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ext_23444 ([identity profile] perldiver.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] artists_beware2015-09-08 05:13 am
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Seeking feedback on idea: alternative to Patreon

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?

[identity profile] woofstep mutt (from livejournal.com) 2015-09-17 12:47 am (UTC)(link)
1) For when I do get enough popularity to gain a fanbase, yes I would love this kind of service, but the percentage should remain. It's more fair for everyone.

2) Folders to organize WIPs from completed works, and themed works.

3) That I've seen many be able to pay for food/bills thanks to the money they get from their patrons.

4) The Pledge dodgers. That's why the auto payment to me sounds like a great idea. It discourages more people from doing a fake pledge, and if a chargeback is filed, if enough people to chargebacks, paypal would freeze the account, and the artist can just, stop drawing publicly and screw over the people that tried to cheat their way into viewing art without paying for it. So in the end, only the patrons lose the battle. The artist can still take commissions.