As a contributor, I have pledged money to a couple artists. The things that most turn me off from supporting artists are pay walls. Pay $5 per month to get access to content 30 days early? That's fine. I've pledged a couple artists who do that sort of thing! But when you cross the line of "This image/this version of the image is Patreon-exclusive," you have lost me as a potential customer.

I agree with everything monroethelizard said. And the worst part is there are many artists who demand an unreasonable amount (seen fees up to 30$ per month) for the things they used to post here or on some other art site... and many of these users have all but abandoned their old accounts with the exception of a monthly Patreon Ad poke. It's like people are just ATM machines to them now.
If I were to make my own content account there, it would be for content I would not do normally (AKA NSFW or ), and even then I'd probably would not request more than 10$ a month for that content.

I can fully understand needing a little extra funds, but people seem to forget that there are many who are just as broke as they are (or aren't interested in financial investment)... No offense to any one personally, but there are many things people can subscribe to for $15~$30+ that offer a lot more for less...

Patreon takes a 5% cut of your profits and you get dinged the transaction fees. You don't have to make a certain amount to get paid out but they do have a few security measures in place after you withdraw a certain amount (I think $400?).

I've had both ups and downs with the platform, in the end you have to make your patreon worth pledging too. I've had success with exclusive stuff such as a single monthly image a month and have early access as the basic reward. In the end about 30% of what I create is only for Patreon. I know some people don't like it when you put stuff behind a paywall but it helps to sell a higher tier.

There's nothing wrong with using it as a tipjar though, I've seen plenty of artists do it.

Doesn't hurt to try it, can always close it down if it doesn't work out.

TL;DR Give it a shot.

Creator here, I sell non furry art on another platform called Bamazoo https://bamazoo.com/ and make about $120 a month though non-subscription sales. (Better than nothing)

I chose Bamazoo as they offer the following things which I need:
- Fairly low fees (15% fee which at low prices this is cheaper than paypals fees (2.6% for any transaction + $0.30 cents per transaction + 1% additional overseas fee + they scam people with fake international exchange rates). PayPal sucks, avoid them at all costs!)
- Many payment options (visa cards, bitcoin, many European payment systems)
- They host a store front and you can sell subscriptions or one time downloaded content.
- Possible to update art and have people notified (you have to contact support to use this feature)
- Monthly payout to international bank accounts.

Cons of Bamazoo:
- They rip customers off by showimg a higher rate in their main currency. Desspite getting customers to psy more they will pay you the same. I avoid this by having all my links redirect to pages that display Australia Dollars (what I get paid in)

Bamazoo is good for what I need it for, but it may not be the best fit what you are looking for. (People to look at art within web browser after payment).

1. Have you had any success?
Yes, but not on Patreon. Originally someone said I should get Patreon as they would support me so I looked into it and set up an account. No one ever gave me any money through that system.

2. What do you like and dislike about the platform?
The fees are annoying, though it can be an easy way for people to view content. Patreon has both recurring and one time payments. They also only have stripe and paypal as payout​ options which is expensive: https://patreon.zendesk.com/hc/en-u.....bile_site=true

3. Are there any drawbacks to a Patreon account? For example, does Patreon keep some of the money? Do you have to make a certain amount before getting paid?
The fees and options for payout.

4. Should an artist create content exclusively for Patreon, or Patreon more like a tip jar?
I recommend luring your watchers into patron by making some art exclusively available on some other platform that is paywalled. If your going to make the rest of a comic paid only make sure it's obvious.

From experiemce hardly anyone donates or tips... Other options such as paywalled content is better.

5. Is it too much work maintaining another social media account?
Yes

this may be late, but if you want more contributions you could advertise your patreon exclusive stuff with previews that tease all the best parts. A specific example would be for those comic asks that you plan on doing by only showing the question from the patron with a little bit of the good stuff