Patreon Charge Up Front Change

Helllllo Rivans. I have a very important matter to discuss that'll affect the future of my Patreon.

There has been a flaw in my handling of $5 and $10 patron passwords because Patreon made changes to THEIR handling of declined pledges and I wasn't aware. I've talked to the patrons of those tiers about it, but basically it was possible (and indeed happened) that patrons would have a processed pledge and wouldn't receive their passwords because the pledge went through AFTER I'd checked to see who got their reward.

This created an awkward situation where the patrons would need to inform me when their pledge was cleared, I'd need to check for fixed declined pledges every day, or some patrons would do without what they're due. Obviously none of these are a good outcome.

Enter Charge Up Front.

Patreon had a beta system that recently rolled out site-wide. Patreon Creators can now opt in to a slightly different charging system for their page. Full details are in the article I've linked at the top, so feel free to read through that or comment if you have any questions/concerns.

This new system institutes a 'charge up front' when a pledge is made. Instead of people making a pledge then having to wait until the start of the next month to be charged and receive their rewards, their associated payment method will be charged the full amount of the pledge immediately. This means that they'll be eligible to receive their PokeSins passwords as soon as they've pledged. Because of this change, I'll revert to my old system of posting the password in a patron-only post each month, instead of sending it to each patron via Patreon mail.

No more waiting for what you want, no more confusion over whether a patron is owed a reward, much less faff for me having to keep it all straight in my head/filing.

Advantages Of This System:

* As mentioned, new patrons won't need to wait for their rewards. Instant access to passwords, newsletters and video votes.
* Upgrading from one tier to a higher one will immediately grant access to the higher tier rewards. No need to wait or for me to manually send the password to you.
* This is more a benefit for me, but it's more secure. Currently people can pledge, access patron-only posts, then unpledge before paying anything. This can give them access to things intended only for patrons. It was discovery of this loophole that forced me to move passwords to private Patreon mails. Charge up front will remove this loophole.
* After the first pledge, pledges are taken at the start of each month, just like now. This keeps it nice and simple for if you want to upgrade/downgrade or, for whatever reason, cancel your pledge. No need to remember what date you pledged to know the renewal; it's always the start of the month. However this has a downside, as described below.

Disadvantages Of This System:

* The biggest issue is that it charges a new patron fully, no matter when in the month they pledge. This means that a patron can pledge $5 on the 27th of the month, get charged $5, then the renewal happens on the 1st and they're charged another $5. This can seem unfair, but you need to think of it from the creator's side: if the pledge scaled with time left in the month, someone could pledge on the last day for a fraction of the $10 tier, binge watch Johto episodes, then cancel before the renewal.
* Similarly, upgrading tiers immediately charges the patron the difference, despite when in the month they change it. Say a $5 patron decides to upgrade to $10 on the 27th. They're immediately charged the $5 difference, then on the 1st are charged the full $10 again.
* Both of these issues heavily discourage making pledges (be they new ones, or upgrading tiers) towards the end of the month. The flip side is that someone can make a new pledge or upgrade very soon after the start of the month and they can easily get a full month of content on that tier. Downgrading would be best done at the end of the month before the pledges are taken for the next month.
* It cannot be reversed. This is only a disadvantage if, for whatever reason, the new system seems not to be working as hoped. Once I opt in to Charge Up Front, I cannot opt out. I don't think this WILL turn out bad, but I don't like having my hands tied.

And that's about all you need to know about Charge Up Front. I really feel that it'll make this whole system a lot easier for you and for me.
I'll give you guys some time to ask any questions before I make the change. Please don't hesitate to voice any concerns or clarify any details. The post linked at the top is where I've got most of my information, but I also checked MY concerns with Patreon Support and I can say that they certainly alleviated them.

I don't want to make the change any later than a week from now (15th August), but if there appear to be no new questions I'll do it sooner.
Also I've opened this post up to the public too, in case prospective patrons wish to ask anything.