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Facebook creates subscription links to circumvent Apple fees

Apple charges 30% on in-app transactions, but Facebook says it has found a way for creators to circumvent this “tax”.

Facebook creates subscription links to circumvent Apple fees

Facebook will allow creators selling subscriptions via the Facebook app to create links for users to pay via Facebook’s payments system, meaning that creators will no longer have to forfeit 30% of the income from any subscription purchase.

Facebook’s Patreon-style subscriptions product, Facebook Creators, which lets creators of videos, podcasts, and live-streams charge for access to content is available in 27 countries and open to any creator who meets the eligibility criteria.

Participation criteria includes having 10,000 followers or more than 250 return viewers plus either 50,000 post engagements or 180,000 minutes watched.

Facebook will not be collecting fees from creators on Subscriptions purchases until 2023 at the earliest. But when people purchase Subscriptions via the Facebook app, creators must forfeit 15-30% of their fee to Apple.

“As we build for the metaverse, we’re focused on unlocking opportunities for creators to make money from their work,” Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post. “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.”

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