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Patreon Scraps New Service Fee, Apologizes To Users (theverge.com)
Patreon has decided to halt its plans to add a service fee to patrons' pledges, a proposed update that angered many users. "We're going to press pause," CEO Jack Conte tells The Verge. "Folks have been adamant about the problems with the new system, and so basically, we have to solve those problems first." The company plans to work with creators on a plan that will solve issues with the current payment system, but won't create major new problems in their stead. From the report: Conte published a blog post laying out the core problems, alongside an apology. "Many of you lost patrons, and you lost income. No apology will make up for that, but nevertheless, I'm sorry," it reads. "We recognize that we need to be better at involving you more deeply and earlier in these kinds of decisions and product changes. Additionally, we need to give you a more flexible product and platform to allow you to own the way you run your memberships. I know it will take a long time for us to earn back your trust. But we are utterly devoted to your success and to getting you sustainable, reliable income for being a creator."
Conte says that any new system will need to take the popularity of small pledges into account, and preserve the benefits of aggregation. It will also need to give artists more autonomy, rather than announcing a sweeping overall change directly to users. "The overwhelming sentiment was that we overstepped our bounds" with the non-negotiable fee, he says. "I agree, we messed that up. We put ourselves between the creator and their fans and we basically told them how to run their business, and that's not okay." Webcomic creator Jeph Jacques previously quoted Conte as saying Patreon "absolutely fucked up that rollout."
Conte says that any new system will need to take the popularity of small pledges into account, and preserve the benefits of aggregation. It will also need to give artists more autonomy, rather than announcing a sweeping overall change directly to users. "The overwhelming sentiment was that we overstepped our bounds" with the non-negotiable fee, he says. "I agree, we messed that up. We put ourselves between the creator and their fans and we basically told them how to run their business, and that's not okay." Webcomic creator Jeph Jacques previously quoted Conte as saying Patreon "absolutely fucked up that rollout."
Pray I don't alter it further...
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
You can apologize by sending ONE MILLION DOGECOINS to D9scjyKETYZesSmhjCR4vye4bc6iDqXPd6. /Dr.Evil
Ted Nelson says, I told you so, bitches! I'll have a solution sometime in the Fall of 2079.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
They didn’t ASK. Instead, they simply said “All your wallets are belong to us.”
They forgot that trust, once broken, is damn near impossible to repair. I am reminded of an exchange in the British Parliament after Dunkirk, when an admiral was being upbraided for risking the fleet. The admiral replied, “We can rebuild the fleet in thirty years. We can rebuild the tradition in three hundred.”
I may check in on Patreon in 2317.
They're really not doing well with communication here. They make this announcement claiming that it's for the benefit of creators, and that it would improve the payment system... A bunch of people make a bunch of guesses about what they're actually trying to improve, confident that they know what Patreon's costs are and that Patreon is screwing them. Here is Patreon's chance to explain themselves, but their apology just says that there are "issues" that need to be solved.
If they would just be upfront about their costs and margins it could settle an awful lot of this... Provided they're being honest, and not actually out to screw everyone.
When is Patreon going to stop banning people for being "conservative", i.e. they were leftist a week ago but the party line changed...
The mainstream media is now calling Noam Chomsky an alt-right nazi. This bullshit needs to stop.
Two things were mentioned that might have spurred this change on: .30+ cent service fee the credit/debit card companies were charging, which as a result of making it individual payments instead of a block payment to patreon, resulted in the need for that processing charge to be added to EACH donation, instead of aggregated as it had been previously.
1. Fraud and chargebacks causing multiple creators to lose their donations since all donations were handled as a single charge.
2. The
Now mind you I don't know the specifics so maybe it was intended as just a huge cash grab, but given those specifics, it IS possible patreon wasn't going to hugely profit off the new scheme, and while badly rolled out, it was a shortsighted attempt to solve a very real and very pressing issue with their service without fully understanding the secondary consequences of it. I would still vote with my feet due to their incompetence, but it may not have been intentionally malicious as others have been claiming.
Then again, this IS an american company we are talking about. Maybe somebody should pressure them to buy back stock/privatize if they are not already, and become a non-profit. Or in lieu of that, start up a non-profit competitor offering the same payment processing donation services?
Money for troops is "donated" via taxes.
From the new blog posting
Aggregation is pretty much their core value proposition.
How could they "underestimate" this?
What's next? Patreon Loot Boxes?
"Waaaaaah, our short sighted plan backfired. We thought you'd all be happy paying more, instead you're cancelling pledges and so our income is down."
They'll just go back to the drawing board and try to devise some other 'payment plan' and dress it up as an improvment.
Like others have posted above, fuck 'em, the trust is gone. More fool anyone else that goes back to them.
The credit card charge is a bullshit argument. Patreon bills you monthly so they only get hit with the fee once. They were going to add a fee to EVERY pledge. So if someone makes 10 videos in a month Patreon would have taken the fee 10 times. Had that been $1 pledges they would have pocketed $3.70 on top of the $10 they charged you.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
The tone deaf handling of Patreon (and I still can't grasp that, considering who created it, created it as a starving artist) would have been a perfect moment for Drip/Kickstarter to say fuck the invite only, let's roll. They'd probably have gotten a huge swath of folks switching because there was a reason too. The completely shit way Patreon handled this by announcing it to the users and creators simultaneously ... trying to solve a problem people didn't have.
It's unfortunate a lot of people lost income, as many people were like fuck this shit I'm out and bailed. I was hovering over the button to delete my pattern account this morning, but was trying to figure out how to keep paying the folks I do as I genuinely like this model of support.
As a rock-in-roll Physicist once said, No matter where you go, there you are.
Pretty sure at least a couple guys died liberating actual POWs.
In the sense them volunteering keeps your freedom to not be conscripted to join. Can you see Trump allowing military personnel to drop to record levels? No, anyone without bone spurs would get conscripted.
but nevertheless, I'm sorry,
Woh! A company actually said I'm sorry. Did the world already ended?
I supported several creators regularly through Patreon but suddenly couldn't gain access to my account. I tried resetting my password only to be told too much time had passed (10 seconds) or I couldn't reset it due to a security issue. I gave up and cancelled my subscriptions via PayPal. Patreon needs to get it together, I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Too Late Patreon. I like many others deleted ALL my pledges and was in fact encouraged to do so by those I supported.
I deleted all my pledges via your site, and instead I have donated directly to all those who I was sending funds via your service, just as I did before you existed.
You have been cut out of the process because your only value was convenience, and that is easily replaced with direct payments and just about 5 minutes more effort to contact each person I supported individually.
BTW, I am not going back to you no matter how much you "change", the deed is done.
Frankly, I don't know why PayPal does not lift a pinky and replace you. They already have monthly subscriptions supported in their service, all they need is to spend 15 minutes adding a page that allows you to setup monthly payments yourself instead of requiring it to be initiated from the provider. You guys are one webpage and about an interns afternoon of work from PayPal away from being replaced.
-- Given enough time and money, Microsoft will eventualy invent UNIX.
Too Late, they already turned "Maker Support" from a minor player into real competition. This is going to hurt them for some time.
The fundamental reason for the fall-back, aside from complaints, was that people voted with their money. By leaving in droves ... it doesn't matter what fees Patreon charges ... means Patreon itself was seeing a reduced income, not just those who were receiving pledges. Simple as that.