What are the gifting rules and options available to creators? 

Creator education is an essential part of YouPay’s mission: we want our users to understand what’s going on behind the scenes with the businesses and platforms they utilize. We’ve heard creator concerns on our utilization of Stripe and as such, we want to break down why Stripe is our cash gifting option at this time.  

Unfortunately, a large part of the issue with cash gifting is when gifts are not gifts, but rather, payments for services. From a financial provider perspective, that’s a no go:  gifts from fans to creators are okay, but you cannot sell “goods and services” on a gifting platform. But if you play by the rules, it’s pretty simple and easy.

The rules are pretty simple: 

  • Gifts must be donations and given with donative intent — meaning, you cannot offer anything in return.  
  • Gifts must not be for anything illegal – you can’t ask for a gift to buy weapons, drugs, illegal items or services. 
  • Gift payments cannot be in exchange for anything —  gifts are a show of appreciation from a fan with no expectation of anything in return and no commitment from the creator to provide anything in return, no matter how small or trivial. If anything is offered or implied in the gift description or image, it’s no longer a gift transaction. This is where it crosses the line into “selling goods” which any legitimate gifting platform is not authorized to facilitate — especially for cash gifts as this requires specific licensing. If you’re wondering why some platforms that used Stripe for international gifting no longer can? That may be a reason why. 

Here are some basic guidelines to understand for the distinct types of gift options offered on YouPay and why it is structured as such: 

Cash Gifting 

Receiving peer to peer cash gifts is primarily limited to US Residents — while there are plenty of instances where small peer-to-peer payments can be made in many countries, we’re talking about regular, higher value transactions in the specific form of gifts. YouPay is in constant communication with existing and emerging payment processors and industry experts — and it’s clear that there are some grey areas for gifting cash payments.  

What is also clear is that outside of the US, payment providers generally are not supporting cash peer to peer gift payments outside of gifts to family members and small value transactions. Yes, there’s exceptions everyone can point to, however governments and payment gateways are progressively reviewing the specific cash transfers due to the elevated risk of fraud, money laundering and other nefarious activity.  

It is important to remember that the recipient of the cash gift will take the liability for any breaches —and as a professional platform for professional creators, we don’t want our users to be exposed to any unnecessary risk. To our knowledge, there is limited to no protection for the recipient against platforms that are actively or passively providing solutions to facilitate these transactions.  

Most importantly, if you’re being asked or guided to provide false information to facilitate the payment flow, you’re being asked to potentially break the law — possibly across multiple countries. 

Gift Cards  

Gift cards are issued through authorized and verified gift card providers and brands, in the currency and country applicable for the recipient. 

For creators, gift cards represent one of the best and most flexible options for receiving gifts from fans. They can be redeemed for most day-to-day lifestyle expenses; you can use multiple gift cards for a single large purchase, and the gift cards have an average life of 2 years.   

Gift cards also offer great flexibility, as you can set gifts across a range of prices! According to YouPay data, this can make a difference in how many you receive — we recommend having a selection of gifts to ensure fans can gift you while still adhering to their budgets. Gift cards are also highly trusted by fans as they are facilitated through a secure payment gateway and issued by well know stores and brands. 

Gifts and Carts from Partner Stores  

Gifts from stores can be delivered to wherever the store is willing and able to deliver — providing the ability for cross boarder gifting! With store delivered gifts, you get exactly what you want without the hassle of having to buy the items yourself. Your fan has the knowledge that the items will be something that you have personally selected and be a perfect fit! There is also a stronger element of trust (and intimacy!) for the fan for direct gifts as they are transacting through the store themselves. 

Our goal at YouPay is to be the leading professional gifting platform for professional creators. This means that YouPay may not be for everyone — and that’s ok. We believe that by playing to the rules we provide a sustainable, secure and reliable option for creators to monetize their brand and online presence. Our focus is ensuring that all creators are aware of the potential implications of engaging with gifting platforms and gifting processes — and in turn, operating in a way that keeps creators safe.  

The team at YouPay are dedicated to understanding the creator economy and ensuring creators from all categories are given the opportunity to thrive. We come from backgrounds in technology, financial services and payments, press and PR, and communication: we’re professionals serving professionals. We continue to invest and explore options to provide creators with the safest, most secure, and legally compliant solutions so that everyone has options to support their gifting engagement with their fans. While we understand that there are options available that appear to have greater flexibility than what we’ve described above, we do caution creators to be clear on any potential liability or risk that they are taking on by transacting. To be explicitly clear, the legal risk is ultimately with you and you will not have recourse against the payment provider or the platform providing the solution. 

Choose YouPay, and choose creator transparency. 

The information above is not to be considered legal or financial advice. We strongly recommend creators seek professional advice for their own specific circumstances and country of residence.