Facebook Introduces New Subscription Option for Creators That Will Help Them Evade Apple’s 30 Percent Cut

Facebook has also launched a new bonus program that reportedly offers $5 to $20 (roughly Rs.300 – Rs.1,400) on every new subscriber that the creator adds.

By Tasneem Akolawala | Updated: 4 November 2021 11:22 IST

Facebook Introduces New Subscription Option for Creators That Will Help Them Evade Apple’s 30 Percent Cut

Facebook is working in a grey area as per Apple's rules and regulations

Highlights

Apple levies 30 percent tax on all in-app purchases
Facebook creators can now offer an outside web link for payments
This will enable creators to evade App Store fees

Facebook has updated its Subscriptions feature to introduce a new way for creators to collect payments from their fans. This method will enable creators to evade the 30 percent fee on in-app transactions that they are forced to pay. The change was announced by Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook's parent company now called Meta. A new link will be provided by Facebook that will enable fans to pay for in-app creator subscriptions through a web-based Facebook native payments system. This will enable creators to evade Apple's payment method and a big cut on what they make.

Zuckerberg took to Facebook to announce these payment changes for creator subscriptions.

“As we build for the metaverse, we're focused on unlocking opportunities for creators to make money from their work. The 30 percent fees that Apple takes on transactions make it harder to do that, so we're updating our Subscriptions product so now creators can earn more,” Zuckerberg said in a post.

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The big change includes the addition of a promotional link for creators for their Subscriptions offering. When people subscribe using this link, creators will get to keep all the money they earn (minus taxes). However, the Apple payment method will also be on offer as an alternative should users prefer using that.

Apple is essentially working in a grey area here wherein it lets creators accept payments through a web-payment system. This is to say that it's the creators and not the developer, which is Facebook, offering an alternative payment option.

Apart from the promotional link, Facebook is also enabling creators to have more ownership of their audience. Creators are getting the ability to download the email addresses of all of their new subscribers. In addition, a new bonus program has also been introduced that will pay creators extra for each new subscriber they get. This, Facebook says, is part of their $1 billion creator investment announced this summer.

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Facebook says it will offer a bonus between $5 to $20 (roughly Rs.300 – Rs.1,400) for every new subscriber from now until the end of 2021. Creators can earn a bonus of up to $10,000 over the course of the program. Facebook says that it is invite-only in all 27 markets where the Subscriptions feature is available to creators.

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