Patreon: Expectations Vs. Reality

Patreon is an online platform for creators that allows them to make a living doing what they love.

It works on the principle of patronage: the support given by a patron, which simply means your fans or followers give you the financial support for whatever it is that you do. Your patrons subscribe to your cause and pay you an amount on a recurring monthly basis.

Say if you have 100 patrons, and each patron pays you $5 a month, you’ll earn $5 x 100 = $500 each month.

Sweet, isn’t it? Well, not exactly.

How does Patreon work?

The process is fairly simple:

1. Register yourself on Patreon as a creator
2. Describe your cause and what you do
3. Publish your page
4. Start earning

Even though the process looks straightforward, there are some facts you should know beforehand to avoid any confusions and establish clear expectations.

How do I get paid?

In order to get your earnings in your bank account, let’s first look at the payment cycle:
1. Your supporters (patrons) pay you on Patreon
2. Patreon transfers your earnings to PayPal or Payoneer (whatever you choose), after deducting a processing fee
3. From PayPal (or Payoneer) you then transfer to your own bank account, after deducting a processing fee

So a good news for the people of Pakistan is that yes, you can get paid using Payoneer. Payoneer is like your virtual bank account that you can use to receive payments from abroad. And then from Payoneer, you can transfer your earnings to your local bank account (UBL, HBL, Al Falah etc.). Getting yourself registered on Payoneer is fairly simple and it only takes a couple of minutes to complete the registration process.

But wait, there’s a catch!

Getting paid is not as simple as it seems.

Both Patreon and Payoneer have minimum balance requirements. If your account balance is below the specified limit, you won’t be able to transfer your earnings from Patreon to Payoneer, and in turn from Payoneer to your bank account!

The minimum balance requirement for each platform as of November 2022 is:

**Patreon: $25**
**Payoneer: $100**

So before you get all frustrated that you aren’t able to transfer your earnings to your account, make sure you meet the minimum balance requirements.

I wish this information was mentioned in their official documentation to save myself all the trouble. I learned it the hard way. But now you know exactly what to expect.

Nothing against Patreon or Payoneer though, they’re both fantastic tools and I would highly encourage you to explore them and start earning doing what you love.

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Thanks for reading.