196: Patreon Changes Their Fees, Everybody Freaks Out

12/12/2017

UPDATE: Since we recorded this episode, Patreon has rolled back the changes to transaction fees. The full announcement can be found here.

This week, Patreon announced changes to their payment system, and a lot of people freaked out, claiming that it’s just a money grab on Patreon’s part.

The whole thing is pretty confusing and takes awhile to unpack, but if you’re interested in what it’s like to run a Patreon campaign, this will hopefully be an insightful episode. Kevin and I are still figuring it all out.

In short, we are conflicted about the messaging that Patreon is using to promote this change, but we do believe that overall it is a positive thing.

SHOW NOTES:

Update From Josh (00:00:00)

Opening (00:02:16)
195: YouTube Adpocalypse | Proof we were right. | The Inner Tube

Superbook --TV Series | Wikipedia

The Flying House --TV Series | Wikipedia

Rocket Pack Jack | LifeWay Christian Resources

3 --2012 Tamil Film | Wikipedia

A Bit of Housekeeping Including a New Inner Circle Member (00:09:36)
Grace Teraberry | Twitter

GraceTeraberryArt | Etsy

libHERtarian | SoundCloud

Lost and Found: A Lost Rewatch Podcast | Apple Podcasts

Joe Repp | Twitter

SHcMOOK Network | YouTube

J.R. watches Star Trek for the first time

Dexter --TV Series | Wikipedia

A Story From Josh (00:15:12)
Mae --Band | Wikipedia

Mae --The Everglow | YouTube

Mae --We're So Far Away | YouTube

Taking Back Sunday --Band | Wikipedia

NewSong | Wikipedia

Verbs --Rapper | Wikipedia

Sonicflood | Wikipedia

GRITS | Wikipedia

GRITS --They All Fall Down | YouTube

The Patreon Controversy (00:22:11)
tobyMac --Extreme Days | YouTube

We’re Updating Patreon’s Fee Structure. Here’s Why. | Patreon

Blimey Cow | Patreon

Say Goodnight Kevin | Patreon

This Week in Stupid (10/12/2017) | Sargon of Akkad

MakerSupport

Say Goodnight Kevin | MakerSupport

029: Investing Time in Your Content, Using Copyrighted Music, Promoting an Independent Film | The Inner Tube

Understanding Net Neutrality | Who Would Build the Roads?

Closing (01:09:50)
Corban Garcia

Gabe Miller Music | YouTube

Spaceship Joyride -- Full EP | YouTube

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7 Comments

Johannes

12/13/2017 07:30:40 pm

I haven't gotten a chance to listen to this episode yet, but interesting note for others: I saw a ton of people I like who use Patreon moving to Liberapay [1] and they seemingly had a (relatively) big increase in numbers (weekly deposits into all Liberapay accounts went from €1,429 to €11,821) [2]. I also saw a couple people start using Tipeee [3], but I believe that is Europe (or at least Euro) -only.

[1]: https://liberapay.com
[2]: https://liberapay.com/about/stats
[3]: https://www.tipeee.com

Jeff Ross

12/16/2017 11:04:16 am

I looked at liberapay, and it appears that they charge the same for processing as Patreon's new fees in terms of the 2.9% + $0.35 rate. However, they are set up as a non-profit, rather than a commercial enterprise, so they don't keep take the 5% that Patreon does. Also, their structure of donating is a little different. They don't charge per transaction within Liberapay, so you load up your "account" with funds up-front in bulk and then distribute your donations to the creators of your choice. The creators will then receive the donations all at once, so the processing fees are lessened compared to many, many little transactions. This system allows you to donate as little as $0.01 per creator. This system works if you're comfortable with Liberapay acting as a "middleman" for your donations. Also note that Liberapay is a French company, subject to French regulations, though the intent of the platform is to be as international as possible. I am genuinely curious about how sustainable this platform is, because it seems like the theoretically best platform to receive income from.

I also looked at Tipeee, another Fench company, a counterpart to Patreon, but it focuses only on the European markets. Consequently, there is more language support but the only currency they support is the Euro. I found a review in Italian suggesting that an Italian creator found more support and increased revenue from Tipeee than Patreon when using the two simultaneously, even though Patreon has the bigger name recognition even in Italy. Since most listeners to the Inner Tube are Americans who speak English, I can't say that Tipeee is a platform that they should consider.

Johannes

12/17/2017 05:03:23 pm

Another cool part of Liberapay is you can set up "teams", where someone makes a pledge to a group (like the Inner Tube), and it will divide the money between the team members (like Josh and Kevin). I believe it can also do custom splits where certain members get different amounts of money.

I think the "wallet" feature where you load it with some amount of money, and you are only charged a fee once, it a great advantage it has over Patreon.

Jeff Ross

12/16/2017 02:40:10 pm

I just found out that Patreon decided to not roll out its changes due to the backlash of not consulting its creators about a potential change. Despite the news, this was still a fun Inner Tube episode. Hopefully Josh & Kevin address what they thought about the sudden change-of-heart by Patreon on a future episode.

Johannes

12/17/2017 05:07:18 pm

This was a fun episode.

I think people overreacted a bit to Patreon's proposed changes, but I think it's good that more people will be moving to different services, so they have some actual competition.

Looking forward to the Last Jedi review.

Also, can I nominate Jeff Ross as "Innertubemunity member of the year"?

Josiah the Carrot Stick

12/22/2017 10:04:04 am

I second the motion.

Xrp news link

2/22/2019 07:53:21 am

Okay you are true, YouTube is best video distribution site, as YouTube is a lightly no much streaming time rather than other web sites.

196: Patreon Changes Their Fees, Everybody Freaks Out

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