Frequently asked questions

What is a 'Thing'?
- It's any item which can include a blog entry, the blog itself, comments on a blog post, a tune, video, software or ... whatever you have created. Anything you’ve created and that you or others might like is a thing. And you can flattr any thing.
What are the fees for using Flattr?
- When you add or withdraw money you only pay the fees of the payment provider you choose. This fee is displayed when you add or withdraw money (you can see it on your payment history as well). We take 10% of your incoming revenue as a fee to keep the Flattr systems afloat, hope that's ok?
Can I submit anything?
- You should only submit your own content. Submitting content that you did not create, without permission, can get you banned, deleted or whatever. Use common sense! We encourage people to share freely with everybody, so please link back to the original.
Can I use the same button on several pages?
- Yes you can, just remember that you can't change the URL (what the number on the button links to). But if you do a button for e.g. www.mysuprblog.com you can use it all over your site.
What are the two "balances" for?
- When you add money to Flattr, it's cheaper for us (and you!) to do it in bigger chunks (results in fewer fees). So instead of paying €2 every month using a payment processor, you can add for example €24 at once. The money will stay in your "means" balance until it’s used up. If you get flattred by others, that money will end up in your "revenue" account. When your revenue balance has reached €10 or more you can withdraw the money, for example to your PayPal account. If you want to transfer money from your revenue to your means balance (for flattering) you can do so at any time. However, any money you add to the means is pre-paid for flattring and cannot be withdrawn.
What's €? Why not use $?
- € is Euro. It's the biggest European currency. We're based in Europe. You can convert € to other currencies and if you don’t want to do it in your head there are resources online to help you, for example here »
How does the monthly amount work?
- The monthly amount is taken from your means at the end of the month. The money is then divided up and transferred to the owners of all the flattr button(s) you clicked during that month.
What if I create my account mid-month?
- If you create your account and add money to it mid-month we calculate the remaining time left of the month and your monthly flattr amount will be equal to the part left of the month (i.e., your montly amount will be pro-rated for that first/partial month)
Why would I want to change my monthly amount?
- Since your monthly amount is divided equally between your clicks, the more buttons you click the less each click will be worth. If you want to give more to the creators, you can increase the monthly amount! You can change your monthly amount any time during the month.
What happens when my funds run out?
- If you don't have enough funds for your monthly amount the remaining funds will be used for the rest of the month. When your balance reaches zero, your account will be deactived. That means you can't flattr anymore and all your own buttons (things) will be deactivated. But don't worry - Just add some funds (or transfer some from your revenue balance) in order to re-activate your account.
How do I get money in and out of the Flattr system?
- Currently, Flattr supports most credit cards and direct banking. We're using Moneybookers and PayPal to achieve this. To get money out of the system, we currently support PayPal only. We're currently working on adding SWIFT transfers for both incoming and outgoing payments, as well as Moneybookers for outgoing payments.
What will happen if I only flattr 1 thing in a month?
- Then your entire monthly amount is given to that thing. If you flattr two things, your monthly amount will be divided in half to each, and so forth.
What happens if I don't flattr anything a month?
- Then your monthly amount is given to charity, we will not keep it.
Can I disable/inactivate my account?
- No. As long as there's money in your means account, these will be used each month. When they run out your account will be deactived until you add more funds.
I don't want be a part of Flattr anymore. How do I delete my account?
- If you really want to delete your account, you can go to http://flattr.com/deleteaccount and fill out the form.
What data do you keep about me and for how long?
- Flattr is a financial service that abides to UK law. This means that all data related to financial transactions have to be stored according to legal requirements. We try to keep as little information as possible. We do not data mine any data unless we ask for your permission. We do not hand out your data to third parties. Usually we keep the following data: the user information you hand us (from your settings and profile), the money transfers in and out of the system (required by law) and the clicks you make (since that results in a financial transaction). If you send us support questions we also keep your browser details, this is however only connected to that support query and not your user account.
Why can I click the same flattr button again all of a sudden?
- You can click each flattr button one time per month, so the next month you can do it again.
My thing has been "force hidden" why?
- When a thing is submitted the associated URL is checked to verify if the referenced page is correct and that the URL submitted actually exists and is not forwarding/masking another site. If this check fails the thing is force hidden. This means the thing will not be listed on flattr.com. The button still works just like any other but the thing won't be found on any listings on our site. We do this in order to protect our users.
Why can't I change the URL of my thing?
- We don't allow that in order to protect our users, just submit the new URL as a new thing.
I can't find anything nice to Flattr!
- Then tell the people who make good content to get a Flattr account! Show them some <3!
Things/login/buttons/etc don't work as I expect!
- As with all beta-internet-things cookies and cache can do strange things, so try and clear your cookies and web cache. If that doesn’t help please visit our support center (link at bottom of each page of this website).
When is my revenue available for withdrawal/use?
- We calculate your revenue at the beginning of each month. We check all calculations (a couple of times actually) to make sure that nothing weird has happened. You should be able to see the revenue as an upcoming transaction. There will also be a date for when the money reaches your actual revenue balance.