tabletopaudio
patreon
Patreon's New Fees:
🕑 Added 2017-12-08 15:00:54 +0000 UTC Update Dec. 13 2017: Patreon has issued an apology and the proposed fee structure will NOT be taking place. There are no new fees associated with being a supporter on Patreon. You can read the mea culpa post here. I’m keeping this blog post up for posterity and as a reminder that when voices are raised in unison, change happens. – Tim-----
My dear Patrons,
Apologies in advance for the long post.
A chart of additional monthly fees per tier is included at the end if you just want to skip to that.
When I started this project, I did so with the goal that it would be community supported. I refused to put advertising on my page, or create a multi-tiered system where you had to pay to get better or higher-level service. I wanted to create a single offering that would be there for everyone, regardless of their ability to contribute.
If all this sounds a bit Socialist, that’s because it totally is.
I’m an artist, a father and a husband. As a parent, I try to instill in my children a sense of fairness, a sense of community, and a sense of shared stewardship of the arts. When we pass street or subway musicians who we enjoy, I give the kids a few bucks to put into their cases and make sure they say thank you to the performers. When I see an artist doing something interesting or unique, I find a way to support them, even if it’s just an email telling them that I appreciate what they’re doing.
Whenever a new pledge comes through, I have a small internal celebration. It’s truly wind in my sails. And it’s not just the dollar amount, but the fact that someone has raised their hand and said, “I like what you’re doing, count me in”.
Patreon’s new fee structure has a lot of people panicking, and rightly so. It moves the burden from the creator (where I was fine with this) to the supporter. The immediate result of this is that I’ve already lost a few hundred dollars in monthly fees in the past 24 hours. This is painful of course from a financial perspective, but more painful is seeing an exodus of people who wanted to support, but now find it more difficult, or more confusing. In the same way I celebrate new pledges, I always mourn lost pledges. Am I doing something wrong? Is there something I could be doing better?
The good news is that I have, from the beginning, chosen to go the monthly route, and not the per-item route. The upshot of this is, that the increase in fees to you as a patron are not terrible. For a $5.00 pledge you pay 2.9% + 35 cents. That’s an extra 50 cents a month. I even asked Patreon if I could continue to pay this fee in lieu of offloading it to my supporters, but they said that was not possible.
I totally understand that this extra few cents is then multiplied by the number of creators you support and can add up.
If you are forced to depart Patreon, or cancel your support to me over this, I fully support you and I totally understand. Of course I hope that you do not, as my monthly bills only ever go up. I will continue to use Patreon and I will continue supporting the artists that I support but that is my decision alone. If a new platform comes along (Kickstarter’s Drip seems primed to do this) I will most likely use that in addition.
My goal is to keep making content, and to make it as easy as possible for the community to support the work.
If you do leave Patreon, please follow me on Twitter (@tabletopaudio) or Facebook (facebook.com/tabletopaudio). There is lot's of new content to come.
best,
Tim
Here's a brief overview of the additional fees you'll incur monthly per standard tier based on the service fee of 2.9% + $0.35
$1/month + $0.37
$3/month + $0.44
$5/month + $0.50
$10/month + $0.64
$20/month + $0.93
Comments
James Miller
I'm sticking with you, its not that much. Bad move on Patreon's part to not handle this better.
DJG (Tigrannosaurus)
I’m sticking around. I think this whole move sucks. But you shouldn’t suffer for it. I love your work and will continue supporting you for as long as I can.
I'm sorry to hear that people have discontinued support because of this change. I'll continue supporting you and my other creators.
Franck Florentin
You have my support!
Pensive Primate
Yup, because of the monthly scheme you use, it's not bad. I'm sticking with you here on Patreon, until/unless you move to something else.
I've increased my pledge as well. In the games I run, your work adds color and depth in ways my narration can't. Thank you.
Simon Careau Auclair
I've upgraded my pledge too! Continu the good work :)
Jerry Ozbun
I use your web site in every game I run. I have increased my pledge in the event that you have some people fall-out over this. “I like what you’re doing, count me in!”
André alias DD
I really like Tabletop Audio, as all the project I support on Patreon, but I will have to do somme maths (i'll have to use Excel) to see who I can continue to support and for what sum. I can afford a temporary increase of the sum I pay for now, but will have hard decisions to make, and that will end with less supported projects. It's a sad time for the creators on Patreon, and a hard move from Patreon.
Jo
Actually everyone, it is a cash grab by Patreon. I'm in the industry and I have looked at the math. In addition, some of what is going on is with investors. In my opinion, they are getting a kickback from someone down the processing line for the fees. I see this all the time in the industry. They stopped aggregating their payments. There is no explanation for this other than somebody, somewhere is incentivized to do this.
Robert McKay
I very rarely comment on Patreon. While I do not like how Patreon has decided to handle this change (and with a very limited time frame of notification to execution). I only support who I feel are more than excellent. Your site and audio has continued to enhance my table game and provide inspiration beyond as I DM. I'm saddened that you've lost support over a Patreon decision, but I will remain...in fact I believe I will up my pledge level to help cover what you've lost. It's not much, but I hope it does help keep you creating and going. Your hard work and talent you provide is appreciated!!!!
Brenna J Sullivan
Still with ya, buddy. You're more than worth it. :)
Michael Spredemann
Excellent response. It's much better to have people be well informed rather than knee jerk reactions to headlines that they may not fully understand. I'm all for putting a little extra money in your pocket. I think the impression by the general public is that this was a cash grab by Patreon.
Eternityshard
I want to help alleviate some folks' bad perception of this. As I understand it, on paper, this is a boon for creators, as it means they aren't paying all the service fees. So more of each pledged dollar goes in the creator's pocket. However, now the patrons will be paying those fees, on top of their pledges. The fees are now actually lower, and this is not a cash grab by patreon - it just shifted the (now lower fees) to the patrons, so to many it will look like new fees. In the end, I think it will cause patrons to consolidate their pledges. To that end, rather than drop support entirely of a creator, I'd urge patrons to just lower their pledge by a tiny amount (likely less than $1). Granted, if you're only pledging at the $1 level already, that isn't as feasible, though I hope you'd consider the extra 38 cents you'll be charged more than worth it for the awesome Tabletop Audio experience.
