Rewarding Patrons- Right away or after payment?

60Six 2016-05-10 03:27:31 UTC #1

A semi-urgent question because I don't want this person who just pledged to me on Patreon to think I'm ungrateful and ignoring them. :'D

SO, I just got my first $20 pledge on Patreon, which is the first time someone's pledged anything over $5. I'M REALLY THRILLED, but it kind of occurred to me...I'm not entirely sure how to handle this!
At the $20 tier comes a sketch request and access to PSDs of all of my pages and art that I upload. However, I've heard some pretty bad stories of people pledging to artists, getting their rewards, then withdrawing their pledge before they have to pay and basically running off with the reward. So...my question is do I wait until they've made a payment before giving them their sketch request and access to PSDs?
Is this something that's pretty common in the Patreon community (which I'm still pretty new to)? Or do people tend to get kind of miffed when they can't get their reward upon pledging?
And in addition to that, with this one pledge, I met two of my goals which means I need to make some PDFs of my pages as well as a tutorial. Is this something I should also postpone until I'm sure this Patron is going to be loyal to their pledge?

Aaaand one more question... :'D In regards to giving access to PSD files, what is the best way to upload these? Is there an option to do that onPatron or do I need to use another site like DropBox and link it on Patron?

PotooGryphon 2016-05-10 03:40:47 UTC #2

Wait till after you receive payment. You never want to put yourself in that situation where you give out the rewards (that you put time and energy into) only for that backer to back out of it. Wait till you receive your funding and then heap all the love and appreciation on them because that shows that they meant to back you and not to grab rewards and bail.

There's not really an on Patron solution to this. I recommend Dropbox or Google drive.

You could start work on these reward in anticipation but I wouldn't announce it or post it till payment goes through.

pammella 2016-05-10 03:43:45 UTC #3

I like to ride packs according to the value and they are enviandos end of the month, so let available wips of pages, illustrations and paintbrushes to create.

In case if the reward involves a custom design, I would expect the pledge to be confirmed, but you can get involved with the donor with polls and illustrations and even livestreams

I usually use Dropbox or Mega to the psd's upload, the patreon have the option to upload the file, more then he would be there for dowloande who preometesse a certain amount

carloswebcomic 2016-05-10 03:44:44 UTC #4

I completely agree with CyndiFoster.
There's always the risk of people declining payment. Wait till you've received a payment from them first.

For anything download related I use Dropbox. It auto-generates a link to the file you've uploaded so you can share it. Good stuiff and It's free too!

shazzbaa 2016-05-10 03:51:53 UTC #5

Ahhhh congrats, that's awesome!! But yeah, I'm not very experienced in patreon but I've definitely seen other creators wait for the pledges to go through -- it doesn't seem uncommon at all to count things when the cards are charged, and it's not hard to say it in a way that doesn't feel mistrustful. ;u; Every time I open for Q&As or requests for my tiers I say something like "send your requests, and I'll start on this as soon as the cards are charged! : D" Just treat it like normal procedure and no one should feel weird about it! : )

60Six 2016-05-10 04:04:35 UTC #6

Thanks so much for the answer guys!! This actually helped a ton and now I feel a lot less guilty proceeding with telling the person they're gonna have to wait. :'D

However...that actually made me realize I have one more question.
If I get another $20 pledge, what's going to stop them from getting the PSDs before they pay? I can obviously control when they get the sketch, but I can't just stop uploading PSDs for the other person.

Sorry for all the questions!

PotooGryphon 2016-05-10 04:10:47 UTC #7

With hold the link to the dropbox folder (or whatever method your using) till payment is received.

With this reward you'd only give out the link to the folder till the funds are received.

Michelle 2016-05-10 04:18:48 UTC #8

Definitely withhold rewards until the next month, as others mentioned. Also, send them a personal message thanking them for their pledge and explaining to them that they will receive their rewards once payment is processed for the next month. ^^ That way they'll be in the loop on what to expect, plus it's just nice to thank them personally!

60Six 2016-05-10 04:45:26 UTC #9

For this, would I just privately message the Patrons the link rather than making a post? :o Currently I've only uploaded things and put the "For Patrons pledging $5 or more option."

Oh, definitely! I try to thank everyone personally, even for just $1! I'm gonna have to give this person an extra big thanks, though. :'D

PotooGryphon 2016-05-10 04:48:51 UTC #10

Yes, treat the link like a key that unlock the treasure trove of PSD files. Only people that you've privately sent it to have access because those are the backers that have earned it with their reward tier pledges.

Then you can keep making post at at "For Patrons pledging _____" and let them know more stuff has been added to their dropbox [or whatever method] folder.