One of the questions that many users may ask is how Patreon works and how it affects the development of your online store or commerce. Well, from this point of view this is a digital platform that provides very innovative solutions to the recipients and that can solve some other problems in their actions from now on.
Because in effect, Patreon is a platform through which content creators and artists around the world can profit from their followers. On Patreon Anyone can contribute small sums through funding or crowdfunding, and thus the artist can continue with his work.
As it is very clear in its definition, this is an online platform that has to do with the financing of projects, including digital ones, as it could not be otherwise. Although from a different point of view than other supports with similar characteristics, as you will be able to verify from now on.
Patreon: how does it actually work?
First of all, it is necessary to emphasize how it works so that you can take advantage of them with special efficiency. Well, in this sense it should be noted that on this latest platform anyone can contribute small sums through funding or crowdfunding, and thus the recipient or users are in full condition to continue with their work. That is, it will be a kind of salary that their followers will voluntarily generate.
The creators, once they have applied to register on Patreon, they will have to choose if their income will be monthly or by creation (book, comic, etc.), in addition to writing a post explaining to potential patrons how their Patreon account will work and what they offer.
Easy. There are two types of users registered on the platform: creators yfollowers. In this relationship of mutual support, the creators offer their projects to the community of artists in exchange for donations that will never be conditions of the work. That is, the work (whatever its character) is already created and does not need collection for itself but to allow the content creator to produce constantly. This is not a crowdfunding platform!
Creators can receive money from followers in two ways, either with a subscription fee or as a one-time donation for a specific work. Of this money, the portal keeps 5% of each payment.
It is really nothing new that an artist obtains financial aid to be able to develop his work. Few have been those who throughout history have not received patronage from nobles and aristocrats fascinated by a talent. However, unlike then, the philosophy of Patreon.com is not to finance a project to get hold of it but to contribute to the artist so that you can continue to offer your content.
How to participate in this system
Once registered, access your user profile. At first, Patreon will suggest some of the most popular projects for you. Alternatively you can enter the name of the project you want to finance. If you don't have a specific artist in mind, search by keyword. Click on your profile photo in the upper right corner to access the dropdown menu. Select "Explore Creators" and you will access a new page. In it you can explore new projects spread across the different thematic areas of Patreon. The list includes the Top 20 of each area.
Once registered, access your user profile. At first, Patreon will suggest some of the most popular projects for you. Alternatively you can enter the name of the project you want to finance. If you don't have a specific artist in mind, search by keyword. Click on your profile photo in the upper right corner to access the dropdown menu. Select "Explore Creators" and you will access a new page. In it you can explore new projects spread across the different thematic areas of Patreon. The list includes the Top 20 of each area.
With a specific profile
Clicking on a project will take you to the relevant creator profile page. Here are the artists. In the information section you will find all the publications. Many of them cannot be viewed since they are paid publications, only available to paying subscribers. Creators often post free content to other platforms, such as YouTube. Instead, they publish unpublished material on Patreon; sometimes they also provide access to your work earlier than on other platforms. If you click on the option "Become a Patron ” (become a sponsor) you will join the funder team.
Patreón is a membership platform that allows creators to be paid by their fans. One of our main behaviors is to put creators first, and these terms try to do that. We know that most people overlook the terms of use because they are boring, but we have done our best to make it easy to understand. On each section we will summarize the most important parts, but these summaries are not legally binding, so please see the full version of the text if you have questions.
These are Patreon's terms of use, and they apply to all users of the Patreon platform. "We", "our" or "us" refers to Patreon Inc. and our subsidiaries. "Patreon" refers to this platform and the services we offer.
By using Patreon, you agree to these terms and the other policies we post. Please read them carefully and let us know if you have any questions. For information on our data practices, please see our Privacy Policy, including our Cookie Policy. We may collect and use your information in accordance with those policies.
To create an account you must be at least 13 years old. To join a creator membership as a sponsor, or provide a creator membership, you must be at least 18 years of age or have parental permission.
You are responsible for everything that happens when someone enters your account, as well as its security. Contact us immediately if you think your account is compromised. You can get more information about security on our Security Policy page ...
Membership
To become a creator, simply launch your page to start your membership. Memberships are for your most passionate fans. You're inviting them to be a part of something exciting that gives them the unique benefits they want, such as additional access, merchandise, exclusivity, and engaging experiences. In return, sponsors pay on a subscription basis.
Payments
As a creator, you make your membership available on Patreon, and we provide membership to your backers on a subscription basis. We also handle payment issues such as fraud, chargebacks, and payment dispute resolution.
Payments can also be blocked or withheld for violations of your policies or for compliance reasons, including the collection of tax reporting information. When payments are late or blocked, they try to tell you why promptly. In order to protect creators, we may block customer payments if we believe they are fraudulent.
Sometimes activities like refunds can cause your account balance to go negative. If your balance turns negative then we can get those funds back for future payments.
Price Plans
As a creator, there are two fees associated with your membership on Patreon. The first is the platform fee, which varies depending on the level of service you select. The second is the payment processing fee, which depends on the currency selected by the creator.
The US dollar payment processing fee is 2,9% plus $ 0,30 for each successful promise for promises over $ 3, and 5% plus $ 0,10 for each successful promise for promises of $ 3 or less. PayPal payments from non-US customers have an additional fee of 1%. Founding creators have a legacy platform fee and legacy payment processing fee. The legacy payment processing fee varies based on several factors, including the amount of the membership subscription, the type of card, and the number of other memberships a user has joined.
The processing fee for euro payments is 3,4% plus € 0,35 for each successful promise for promises of more than 3 euros, and 5% plus € 0,15 for each successful promise for promises of 3 euros or less. The sterling payment processing fee is 3,4% plus £ 0,35 for each successful promise for promises over £ 3, and 5% plus £ 0,15 for each successful promise for promises of £ 3 or less.
Depending on the location of your clients, some banks may charge your client a foreign transaction fee for their membership subscription. Patreón does not control this charge, but it is normally around 3%.
Tax
Most tax payments are not handled, but they collect tax identification information and report it to tax authorities as required by law. Where the user is responsible for reporting any tax, you can get more information in our Tax Help Center.
The only tax they handle on your behalf is the payment of VAT for services provided electronically to EU customers. For the purpose of electronically supplied services, the creators supply those services to us, and then we supply them to the client. To learn more about how we handle VAT, please see our VAT guide.
Restrictions
We do not allow creations and benefits that violate our policies. You can learn more by visiting our Community Guidelines and Benefit Guidelines. A summary of those rules is that we do not allow:
Illegal creations or profits
- Creations or benefits that are abusive to other people.
- Creations or benefits that use the intellectual property of others, unless you have written permission to use it, or your use is protected by fair use.
- Creations or benefits with real people who perform sexual acts.
- Benefits involving raffles or prizes based on chance.
If your fans are under the age of 18, remind them that they need permission to join your membership, and that those under the age of 13 cannot use Patreon. We are not required to allow any particular person or group of people to be your sponsor.
As the creator, you are also responsible for keeping user data safe. You can see what is required in the Data Processing Agreement. An account is linked to your creative output and cannot be sold or transferred for use by another creator.
Other contributions from this service
Sounds good right? Well, because of the specifics of how these processing fees were going to be charged to clients - 2,9% + $ 0,35 for each individual promise - it would have become significantly more expensive for clients to support several different creators with promises of $ 1 to $ 2 per month or per position. This posed a threat to the viability of Patreon creators, particularly smaller creators who disproportionately rely on small contributions.
The change did not take immediate effect, but the damage did. The creators flooded social media with screenshots of the reactions of customers who had already canceled their contributions in anticipation of the new fee policy. With patrons and creators united in condemning the new fees (which were scheduled for December 18), Patreon did something surprising and remarkable for those who have become used to coming out on the losing end of wealth transfers. upstream: issued an apology and announced that the new rate policy would no longer be implemented.
We have heard it loud and clear. We are not going to implement the changes to our payment system that we announced last week. We still have to fix the issues that those changes addressed, but we are going to fix them in a different way, and we are going to work with you to get to the details, as we should have done the first time. Many of you lost clients, and you lost income. No apology will make up for that, but I'm sorry nonetheless. It is our main belief that you should own your relationships with your fans. These are their businesses, and they are their fans.
His statement ended with “Thank you for continuing to create. We are nothing without you, and we know it. Creatives struggling to stay in this predatory world haven't had many victories lately, so Patreon's unconditional surrender has to come as a bit of a moral boost. But why was this change proposed in the first place? Let's go over the entire saga so far and see what lessons we can draw from it.
In response to the initial surge of anger and anxiety from creators, Patreon said they were making the switch to address the issue that creators have backers who commit to becoming monthly donors, allowing them to take exclusive content from the creator. , but they skip and cancel their "subscription" before the first of the month in which the billing occurs. To remedy this, Patreón wants to move to a system in which customers pay an initial charge ("initial charge") for access to a creator's content and then pay each month for their continued patronage.
However, when Patreon allowed some select creators to switch to this billing system, customers complained, as it hurts those who, for example, sign up for someone's Patreon, pay $ 5, and then get charged another $ 5. dollars on the first of December. To fix this, Patreon wants to move to a system that works more like most subscription services: the buyer pays the first month in advance and then again on each monthly anniversary of the initial subscription date. But doing this would send payment processing fees paid by creators skyrocketing; having customers pay on the anniversary of their monthly subscription instead of the first of the month creates many more individual transactions, and thus many more cases where the payment processor takes a cut. It is our main belief that the users of this platform can contribute something more than expected. In any case, and finally to highlight the fact that at the end of the day it is through funding or crowdfunding, and thus the recipient or users are in full condition to continue with their work.