Charge up front

Patreon Feedback
#1

Can we hear from somebody at Patreon when they are planning to address the charge up front issue?

I switched to ‘charge up front’ not realizing that patrons would be charged twice within a few days. I hold a monthly livestream 'rent party" every month on the last Saturday. I’ve been getting 20-50 new patrons each month at this event. This month, 30 people were charged twice within a week.

I got multiple complaints, initiated multiple refunds, and then discovered I was unable to switch back!

This is a pretty glaring mis-step and it’s making your creators AND patrons unhappy with Patreon. Fix it or enable us to switch it off.

#2

It’s not broken, it’s functioning as intended. Imagine having a creation to deliver but having to keep track of when someone joined in order to deliver it. having to remember This person joined on the 20th, this one on the 12th, this one on the 3rd, and so forth. So Patreon just charges everyone on the first, no matter when they joined previously. If you TELL people during your rent party that if they join at the end of the month that they will be billed on the first and let them do with that information what they will.

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#3

Oh also, when someone pledges there is text before the payment button that says “you will be billed again on DATE” most people don’t read it, but it’s there. Reminding people to read everything wouldn’t go amiss either.

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#4

I would suggest, at least in the mean time, to switch to holding your stream part at the beginning of every month instead to avoid the double charge.

But yes, this has been the case since they added the option. I doubt, if they intend to allow us to switch back, it’s high on their priority list. :confused:

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#5

Patreon tells them when they join that they will be charged immediately AND at the first of every month. They have to click OK before becoming a patron. It’s very clear. Unless they are click happy and didn’t read the large print that tells them this, I’m not seeing where the problem lies. I do still get a lot of customers complaining about this, but I do not refund them because it’s very clear in advance.

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#6

Since so many patrons and creators have complained about this, I assumed it was generally accepted to be a poor design element. It’s good that it’s clear when people sign up that they will be charged twice, but that doesn’t make it a reasonable design or policy. They are paying the same price for a week of content as for a month of content; it’s not surprising that multiple people are receiving complaints about that.

There needs to be some version of proration, or a “charge will be waived if it occurs within a week of the first charge” exception. If we accidentally give a new patron some extra content for free, it strikes me as a much smaller issue than if we are putting off new patrons with a poor policy that we don’t have the power to reverse.

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#7

I can see what you’re saying, but they aren’t only gaining access to a week of content. They gain access to your ENTIRE post history which could include years of freebies, content and downloadable things depending on how long you’ve been creating stuff on Patreon. So, while it’s annoying to have people not read the print they have to confirm before they sign up, it makes sense too. If someone joins on the last day of the month, they still have access to everything you’ve previously made and posted. Is that not worth more than at least one month’s pledge?

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#8

Hey @carsieblanton - thanks for reaching out.

Before updating, it is communicated to creators that charge up front is a permanent change. Patrons are also informed of their next charge date when pledging. We suggest messaging new patrons that join towards the end of the month so they’re not caught by surprise by the charge on the 1st of the month.

Charge up front does have a lot of benefits listed in the Help Article below, but here are a few:

  • You get your money faster. Because patrons will be charged up front, Patreon will be able to transfer that money to a creator’s balance sooner.
  • With CUF, creators are also earning more. Charing patrons all at the same time cuts processing fees with payment processors and Patreon.

I hope this is helpful context for your Patreon.

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