Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that it wants “creators to make more money” and has found a way to bypass Apple’s 30 percent App Store fees. The company plans to offer a “promotional link” for subscriptions, thereby allowing creators to avoid Apple’s 30 percent fees and keep the entire money with them. This promotional link will be offered alongside the in-app subscription option in the Facebook app.
Facebook previously announced that it won’t collect any fees on subscriptions from creators until 2023 at the earliest. However, creators still had to pay a 30 percent fee to Apple, which Facebook wanted to bypass.
Starting today, we’re offering creators the ability to direct people to a website to complete their Subscriptions purchase using Facebook Pay. When people purchase Subscriptions from this website on web or mobile, creators will be able to keep 100% of the money they earn, excluding taxes. Creators can find their personalized promotional link in Creator Studio, which they can share with their audiences, including over email or text.
A Facebook spokesperson told The Verge that this “approach has always been allowed on iOS,” though no other developer or company took a similar path before. If Apple allows Facebook to have its way, several other companies could also end up taking a similar approach for their subscriptions. Additionally, Facebook will also be paying creators a bonus of anywhere between $5 and $20 for every new subscriber they get until the end of 2021. An updated earnings calculator will also provide creators with a more detailed overview of where their purchases come from, the estimated tax deducted, the fees they paid to Apple/Facebook, and more.
[Via Facebook]