Charge up front is an option for monthly creators that allows them to charge their patrons immediately upon pledging. We offer this option because once a patron pledges to a creator, they immediately have access to all posts available to the tier they pledged to. This includes posts made prior to their membership. This feature is not available for creators that charge per creation.
Charge up front is a permanent feature and cannot be changed; once you elect to charge your patrons up front, you cannot undo this. If you switch to charge up front from a per creation account type, you will not be able to switch back to charging your patrons per creation. You can enable it from your creator page editor. Learn more about enabling charge up front here.
This article will cover how charge up front affects your payment schedule along with some of the benefits of adding this feature.
How will this feature change how new patrons are charged?
New Patrons will be charged on the day they become your patron, giving them access to all content shared with their reward tier. On the 1st of the following month, they will simply return to being charged monthly at the beginning of the month.
Example: A patron joins your Patreon community on February 25th for $10 per month. They will be charged $10 on the day they join, February 25th, for February patronage. On March 1st, the Patron will be charged $10 for March patronage.
How will this feature change how existing patrons are charged?
Your existing patrons will be charged on the 1st of the month like usual. If they edit their membership, this won't trigger them to be charged, however, they will be charged their total membership amount on the 1st.
Example: A patron joins your Patreon community on January 5th for $10 per month. The patron is charged on February 1st for January patronage. On February 25th, you change your payment type so that patrons are charged up front. The patron will be charged $10 on March 1st for March patronage.
On the 1st of the month (and every 1st of the month thereafter) they will be charged the full amount of their pledge until they cancel or edit their pledge.
After your first month of charging patrons up front, when a patron increases their membership, they'll immediately be charged the difference between their recent payment and new membership value.
Example: A patron signs up on January 5th for $10/month. On January 25th, you change your payment type so that patrons are charged up front. The patron is charged on February 1st for January patronage. On February 26th, the patron increases their pledge to $15. The patron will be charged $5 on February 26th. Then the patron will be charged $15 on March 1st for March patronage and they will continue to be charged $15 every 1st of the month thereafter until they cancel or edit their pledge.
What are the benefits of switching to charge up front?
You get your money faster. Because patrons will be charged up front, Patreon will be able to transfer that money to a creator’s balance sooner.
Patrons can get rewards faster
Since you'll be getting money from your patrons sooner, you can choose to fulfill any physical reward distribution closer to when a Patron joins, instead of waiting until the end of the month.
Patrons will not be able to sample patron-only content
Some Patrons have been able to become a patron of a monthly creator to check out the content, then delete their pledge before they are charged at the beginning of the month. With charge up front enabled, only paying patrons can view your "patron only" content.
FAQ
Q: What should I do before opting into charge up front?
A: Message your patrons about the change! Because charge up front will change the way your patrons are charged, it is a good idea for you to clearly communicate these changes to your patrons. We expect that Patrons will be happy about this change since it means they may get rewards faster, but they will be even happier if they are well informed about any changes that may affect their pledges.
Q: How do I determine if charge up front is the right option for my business?
A: Charge up front is not ideal if you:
- Have yet to create much content for your patrons.
- Want to charge per creation.
Charge up front is a great option to consider if you:
- Have a large catalogue/library of content fans can access as soon as they become a patron.
- Want your patrons to get rewards faster. Since you'll be getting money from your patrons sooner, you can choose to fulfill any physical reward distribution closer to when a Patron joins, instead of waiting until the end of the month.
Q: What happens if an existing patron increases their pledge amount?
A: Patrons who increase their pledge amount will immediately be charged the difference between their previous pledge level and their new pledge level. For example, a patron was charged $10 on March 1st. They edit their pledge to $15 on March 7th. On March 7th, they are charged $5 to bring the total paid by this patron in March up to $15.
Q: What happens if an existing patron decreases their pledge amount?
A: Patrons who decrease their pledge amount will be charged the new amount on the 1st of the month. They will not be refunded anything.
Q: Will I be missing a payment by charging up front?
A: You will still be paid the same number of times within the year by existing patrons. If you were to switch to charge upfront January 20th, your existing patrons would be charged February 1st for February access. Their payments from January 1st would now cover January access. For example, if you have 100 new patrons on February 10th, those 100 patrons will be charged on March 1 for February. However, if you turn on "charge up front" on February 15th, those 100 patrons will be charged on March 1st for March. In either case, those 100 patrons will be charged on March 1st for the amount of their pledge.
Q: Where can I find a record of first-time charges for patrons and charges for patrons who modified their pledge amount?
A: You will receive an email notifying you of patrons who increase or edit their pledge. In addition, you can navigate to your dashboard and click on the patronage section. From there, you can download a CSV of every charge for your page. Each charge is associated with a patron and a date of payment. It is likely that the majority of patrons will be charged during the first 2-3 days of the month; however, be sure to pay attention to patrons who are charged throughout the month. These will be patrons who are pledging for the first time or increasing their pledge value.
Q: What will happen to my patrons' pledges if I am a per creation creator and switch to monthly?
A: Your patrons will see no difference to their current pledges; but because they would now be paying their pledge amount once a month instead of every time you post a paid post, you may want to encourage them to increase their pledge amounts to match their monthly maxes. Otherwise, you will notice a decrease in your monthly earnings.
Example: If a patron is currently pledging $1/post to you with a monthly max of 3 and you switched to a monthly payment type, they would then be pledging $1/month regardless of how many times you post. Since your patron had elected to pay up to $3/month for their pledge to you previously, you may want to send them a note about the change and encourage them to increase their pledge to an amount they're comfortable with paying monthly.
Q: If I pause my upcoming billing cycle will new patrons still be charged when they pledge?
A: Yes. Any patron who pledges to you while you're paused will still be charged. Anytime a patron pledges to you for the first time they will be charged. If you pause your upcoming billing cycle your patrons will not be charged during the next scheduled monthly bill.
For more information on how charge up front is experienced as a patron, click here.