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Patreon's latest change is so poorly worded and needlessly obtuse that people are already running hog wild with doomsday mis-readings and I don't even care.
I've never seen a company so bad at writing announcements that anticipate what their actual users will care about. https://twitter.com/Patreon/status/1291436133604364289
I've never seen a company so bad at writing announcements that anticipate what their actual users will care about. https://twitter.com/Patreon/status/1291436133604364289
The Short: Patreon wants to cut Square and PayPal out of the conversion fee game.
To do so they have implemented a system whereby a $5 tier in £ is no longer ($5) x Today'sConversionRate, but is £PriceBookValue, and the Price Book is updated every 6-12 months.
Creators still receive the literal conversion of the literal amount pledged, i.e. if the Price Book says a $5 tier is £6 then the creator gets whatever £6 (minus fees) happens to convert to on the day
But as per their infograph, a "$5 pledge" in £ may fluctuate substantially over long periods of time, such that three different Brits are paying three different prices for access to the same content.
Is that simple?
No, not at all.
But Patreon isn't pocketing the difference, just the conversion fees (which are paid by creators to Patreon instead of Patrons to Square/PayPal/Visa)
No, not at all.
But Patreon isn't pocketing the difference, just the conversion fees (which are paid by creators to Patreon instead of Patrons to Square/PayPal/Visa)
The kinda wild thing is that Patreon has decided that access to a given tier of content is tied to *intent at the initial point of subscription* and is not a price that creators have set for their products and expect to receive.
That's not super relevant to me, I don't have tiers, but premium creators with high value tiers, particular tiers tied to physical goods, are probably gonna have Words To Say about international customers being able to lock in a price.
Hahaha, oh boy, the answer to this. Haha. Okay.
In October this will be the way that all *new* pledges are handled across all campaigns. Until October creators can "opt in" to turn this on early.
All existing pledges will stay the same. https://twitter.com/PRock1990/status/1291496055784300554?s=20
In October this will be the way that all *new* pledges are handled across all campaigns. Until October creators can "opt in" to turn this on early.
All existing pledges will stay the same. https://twitter.com/PRock1990/status/1291496055784300554?s=20
So if you are currently a Brit paying USD via PayPal to a Canadian creator, nothing will change as long as you never interrupt your pledge. Your current pledge is your current pledge.
But if that sounds fractured and confusing, rest easy knowing that they are aiming for a consistent user experience. https://twitter.com/Patreon/status/1291478062392053763?s=20
Oh, I didn't even mention that their Price Book is set so that at any given time the tier prices are just straight up more expensive in currencies that aren't the campaign's currency, and that's their pitch to creators. https://twitter.com/Patreon/status/1291493646609465344?s=20
To decode the "4.5% + 50 cent rounding"
$5 = £3.8
£3.8 + 4.5% = £3.971
Round up to the next 0.5
$5 = £4
So if the Price Book was set today a $5 tier would be £4
$5 = £3.8
£3.8 + 4.5% = £3.971
Round up to the next 0.5
$5 = £4
So if the Price Book was set today a $5 tier would be £4
An upside, buried in all this: all creators will be able to choose payouts in USD, Euros, or Pounds, which should make for much, much, much more favourable payout fees, even if you're stuck using Payoneer.
Like, okay, there we go, one thing that's actually simpler, cleaner, and better for creators without any new strings or complicated charts.
