Facebook revealed back in April that it was planning to allow creators to charge for live-streamed events, acknowledging at the time, that during quarantine, people were increasingly “turning to Facebook Live and Instagram Live for workout classes, cooking lessons, faith services”.
According to a blog post published on Friday (August 14), By Fidji Simo Vice President, Head of Facebook App, “by combining marketing, payment and live video, paid online events meet the end-to-end needs of businesses”.
With social distancing mandates still in place, many businesses and creators are bringing their events and services online to connect with existing customers and reach new ones,” writes Simo.
“People are also relying on live video and interactive experiences more when they can’t come together physically. In June, we saw live broadcasts from Pages double compared to the same time last year, largely attributed to broadcasts since March.”
Simo adds that Facebook is also testing paid events with Messenger Rooms “for more personal and interactive gatherings”.
Facebook also states that it will not collect any fees from paid online events for “at least the next year”.
According to the FAQs, for purchases made through Facebook Pay, creators will receive 100% of the price that guests pay, after applicable taxes and fees.
For purchases made on a mobile device through Apple iOS or Google for Android, creators will get 70% of the price guests pay because the mobile provider will take 30% of the revenue for in-app purchases.
Simo explains that Facebook “asked Apple to reduce its 30% App Store tax or allow us to offer Facebook Pay so we could absorb all costs for businesses struggling during COVID-19”.
“Unfortunately, they dismissed both our requests and SMBs will only be paid 70% of their hard-earned revenue,” writes Simo.
