How to Offer Tips, Earn Money, and Get Paid
Offering Tips
Offering a tip for the best answer to your question is a great way to quickly get a thorough answer. You set the tip you're willing to offer for a helpful answer, and we collect a deposit via PayPal or from your account balance. To honor the time answerers spend helping you, you are required to choose a best answer, and give the tip you offered, if you receive a helpful answer.
Refunds
If you do not receive a helpful answer, your deposit is fully refundable. To receive a refund, select no best answer on the page with your question within three days of when you asked the question. If you funded the tip with a credit card or PayPal, we will instantly issue a full refund via PayPal. If you funded the tip using your account balance, we will refund the Mahalo Dollars to your account. If you select no best answer and rescind the tip, we'll note that you rescinded a tip on your profile, and the people who answered your question will be invited to give you public feedback. You should only rescind a tip if you feel your question was not answered.
If you do not select no best answer within three days of asking your question, you forfeit your right to a refund and the community will vote for the best answer. At the end of the voting period, which lasts two days, the answer with the most votes is declared the best answer and receives the tip. If there's a tie or no best answer has the most votes, the question is closed without a best answer and the tip will be credited to your account. Once you select a best answer or three days pass and you haven't selected no best answer, no refunds are permitted or possible.
Offering Tips on Direct Questions
Direct questions are questions you ask another Mahalo Answers member. You can ask any member a question on their profile page. Members can set a minimum tip required to ask them a question. When you ask a direct question, you can set the tip you're willing to give for a helpful answer at or above the answerer's minimum tip, and we'll collect a deposit via PayPal or from your account balance. To honor the time the answerer spends helping you, you are required to rate the answer, and give the tip you offered, if you receive a helpful answer.
Refunds on Direct Questions
If you do not receive a helpful answer, you can request a full refund. To request a refund, click request refund on the page with your direct question and explain the reason for your request. All reasonable refund requests will be honored. If you funded the tip with a credit card or PayPal and we honor the refund request, we will issue a full refund via PayPal. If you funded the tip using your account balance and we honor the refund request, we will refund the Mahalo Dollars to your account. However, once you rate the answer, no refunds are permitted or possible. If you do not rate the answer or request a refund within seven days of receiving an answer, your tip will be given to the answerer.
Tip any answer or comment
You can give a tip to the author of any answer or comment you find particularly helpful. When you give a tip for a specific answer or comment, we send the tip immediately and do not offer refunds.
How do I earn money?
If your answer to a question offering a tip is selected as the best answer, we will deposit the tip into your Mahalo account. All tips are in Mahalo Dollars. Each Mahalo Dollar is currently worth $0.75 when paid out via PayPal. If you answer a direct question offering a tip and the asker doesn't request a refund, we will deposit the tip into your Mahalo account.
How will I get paid?
Once you earn more than 150 Mahalo Dollars, you can request to be paid via PayPal on your tips settings page. Each Mahalo Dollar is currently worth $0.75 when paid out via PayPal. When you submit your request, we'll transfer the full balance, or the portion of the balance you choose, to your PayPal account on the 15th of the following month.
