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Cannot donate charity bundle, Itch not allowing the process

A topic by SkepsisRee created Jul 25, 2022 Views: 431 Replies: 4
Viewing posts 1 to 2

I'm not sure where the best place to post this is. I also posted it on Github. 

I'm helping out the creators of the Charity Bundle "Bundle for Buffalo" who have been given radio silence on help from Itch for a little over a month now! Essentially, the creators of the bundle closed the bundle at approx $6,400 but the amount showing on the Itch account is $5,800. Plus, that amount is grouped with the account owner's personal earnings from Itch for other bundles from before the "Bundle for Buffalo" closed. (It does not seem like it should be grouped together). Is there a way to separate this? Have people had an issue like this before and there is a fix we're not seeing?

When creating the bundles they were reassured by Leaf and other Itch members by email and discord that you could donate directly from Itch to the charity in question. The intent there being that the organizers cannot take that large sum into their bank account and then pay the charity because it will mess with their taxes and state benefits a lot!

How can we track down the recorded amount for the bundle that is "missing" and how can we donate that appropriate amount to the charity? Is there a simple fix to this? We've reached out to support but have not gotten any response from Itch, so we're hoping the community may have a solution we're not aware of. Thanks!

Admin (3 edits) (+1)

Are you in touch with the charity? For charities, we treat them like any other payee: All payees must be onboarded into our system to receive payment. They must create an account and go through seller onboarding to enter their tax information in our system. Additionally, the funds will need to be transferred to their account. This will be a manual step our admin team will have to do.

Essentially, the creators of the bundle closed the bundle at approx $6,400 but the amount showing on the Itch account is $5,800

It sounds like you may be mixed up regarding gross and net revenue. You can learn about how payments work on this page: https://itch.io/docs/creators/payments#payment-processor-fees Gross revenue, shown on the primary dashboard page (and potentially on the bundle’s goal progress bar), is the sum of all payments sent. Net revenue is the revenue eligible for collection after payment processor fees have been excluded from that amount. Net revenue is shown on any part of the site that deals with payouts. (As payouts are only one of two ways in which sellers can collect earnings, see the link above)

The intent there being that the organizers cannot take that large sum into their bank account and then pay the charity because it will mess with their taxes and state benefits a lot … Is there a simple fix to this?

If you (or we) aren’t already in communication with a charity, then the fastest way to get the funds to the organization would be to receive a payout on your own account and then donate using whatever facilities the charity provides. I understand your concern about about taxes. In this case you would be making a charity donation though, so it technically should be possible reduce your taxable income by that amount, but you may need to consult a professional. If that is not an option then we can still go ahead with onboarding the charity.

If you have a support ticket ID you can reply to me here with it and I can see where we currently are at.

Thanks, I will check with the organizers and see if I can get their ticket number from support. (They are dealing with some pressing family and health matters right now, so I am assisting in reaching out to get more info for them to help out).
Unfortunately putting funds into their account and then donating directly to the charity is not an option at this time for them. However, I will confirm about the charity invovlment.

As far as viewing what the Net Revenue is on the payout page, it still does not seem to match what you're suggesting. Paypal's processing fees should be a maximum of 5%, but currently, over 12-15% of the funds raised are not in the net pay-out total. (See attached) Is there another fee I am not seeing/I am not aware of? The amount here shows the total, but that is including a few $100 of personal funds from previous sales not pertaining to the charity bundle. Funds that they're not comfortable accessing/processing to Paypal and their own bank since such a large sum from the charity bundle seems to be unaccounted for, and they do not want to further "muddy the water" or make things more confusing.



Is there a way to see if the "missing amount" is from refunds or cancelations? Just to check all our boxes.

Admin (1 edit)

A detailed breakdown of earnings is only visible after creating the payout request. If a refund has taken place it is reflected immediately in the estimated amounts that are displayed.

Is there another fee I am not seeing/I am not aware of?

If the user had a itchio share configured on their account at the time of the bundle then it may also contribute to the reduction of the net revenue: https://itch.io/docs/creators/payments#open-revenue-sharing

Thank you! I will look further into the link you shared and see if this has affected the payout for them.

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