OMG FINALLY! (Patreon)

Well I have been given the option to have "Charge up front."

What is charge up front?

 "Charge upfront" is a new option for monthly creators that allows them to charge their patrons upfront as soon as they pledge. 

How will this feature change how your patrons are charged?

New Patrons: New Patrons will be charged on the day they pledge, giving them access to all content shared with their reward tier. On the 1st of the following month, they will simply return to being charged monthly at the beginning of the month.

Example: A patron pledges to you on February 25th for $10 per month. They will be charged $10 on the day they pledge, February 25th, for February patronage. On March 1st, the Patron will be charged $10 for March patronage.

Existing Patrons: Your existing patrons will be charged on the 1st of the month like usual.

Example: A patron pledges to you on January 5th for $10 per month. The patron is charged on February 1st for January patronage. On February 25th, Jack changes his campaign so that patrons are charged upfront. The patron will be charged $10 on March 1st for March patronage.

If an existing patron increases their pledge, they will be charged the difference between their last pledge value, and the new pledge value. On the 1st of the month (and every 1st of the month thereafter) they will be charged the full amount of their pledge until they cancel or edit their pledge.

Example: A patron pledges to you on January 5th for $10/month. The patron is charged on February 1st for January patronage. On February 25th, you change your campaign so that patrons are charged upfront. On February 26th, the patron increases their pledge to $15. The patron will be charged $5 on February 26th. Then the patron will be charged $15 on March 1st for March patronage and they will continue to be charged $15 every 1st of the month thereafter until they cancel or edit their pledge.

 

What are the benefits?

You get your money faster. Because patrons will be charged upfront, Patreon will be able to transfer that money to a creator’s balance sooner.

Patrons can get rewards faster. Since you'll be getting money from their patrons sooner, you can choose to fulfill any physical reward distribution closer to when a Patron pledges, instead of waiting until the end of the month.

Patrons will not be able to sample "patron-only" content. Some Patrons have been able to pledge to a monthly creator to check out the content, then delete their pledge before they are charged at the beginning of the month. With "charge upfront" enabled, only paying patrons can view your "patron only" content.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. What happens if an existing patron increases their pledge amount?
   Patrons who increase their pledge amount will immediately be charged the difference between their previous pledge level and their new pledge level. For example, a patron was charged $10 on March 1st. They edit their pledge to $15 on March 7th. On March 7th, they are charged $5 to bring the total paid by this patron in March up to $15.
   
   
2. What happens if an existing patron decreases their pledge amount? 
   Patrons who decrease their pledge amount will be charged the new amount on the 1st of the month. They will not be refunded anything.
   
   
3. Will I be missing a payment by charging upfront? 
   No. You will still be paid the same number of times within the year by existing patrons. For example, if you have 100 patrons that pledged to you on February 10th, those 100 patrons will be charged on March 1 for February. However, if you turn on "charge upfront" on February 15th, those 100 patrons will be charged on March 1st for March. In either case, those 100 patrons will be charged on March 1st for the amount of their pledge.
   
   
4. Where can I find a record of first-time charges for patrons and charges for patrons who modified their pledge amount?
   You will receive an email notifying you of patrons who increase or edit their pledge. In addition, you can navigate to your Dashboard and click on the Patronage section. From there, you can download a CSV of every charge for your campaign. Each charge is associated with a patron and a date of payment. It is likely that the majority of patrons will be charged during the first 2-3 days of the month; however, be sure to pay attention to patrons who are charged throughout the month. These will be patrons who are pledging for the first time or increasing their pledge value. 
   
   
5. What will happen to my patrons' pledges if I am a "per creation" creator and switch to monthly?
   Your patrons will see no difference to their current pledges; but because they would now be paying their pledge amount once a month instead of every time you post a paid creation, you may want to encourage them to increase their pledge amounts to match their monthly maxes. Otherwise, you will notice a decrease in your monthly earnings. 
   
   For example, if a patron is currently pledging $1/creation to you with a monthly max of 3 and you switched to a monthly campaign, they would then be pledging $1/month regardless of how many times you post. Since your patron had elected to pay up to $3/month for their pledge to you previously, you may want to send them a note about the change and encourage them to increase their pledge to an amount they're comfortable with paying monthly.

So everyone I hope you are all with me on this change. I've been having issues with bots and been waiting for a long time for this. So i will now be switching to this ASAP!!!