A nice directory of creator platforms which make payment data portable—i.e. so that you can move your work elsewhere without requiring all subscribers to re-enter their payment info. opensubscriptionplatforms.com
It’s a subtle limitation of tools like Patreon but a very important one.
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I do think the non-portability of payment information creates less competition pressure on Patreon—pretty unfortunate.
I’m grateful that Patreon exists, but the way my work is presented there often makes me embarrassed to link to it. Very high barrier for me to fix that now!
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This extends to the nature of the patron/creator relationship, I think. Being a Patreon creator doesn’t really feel like having a direct business relationship with patrons; it feels more like selling goods on consignment through a vendor. This is very unlike Substack/Ghost/etc.
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Portability of payment information is probably a massive can of worms considering how this stuff is governed.
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And none of the players in the game want this at all. Patreon would never vote for their own demise.
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not sure if the bar is that high, i have the impression that most people on patreon aren't paying for this kind of 'research', they might be more willing to switch platforms than other audiences
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Yes, I think most creators could get 80%+ of their patrons to switch, but it would require a lot of coordination, support email, “running a drive,” and some financial loss.
