What is Patreon, how does it work and how to use it?

Patreon is slowly becoming popular in our region, while it is widely used abroad. But what exactly is Patreon? How does it work? How to use it? If you are encountering this service for the first time, I suggest you read this article first, I hope it will be much clearer to you.

What is Patreon?

Patreon is a service that offers users the opportunity to donate money to creators of online content. These can be, for example, creators of video clips, texts, and podcasts - and anyone can donate a certain amount of money to any creator.

What Patreon solves is the problem that online content creators face the most today, and that is poor earnings through third parties. Many Youtubes have millions of views but very little earnings, both because of the AdBlock tool and because of the company that controls those ads. The same is true of bloggers, podcasters, and other creators who work hard and get paid very little for it.

Patreon is a link between loyal fans and creators that enables direct earnings. In this way, the creators will have the financial motivation to work, and the users who donate will have certain benefits. Patreon is the only source of income for many in the world.

How does Patreon work?

The service itself works very simply: the creators of the offer "packages" (Tiers) that cost a dollar, two, three… as much as they already determine, and other users buy those packages, ie. donate. The creator can determine what each package offers, and it can also be a pure form of donation. Packages are usually paid monthly, which is Patreon's idea, but a one-time donation can also be offered.

The Patreon profile of the creator contains (if set) the number of donors registered as "Patrons". Everyone who donates becomes a "Patron".

The benefits that the Patrons have can be various, and they are determined by the creator himself. Examples: anyone who buys a $ 5 package has access to some premium articles, or videos "behind the scenes", will be mentioned in a show, will be featured on the site, will have access to some content above all, and the like. And of course, the creator can determine that a package does not offer anything, but only serves as a kind of donation, and it usually costs two to five dollars.

The creator can also specify the goal in the form of the number of cartridges or the amount of money. If he wants, he can write what he will do if he reaches that goal, for example, he will start writing longer reviews, bring a famous guest to the show, post more frequent videos, and the like.

How to become a Patron and donate?

You will need:

• The card you normally pay for online, or PayPal
• Free Patreon account - register
• Some money to pay for the package(s)

When you go to the Patreon page of a creator (example), you will see "Tiers" on the right, ie packages. Within each pate, you have a button labeled "Join x$ tier", where "x" is a number that represents the price of that packet.

When you decide which package you want, click on its button and you will be redirected to the confirmation page - click "Continue".

You will now see a page to confirm the amount and enter your payment information. On the left are the package you have chosen and the option to increase that amount if you wish (donate more than the creator asked for).

To the right are the fields for entering data from the card:

• Credit Card Number: the number on the front of the card
• Expiration month: card expiration month (located ahead as well)
• Expiration year: next to the month: eg 07/19)
• Security code : 3 numbers on the back of the card (it may be written next to the CVV mark)
• Postal code: postal code (eg 11000 for Belgrade)
• Now click "Pay with card" and that's it!

If you are paying via PayPal, then select this option and click "Pay with PayPal" and you will see the standard procedure for payment via that service.