Upcoming changes in February/March to the $20 tier

So, I've been chewing on this since I planned on the upcoming price raise on the regular comms like mid 2020. And I think I've been approaching the patreon commissions all wrong.

They are hyper-demanded, sometimes being held by the same person for years at a time. So why should the price not increase with such demand. Plus they offer a lot more than what people at regular sketch commissions streams get:

• -They're a warrantied monthly commission. Not winning a spot on the regular sketchcomm streams is the number 1 complain I get. These skip all of that noise in one swift move.

• -They are not timezone dependant, since you dont have to show up x day at x time just for a chance to get one. that's my number 2 complain I get with my commissions.

• -They allow more stuff that regular sketch commissions don't (which i should really write down into a ruleset...)

• -They come bundled with every other reward this patreon campaign offers, plus it gets access to the archive hella fast, so that's 100+ USD worth of comics and art. 

• -The service is way more personalized, with me talking back and forth with the patron over several days if needed. Some times even doing changes after the artwork has been finished, something that does not happen under any circumstance on regular sketch commissions.
  

So, in conclussion, there is no reason why patreon "requests" (which i should just call commissions by now) should be cheaper than their regular stream counterpart. It should be the opposite.

So what now?

Well, first off, there is no way to move patrons to a higher tier, you need to make a new one and then have people pledge to it. Hopefully this will prove easier for my campaign in comparison to monthly campaigns, since it doesnt actually charge you anything upfront so there will be no money problems.

For context, the new "regular" sketch commission price starting on february is $120 usd up to 3 characters, + 30usd for each extra character. 

The new Fel tier will be $150 usd per page. You'll have to set your limit to x1 a month, as opposed to 4 separate pledges of 40. This is because I want the patrons on said tier to get their comms paid for (so I can, yknow, do them), regardless of how many webcomic pages I publish that month. And unlike before, you can expect this tier to go up, as regular sketch commission prices go up as well over time. I plan on being more aggressive with my pricing from here on out. I already have most of 2021 booked for buyout streams which is mindboggling, so there's definitely enough demand to justify a more frequent and conscientious price change.

What will be the logistics?

February will be as usual. Current patrons at the $20 tier will be charged for the supported posts of January, and I'll do their january commissions throughout the month.

Then, just to prevent any charges, I'll wait to post the 1st paid update of February until after the 5th, once patreon has sent me the money for january, that's when I will  unpublish and delete the $20 tier, and create the new one. I'll do so on Saturday February 6th, at 10am mexico city time.

According to patreon, when you delete a pledge, current patrons on said tier go to the "no rewards" category and retain their current pledge amount. So please, everybody on the $20 tier ,change your tier to whichever one you choose as soon as the new tier goes up.

Whoever is interested will pledge then, and their first commissions would be done once they've been charged for their pledge, on early March.

I know this change will seem rather sudden for everybody at the $20 tier, and I apologize for that. You've been some of the most loyal and long-lasting patrons I've had, and I thank you for that. I hope you out of all current patrons will understand why I'm changing things up, as you've seen me grow as an artist and professional over the years more than anyone. I know I may lose your support; for going over your budget, or for not finding the whole deal valuable enough, or because taxes in some regions are wild, or for any reason, really. They're all valid. Whatever you choose to do, I wish you the best. Posting this on the 29th, that means you got a whole week to choose if you wish to stay on this reward or not.

That's it for now. Works on the guest-artist after-hours are well under way, and you will hear news about that very soon. Have a great weekend everybody!