Because Patreon works for its customers (Creators) to earn money and iOS is an important market for them.
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Apple Requiring Patreon to Use In-App Purchase and Pay 30% Fee for Memberships
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Even the Apple shills starting to think EU might be onto something.
a$$le has pushed users to believe has built their business around privacy and security by having a locked in ecosystem.
For the "up to 27%"? For a $1 purchase at premium level, you would pay 12% platform fee plus a transaction fee of 5% plus $0.10. Which totals $0.27.
I haven't received any notice from Patreon yet and not a fan of Apple doing this.
So a cherry picked scenario, I see.
I feel bad for all of the half dozen creators I will be dropping because of this. But my budget is my budget.
Don't use their app; go directly to Patreon!
What else does "up to" mean to you other than the most you would pay?
Still just wish, company’s with Apps would just go for the sign up on the web/manage on the web. Yeah, it is extra steps for the consumer, but could/should charge less over all.
At the very least Apple could allow apps to specify it’s cheaper to pay on a browser. The fact that they don’t allow that comes off as super greedy.
Patreon today confirmed upcoming changes to its iOS app, which will see fees for new subscriptions go up because Apple is enforcing its App Store rules on digital purchases. Apple is requiring Patreon to adopt the in-app purchase system, a process that Patreon started at the beginning of the year.
In January 2024, Patreon started using in-app purchases and paying Apple a 30 percent fee on digital products, but beginning in November, new Patreon memberships will also need to be done through in-app purchase and will be subject to the fee as well. Right now, when you subscribe to a creator through Patreon, Patreon directs you to a purchase flow that skirts built-in App Store payments, and Apple does not take a 30 percent cut.
To account for the 30 percent fee that Apple will collect, Patreon will give creators the option to either increase their prices just in the iOS app, or absorb the fee themselves, keeping prices the same across platforms. The changes to Patreon payments will only affect new memberships purchased through an iPhone or iPad from November onwards, and not existing subscribers.
Patreon says that the increased subscription fee will be the default option, and that it does not recommend that creators opt to absorb the fee themselves.
Apple will collect a 30 percent App Store fee for all new memberships purchased via Patreon for iOS and for other digital goods purchased from a Patreon shop, and creators that use first-of-the-month billing or per-creation billing plans will need to swap to subscription billing for their iOS supporters because the in-app purchase system does not support the other flexible payment types.
Per-creation billing allows Patreon members to pay their membership amount for each paid post a creator makes, with a monthly maximum. First-of-the-month billing comes into play with subscription models where a creator allows an upfront fee to unlock a backlog of content, with future payments made on the first of the month.
Because of the limitations of in-app purchase subscriptions, Patreon is transitioning all of its creators to subscription billing, a process that it plans to complete by November 2025. Creators that already use the subscription model do not need to make changes, but creators using other methods will need to update.
Patreon says that if it does not adopt the in-app purchase system for all iOS transactions, it risks being kicked out of the App Store. As fees are not changing on other platforms such as the web and the Android app, Patreon suggests that creators send their fans to the Patreon Help Center article to explain the iOS fees compared to the fees on other platforms, so customers can "better understand the implications of where they choose to make their purchases."
It is worth noting that Apple's 30 percent cut of Patreon subscriptions will be higher than the amount that Patreon keeps from creators. Patreon keeps between 8% and 12% of paid membership subscriptions, along with payment processing fees. Patreon also collects five percent from digital product sales.
Apple will cut its fees from 30 percent to 15 percent after a subscription has lasted for one year, which is standard operating procedure for the in-app purchases. Apple has been cracking down on the sale of digital goods post-pandemic, and Facebook has also been required to pay Apple's in-app purchase fees for ad purchases on iOS devices.
Article Link: Apple Requiring Patreon to Use In-App Purchase and Pay 30% Fee for Memberships
The difference is, if a creator is not happy with Patreon, they can use a different service, because there is competition in the space. Patreon supporters, who are usually very dedicated fans, will most likely follow the creator to another platform.
There is no way around the Apple tax.
Because you use the lowest for Apple and highest possible for Patreon. You are cherry picking. Also what Apple is doing for Patreon is payment processing. So it is 30 % vs 5% + 10¢.
15% = the worlds richest company forcing their hand in the pocket of people making less that a million a year? Classy.
Yep. I think something needs to be done about the infinite growth expectations. Yeah Apple is the richest company. But our capitalism expectations are they need to get EVEN RICHER!!!
Many things have been announced recently that is just frustrating. Another one as an example is Reddit charging for subreddit access. Any way to nickel and dime users!
I'm referring to distribution of digital content such as what is sold on Patreon. The fact that Patreon is a competitor directly refutes your claim.
Apple's fee is the same for anyone making less than $1 million. Which is almost everyone.
I wasn't referring to Apple fee for Patreon. I was comparing their pricing as an alternative to Patreon.
Ahh, yes. Because large companies normally don't charge people anything if they make less than a million a year.
That's just business.
Maybe these people need to change their business model or something else entirely.
Patreon can't compete with Apple for creators on iOS. This is exactly what the news is about.
They should. So why don't any of these app developers abandon iOS?
It's because they want money!
Hmm. Might be Pateron wanting to make changes and blaming Apple.
www.jwz.org
jwz: Patreon screws me over, says a big Apple did it and ran away
Patreon has two billing models, monthly (bills on the first of the month, or whenever they get around to it) and daily (charges you the moment you sign up.) For several years now, they have been trying really hard to get creators to switch to daily billing whether they like it or not, with a...
Sure then can. Through the web. As they already do.
It's not sleazy wanting money from people. It's perfectly ethical to ask people for money and Patreon's customers seems extremely good at asking people for money.
Why should they have to change their business model just because Apple decides that they deserve 30% of any payments?
They would have to leave the App Store though, since Apple apparently threatened to kick them out if they disabled payments inside the Patreon app. It's mentioned in the article.