Buy Me A Coffee was founded in the UK in 2017 by entrepreneurs Jijo Sunny, Joseph Sunny, Aleesha John, and Leon Sequeira. They wanted to design a platform that helped creators make money. The main gimmick of their brand is that your work is supported through “coffees.”
What is Buy Me A Coffee?
Buy Me A Coffee is a platform where sellers receive donations, often enough to cover a $5 coffee. This site isn’t a membership site, so there are no exclusive perks for supporters. However, supporters can choose to donate to creators on a monthly basis, via a subscription.
How does Buy Me A Coffee work?
Buy Me A Coffee works by allowing creators to earn money from their supporters in small increments comparable to a cup of coffee. Creators often include links on their websites or in their email signatures to accept donations from the people they help or provide value to. The supporter can choose to make a one-time donation, purchase from the Shop, book a service, or subscribe monthly or annually.
What you need to know about selling on Buy Me A Coffee
Unfortunately, this platform only allows you to earn between $1 and $5 per transaction. This is a small amount for most creators to live on. While the platform claims some creators make six figures, it’s hard to believe the average person has enough supporters to live on that income alone. This is more like a tip jar than a sustainable business model.
Accounts are reviewed after the first payout request. Before you can get paid, your account will be reviewed by a Buy Me A Coffee staff member to determine whether or not the payment can go through. Some moderators spend more than a week reviewing accounts, so there could be a delay. There’s also a risk of abrupt suspensions during this review.
While Buy Me A Coffee charges only a 5% transaction fee, that doesn’t work well for high-volume creators. For example, most companies reduce or eliminate transaction fees as you make more sales. If you’re a top creator on this platform, you’ll be paying a steep amount as you start approaching higher volume sales, which would make it a better option for you to choose an alternative to Buy Me A Coffee.
Buy Me A Coffee doesn’t allow you to build your own brand on the platform. With its limited customization options, you won’t be able to differentiate yourself from others easily. On top of that, other platforms offer advanced marketing tools, such as affiliate marketing and upselling, which would help creators make more sales on those platforms.
Buy Me A Coffee also doesn’t handle VAT or sales tax collection for its creators, who will have to manage taxes themselves. Creators are expected to learn more about taxes and file their taxes with their local tax agency. Many membership sites provide this service to simplify creators’ work, since it can be rather complicated to pay taxes on income earned online.
Is Buy Me A Coffee the best platform to sell memberships?
No, Buy Me A Coffee isn’t the best platform to sell memberships; Payhip is. Payhip is a platform that lets you sell memberships to supporters, with no caps on the price. Sellers can choose the transaction fee they want to pay depending on their sales volume. If you want to stay on a free plan, you only pay a $5 transaction fee. If you start making a high volume of sales, you can upgrade to a subscription plan to remove transaction fees, so you can keep more money in your pocket. To start selling memberships to supporters, sign up today.