When we set out to build Ringer, we knew that getting payments right would be the key to making the platform work.

If you are a fan of Stratechery then you'll be aware that Ben Thompson talks about platforms often. In the linked article, he quotes The Bill Gates Line: "A platform is when the economic value of everybody that uses it, exceeds the value of the company that creates it. Then it’s a platform."

That is a core goal for us here at Ringer.

To make that happen, we needed to make sure that we set out with a plan that would allow our Experts to control the finer details of how they interact with customers over time. It's why Custom Links was one of our first features.

We partner with Stripe for payment services.

Watch our founder, Simon, explain the payments process in the video below or read on!

Setting Up for Payments

When you join Ringer you need to choose your payment setting. You can choose between three settings:

• 100% paid to you. This is the default
• A custom split between you and the project you are working on or a foundation
• 100% donation. Ideal for those who want to provide support that financially benefits their community, but can't receive payment for services due to employment contracts or similar.

Setting Up for Payments via Stripe

Stripe and Ringer allow those in the following countries to set up for payments easily:

Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia*, Cyprus, Czech Republic*, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland*, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein*, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao SAR China, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, Sweden, Switzerland*, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

* Bank accounts in countries with an asterisk (*) can only receive Euro (EUR) payouts.

As long as you are in one of these countries, you should be able to set yourself up either as an individual or company within Stripe.

Tax

We use Stripe's built in Tax Product to satisfy Sales Tax, VAT and GST obligations around the world. Where we are not yet registered, we are applying as either customers or experts come on board. These taxes will be automatically calculated at checkout and applied where required to transactions.

Payments and Payouts

When a Customer submits a request, we debit the amount and hold it within Stripe. We use Stripe's connect product, so don't directly handle the funds. We release your payout once the request has been marked as fulfilled. You will be able to access details of your payout and track it using Stripe's website.

We hope that this explains a little more about how payments work within Ringer, but if you have any questions we will always be very happy to hear from you at [email protected]