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Patreon cuts deep inside creators’ pockets

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Re: Patreon cuts deep inside creators’ pockets

#61

Post by noirbot »

tootie wrote: post #2

Apple take 30%. You have to understand that you're not paying just for the service, but the reach. You can DIY your donation platform and the tech side isn't rocket science, the issue that platforms like Patreon and Apple have access to orders of magnitude more users than you can ever generate on your own.

I don't think this is exactly right. As other commenters point out, Patreon does nothing to help people find new stuff - what Patreon really provides is a sort of escrow service for subscriptions and payments. The value they offer me as someone who subscribes to things through them is that I know that Patreon doesn't really care that much if I decide to stop supporting something. My $5/month isn't worth them making it hard for me to cancel.

The couple apps and podcasts I've subscribed to that did roll their own payments and subscriptions have been hell to cancel or adjust my subscription, riddled with dark patterns, and one seemingly just... removed the unsubscribe button entirely. There was no way to cancel at all.

Re: Patreon cuts deep inside creators’ pockets

#62

Post by lazypenguin »

I never understood Patreon taking a % of money earned from creators. Seems unreasonable to me. I use Ko-Fi which has an optional “gold tier” with a fixed monthly price for more features. It also has an option for you to contribute a % of proceeds to Ko-Fi if you want. I happily paid for gold.

https://ko-fi.com/

Re: Patreon cuts deep inside creators’ pockets

#63

Post by harles »

Nextgrid wrote: post #59
jeroenhd wrote: post #36

What I think is something people easily overlook with Patreon and similar platforms is that it's quite hard to make a decent profit on $1 or $5 transactions that most of Patreon's income seems to come from. They're definitely overcharging for more profit, but your margins won't be much lower if you handle payment yourself. Your 3% bank cut to receive money doesn't always work because often there's a minimum fee per t…

On the other hand, Patreon bills supporters as one lump sum and then pays out as a lump sum as well - that should at least offset the flat per-transaction fee, if there is any.

On the billing side, I’d guess it’s unlikely to help. I’ve never paid more than $6/mo total on Patreon and I’d expect this is typical.

Re: Patreon cuts deep inside creators’ pockets

#64

Post by onphonenow »

noirbot wrote: post #61
tootie wrote: post #2

Apple take 30%. You have to understand that you're not paying just for the service, but the reach. You can DIY your donation platform and the tech side isn't rocket science, the issue that platforms like Patreon and Apple have access to orders of magnitude more users than you can ever generate on your own.

I don't think this is exactly right. As other commenters point out, Patreon does nothing to help people find new stuff - what Patreon really provides is a sort of escrow service for subscriptions and payments. The value they offer me as someone who subscribes to things through them is that I know that Patreon doesn't really care that much if I decide to stop supporting something. My $5/month isn't worth them making i…

I have a "subscription" to support a business. You can signup on a website but have to reach out to them via email to cancel which they only tell you later when you login to try and cancel. It's working I'm still subscribed but will get into it with them and the retention flow they have eventually. With patreon I can click, instead of doing the back and forth email thing.

Re: Patreon cuts deep inside creators’ pockets

#65

Post by maxshadurskiy »

sokoloff wrote: post #9
maxshadurskiy wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Article states the opposite is true. Small creators, do not receive decent amount of discoverability on Patreon. I guess same true for Apple AppStore.

It’s not just (or even primarily) discoverability. I will never type in my credit card to give some random app developer $1.99. I will frequently click buy on an app in the App Store. Same is likely true for Patreon. Even if I found your videos or podcast by some other means, the fact you can mention “Thank to to my patrons” means I can easily find you (not discover you) on Patreon and subscribe.

Let’s assume random website use Stripe checkout or PayPal to process cards. Will you fell better and safe to type in your bank card?

Re: Patreon cuts deep inside creators’ pockets

#66

Post by Cerium »

harles wrote: post #63
Nextgrid wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, Patreon bills supporters as one lump sum and then pays out as a lump sum as well - that should at least offset the flat per-transaction fee, if there is any.

On the billing side, I’d guess it’s unlikely to help. I’ve never paid more than $6/mo total on Patreon and I’d expect this is typical.

Mine is about $20 a month, a couple $5, a couple $1 per episode, one $3.5.

Re: Patreon cuts deep inside creators’ pockets

#68

Post by DoctorOW »

sorenjan wrote: post #50
jeroenhd wrote: post #36

What I think is something people easily overlook with Patreon and similar platforms is that it's quite hard to make a decent profit on $1 or $5 transactions that most of Patreon's income seems to come from. They're definitely overcharging for more profit, but your margins won't be much lower if you handle payment yourself. Your 3% bank cut to receive money doesn't always work because often there's a minimum fee per t…

I think this is one of the problems flattr tries to solve. instead of multiple micro transactions you make one larger transaction each month to flattr, who then divides it up to all the creators you want to support. I don't know how Patreon does it, if they make one charge for each creator you support I guess the transactions fees can become a large part of the total amount. https://flattr.com/

All patreon customers are also only charged once per month no matter how many creators they support. The main difference being that since Patreon has people pledge specific dollar amounts instead of trying to figure it out month-to-month like Flattr the average Patreon customer has much fewer creators.

Re: Patreon cuts deep inside creators’ pockets

#69

Post by thayne »

jeroenhd wrote: post #36

What I think is something people easily overlook with Patreon and similar platforms is that it's quite hard to make a decent profit on $1 or $5 transactions that most of Patreon's income seems to come from. They're definitely overcharging for more profit, but your margins won't be much lower if you handle payment yourself. Your 3% bank cut to receive money doesn't always work because often there's a minimum fee per t…

The solution for this is to have the donation system pool transactions together. Instead of a single transaction for each creator you donate to, you make a payment into a pool that you can then allocate funds from to various recipients. And instead of individual payments to recipients, you send a single lump sum once a month (or if perhaps less frequently if donations are sparse).

Re: Patreon cuts deep inside creators’ pockets

#70

Post by escapecharacter »

thayne wrote: post #69
jeroenhd wrote: post #36

What I think is something people easily overlook with Patreon and similar platforms is that it's quite hard to make a decent profit on $1 or $5 transactions that most of Patreon's income seems to come from. They're definitely overcharging for more profit, but your margins won't be much lower if you handle payment yourself. Your 3% bank cut to receive money doesn't always work because often there's a minimum fee per t…

The solution for this is to have the donation system pool transactions together. Instead of a single transaction for each creator you donate to, you make a payment into a pool that you can then allocate funds from to various recipients. And instead of individual payments to recipients, you send a single lump sum once a month (or if perhaps less frequently if donations are sparse).

Gonna start a PAC for me and my friends’ horny fan art commissions
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