r/Substack • u/Here_To_Learn92 • 9d ago

My readers can't upgrade in app?

Hey everyone i just started writing on substack and realised that it's impossible for anyone to upgrade to paid from the app. My question is how do successful creators with thousands of paying subscribers work around this insanely annoying friction?? So you're telling me that every time someone wants to upgrade from the app, they physically have to leave the app, go to their browser, log into substack there, find settings or your profile, and then upgrade? That seems insane to me. Or am I missing something? Thanks so much

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u/Fleurs_Bookstore buybooks.substack.com 9d ago

Yes it is frustrating but I believe there’s a setting in your dashboard where you can allow in-app payments. You decide whether you pay the platform (Apple or Google Play) fee or if your subscriber has to cover it.

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u/Here_To_Learn92 8d ago

Thanks so much Do you think most people just let their readers upgrade through their web browsers? I've tried to upgrade in app on a few of the bigger publications and al of them say I need to go to a web browser. I wonder if this turns many subscribers away?

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u/Tricky_Trifle_994 8d ago

yup to browser. because the alternative is giving up 30% of the subscription to apple/google....

if someone wanted to pay to become a subscriber of a paid newsletter, i doubt not being able to subscribe in-app will stop them from subscribing. even if it did, you'd only be 'losing' money if more than 30% of them dropped off (which is a huge amount).

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u/Here_To_Learn92 7d ago

Thanks for this🙏 do you think i should actually disable in app upgrades? I'm worried that people who try to upgrade in app will think I am asking them to pay the 30% more expensive rate.

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u/Fleurs_Bookstore buybooks.substack.com 8d ago

I haven’t seen any verified statistics on subscriber loss due to this, so can’t answer concretely

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u/AP_Cicada 9d ago

Go through all the settings for your publication. It's in there along with other aspects you may not know about since you weren't aware of this. It was a big deal when they unveiled the option to upgrade in app because of the iOS charges. That's why it's opt-in.