Comment on Apple to Soon Take Up to 30% Cut From All Patreon Creators in iOS App

FireWire400@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

• lost_faith@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Last time this came up Patreon simply allowed the creators to charge the commission directly on top of the price for non apple users, or eat the 30% loss. So everyone not using iOS would pay, say, $5/month, iOS users would pay $5+30%. Hope they retain that option.

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  • FireWire400@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    That’s actually a good solution

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    • panda_abyss@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Is it? Previously this was considered tips

      Now it’s 30% for what? Running a payment gateway and hiding an unsubscribe button deep in the App Store UI.

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    • lost_faith@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Yeah, I remember cause my Patreon account asked me what I wanted to do about apple trying to steal my money

      p.s. I never push Patreon so have no subs lol

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    • scarabic@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      It’s logical but it probably scares away some customers. That’s why the “just eat it” option exists. iOS gives you access to an enormous market payments are slick and easy. Creators may want $5 but if they can get 30% less from 500% more people, it’s still a good business for them. There’s no strict reason why they must obsess over taking 100% of the sticker price. There are a million examples of businesses who are willing to accept a discount for high volume business.

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    • other_cat@piefed.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Not that good, the backlash was immense and if I remember right, people were dropping patreon subs over it.

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  • ComradeRachel@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Ya a few apps already do this. YouTube premium does for sure and I have heard a few others doing so.

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  • applebusch@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Your math is wrong. If you want the creator to still get $5 with apple stealing 30% you would need to pay ~43% extra.

    $5/0.7 = $7.14

    1/0.7 = 1.42857

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    • lost_faith@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I don’t remember the math, there was a button to charge apple users more so we got what we were supposed to

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• artyom@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  It’s against App Store rules to inform your customers they’re being fucked by Apple in any way. If you do, they’ll take it down.

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  • eager_eagle@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Isn’t it against the law in many places to charge customers without providing a breakdown of what they’re being charged with?

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    • artyom@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Not that I’m aware of.

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  • RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Ok…and?

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    • artyom@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      So…they probably don’t want their app delisted?

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• lofuw@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  That would be nice, but when Apple says “jump,” all the other businesses ask “how high?”

  The world is full of morons with more money than sense.

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• scarabic@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  It reminds me of gas stations that only accept ATM cards and not credit cards, because they don’t want to lose the 3% that credit card companies take per transaction. They’re trying not to lose that 3%, but it will inconvenience some customers and lose them some business. That could easily be worse than 3%.

  So yes Patreon could say “go find a laptop and enter your credit card number in our web page” but there are people who won’t do all that because they expect to be able to pay with one tap. And businesses are on the AppStore because that great payment experience makes it super easy for them to convert customers.

  It’s just not as straightforward as saying “fuck you Apple, I’ll take my business elsewhere.”

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• lando55@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I was actually curious how this currently works as I’ve never used the Patreon app, so thanks for that. I’m sure it’s a nice convenience to be able to transact through the app, but not 30% passive Apple income levels of nice. It’s too bad they are stuck in their flat-rate commission model, because alienating third-party developers and businesses in this manner will kill their ecosystem.

  Can any current creators on Patreon provide some insight into how the revenue streams break down between the iOS/Android app platforms versus the website? What impact do you foresee if instead of a payment option in the app it simply directs you to the website?

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