Announcement: Patreon Changing Its Billing

As you probably know if you're a patron, I've always billed patrons on the first of the month, and no matter when they join, they have access to all benefits for that calendar month. When I first started Patreon that was the only way to bill on a monthly system. They have since introduced what they call a "subscription" model, wherein your monthly charge goes into effect whenever you sign up and is renewed on that same day every month. It's something I didn't look into too much at the time, as things were working well as they were, but I certainly do see benefits to both models. The first of the month model has always been good for simplicity. Once someone's in the system, everyone's charged at the exact same time and gets access to all of the same stuff for the same month. But on the other hand, it's kind of a pain for new people who might come in later in the month and end up with fewer benefits for that first month. In fact, I personally reach out to people who sign up on the last day of a month and offer them a refund because I just don't feel it's worth it for them to get billed for two separate months on two days in a row.

At any rate, my bringing that up is moot because, despite any arguments in favor of or against anything, Patreon is doing away with every billing model that's not "subscription. " Apparently to stay on Apple's App Store they can only be allowed to charge that way. I guess I must have missed this when they first announced it, so I got a shock when I received an email reminder yesterday that this policy was going to start in November!

What does this mean for your billing? Well, for those of you who are already in the system and recur from month to month, it doesn't look like it's going to change anything at all about when you're billed. You're already being billed every month at the first of the month, and that should stay the same. That's your billing day as long as you stick around. But starting next month if you, say, drop the patronage and return on, say, the 15th, you will then be billed monthly on the 15th of the month. Ultimately, it doesn't seem like it's going to have a major effect on how things go for all of you, but, depending on your patronage habits (if you drop in and out frequently), then it might shake up when you're accustomed to being billed. But on the bright side, nobody's ever going to get charged for a partial month again! So maybe this is a good thing.

What does this mean if you access Patreon through the App Store? I admit I am curious how many of you do that. Frankly, I didn't even know that was an option until now, and I kinda wish it wasn't. Why? Well, the other half of this Apple-induced change is that Apple will now be skimming 30% off the top of all transactions made through the app. Patreon's default response to offset that, and the one that I'm going to be going with because I don't want to lose a third of my income (on top of what Patreon already takes), is to add a 30% fee on top of the usual tier prices. The whole thing seems unpleasant to me, so I highly recommend NOT SIGNING UP FOR YOUR PATREON SUBSCRIPTION ON THE APP STORE! You will be charged more if you do! I don't want that. You don't want that. The extra charge isn't going to benefit me. It's just going to benefit Apple. Use a browser. We'll all be happier.

Sorry for the disruption. It's not something I have a lot of control over. The only option I do have is that Patreon is extending a courtesy to allow me to remain on first of the month billing for another year. Given that it's just delaying the inevitable, I don't see a reason to do that. But maybe you do! So here's where you come in. I have to make a choice before the end of this month. If you have any strong feelings one way or the other, now is the time to voice them in the comments of this post (but keep in mind the change is going to happen eventually regardless). Unless an overwhelming majority of you feel really strongly about needing to put this off until next November, I'm going to go ahead and let it happen now.

I think that's everything. Thanks as always for your support. It's definitely hard being a small creator, and you guys make it easier. Patreon often makes it easier too, but it does mean I'm often at their mercy. And this is one of those times. Thanks for your understanding.