Birthday Fund Fees Explained: What You Pay and What Friends Pay

Before starting a Birthday Fund, separate three amounts: what it costs you to set up the fund, what a friend chooses to give, and what that friend pays at checkout. They are not interchangeable.

Birthday Hunter's Birthday Funds use a creator setup fee and add fees to a contributor's selected gift. Understanding both helps you describe the feature accurately when you share it.

The creator's setup fee

Saving your title and description creates a draft. Read the one-time setup fee shown before you pay and submit the fund for review. A charged setup fee is separate from the gifts your fund may receive and applies even if nobody contributes.

That means a fund is not cost-free simply because you have not collected gifts yet. Choose a goal you want to share, understand the charge, and finish the setup deliberately. Do not create a fund on the assumption that contributions are guaranteed to cover its cost.

The gift amount and checkout total

When someone chooses a gift amount, the checkout adds fees so the recipient receives the selected gift amount under the normal completed-payment flow. The contributor's total is therefore higher than the gift itself.

For example, a selected $20 gift does not mean the contributor will pay exactly $20. This is an illustration of how to read checkout, not a quote for its current total. Your friend should check the amount displayed before confirming payment.

What “keep your gift” should mean

It is misleading to describe the entire service as free or say there are no costs. The selected contribution and the creator's separate setup cost answer different questions. A clear explanation is: “You will see the gift amount and added fees before paying.”

If a friend has a strict spending budget, encourage them to use the full checkout total when deciding. Do not pressure someone to increase a gift to match an amount another person selected.

Receiving a gift is different from receiving a bank transfer

Stripe verification, account status, available funds, and the bank-transfer schedule affect when money reaches the creator's bank. A contribution notification is not a promise that the money is immediately available to spend.

Review the current details on your account before booking or buying something that depends on the money. For an unfamiliar charge or payment issue, use the support information in the product and keep your confirmation details handy.

Read the amounts where you make the decision

The setup screen and the contributor checkout are the places to review the current charges. Open Birthday Funds when you are ready, and complete each step knowing which cost belongs to you and which belongs to the giver.