Patreon's new transactions fees and what I will do to protect (and respect) your pledge of support.

UPDATE: Patreon has retracted their planned fee change for the moment! None of this will be necessary!

Hello, all!

I am writing to provide additional context around Patreon's fee changes and the actions I will be taking to prevent you from being charged more to support this campaign without your explicit, affirmative consent.

Keep reading for a more detailed breakdown.

Patreon's Fee Changes

This morning, you received an email from Patreon (mirrored on their blog) detailing upcoming changes to their transaction fees. 

In short, Patreon plans to pass more of the per-transaction processing cost of each monthly pledge on to you (a 2.9% charge plus a flat $.35 fee) so that creators receive a higher percentage of your pledges.

I do not support this change.  It is unfair to both Patrons and Creators. It will cause Patrons of this campaign to pay an extra 6-38% each month in fees, which is unacceptable.

I had the deduction of processing fees in mind when I designed this campaign, its pledge levels, and its rewards -  along with my overall business plan. I don't want to benefit an extra 5% a month when you will be paying more than that in fees.

Also, Patreon is being dishonest in their communication about the change, which is upsetting to me as a communications professional and a long-time supporter of this platform.

I do not want you to pay more than you are already paying to support me. I am taking two actions to prevent that from occurring.

Temporary Campaign Suspension

As my first action, I have temporarily paused my campaign pending either:

(a) Patreon's modification or retraction of these changes; 

or

(b) my ability to alter the pledge levels and to receive consent from each Patron that it's okay to move forward with billing.

If my campaign is still paused as of December 31 you will not be charged for January pledges. This will really hurt for me, as I'll have to pay for a month of blogging costs out of pocket, but it's the only fair thing to do for you.

Also, I understand that my ability to do this is a privilege. Know that many other creators cannot afford to pause or alter their campaigns to take a stand about these change.

Potential Changes to Pledge Levels

As a second action, if Patreon does not modify or retract these changes, I plan to alter my pledge levels to be lower so that you still pay the same total amount after fees. 

This change would be in concert with revising the pledge level rewards (as discussed last month) to include more benefits.

I am not able to make a change to your current pledge level or move you to a new pledge level. Instead, I would create new, lower pledge levels as outlined below and communicate with you each individually to ask you to alter your pledge accordingly.

Here is the breakdown of how Patreon's fees and my changes would work for the four most-popular pledge levels

Patreon's changes mean a current pledge of $1 would pay $1.38 per month, a 38% increase.

I have no way to lower or modify a $1 pledge, which is the minimum that Patreon will process. Before moving forward with un-suspending my campaign, I would seek your affirmation that it's okay to continue billing you. You would also gain access to expanded rewards I've recently discussed.

Alternately, we can arrange a different means of paying me $12 for a yearly subscription with the same level of access.

I would lower the $1.99 pledge level to $1.59 so that after fees you would still pay $1.99.  Patreon's changes mean a current pledge of $1.99 would pay $2.40 per month, a 21% increase. 

I would lower the $3.99 pledge level to $3.54 so that after fees you would still pay $3.99. Patreon's changes mean a current pledge of $3.99 would pay $4.46 per month, a 12% increase.

I would lower the $9.99 pledge level to $9.37 so that after fees you would still pay $9.99. Patreon's changes mean a current pledge of $9.99 would pay $10.63 per month, a 6% increase. 

I will make approximately the same amount each month after these changes (since Patreon is shifting the burden of fees off of creators), but you will save between 6 and 38% each month. That's an easy decision for me to make.

Thank You For Your Support

Your contributions not only kept my blog alive in 2017, but they made it possible for me to launch my YouTube channel, which has significantly expanded my reach as a creator. 

I'm so humbled that I matter to you, and I want you to know you matter to me, too. You are spending your hard-earned dollars to help me realize a creative vision. I will do everything in my power not only to work hard to make you proud to support me, but to protect that support from anything that could distract from it - like this change.

Best,

- Peter