Hello guys! I haven't made a post exclusively for you guys in quite a bit. Before reading, I ask that you read ALL of this post!! I really want your input. I'm making this post to inform you all that I will be changing this tier and sadly removing the physical rewards. There are many reasons for this, the main one being that I've been having a lot of issues for the past year or so in regards to international fans and even domestic fans having trouble receiving their rewards.
There have been a handful of patrons who haven't gotten their rewards, and despite my efforts, nothing seemed to work... I found it strange because I seldom had this issue pre 2024(?), and I wasn't sure what to do to fix it. Typically when sending rewards out, I would gather the small packages up and take them to the post office to ensure a safe drop off, or I'd drop them in a blue box in town. I found that the two issues must've been the way I ship things out & the fact that I ship using stamps. Firstly, I don't use a return address anymore (the old one isn't available anymore & PO box is really expensive TT), so if there are any issues it's hard for me to know since they don't get returned to me anymore. At first I didn't see this as an issue because I seldom had packages get denied or returned, but within these past few years it's been happening a lot more frequently. I know this because many patrons have reached out to tell me their packages hadn't been arriving! The second issue being stamped shipping, which again, I never had an issue with until now... but I'm starting to think it's because of that. I've considered tracked mail, but it's very expensive and without a return address I realized it's impossible. I've resent so many packages at this point that have failed to arrive, and it's making me really upset because that's a lot of money practically wasted... Polaroids, packaging, cards and such are so expensive, and I hate that you guys haven't been receiving them like you should. At first I thought this was only an issue for international fans, but I'm realizing it's a problem for domestic as well. It's really bothering me.
All of that being said... Before I make changes, I want to know, what should I replace the physical rewards with? Should I start doing more tier exclusive sets? I'm thinking that maybe I could do a cosplay poll (or two) each month and whatever character wins, I'll do exclusively for this tier. These days cosplay takes awhile for me to do, as I've become a bit of a perfectionist as I've grown older lol.. but in turn, that makes me want to share my cosplays with all tiers equally. But I feel as though higher tiers deserve something more for paying more. What do you think? I'm open to suggestions!
As for the physical rewards, I plan to try and send a large package to everyone who has been pledged to this tier since 2023 (if possible, idk if Patreon keeps addresses that long lol) , regardless if you've been receiving your packages or not. This package will contain multiple polaroids, multiple exclusive prints and more extras to hopefully make up for the lost rewards. I actually planned to bring prints back last year, but since realizing this issue, I held back on it. I do plan to send these as TRACKED packages to ensure they arrive (I will dm ur tracking # when the time comes). The return address issue is something I'm going to figure out so it can be done! ^^ As for international patrons, this may be a bit different for you guys because sending packages tracked is a whole ordeal. If I'm able to do so more easily, it'll be the same as domestic patrons. I figure I'll be able to make it work! Anyway, yeah! I want to know what other perks I should add to this tier as a replacement. I'm open to all suggestions. ^^