Apple Gives Facebook Temporary Reprieve, Won't Collect Fees on Paid Events Until 2021

[MacRumors]

Apple has decided to temporarily waive the 30 percent cut that it takes from in-app purchases for Facebook's in-app paid event feature, reports CNBC. Facebook had accused Apple of hurting small businesses by collecting fees from the new feature, which lets users attend online classes and events through Facebook.

The policy update will pertain to ClassPass and Airbnb, two companies that are also offering new digital experiences and classes within their apps.

An Apple spokesperson said that Apple reversed its decision on the Facebook event fees due to the pandemic and a desire to give companies more time to adapt to digital business models. Apple says that Facebook will not have to pay fees through the end of the year, with Apple to resume taking its standard 30 percent cut in 2021.

Despite the reprieve, Facebook is unhappy that the waived fees are not applicable to gaming businesses that want to sell online access to their events, but Apple says that this is because gaming businesses have always been digital only and have not been affected by the global health crisis.

"This is a difficult time for small businesses and creators, which is why we are not collecting any fees from paid online events while communities remain closed for the pandemic," Facebook spokesperson Joe Osborne said in a statement. "Apple has agreed to provide a brief, three-month respite after which struggling businesses will have to, yet again, pay Apple the full 30% App Store tax."

With the in-app purchase Facebook fees waived for now, small business owners who set up online classes or events using the Facebook Paid Events feature in the Facebook app on iPhone or iPad will be able to keep the all of the money customers pay to attend.

Facebook plans to waive its own fees for the Paid Events feature through at least August 2021, even though Apple will begin collecting fees again after December 31.

Apple and Facebook have been feuding over this issue since August, and Apple has struggled with applying App Store rules to businesses that are transitioning from real-world events to online events. ClassPass and Airbnb, for example, used to provide access to real-world events where Apple did not collect fees, but the virtual classes and experiences the two apps now offer are subject to Apple's standard 30 percent commission.

Until today's decision to temporarily waive fees through the end of the year, Apple had refused to grant special permission to ClassPass, Facebook, Airbnb, and other similar apps in the name of fairness to other developers who are subject to the fees. Apple in a statement today reiterated its stance: "The App Store provides a great business opportunity for all developers, who use it to reach half a billion visitors each week across 175 countries. To ensure every developer can create and grow a successful business, Apple maintains a clear, consistent set of guidelines that apply equally to everyone."

Article Link: Apple Gives Facebook Temporary Reprieve, Won't Collect Fees on Paid Events Until 2021

 

[Dwalls90]

#DeleteFacebook

There are plenty of better apps out there if you want to support small businesses, and Facebook is not one of them.

 

[tRYSIS3]

Well well well! you know whose gonna come crying...

 

[ouimetnick]

So Apply is playing favorites. I thought every developer was treated equally?

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Perhaps! Change is coming

 

[Elloco]

Losing FB from Apple Store is quite different from losing Fortnite, isnt’it Apple?

 

[jprmercado]

I have a feeling that Epic will cite this development as an instance of Apple having double standards… ?

 

[Kkspire]

Facebook has made its millions selling user data and ruining democracy. I guess I’d be pissed of an update hampered my ability to that too. #deletefacebook

 

[dguisinger]

#DeleteFacebook

There are plenty of better apps out there if you want to support small businesses, and Facebook is not one of them.

Ok, so don't support your local business who chose to use Facebook as their go-to platform. That will show them.

 

[dannyyankou]

I’m sure if they were a small company with 100 employees Apple would do the same

 

[Kkspire]

Ok, so don't support your local business who chose to use Facebook as their go-to platform. That will show them.

I’m not sure what kind of business you’d want from Facebook... not the traffic I’d want.

 

[dguisinger]

I’m not sure what kind of business you’d want from Facebook... not the traffic I’d want.

I'm sorry, is there a reading comprehension problem with people reading this story?
This is about SMALL BUSINESSES selling services THRU Facebook.

You aren't buying a damn product from Facebook

 

[Gorms]

I'm old enough to remember when Apple was declaring how it operated equally with developers. "No special cases" they said. Well, seems a long time ago that now.

Edit: after reading what dguisinger I stopped my knee jerking a little bit. This issue is more complicated than that

 

[Rychiar]

I’m not sure what kind of business you’d want from Facebook... not the traffic I’d want.

most business use Facebook as their primary advertising push... and most events are created on there...

 

[dguisinger]

Just don't try to act Pro Small Business when you say "oh, you are selling your services through Facebook, we are going to delete Facebook so screw your small business". People around here are ridiculous.

 

[SDJim]

Gotta love their rhetoric in calling it the "Apple Store tax". It's a price. For a service. Stop pandering, it's a bad look.

 

[Analog Kid]

Facebook has been pretty disingenuous and manipulative about this whole thing, but on the face of it, this seems like the wrong response by Apple. I'm obviously not sure of the logic behind it, but it just brought the whole topic up for discussion again after people had time to move on, and Facebook isn't showing any kind of gratitude-- they're just using it as an excuse for another round of bad PR.

Then, publicity issues aside, it now puts Apple in the position of having to judge every request to wave fees on a case by case basis. I feel like they were in a stronger and more defensible position when they could say "Sorry guys, one set of rules for the AppStore. On a corporate giving level, we're doing what we can to help with the pandemic, but messing with the AppStore rules doesn't seem to be an appropriate way to help."

All this to save small business 3 months of fees?

 

[dogslobber]

Make it up as you go along, Apple.

 

[simonmet]

So Apply is playing favorites. I thought every developer was treated equally?

Came here to say this. They couldn’t be more egregiously hypocritical if you tried.

So Apple was flat-out lying?

 

[mcfrazieriv]

Wait... so let me get this straight... when Facebook speaks of the cost they put on an advertiser or business it's a "fee". But when Apple does it, it's a "tax"? You're both platforms. Facebook takes advantage of the customer that Apple has provided them via a Platform Facebook has decided to build on. A landlord charges rent for a business that makes money from clients. This is no different. It's a FEE for a service provided.

 

[calzon65]

Nice for multi-billion dollar Facebook to save millions with this reprieve, but bummer for the tens of thousands of smaller developers who build the vast majority of IOS apps that have made Apple's app store a success.

 

[yurc]

Asides from Messeger hilarious lobbying, this is a gentle move from Apple. Good Apple still listening feedback.

 

[discuit]

This is done in reaction to the anti-trust scrutiny, and while it's not really caused by/affecting the dispute with Epic, it's clearly a reaction to the shift in the winds. Though the favoritism actually weakens Apple's arguments from an anti-trust perspective. Amazon Prime Video still gets to sell digital goods without the Apple tax....

 

[JosephAW]

How much did they pay Apple?

 

[thejadedmonkey]

So, can every developer do this now? Or is apple giving special treatment now?