Fees
One number, and we have written it on the wall
We charge the business 4% of each completed sale. Never more than the shop’s usual price, and usually less. Community groups pay nothing at all.
The rate
4%
of each completed sale, charged to the business
Collected automatically out of the sale before payout, so there is no invoice and nothing to remember. Plus VAT where applicable, which is nothing today because we are not VAT-registered yet.
This is the Reigate rate. Fees are set per town and published in the fee schedule at the end of the Vendor Agreement.
On a £100 order
Never more than the shop’s usual price, and usually less. Our fee comes out of the shop’s side.
- The shop receives
- £96
- The community group receives
- £2
- BackMyTown keeps
- £2
Paid straight into the shop’s own Stripe account, less Stripe’s card processing fee.
2% of the sale, paid monthly by bank transfer. It comes out of our fee, not out of the shop’s takings.
What is left of our fee after the group’s share. This is how the platform pays for itself.
What we do not charge
There is no second invoice coming
A percentage of sales is the whole commercial relationship. If a business sells nothing in a month, it pays nothing that month. That is deliberate: a small bakery should not be carrying a subscription for a platform that has not yet sold anything for it.
- Monthly or annual subscription
- Setup or onboarding fee
- Listing fee per product
- Minimum sales requirement
- Charge to shoppers
- Charge to community groups
Questions we get asked
The small print, in advance
- Does the shopper pay more?
- No, and it is not left to good intentions. Section 4 of the Vendor Agreement binds every business to list at no more than the price it charges through its own shop, stall or website for the same thing. Our fee falls on the business and is never added to the shopper’s price.
- Could something ever cost more here than in the shop?
- Only in one case, and it is deliberate. A business running a genuine short promotion in its own shop, an end-of-day markdown or a one-day offer, does not have to mirror it here. The commitment is against its usual price, not against every flash sale, because the alternative is discouraging shops from running them at all. Outside that, listing above the shop price is a breach and we will amend or unlist the item.
- What about Stripe’s own fees?
- Stripe charges the business its standard card processing fee, exactly as a card machine does. That is between the business and Stripe; we neither take a cut of it nor add to it. Our fee is separate and is the only thing we charge.
- What happens on a refund?
- When a sale is refunded or reversed, we refund our fee to the business to the extent Stripe supports it, and the community group earns no share on that sale. If a share had already been counted, it reverses against future accruals.
- Is there VAT on the fee?
- Our fee is priced plus VAT where applicable. BackMyTown is not VAT-registered yet, so no VAT is charged today. Once we are, VAT is added to the fee (so 4% becomes 4.8% all-in) and we issue VAT invoices. We account for VAT on our fee only, never on the business's sale, because the business is the seller.
- Can the fee change?
- We can revise a town’s fee schedule on at least 30 days’ written notice, and a change only applies to sales made after that notice period. Nothing is applied retrospectively.
- When do community groups get paid?
- Within ten working days of each month end, by bank transfer, with a statement to the group’s contact email. Amounts under £10 roll forward into the next month rather than generating a tiny transfer.
Still want it in writing?
Everything on this page comes from the documents businesses and groups actually accept. They are published in full, not summarised.