I can process all of my pledges at once.  Payment processing times vary, but by the time I’m ready to send out stickers halfway through the month, I have a complete list of everyone who has paid for that month’s stickers.  Under the Subscription billing model, a new member who signs up on the 30th will then be charged on the 30th for each subsequent month and won’t show up on that list.  I will have to continually send out stickers throughout the month as each individual member’s payment is processed, which is a logistical nightmare.  

When Patreon announced this change they made it possible for creators to delay the switch to Subscription billing until November 2025, which I’ve done.  I’m hoping that in that time Patreon will create a tool that allows creators to limit new sign-ups to a specific window each month (for example, new people could join up until the 10th and after that tiers will close to new members until the next month.)  This would help substantially with the issue I mentioned above.  I’ve sent this idea to the Patreon team, but whether or not they will actually develop a tool like this is anyone’s guess.

Important side note: Delaying the switch to Subscription billing means that new members can no longer sign up to my sticker club via the Patreon app.  That’s okay with me because new memberships purchased through the Patreon app are subject to a 30% App Store fee.  It’s much better for members to sign up via web browser in order to avoid this fee.  Note: You can still use the Patreon app to view content without being subject to the fee, it’s just that when you purchase a new membership through the app you will be charged the fee each month.  

So that’s why I’m clinging to First-of-the-Month billing for as long as I can!  Now, Patreon made this announcement shortly after I had finally made the decision to raise prices for Sticker Club.  Patreon only allows creators who use the Subscription billing model to change prices for their existing tiers, so that was not an option for me unless I switched billing models.  I spent a long time agonizing over whether or not to just switch to Subscription billing so I could raise prices without creating new tiers and asking everyone to upgrade.  I figure I would have retained a lot more members this way, but the trade-off of losing First-of-the-Month billing so soon was too much.  Also, I felt it would be a good idea to make sure that all my current subscribers are active and actually want to keep subscribing by making them to opt in to the new pricing.

Hence the decision to create new tiers and get rid of the old ones!  You’d think this would be a simple process, but it isn’t.  Deleting a tier on Patreon doesn’t actually remove members of that tier from billing, it simply switches them to “No Tier” status.  Effectively, No Tier patrons would keep getting charged but would no longer show up on the list of people who paid for stickers.  Members must cancel their membership themselves, and the only way for me to cancel a membership on my end is to block them.  It sounds crazy, but I have confirmed this with Patreon support.  

When a creator blocks you, you receive a rather harsh notification email without any explanation as to why.  This is why I’ve been trying to get everyone to cancel before the block, so I can avoid as much confusion about this email as possible.  I’ve been posting about this quite a bit here on Patreon and sent a printed notice about this with October stickers for members who have not yet upgraded.  I’ll also be sending out a message to everyone remaining in old tiers this week.  I feel I’ve done all I can to inform members, but I realize that inevitably some people will miss it and be surprised by the block.  I suppose I’ll cross that bridge when I get there! 

Anyway, I hope this was illuminating about the weird ways of Patreon.  This platform has a LOT of problems, but it’s still currently the best option available for many creators including myself.  Feel free to comment or email me if you have any questions about this and I’ll do my best to answer!

Thank you for reading!!!