UPDATE (12/13/17): Patreon announced today that they will not institute the fee change. I'm leaving this post for historical posterity.
Hey fans and loyal supporters,
I wanted to take a quick moment to explain what's going on with the Patreon fee changes. Some of you don't care, some of you are upset, but either way I wanted to share my own thoughts. In no particular order:
- I had no idea the fee changes were coming; I found out about them a day before you did.
- I had no choice or input in the matter.
- The changes are ostensibly designed to help me, since before I was paying all the credit card transaction fees. Now you're paying them, so the entire contribution (minus Patreon's cut) goes to me.
- I was just fine with the old system, because it's what I signed up for. I knew the score going in.
- The fee changes discourage small ($1-5) contributions disproportionally, which affects most of you.
- Patreon is their own company, and I also knew when I signed up that they could change their structure any time they wanted without consulting me.
If you decide that the extra fees are too annoying to keep contributing, then I totally understand, and while I'm sad to see you go, I'm deeply grateful for all the support over the years. I am investigating other platforms, so stay tuned if something else seems viable.
Thanks again, and let's keep sharing that science!
-Paul
P.S. You can find my Patreon page here.