Hey hi hello,
With the recent success of the In This Together event (https://tapas.io/inthistogether), along with the preparations for the revamp of the Tapas web experience (https://forums.tapas.io/t/site-update-website-change-notes/43569), we thought now would be a good time to clarify on and update the community on the Tapas Ink system.
The Tapas Ink system (formally Coins) was initially designed around Premium (series with episodes behind a microtransaction paywall). Our goal was to introduce high quality stories with a low barrier to entry in order to promote sustainable forms of digital publication for both Tapas and the creators. It was incredibly important to us that we didn’t design a system that locked a reader out of the reading experience, but instead allowed for a variety of tools to help readers engage with creators in new and innovative ways (i.e. watch-to-earn video ads, install based campaign, surveys and more). To help ease readers into the idea of paying for digital stories, we designed the system around being able to run a number of different promotions, whether it was Ink sales, free Ink, gifted Ink, or earned Ink.
While the system we designed has worked incredibly well, and has generated millions of dollars for creators taking part in the Premium program, it unfortunately was not designed around the Support Program. Transactional and conversion fees are applied when using Ink for the Support Program, which has led to some confusion for both creators and readers as to how much money will go into the pockets of artists they want to support.
In order to alleviate the transactional fees incurred and in order to help creators take home as much money as possible, Tapas is waiving fees associated with the Support Program. This means Ink used to support creators will only incur the iOS, Android or web fees (if the Ink was gifted from Tapas or earned from watch-to-earn video ads, surveys, or generated from installing our partner apps, no fees will be applied). While the overall use of paid Ink for the Support Program represents a low percentage of Support transactions, we felt that upon further review the fee was no longer appropriate. And once the technology to circumvent our fees was developed for the In This Together event, we decided to implement it beyond the scope of the event. After some prep work and downtime, the Tapas fees should no longer appear on your transactional dashboard as of May 08, 2020.
While Tapas will no longer be profiting from the Support Program, this in no way means that we will be discontinuing our efforts to run events or promotional campaigns to bring awareness to the program and its benefits to creators. Inksgiving will still be held, even though it will mean running at an operational deficit to the company, and we will continue to invest in improving the Support programs accessibility and functionality. We appreciate your patience regarding the feedback on this topic as we’ve explored a number of options and solutions. We’ll continue to reflect and brainstorm on other ways to bring more clarity and transparency to this system.
Our goal is to continue to build more tools and opportunities for creators to succeed on Tapas and grow in our understanding of what exactly success means for each individual creator. We are and have always been committed to your continued success on Tapas. Thank you.
**Disclaimer: We are currently working on updating the language throughout the site and apps to reflect this change.