troubled
patreon
Changing Patreon Page, Need Input.
🕑 Added 2016-02-05 20:43:21 +0000 UTCSo I've been giving it a lot of thought, and I've come to the conclusion I'm having a hard time fulfilling a few of the obligations I put forward. I think the difficulty is the nature of Patreon. Ultimately one major flaw is "good faith" system that Patreon has in place, where people can pledge and see all the content on my page, then proceed to dodge the pledged amount at the end of each month, only to re-pledge and repeat the process.
Another is the large amount of fees that Patreon takes as a whole, it's about 11-13% of the total amount...a pretty large number when most credit card fees are typically around 1%, or 2%, per transaction (yes I am aware of the credit card processing fees), and then Patreon taking their slice of the pie.
So I guess my question is what do you guys ultimately want to get out of this whole business? My goal for Patreon was to offer my patrons the ability to support me doing my art, guide me in what they were wanting to see, and maybe get a little something extra for their loyalty.
If they wanted to get art out of the deal, I was okay with it but I don't like the idea of taking "commission work" through Patreon because of the High Fees. Also, no one ever seemed to contact me or try to claim the sketch art that was due to them. Some of them were too willing to just throw money, and receive just whatever I posted, and it was a little strange to me.
I guess if that was the case, I should consider instead just switching over the system to a per completed piece...?
For instance:
I complete 25-50 sketches, I throw them into an image pack, and then that is (1) completed piece. Alternatively, I do a full color drawing that is completely Patreon sponsored, and that is one completed piece.
The reward levels would possibly be:
$1 - Access to Low Res Image
$5 - Access to Low and High Res, with Benefit 1
$10 - Access to Above, but with added Benefit 2
...$25?
...$50?
...$100?
Question is what would the benefits be? Should there be a higher access level?
Or should I make everything just completely donation based, with the understanding Patron's are just giving their money to me, while all they're receiving is whatever I choose to post?
I'm uncertain, and as I stated above... What do you guys want out of this?
Comments
Oneiros
What I want out of this is just access to the content you create, finished or not, and to encourage you to pursue the idea of Growing Pandemic specifically. I'm not a huge fan of Patreons that charge per completed work, but you are definitely vulnerable to false pledges right now. I'm not sure of all the mechanics of Patreon, but is there a way to make it send out a message to all patrons whose pledges were successful? If so, you could probably take the sketches & design docs that you would normally put up throughout the month, make a .zip out of them, then send a link to that .zip directly to patrons. (Maybe the .zip for higher tiered backers would have more finished pieces?)
Troubled
I'm actually going to be redoing my 2016 prices, but I'll post them here when they're done
Wolfie Randolf
What would your commission fees be normally btw? As When I'm done writing up my first true character description, I'll be looking around at various artists to see about my first commissioned piece.
Thunder Wolf
Think Octaves did a good write up and no sense repeating what has already been so well put. keep up the great work troubled. we all love your work.
Rogue Fox
Im like octaves where ive been a fan for a while and pay each month. The fact is that its horrible for people to screw u over like that. I agree with octaves 100% as well and just wanted to throw my imput in on that. Keep up the great work :)
Wolfie Randolf
In all honesty, I'm one of the ones that just throws money at 'cha while waiting to see what pops up... more along the lines of actually just supporting someone who makes great pieces :). I don't post much to the other stuff going on myself due to time limitations. But I figured I'd at least add my two cents in. I personally just like your art and what you deal in. It's all pretty cool stuff, and damn hot. Then again, I've been pretty loyal to. I try not to be the type to remove my funding from someone I start to back if at all possible. But recently a few artists I had to let go for a few weeks due to christmas and other financially strapping issues, but with a small bump in payment at work I was able to get back in the game with a couple of the ones I dropped. This is the kind of thing that hurts people like you, and can give a false impression, as I personally am not the type to try and get free art the way you describe and that kind of thing is just despicable! I wish there was a way patreon could keep that from happening. Perhaps they could, once you pledge, it takes it out and put's it in a safe account until the artist receives it you know? oi. I hope this stops all together for you and all patreon supported artists.
