crossposted from Patreon.
So, Patreon has, over the last couple days, released first an announcement and then a clarification about its fee structure. (here: https://blog.patreon.com/updating-patreons-fee-structure/ )
What this means for patrons is a $0.35 + 2.9% fee added on to every pledge.
I have been considering my options while flailing about with every other creator who thinks this is a horrible, awful, very bad idea.
So far, I have come up with broadly three plans:
* try one of the Patreon “alternatives:” Gumroad, librepay, the Kickstarter one that isn’t out yet. (main problems: Librepay does not allow paywalled projects, which I like, and its format isn’t as robust, from quick looks. Kickstarter isn’t out yet. Gumroad has slightly higher fees, so that’s out, unless I misread their fee schedule)
* Start a newsletter I send out 2? times a month to subscribers. Major problems with that: what do I do about different donation tiers? And I really like the constant feedback and regular posting schedule of doing things every week).
* Replicate Patreon in subscriber-locked posts, either on my wordpress blog or on a subdomain blog just for that. (Main problems: the upkeep. I might have to rely on people to tell me if their donation has expired).
I really enjoy the format here at Patreon, although there are many options I would like that don’t exist yet (archiving, for one!). I like being motivated to post every week, I like looking through reposts, and I like the stretch of things like the maps. (*guilty glance at the map tag*).
But I don’t think anyone needs to pay that sort of fee, when the whole idea was to encourage microtransactions.
That’s not as important, however, as what you think, so please tell me: what do you think about my options?