Payments FAQ

How does payment work on Storyhunter?

One of the biggest problems for freelancers in our industry is getting paid on time, so we’ve gone to great lengths to try to solve this problem. Our system guarantees that freelancers get paid within 30 days whenever they are commissioned on the platform. Upon completion, Storyhunter will bill the client the amount owed, plus Storyhunter’s service fee. The freelancer will get paid once Storyhunter gets paid, and often times earlier. Payoneer FAQ's can be found here. 

We also offer a custom workflow for advances and expenses, along with early payment options for select freelancers.

How much do I get paid?

You work out your rates directly with your client the way you normally do. Depending on your relationship with the client hiring you, your payment amount might be subject to Seller fees. Sometimes money transfer or currency conversion fees may apply too (detailed here). Feel free to use the counter-offer tool when you negotiate and let publishers know if they’ve posted a project under the market rate.

How do I get paid?

We guarantee that you’re payment will be issued within 30 days of your project getting marked as complete on the Storyhunter platform (as long as your account is set up and barring any extraneous issues). Our global payments partner is Payoneer, which offers dozens of payment options including local currency bank transfer, pre-paid debit cards and more. Click here for more information about payments.

Are Advances Possible?

Yes. Advances allow clients to pay a freelancer while projects are still ongoing. They are paid out to freelancers within ~3 business days. Read more on advances here. 

What about Expenses?

Yes, we have a custom expenses workflow in which freelancers upload their itemized expenses and receipts for your approval (read more here). Make sure that your client approves any expenses beforehand, and make sure to upload  your expenses before a publisher marks the project as complete. If not, the final bill will not include expenses.

Is there an expedited payment option?

Absolutely. Since we recognize that some freelancers really need money faster than 30 days, we’ve added a way that we can release payment faster, and then we deal with the financing of  this payment. With our expedited payment option, freelancers can receive payment within 3-5 days for a financing fee of 5%. Find more information on expedited payments here. 

How do I get paid on Payoneer?

We ask that you enter the email address associated with your Payoneer account in the Payment Information section of your profile. If you do not have a Payoneer account, please create one here.

With your new Payoneer account, you can:

• Get paid in your local currency
• Avoid excessive transfer and conversion fees
• Receive funds to your local bank account, between 3-5 business days
• Withdraw to Bank feature: quick, easy and low cost* access to your earnings.

With Payoneer’s Withdraw to Bank service, you can transfer funds from your Payoneer account, directly to your local bank account in over 180 countries and currencies. Payoneers comprehensive global banking network enables us to transfer funds from a local bank in your country, so you significantly reduce the cost of getting paid and avoid delays.

If you have any questions regarding payment, or in the event that Payoneer is not available in your country, please contact Payoneer Support with all inquiries.

*To withdraw your funds from your Payoneer account to your local bank account outside of the US is $3.00. If your local bank does not accept US Dollar deposits, you may be subject to a 2% conversion fee.

How do I sign up to Payoneer?

Here’s a step-by-step on how to sign up and more info about Payoneer. Note that Storyhunter has different fees than Payoneer publicizes on its web site, so please refer to our help desk for the most up to date information on fees.

What are the fees for the different payment methods?

The most recent payment fee information can be found here. Currently the fees are as followed:

FOR WIRE TRANSFERS OR ACH

• ACH Withdrawal to a U.S. bank account:
• If you withdraw directly to a U.S. bank account, you can choose this option
• Fees: No fee for U.S. accounts
• Wire to a U.S. bank account:
• Fees: $15 per wire + $3 load fee plus your bank’s processing and possible currency conversion fees
• Timeline: Similar to normal bank processing times, withdrawal from Payoneer to your bank may take between 3-5 business days.
• ACH Withdrawal to a non-U.S. bank account:
• If you withdraw to a non-U.S. bank account and elect to withdraw in your own currency, you can do so through Payoneer with lower transfer and conversion fees.
• Transfer & Conversion Fees: $3.00 fee per withdrawal to a non-US bank account.
  If your bank does not accept USD, a 2% currency conversion fee will apply to your withdrawal in addition to your bank's usual international fees. Please check with your bank to understand their rates.
• Please review the list of supported countries where bank transfer is available.

FOR STORYHUNTER PRE-PAID DEBIT CARD

• Withdrawing to a pre-paid debit card:
  We offer a pre-paid Mastercard in order to offer more global coverage. If you are in a location that is under-supported when it comes to international bank transfers, we highly recommend choosing this option.
  FEES:
• $12.00 activation fee
• $3.00/month low-activity fee if you withdraw less than $5 a month.
• Estimated Timeline:
  Typically takes 15 days for you to receive your pre-paid card, but some cases may take 30 days. Withdrawing your earnings to card takes only minutes and can be used in ATMs.

Can you transfer into countries sanctioned by the US?

No. As a US  company it is illegal for us to make money transfers into countries restricted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), including Iran, North Korea, Syria, Crimea, Cuba, Sudan, South Sudan, and additionally, any other country restricted from doing business with the US. Here is the updated list by the US Treasury Department.

What about tax forms?

Because we are a US company, we must collect these tax forms from any user who we have paid out $600 or more during the year. These forms must be filled out before xxxx date every year. Here’s more info about the sign up process:

• After the Payoneer account is properly created, the freelancer will be prompted to complete either a W9 or W8-BEN tax form.
• Freelancers based in the US or who hold American citizenship should complete the W9 form.
• Those based outside of the US and who are not American citizens must complete the W8-BEN
• For Part 1 on the W8-BEN, the freelancer will input their details including their name, date of birth, and address.
• Please leave the SSN and ITIN fields blank and to the right insert country and Tax ID.
• For Part 2, insert the country of residence, then leave the Special rates and conditions section blank.

How do you try to help freelancers to get paid in a timely manner?

We pay out freelancers within 30 days of the project being marked complete. Once a freelancer completes their Payoneer registration, payments are automated and can be tracked with the Reports tab. We work out the payment terms with the client, so they can hire as many freelancers as they want without extra approvals or needing to process extra invoices. Then, we handle all the e-signatures for their standard contracts, pay freelancers in over 192 countries, track each invoice by budgets and then we handle all their tax reporting at the end of the year.  On the freelancers side, we offer something similar: a one-time payment setup allows freelancers to be hired by multiple clients anywhere in the world, and not have to do any more paperwork or track down any payments with multiple clients. 

For background, large companies have increasingly implemented corporate policies of paying vendors within 45 days, 60 days, 90 days, and even 120 days. We believe this is too long to wait for a freelancer, so we negotiate preferential payment terms with them and even if we don’t achieve 30 day payment terms with them, we still guarantee that for the freelancers (and finance the difference if needed). For clients, it’s much easier to make a one exception for a company like Storyhunter than to try to process a large amount of small invoices from freelancers. They also are more open to a system that allows them to receive one invoice for multiple payments, so they have less invoices to process.