[syshum]

The appeal of patreon for many is the fact they do not have to manage their support/subscriptions at multiple locations, or have to give out their payment info to multiple sites

You sign up for single site and can support 100's of people and get rewards like a digital subscription.

You would be surprised how much more donations can pick up if you eliminate even one form field let alone the entire form. People are lazy, they are even more lazy when they are giving money, the easier you make it the better

[w0m]

If they are a subscription service anyway; what would the value be?

[pfranz]

I can only speak for myself. I have no idea what would make a sustainable business model.

A few years ago I had a sustaining membership to a very popular public radio program. I dunno if it was a dark pattern, an oversight when overhauling their webpage, or what, but when I had to update my credit card number because it changed and I could not figure out how. None of the email contacts got any response. I eventually cancelled the old number and I've been hesitant of reoccurring transactions since.

Conversely, I would use PayPal to manage other reoccurring donations. I've adjusted the amount, updated my credit card, and canceled without issue. I was never a fan of PayPal and closed my account a few years ago, and this activity seems to have migrated to Patreon.

The web is weird and surprisingly still lagging cash and brick & mortar in many areas. People are soured to the experience of buying music and merchandise from a variety of sources and have been funneled to specific retailers like iTunes and Amazon.

[syshum]

Value to who? I already laid out the value to the Subscriber was I unclear?

It is more convenient for the individual subscriber to have 1 Patreon account to support many people, than for them to have many many accounts with many individuals sites. Where they have to manage their CC info, update expiration dates, etc

Even with something like PayPal ask anyone that has ever done Reoccurring translations on PayPal and they will tell you what a nightmare it is to get people to update their CC Info

Any time you can lesson the pain it takes for someone to give you money the better

[w0m]

I generally despise the concept of ~infinity recurring payments, I want giving someone money to be an active thought.

>Any time you can lesson the pain it takes for someone to give you money the better

I see Patreons base model as to get people to sign up and forget about it. Maybe I'm a bit cynical, but it's just.. ick.

[syshum]

>>I generally despise the concept of ~infinity recurring payments, I want giving someone money to be an active thought.

And I generally despise the concept of having to actively think about things like this, I want to sign up for it and forget about it

I also sign up for automatic bill pay, and put most of my bills on a reoccurring schedule when ever possible.