This article will address frequently asked questions about Gifting. If you need a detailed guide on how creators can gift members to fans, please visit our guide to Gifting membership to your fans.
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If you do not wish for fans to be able to gift your membership to other fans, you can turn off the option in your Promotions tab under Gifted by others. Just select the Settings icon and toggle off the Enable gifts by fans option.
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Anyone logged into a Patreon account can purchase a gift for another fan. Guest checkout is not available at this time.
Note that only fans who have indicated they are 18 years or older can purchase a gift from 18+ creators.
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Only fans who have a Patreon account and do not currently have an active paid membership can redeem a gift. This includes both free and churned members. Existing paid members cannot redeem gifts.
If a fan wants to send a gift to someone who already has a paid membership, they can create a new account with a different email address or cancel their current membership and redeem the gift once their existing access has expired.
Note that only fans who have indicated they are 18 years or older can redeem gifts for 18+ creators.
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You will receive earnings from a gift purchased by a fan immediately. You do not have to wait for the gift to be redeemed.
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Gifts must be redeemed within 90 days or they will expire and will not be automatically refunded. The gift purchaser will need to reach out to you to request a refund, which you can grant at your discretion. You will still receive funds from gifts that are not redeemed.
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If a fan is purchasing a gift from Web or the Android app, they can send a gift to multiple people. To do so, they can edit the ‘How many gifts do you want to purchase?’ number up to 100 gifts after selecting a tier. Once they’ve completed checkout, the gift link can be redeemed up to the number of gifts they’ve purchased.
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Gifts must be redeemed by a recipient within 90 days of purchase. Gifts that aren’t redeemed within this window will no longer be redeemable and will not be automatically refunded. If the gift purchaser would like a refund, they’ll need to reach out to you directly. You can grant a refund at your discretion by visiting your Sales tab.
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You can initiate a refund for gift purchases by accessing your Sales tab, where all gift sales are shown. Just click on the gift you’d like to refund, and select Issue Refund from the side panel. You can refund charges within 90 days of the processing date.
For gifts purchased through the iOS app, fans can also request refunds through Apple via reportaproblem.apple.com. Apple will handle the refund on your behalf and communicate with the customer on the status of the refund. If the refund is granted, funds will be issued back to the customer's Apple account.
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No, any existing sales and discount codes will not apply to gift price. If you offer annual memberships, gifts of 1 year of membership will be at the discounted annual membership price.
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If a fan is purchasing a gift from Web or the Android app, they can send a gift to multiple people. To do so, they can edit the ‘How many gifts do you want to purchase?’ number up to 100 gifts after selecting a tier. Once they’ve completed checkout, the gift link can be redeemed up to the number of gifts they’ve purchased.
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When the gift period ends, the gifted member will lose access to the membership unless they choose to stay on as a paid member.
To help them seamlessly continue to have access to their paid benefits, we send a reminder email and notification 3 days before their gift expires. This message includes the option to add a payment method to convert their gift into a paid membership. They won’t be charged until after the gift period ends.
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No, you cannot limit then number of gifts purchased by fans. However, you can turn off the option in your Promotions tab under Gifted by others. Just select the Settings icon and toggle off the Enable gifts by fans option.
- No, blocked members cannot redeem gifts.
- Gifted tiers are taxed the same way that regular tiers are taxed. These rates will vary depending on how the tier is set up, and where the member is located. For more details on how sales tax works on Patreon, please visit this article.