Required change to subscription billing November 2024
Added 2024-08-12 13:59:10 +0000 UTCHi,
Frankly, I don't know how I'm going to change my Patreon model to suit this -- currently, I think I might just have to keep doing perks the way I'm doing them (monthly) because I honestly don't exactly know how to transition this model into a subscription per-user monthly billing period.
Even if you did not subscribe via the iOS store, it sounds like your subscription will be changed, because my entire account is getting changed.
In addition, the app version of my Patreon tiers will be increased by 30% to cover Apple's new percentage. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to eat this cost by keeping the tiers the same price on all platforms -- so, if you're able, please consider subscribing and engaging with content on the website instead of the app.
I'll be thinking about it in the coming days and obviously will have some solution ready -- or not -- by the time this change is imposed on my Patreon account.
Unfortunately there's nothing I can do about this change at this time. Sorry :(
Jude
Comments
:/
Tuesday M
2024-08-22 23:54:04 +0000 UTCI believe that refers to the increased fee. All patreon creators are being forced to change subscription models, which will affect us in some way or another. 🙃
Soushiyo
2024-08-22 23:53:22 +0000 UTCDoesn’t it say “Apple’s fee will not impact your existing members. It will only affect new memberships purchased in the iOS app from November onward”?
Tuesday M
2024-08-22 23:32:16 +0000 UTCNot an expert on this by any means, but it seems like there are two issues. The first is adding the 30% Apple Tax to subcriptions. The statement I saw said that it won't affect existing subscriptions, no matter where they were created. Only new subscriptions made through the iOS app will be affected by the apple tax. If you don't take proactive step, the iOS app will display your subscription tier price +30% for new subscribers. The other is the change in billing model from "First of Month" to "recurring every 30(?) days from date of subscription" is being forced on everyone. While they say that this will be a process between now and Novermber 2025, they also say you won't be able to get new subscriptions after November 2024 unless you've switched. (The second one seems to be what you're talking about, but the first one is what most people are reacting to, because, well, fuck Apple's tax.) Again, not an expert, anyone reading this should not assume I'm right.
Joe Helfrich
2024-08-13 01:06:13 +0000 UTCJust so you know, I feel for anybody that enjoys the Apple phones and products. It's disheartening the things that you have to go through sometimes. I'm not a hater, in fact my few dabblings with Apple have been pretty good. I just enjoy my Windows and my Androids a lot more.
Eddy Hooper
2024-08-12 21:30:01 +0000 UTCMeanwhile, in Android World...
Eddy Hooper
2024-08-12 21:28:58 +0000 UTCGiven the linked post, it seems Apple kinda forces Patreon to make people switch: > Apple has also made clear that if creators on Patreon continue to use unsupported billing models or disable transactions in the iOS app, we will be at risk of having the entire app removed from their App Store. Best to indeed just avoid subscribing through the iOS app from November though. There is a voice nagging in the back of my mind that this came up before (netflix/spotify come to mind) and (at least in the EU) something got in the way of that; but I can't really seem to find the right keywords to find that (over the current outlash on the new policies). I guess the impact is relatively low here, given the current subscriptions are already per-month (just on the 1st instead of from whenever you subscribed).. but it will be quite crappy for the per-creation creators 😖
Fabian van der Veen
2024-08-12 18:23:16 +0000 UTCThat's also how I read it. They might switch everybody over to month first billing, but knowing patreon that might just mean a partial billing at some point in time and then everybody with a monthly subscription is booked for the first of the month. It's just crap for the subscriptions per post/item 😕
Matthias Kutscheid
2024-08-12 17:57:02 +0000 UTCThanks for this. I think unfortunately patreon has said they're forcing the subscription model change to all creators 😔
Soushiyo
2024-08-12 17:47:19 +0000 UTCSpeaking as a mobile dev: this likely only affects subscriptions via the ios app. If you have a subscription done via the web you can still use the app. Apple only requires payment to be processed through their systems, but not the subscription/content itself. At least that's my experience with them.
Matthias Kutscheid
2024-08-12 17:37:55 +0000 UTCI don’t know how viable this is for other people but I exclusively use the Patreon website rather than the app, even on my iDevices. Shouldn’t be paying the Apple tax that way.
Pete Spicer
2024-08-12 16:32:46 +0000 UTCSo Patreon’s document says that existing memberships won’t be impacted by this tax so I would assume that no one would have to pay the apple tax for those. I don’t know what the solution is for new memberships though…
Alex Merchen
2024-08-12 15:37:29 +0000 UTCAppreciate the heads up. That’s a really slimy thing to do given that I think I’ve added stuff off of Patreon’s website rather than through the app typically. I’m here for whatever changes need to happen.
Gantzie
2024-08-12 14:29:33 +0000 UTCMan... Fuck Apple...
writtendown
2024-08-12 14:22:29 +0000 UTCIs there anything Apple touches that it doesn't fuck up? Nevermind that these changes ought to be null and void in the EU anyway... D:
Leak
2024-08-12 14:14:31 +0000 UTC
