Last week Patreon announced changes to its fee structure.
Starting on December 18th, a new service fee of 2.9% + $0.35 will be paid by patrons for each individual pledge. (To get into the details, existing per-creation pledges for posts made on/after Dec. 18th will be charged the new service fee; existing per-month pledges will first be charged a service fee on January 1.) Streamlining these fees for creators and patrons ensures that creators take home as much of their earnings as possible.
These changes were met with uproar from Patreon creators who saw these changes as a direct hit to their valued $1/$2 patrons who are greatly the reason many use this service.
Today Jack Conte CEO and Co-founder of Patreon announced that the company will not be rolling out these changes, going as far as to not only say sorry but also acknowledge that without their customers they are nothing:
Fundamentally, creators should own the business decisions with their fans, not Patreon. We overstepped our bounds and injected ourselves into that relationship, against our core belief as a business.
Solutions still need to be found, here’s hoping that Patreon follow through when the final decisions are made.