Last updated: 10/12/2026
Welcome to Buy Me a Coffee. This page explains the rules for using our service. Some of it has to be in legal language, but we have kept it as plain as we can, with a short summary above each section.
By using Buy Me a Coffee you agree to these Terms and to the policies we link to here: our Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy and Community Guidelines. Together they form your agreement with Publisherr, Inc., 2193 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94115, USA ("Buy Me a Coffee", "we", "us").
You need to be 18 or over. Keep your details accurate and your password safe.
You must be at least 18, or old enough to form a binding contract where you live. We may ask for proof of age.
The information you give us must be accurate and complete, and you must keep it current so we can reach you. Do not impersonate anyone or choose a username that is offensive or violates someone's rights.
You are responsible for everything that happens on your account and for keeping your password confidential. If someone uses your account without permission, tell us at [email protected] straight away.
You may not use Buy Me a Coffee if you are on a government sanctions list, or if you are located in or ordinarily resident in a country or region under comprehensive sanctions. Creators may need to verify their identity and provide tax and payout details before receiving funds.
Be honest, be lawful, treat people well.
Do not:
Breaking these rules can lead to the actions in Section 8.
Creators deliver what they promise. We provide the platform and process the payment.
If you are a creator, you are responsible for your page, your offers (memberships, extras, commissions, products) and delivering them as described. Describe your offers honestly and follow any laws that apply to what you sell, including consumer, tax and licensing laws.
If you are a supporter, your agreement for what you receive is with the creator. We provide the platform and handle the payment, but we are not a party to that purchase.
We do not verify creators' claims and we do not guarantee that any offer will be delivered or be of a particular quality. We are not part of disputes between users, so please try to resolve them with the other person first.
Signing up is free. We take a fee when you earn. You handle your own taxes.
Creating an account is free. When a creator receives a payment, we charge 5%. Our payment partners charge their own processing fees. These fees can vary by location, currency and payment method.
We may change our fees. For an increase we will give you at least 30 days' notice by email or in your dashboard.
We use Stripe to process payments and payouts. Stripe is a separate company with its own terms, which you also agree to when you pay or get paid, and we are not responsible for how it performs.
Creators must complete payout setup and any required verification. Payouts go to the account you provide. Payout fees, minimums and currency conversion charges may apply.
You are responsible for any taxes arising from your use of the service, including income tax on creator earnings. Where the law requires it, we collect and report tax information and may withhold or collect tax.
Memberships renew until you cancel. Deleting your account does not cancel them.
Memberships and other recurring payments renew automatically each billing period until cancelled. Supporters can cancel at any time. Cancelling applies to future payments, not the period you have already paid for, unless the creator's page says otherwise.
If a creator changes a membership price, we will tell affected supporters at least 30 days before it applies. If a payment fails we may retry it, let you know, and may pause or end the membership if the failures continue.
Deleting your account does not cancel active memberships. Cancel them first to stop recurring payments.
Payments are generally final. Come to us before going to your bank.
Payments to creators are generally non-refundable. If something goes wrong, contact the creator first. If you cannot resolve it, email our support team and we will review it. We may issue a refund at our discretion, for example for an unauthorised or duplicate charge, or an offer that was never delivered. Local consumer law may give you additional rights that these Terms do not remove.
If a supporter disputes a payment with their bank, we take the amount back from the creator along with any dispute fee charged to us. Fees already charged by us or our payment partners are not returned on a refund or chargeback. If a creator's balance goes below zero because of refunds, chargebacks or adjustments, we may recover it from future earnings or by other lawful means.
Your work stays yours. You give us permission to show it so the platform works.
Our content. Buy Me a Coffee's service, content, logos and marks are protected by copyright, trademark and other laws. We grant you a limited, temporary, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable licence to use them as these Terms allow, and we can end that licence if you break these Terms. Do not copy, modify, translate or make derivative works of the service.
Your content. You keep full ownership of everything you post ("Your Content"), and you are responsible for it, including any royalties or licences it needs. We are not liable for errors in it. Do not post anything that infringes someone else's rights.
Your licence to us. You give us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, display, reproduce, resize and distribute Your Content, and to share it with the service providers who help us run the platform, only as needed to operate, secure and promote the service. This licence ends when you delete Your Content or your account, except for backups and copies we must keep by law or that others have already shared.
Supporter information. Information you receive about your supporters belongs to them. Creators may use it only to deliver what the supporter paid for and to communicate about it. Do not sell it, share it, use it for unrelated marketing, or contact supporters off-platform without their consent. Misusing supporter data can lead to suspension.
Feedback. If you send us ideas or suggestions, we may use them freely without owing you anything.
We may hold funds or restrict accounts when something looks wrong. You can appeal.
We may warn you, limit or suspend your account, remove content, hold a payout or close an account if you break these Terms or our policies, if we reasonably suspect fraud, abuse or a legal or security risk, if the law or a payment partner requires it, or if we need to protect other users.
We may delay or hold payouts while we investigate, while we wait for verification or tax details, or where the law or a payment partner requires it. We will tell you why where we are allowed to, and release the funds once the issue is resolved, unless they have to be returned to supporters or paid to an authority. We may also take into account serious conduct outside Buy Me a Coffee, such as fraud against our users.
Appeals. If you think we got it wrong, email [email protected]. Someone who was not involved in the original decision will review it and we will reply within 3 days.
Dormant accounts. If an account has no login, supporter activity, payout request or other meaningful activity for 12 months, we may restrict or close it, and we will email you at least 30 days beforehand. Funds in an account that has never completed payout setup may be held, returned to supporters where possible, or handled under unclaimed property laws. To claim funds, contact [email protected].
You can leave at any time. Some records have to stay.
You can delete your account in your account settings or by emailing [email protected]. We delete your data as described in our Privacy Policy, and we may keep some information where the law requires it or for fraud prevention and unresolved disputes.
Deleting your account removes your public page. It does not cancel memberships (see Section 5). Any unpaid balance is handled under Section 8. Terms that should survive by their nature, such as fees owed, indemnity, liability limits and disputes, continue after your account ends.
We run the platform with care, but cannot promise it is perfect or cover everything that could go wrong.
The service is provided "as is" and "as available". We do not promise it will be uninterrupted, error-free or fit for your purposes, and automated tools are not always right.
To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits or data. Our total liability to you for all claims relating to these Terms or the service is limited to the amount you have paid us, or paid through the service, in the twelve months before the claim arose. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law, such as for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by negligence, and consumers keep any rights that cannot be waived.
You agree to defend and indemnify Buy Me a Coffee, its affiliates and their officers, directors, employees and agents against claims, losses and reasonable legal costs arising from your breach of these Terms, Your Content, or your violation of law or anyone's rights, except to the extent caused by our own negligence or misconduct. We may take over the defence of such a claim, and you agree to cooperate.
Tell us if someone copies your work.
We comply with the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If you believe content on Buy Me a Coffee infringes your copyright, send your notice to [email protected]. We may remove content we believe is infringing and terminate repeat infringers.
Talk to us first. After that, state law applies.
Please contact our support team and give us 30 days to resolve the issue before starting a legal claim.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, and without the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act or the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Claims must be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts in Delaware and you and we consent to those courts.
If you are a consumer somewhere that gives you the right to use your local courts or local law, that right is not affected.
We will tell you before important changes take effect.
We may update these Terms. If a change is material we will tell you by email or update the date at the top. Continuing to use the service after that date means you accept the updated Terms. If you do not agree, stop using the service and you can close your account.
We may add, change or discontinue features at any time, and will try to give notice of major changes affecting creator earnings or payouts.
These Terms and the policies linked at the top are the entire agreement between you and us about the service, and replace earlier communications and proposals. If a court finds part of them invalid, the rest stays in force. If we do not enforce a right immediately, we have not given it up. You may not transfer your account or your rights; we may transfer ours as part of a merger, sale or reorganisation, and will tell you if your data moves to a new owner. These Terms create no third-party rights except for those named in Section 10. If translated, the English version controls where the law allows.
