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I'd like your thoughts about having my $1 tier. (Patreon)

Published:
2020-02-25 13:31:00
Imported:
2026-09
Tags:

Content

I recently got this email and I'm curious to know what you think of it, as my actual patrons.

Thing is, I don't want to use my Patreon as a storefront, rather I want to use it a a glorified tip jar.  When I initially launched this page all of my content was public and I didn't actually decide to paywall anything until months after the fact.  My decision to do that wasn't to get more people to pledge by hiding content, but to give those who did something nice in return.  The majority of that content would still end up publicly available as I intended, minus WIPs as I'm simply very shy about showing people my in-progress images.

I don't actually have many $1 patrons, but I have my only pledge set to that value because I truly want people to be able to choose how much they pledge, where $1 is the minimum I can specify.  I wanted patrons, or potential patrons, to feel in-control of how much they offered and do so out of a genuine interest to support the production of my work.  As I see it, if people want to pledge more, they can choose to do so.  There's no obligation and you still get access to content regardless if it's $1 or $100.  I want to share my work with you, not restrict it just because you can afford $1 but not $5.  I have a pretty hard time getting new patrons so I'm not sure if people would want to support something they now have to pay even more to support than they would have previously, but that's me and I'm pretty weird about money.

As an aside: I'm kicking around an idea for a small side project I'd like to poke at during weeks I don't have paid work so I have more content to post.  It probably won't be more than once or twice per month depending on how much paid work I need to do, but it would be in a similar vein as the Precarious/Pink Roses thing-- relevant to the canon and tangentially relevant to this big project.  I will still be working on that big project, too, of course, it would just be extra stuff.  The art would likely be about the same level of refining (still pretty sketch-y) but there'd also be writing with it if you're into that, as I don't really get much enjoyment out of one-off "pretty girl with flowers" images if there isn't something more to it.  I'd probably do this off and on with other related things as the year goes if I have time to do so.  Commission work consumes a lot of time per image so it'd probably be something I do for the last half of the month.

 I'd really like to know your thoughts on these if you have any to share. 

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Comments

NeitherMeNorYou

I'm not sure. I pledge more because I want to, thus any change there wouldn't affect me at all. I'm not entirely sure it'd be a good idea to increase the minimum tip, but at the same time the gain from $1 for you to $2 is still pretty significant, so maybe? And as the email says, unpublishing it still allows the current pledges to stay as they are, they won't be forced to pledge, it'd only be for new ones.

thevirtualcat

Does having the $1 tier accomplish what you want to accomplish? Then stick with it. That said, adding a higher tier might encourage people to select it instead of just having people stick with the default $1.

ratte

I don't have anything more I could provide to that tier, and would rather people pledge more on their own if they would like to.

Dreaker of Adreon

Call me paranoid but Patreon gets money after each $ we send to you. So they have an interest to have creators with higher $ count. But that's just me. Now I go back folding my tinfoil hats.

Nitewulfe

I personally wouldn't mind you making it, say $2, but I pledge more than the minimum so upping it wouldn't affect me. Wish I could help better but I think the input of the $1 members will be most important. All I can really say is I couldn't see you raising it past $2 a month, $3 absolute max. Like someone else said, is it working for you now? Unfortunately you'll just have to compare the change to your goal and feelings to see if it makes sense to you once you've read the opinions of the $1 members that respond, and I'm only assuming you can see what everyone pledges, not just the tier.

Rex

I don't really have any strong opinions about it. I'd say the people that want to support your work will likely set the support higher anyway. Raising the minimum would likely do no harm

ratte

I mean, they get a percentage-based cut regardless of amount, but Paypal gets both a percentage and a flat rate. I make about 62¢ from $1 pledges, give or take depending on whether or not it's international.

ratte

Yup, I can see everyone's pledges. I'd like to keep my minimum at $1 because I want my work to be as accessible as possible regardless of one's financial status or ability, as if they would like to offer more they absolutely can choose to on their own (and the majority do). I was really just curious to see what my patrons felt about this as it's one thing to hear from the people making money off of my work and another to hear from those who are financially supporting that work. I care a lot more about the latter.

ratte

There are people who support the work who can still only offer the minimum, but that they'd offer anything at all is still valuable.

ratte

I think much of is it from trying to run a page as a business or storefront instead of an actual support system. I don't want this to be a storefront where you're buying special access or rewards, I want it to be a glorified tip jar with a nice reward for offering anything at all. I want people to feel as though their contributions matter, regardless of size or ability to contribute, and for my work to be accessible. If someone would like to pledge more in the future should their financial status improve I think that should be entirely their decision. I think I'll keep things how they are.

Deored

I am going to say this: the "Everything in the $1 tier" is the primary reason I signed up on yours. You're also the only content producer I'm subscribed to on here at the moment.

Erhannis Kirran

Well, you could have multiple levels, distinguished basically by name only. Name of the level, or like, an imaginary title that the patron has "earned". :P There has been a kickstarter or two where the coolness of a given title influenced me waaay more than it ought to have, haha. Oh, though it CAN backfire if somebody actually likes the name of a lower level more than a higher one - though I guess they can still pick their amount, haha. If you wanted to add some kind of material benefit, you could just like, have different delays associated with levels. I don't really have much stake in your decision; I'm not likely to alter my membership one way or the other based on your decision.

ratte

I'm really just curious to know what my supporters think over the company that makes money off of me, lol.

ratte

It's something! Hopefully it's been worthwhile for you. I figure if people want to pledge more, provided they can, they will do so on their own.

Deored

It has been. As I said before, I enjoy your art and storytelling.

USBees

Maybe extra bonuses like time-lapse videos from sketch to finished image if that isn't difficult to produce and you are comfortable with it.

ratte

I don't really have the means to do that and my sketches alone take hours because of aphantasia. ):