Seeking feedback on idea: alternative to Patreon

[perldiver.livejournal.com]

Hi folks,

I messaged a few of you about this already, but was just given mod permission to post it at top level.

I’m a Patreon creator (http://patreon.com/davidstorrs), and a web developer. My business partner and I are frustrated enough with Patreon that we’re building an alternative. We’d like to make sure it does what people actually want so, if you have a minute, I’d really appreciate your feedback.

We think the site should have:

* No percentage taken from your pledges
* Charge patrons immediately to avoid in-and-out “pledge-dodgers”
* Content management for all your content, past and present
* Specify when things should become visible (a.k.a. a publishing queue)
- ...to whom
- ...and for how long
* Ban abusive or exploitative patrons

As far as creators go, our current plan is that early adopters would receive as much storage as they need (within reason!), and future creators would get 1GB of storage for $9.99/month. Again, these are tentative plans and might change as we do more research.

All comments appreciated; a few questions I'd love answers to:

1) Does this sound like a service you would use?

2) Are there any other features you’d like?

3) What is particularly good about Patreon?

4) What issues do you have with Patreon?

Comments

[gatekat.livejournal.com]

1) Does this sound like a service you would use?

Maybe. I have serious concerns about joining a pay service to earn an income. Yes, $10 is likely reasonable, but only if you are among those who can earn at least $200/month (assuming a 5% fee is the other option). Maybe both options?

I suspect a flat fee might drive off more folks than a reasonable percentage. I know I'm far less likely to pay up front for something I don't know will work than agree to a % of what it does manage to bring in.

2) Are there any other features you'd like?

Better support for writers, comic artists, flash creators and musicians.
- See Ao3, Fanfiction.net, or at least robotsandracks.g36.net

Polls
Easy to use public feedback system
Private notes

Some kind of ladder system on payments where (if I want), I pay more for larger/more finished works (be it 20 pages over 5 or detailed work over sketches). Either where I give a max and some kind of % is used for less than 'full' work, or I am given levels of 'finish/size' and can dictate what each is worth.

3) What is particularly good about Patreon?

I'm not a user, just a one who's looked at it several times.

4) What issues do you have with Patreon?

The ban on porn.
Lack of protection for both artists and patrons.

[perldiver.livejournal.com]

> maybe both % and fee

I'd been wondering about that, actually, but had been thinking it was maybe too complicated. It's good to hear it from someone else.

> Ladder system

I didn't quite get that -- do you mean where the creator sets individual prices on individual works?

> The ban on porn

Good. Personally, I have no issue with what people put up, as long as they clearly mark it NSFW so no one is surprised.

[gatekat.livejournal.com]

On the ladder.

No, the person giving the pledge does. At least by my understanding, each posts earns the artist the amount pledged. This creates a situation where people pledge believing the posts will match what public galleries look like, with finished work, only to get a bunch of sketches.

Alternately, it also allows the one pledging to give beyond their baseline pledge for better work.

Though it would be complicated, with tagging it's possible to also use that as a reward system for content. If I love bondage, or a certain pairing or species, it would allow me to give more for the things I really like, and only minimally for things that I don't care for.


on the 'marked as NSFW'. It seems like there should be at least 3 levels.
General -- worksafe, kid safe
Mature -- nudity and mature themes
Adult -- Sex and intense violence/gore

[traceymordeaux.livejournal.com]

Just to make clear, there is a ban on porn that's not drawn/animated/written etc. All digitally/traditionally or written pornography is absolutely okay with patreon. Just not real life porn, photo, video etc.

[gatekat.livejournal.com]

When did they change that policy? When I looked it up about 6 months ago it was porn of any kind. Same rules as DA, though not as strict as PayPal.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

It has always been that way. I spoke to Patreon very early on about this when Paypal was first disallowed by adult content creators, and the NSFW flag was implemented.